FLO's new 320kW fast chargers juice EVs up to 80% in 15 minutes

zohaibahd

zohaibahd

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Why it matters: As electric vehicles continue their surge in popularity across America, drivers are clamoring for charging solutions that can keep up with their need for speed. Enter FLO, a pioneering North American EV charging company that just rolled out its Ultra DC fast chargers from the production line in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

These charging stations pack 320kW of dual-port power, which helps EVs replenish from empty to 80% battery in just 15 minutes. FLO has also designed the chargers to comply with the stringent standards of the federal government's National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program (NEVI) and the Buy America Act. They promise an uptime of 98% to ensure drivers can count on finding an operational charger when they need one.

One standout design feature is FLO's innovative EZLift cable management system. The motorized lift keeps the Ultra's charging cables off the ground, providing extended reach to connect with any vehicle's charging port location. That motorization means the cables themselves feel lightweight and ultra-maneuverable.

EV charging is growing into a hotly contested arena, with startups trying to one-up each other in kilowatts even if cars don't yet support such blistering speeds. For comparison, Tesla's recently rolled-out V4 Superchargers are officially rated for 350kW, too, though their power supply is currently housed in 250 kW V3 cabinets. The company will likely upgrade this as the popularity of models with 800V architecture rises. But even with the enhanced power, Tesla's charging speeds appear slower with a 10-minute top-up adding 'only' 40% of the battery range.

At the same time, Gravity, a New York startup specializing in EV infrastructure, has opened up stations featuring 500kW chargers. These are being hailed as the fastest EV chargers in the US. While limited to Manhattan for now, Gravity hopes to expand with thousands more fast chargers each year around the US.

Still, FLO's Ultra DC fast chargers hit the market at an opportune time. A fresh Pew analysis found that 64% of US adults now live within two miles of a public EV charger, and residents with chargers nearby are more likely to consider going electric for their next vehicle purchase.

FLO is contributing to these numbers, boasting a fleet of 100,000 fast and level 2 EV charging stations deployed at public, private, and residential locations. The startup operates its network across North America with facilities in Michigan and Quebec.

"With 42% of users accessing DC fast chargers at least once a month and 60% depending on them for longer, multi-city trips, it's evident that fast charging options are vital to supporting the electric transition," said Louis Tremblay, FLO president and CEO. "At FLO, we're committed to meeting this critical need by providing robust, reliable fast charging solutions like the FLO Ultra charger. Our mission is to ensure that drivers have the power they need, whenever and wherever they need it, to confidently drive an EV."

On Tuesday, FLO secured $136 million in new capital, principally from a Series E funding round led by Export Development Canada. Those funds will help accelerate the rollout of the company's charging solutions across the continent.

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FLO's new 320kW fast chargers juice EVs up to 80% in 15 minutes

 
How many of the older batteries can be safely fast charged using this station, though?
I am guessing much slower charging for older batteries, that is standard charging,
and fast for newer EVs.
 
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Sounds great in principle, but its not like you can cover a whole car park with these considering the electricity demand from the grid of having many megawatts drawn all in one area, along with the fact that I inagine all this fast charging probably doesn't do the batteries much good (which we know is a thing, especially when people stare in horror at the service bill after 5 years because the shot battery pack needs replacing at insane prices)
And 15 minutes for just 80%, when the advice is that you aren't meant to use the last 10 to 15 % either to preserve the health of the battery, gives you about 65% of range, still seems too long, if you're going to get good adoption, it needs to be like ten minutes tops if you want to emulate the time spent to be similar to a petrol station fill up
 
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1. This is not new, electrify America has been able to do 350kw for years.
2. This only applies to 800v cars, most are 400 volt and will not charge anywhere NEAR this quickly.
3. This does not solve range anxiety, anymore then having a gas station every city block would solve range anxiety for a car with a 1 oz fuel tank. Given 99 percent of these chargers will be located either in cities or on interstates, range anxiety will still very much be a thing. LONGER RANGE solves range anxiety, not charge time.
 
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Drive up to a pump, pay at the pump, filled in maybe 3 minutes and back out driving. Of course it depends on your vehicle and tank size. For example: I stopped at the gas station yesterday, pulled up to a pump behind a guy with his oversized truck. I pumped in around 11.5 gallons of gas to fill my CX-5 before the guy even finished filling his truck and he had been standing there at least 30 seconds before I started.

Hoping to find an ultra fast super-duper special magnificent ultra lightning quick charger to charge you up to 80% in about 15 minutes.....that's still too long, at least for me.
 
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Just once, I'd like to read an EV article on this site that didn't read like an EV industry advertisement. I've said many times, EVs are great for what they are, and they have a place, but I don't think I've read an article yet that wasn't about "the EV boom is right around the corner" or, worse yet, "What EV drawbacks? There's a solution for all of them right around the corner. Every one of them, and they'll outsell standard cars by 2026."

Nothing wrong with articles about progress toward this nirvana, but every "breakthrough" article from revolutionary batteries to new and better chargers from years past has yet to materialize. I've been certified to work on hybrids and EV;s since 2013, and aside from normal tech advances (faster processors, finer energy management, etc. the vehicles of today are still not substantially different from 10 years ago (I'm talking about basic operation, not self driving, entertainment, features,etc. all available in combustion engine cars as well).
 
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Charging times don't bother me, but what happens if the system is down? Cold weather? EMP, people hording or vandalizing the charger stations, monopoly and restrictions from wacky mayors or governors etc.
 
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VariableSpike said:
Sounds great in principle, but its not like you can cover a whole car park with these considering the electricity demand from the grid of having many megawatts drawn all in one area, along with the fact that I inagine all this fast charging probably doesn't do the batteries much good (which we know is a thing, especially when people stare in horror at the service bill after 5 years because the shot battery pack needs replacing at insane prices)
And 15 minutes for just 80%, when the advice is that you aren't meant to use the last 10 to 15 % either to preserve the health of the battery, gives you about 65% of range, still seems too long, if you're going to get good adoption, it needs to be like ten minutes tops if you want to emulate the time spent to be similar to a petrol station fill up
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I think five minutes is what will help people take notice. EV's need to charge as fast as gas fills a tank for the public to accept the changing speed when traveling as reasonable. The higher prices and absurd battery replacement costs are still issues for most middle class folks, though. Hopefully, sodium ion batteries will become commonplace and cheap.
 
seeprime said:
I think five minutes is what will help people take notice. EV's need to charge as fast as gas fills a tank for the public to accept the changing speed when traveling as reasonable. The higher prices and absurd battery replacement costs are still issues for most middle class folks, though. Hopefully, sodium ion batteries will become commonplace and cheap.
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I think it's a balance. We've already seen EVs push over 400 and fisker and chrysler over 500. With a 500 mile range, at 75 MPH that's 7 hours of driving. Most people wont drive that long without taking a break.

But even if they did, even monsters like the silverado EV can charge from empty to 80% over the course of a nice lunchbreak with a fast charger. A 35-40 minute charge time, or even 15 minute, is a lot more acceptable when you get 7-10 hours of driving out of it VS 3 hours like current EVs. The change in our habit here could be great, if there were chargers at most stores, restaurants, and rest areas, you'd never need a gas station style stop when traveling.

I think solid state batteries would be a solution to cost and weather, as they *should* be more cold and heat resistant and offer far higher capacities in the same space. The issue is building them at any sort of scale for a decent price.
SRB said:
Just once, I'd like to read an EV article on this site that didn't read like an EV industry advertisement. I've said many times, EVs are great for what they are, and they have a place, but I don't think I've read an article yet that wasn't about "the EV boom is right around the corner" or, worse yet, "What EV drawbacks? There's a solution for all of them right around the corner. Every one of them, and they'll outsell standard cars by 2026."

Nothing wrong with articles about progress toward this nirvana, but every "breakthrough" article from revolutionary batteries to new and better chargers from years past has yet to materialize. I've been certified to work on hybrids and EV;s since 2013, and aside from normal tech advances (faster processors, finer energy management, etc. the vehicles of today are still not substantially different from 10 years ago (I'm talking about basic operation, not self driving, entertainment, features,etc. all available in combustion engine cars as well).
Click to expand...
PREACH! Much like the Musk articles that are constantly written like the author personally lost out on Amber Heard night to Elon, the EV articles are sacarine sweet BS that one can read on any rag. Techspot should be better then that. Much like their recent EV price article, they COULD have written about the falling EV prices and the models now available for under 50 grand compared to 5 years ago, but instead they used a nonsense metric to make the EV look better.
 
Neatfeatguy said:
Hoping to find an ultra fast super-duper special magnificent ultra lightning quick charger to charge you up to 80% in about 15 minutes.....that's still too long, at least for me.
Click to expand...
Just plug in at home and get cheap rate electricity while you sleep. You pay a fraction of the cost and there's no queuing at all. This obviously only works if you can charge at home and you don't drive more than a couple of hundred miles per day..

In the UK with, something like a Tesla Model 3, it costs nearly £4 ($5) to fully charge from empty at home. That gives you a range of about 250 miles. The fuel for a similar range in a small city runabout would cost £26 ($33). For a car with similar performance to the Model 3 then the costs would be double that again. You also save time (and money) as an EV like the Model 3 doesn't require an annual service.
 
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Until these are nearly as prevalent as the fuel pumps in quantity at a "station" and and density in an urban area and along motorways, this doesn't solve anything. And for some people, charge times are a form of anxiety because not everyone is going to need to or even want to wait 15+ minutes. For America, BEV's just won't replace ICE until you have essentially the same or better ranges in the vehicle, charge times of less than five minutes, and essentially the same amount of chargers as you have fuel pumps. Only then will just about everyone be happy to hop on board.

I'm not an EV hater.... I owned one and loved it, and would like to get another one - it just isn't practical for everyone in every situation. I don't know if battery tech will ever reach the desired point. We keep hearing promising breakthroughs, and while things have indeed improved a lot over the decades, there is still a ways to go.
 
mbk34 said:
Just plug in at home and get cheap rate electricity while you sleep. You pay a fraction of the cost and there's no queuing at all. This obviously only works if you can charge at home and you don't drive more than a couple of hundred miles per day..

In the UK with, something like a Tesla Model 3, it costs nearly £4 ($5) to fully charge from empty at home. That gives you a range of about 250 miles. The fuel for a similar range in a small city runabout would cost £26 ($33). For a car with similar performance to the Model 3 then the costs would be double that again. You also save time (and money) as an EV like the Model 3 doesn't require an annual service.
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Careful. I have honestly posted all those things before. I'm not asking to not do it, I'm saying they forgot it as soon as they read it. And they will still post the same bullshit the next time.

But it still doesn't change the fact that an EV is a perfect fit for 95% of people, 95% of the time.
Even the Ford Focus EV with 108 miles of range. Anyone that drives less than 100 miles per day can do it with one, and run it for literally pennies a day.
Still, I wish folks like the flake that claimed he pulls in a gas station, fuels up, pays and leaves in 3 minutes had the capacity to get the fact that even if that were true (And it isn't, not even close) it takes only seconds to plug in an EV once home at the end of the day.
 
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I’m an ev enthusiast and early adopter. However, I have to disagree with this article. Range anxiety is not about how fast you can get charged once you get to a charger, it is about worrying you’re going to run out of charge before you can get to the next one.
 
Well, not really. Pretty much anyone that wanted an EV, has one. They are backing up on the lots.
The U.S. electrical grid can't handle what we have now. Ad more and more EV's, get rid of gas stoves
and water heaters and the demand will be even higher.


"As electric vehicles continue their surge in popularity across America"
 
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