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Will electric vehicles replace fuel vehicles? When will electric vehicles be as convenient as fuel vehicles? Although electric vehicles in terms of power, noise, and cost of use have thrown off the fuel vehicle, and the anxiety of endurance has been greatly alleviated as models with a range of more than 1,000km have been unveiled, but slow charging and difficult charging are still the "Achilles heel" that electric vehicles cannot subvert fuel vehicles. In order to solve this problem, high-voltage platform technology and supporting supercharger piles are currently one of the most promising solutions. So, how does the increase in the amount of voltage platform make electric vehicles achieve a qualitative change in convenience comparable to that of fuel vehicles, and how long is it to go before the widespread application of this technology?
Limited by the voltage resistance of silicon-based IGBT power components, the 400V voltage platform was commonly used in the high-voltage system of electric vehicles. Among the charging piles based on this voltage platform, the largest charging power is Tesla's third-generation supercharger pile, which reaches 250kW, and the peak of the working current is close to 600A. If you want to further increase the charging power and shorten the charging time, you need to increase the voltage platform from 400V to 800V, 1000V or even higher to achieve the expansion of the high-voltage system.
The charging speed that can be achieved by the 800V voltage platform with the 350kW super charging pile is not only much faster than the current common 120kW DC fast charging pile, but also gradually approaches the experience of traditional fuel vehicles refueling at gas stations, especially for users who do not have household charging pile installation conditions and rely on public charging facilities for charging. According to industry analysts, after the national standard of the mainland super charging pile lands, the maximum charging power of the charging pile is expected to reach more than 600kW, and "charging for five minutes and lasting 200 kilometers" will also turn from a joke into a reality. At that point, will you still be worried about the charging of electric vehicles? At the same time, under the premise of the same power consumption, the increase in voltage level will also reduce the current transmitted on the high voltage harness, which will reduce the cross-sectional area of the high voltage harness, reduce the weight of the harness, and save installation space.
The result is simple but the process is complex, although in terms of the function of implementation, the high-voltage platform technology does not seem complicated, but only increases the voltage of the whole vehicle. However, for the development and application of technology, it is a big project that "leads the whole body".
At present, the mainstream power battery pack has been able to support the 2C charging rate (charging magnification is a measure of charging speed, charging magnification = charging current / battery rated capacity), through the use of electrolyte additives, isotropic graphite, graphene and other materials, can improve the conductivity of battery materials to a certain extent, improve the stability of ternary materials under high voltage. However, these schemes can not fundamentally avoid the occurrence of side reactions, if you want to achieve 4C or even 6C charging rate of ultra-fast charging, but also need to achieve breakthroughs in battery materials, high control accuracy BMS (battery management system) and other aspects.
In terms of electric drive system, the improvement of voltage will put forward higher requirements for insulation capacity, withstand voltage grade and creepage distance, which will affect the design and cost of electrical components, but there are still rich experience in high-voltage applications in industrial motors and other fields to learn from, and the main difficulty is in the core components of the motor controller - power semiconductor devices. At present, among the power semiconductor devices that meet the standards of the automotive standard, the most mainstream silicon-based IGBT withstand voltage rating is 600-750V, and there are not many high-voltage IGBT products that can be used on the 800V platform, and there are still shortcomings of high loss and low efficiency.
Only because the current capacity and cost is still not comparable to IGBT, the popularity of silicon carbide devices still needs time, the industry's penetration rate of silicon carbide MOSFETs in 2025 is generally expected to be around 20%, and IGBTs will still be the most mainstream power semiconductor devices in electric drive systems in the next few years. In terms of air conditioning compressors, PTC, DCDCs, and vehicle-mounted chargers, the development of high-voltage platforms is also underway. According to the analysis of industry insiders, the relevant mass production work is expected to be completed within this year, and once the industrial chain tends to mature, it can quickly reduce the entire manufacturing cost.
Charging service providers such as Star Charging, Putian New Energy, and Special Caller all have technical reserves of charging piles of more than 400kW. However, the current electric vehicle charging standards used in the mainland are still promulgated in 2015, the maximum voltage and current are 950V, 250A, and the maximum charging power is limited to 240kW. The landing of the new national standard for charging piles will also further promote the application of related products. In general, the supporting solutions required for the high-voltage platform technology of electric vehicles are basically available, and the question of when to carry out the mass production and development of the high-voltage platform and the way to apply this technology has been placed in front of various car companies. In terms of high-voltage platforms, the first to eat crabs is the Porsche Taycan (parameter | inquiry) listed in 2019. In the pursuit of charging speed and sustained performance, Taycan took the lead in mass production of 800V voltage platform, but as a "forerunner", Porsche also undertook the corresponding development risks and challenges, limited by the different development progress of each component, the original Taycan did not come up with a voltage platform composed entirely of 800V appliances, and made certain compromises and concessions in the fast charging speed of the battery.
At the expense of adding such a complex voltage conversion device to the car, the main purpose of the Porsche Taycan is to shorten the time cost paid by the user on charging. After other high-voltage components and battery fast charging capabilities, the Porsche Taycan and its successors are also expected to further exploit the potential of the 800V voltage platform on the basis of 350kW of charging power.
If for you, the Porsche Taycan is a bit unattainable, don't worry, high-voltage platform technology is also covering more civilian models. Hyundai uses an 800V voltage platform on its E-GMP platform, and the IONIQ (Ani Kr)5 developed on this platform has been unveiled.
Mercedes-Benz's EVA platform, GM's third-generation pure electric platform, and Jaguar Land Rover's electrification platform have also chosen 800V as the operating voltage of the vehicle. In addition, although the model of the MEB platform is only recently on the market, Volkswagen can't wait to propose the Trinity project, which is expected to apply 800V supercharging technology in 2026. In China, BYD is the earliest manufacturer to lay out related technologies. With the help of the high-voltage IGBT solution, BYD has increased the voltage of the models under the e-platform to more than 600V, and Tang New Energy has reached 700V.
The ideal car that previously focused on the range increase program also plans to launch a variety of pure electric vehicle models on the high-voltage pure electric platform, and through the support of 400kW charging piles, it will increase the energy replenishment speed of 300-500km endurance in 10 minutes. It can be said that the development work of domestic manufacturers in the direction of high-voltage platforms is not lagging behind. Although the development of high-voltage platform + supercharger pile technology has painted a beautiful future for electric vehicles, at the level of landing promotion, it is still caught in the dispute of "chicken or egg first". For automakers, the launch of a high-voltage platform product will still make users face the problem of charging difficulties without infrastructure support. In this regard, the relevant people of Beiqi Blue Valley and Lantu Automobile said that although they have been paying attention to the development of high-voltage platform and super charging pile technology, they have not yet planned to launch related models.
Whether it is "car and pile" or "pile and car", the concerns of automakers and charging service providers are understandable, and the state needs to guide and promote the construction of charging infrastructure and the development of electric vehicles. Editor's comments: Although the increase in the voltage platform means that the redevelopment and design of many parts of electric vehicles and the layout and construction of high-voltage charging networks from scratch, we still have a long way to go from the popularization of products. However, just as fast charging technology has changed everyone's habits of using smart phones, the landing of electric vehicle high-voltage platform technology will also have a huge impact on the technical trend and use experience of electric vehicle products. When the amount of change based on the voltage platform increases, so that the convenience of electric vehicles has reached a qualitative change comparable to that of fuel vehicles, will the day of replacing fuel vehicles be far away?
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