As the population of electric cars increases, more and more car parks will have to be adapted so that they can recharge. The concept of parking is very broad, from small residential areas in urbanization or SME to a large stadium or shopping center. Companies are thinking of offering cheap, scalable, rapid deployment, connected solutions, etc.
Siemens and Nexii have presented their scalable, economical, and ecological charging point concept, the VersiCharge XL. It has become a reality in just six months, from sketching to planting at Peachtree Corners Technology Park, Georgia, USA, where Siemens has its R&D facility for mobility and power products for North America.
At the moment it is a prototype and has to pass a testing phase. The advantage over other solutions is that you don’t have to make any big holes, just for the screws to fix it to the floor. Everything is packed from the ground up, nothing goes underground, so the cost of installation drops substantially, and waste management when digging is avoided. It can be installed in less than three days.
Siemens is an electronics and very varied services company, but it does not deal with construction; that’s Nexii’s job. This company has a patented material with characteristics similar to cement, called Nexiite, but with a lower carbon footprint. Part of the structures is built with this material. Nothing has been detailed about possible solar panels at the top. Withstands any weather conditions.
What we do know is that VersiCharge XL can accommodate accelerated (level 2) or fast (level 3) chargers, we assume with direct current and that as its concept is scalable and modular, it is suitable for both small and gigantic installations. What’s more, mechanisms are included to withstand the simultaneous consumption of many cars and not exceed a power limit.
At the moment they have not put a price on it, it will take a while to reach the market, it must be tested, certified, and approved. As an alternative to this approach, we have PURPL’s Atom Power solution, where all the “expensive things” go in a centralized protected installation, and in each parking space there is a cable with a plug with hardly any electronics, the management is done remotely. The VersiCharge XL is decentralized.
