Technology

Charging current flowing through half-open HPC vehicle charging connector

500,000 watts in one cooled charging connector

With HPC, we are revolutionizing fast charging technology. Learn more about how this technology works.

Until now, charging currents of up to 200 A were technically possible with the Combined Charging System (CCS). Significantly higher currents are necessary, however, to achieve very short charging times. Conventional charging technology would result in dangerous overheating or would require larger, cumbersome cable diameters.

Our intelligent HPC technology is therefore based on an active cooling system that makes charging currents of up to 500 A possible – without compromising on safety or manageability.

How does the cooling system work for High Power Charging?

Temperature characteristic with and without cooling

The cooling system ensures that the normative limit temperature ΔT_max is not exceeded

According to the VDE-AR-E 2623-5-3 Guideline and standard IEC TS 62196-3-1, charging connectors and charging cables must not exceed a temperature that is 50 K higher than the ambient air temperature during the charging process (ΔT_max = 50 K).

In order to comply with this, multiple temperature sensors integrated in the HPC system measure the heat produced directly at the charging connector power contacts, and also in the charging cable in real time.

A controller evaluates the data acquired and regulates the cooling output accordingly. This reliably prevents overheating in compliance with standards and, at the same time, increases energy efficiency.

The High Power Charging system at a glance

HPC system consisting of charging cable, panel feed-through, cooling unit, and controller

HPC system components

The modular HPC system from Phoenix Contact consists of several coordinated components:

Cooled DC charging cable
(CCS type 1 for North America and CCS type 2 for Europe)
Panel feed-through with defined interfaces for power, communication, and cooling
Appropriate cooling unit and/or heat exchanger for the available space from one of our technology partners
Controller for the DC charging process and cooling

Direct access to our High Power Charging cables

Get all the commercial and technical data, drawings, and downloads for our High Power Charging cables and corresponding accessories, and order directly online.

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