ABB’s New DC Fast Charger Goes Into Megawatt Territory

• Swiss technology company ABB has unveiled a new, megawatt-capable EV DC fast charger system.
• The OM M-Series power cabinet can deliver up to 1.2 MW to a single EV or dynamically allocate it to as many as 24 EVs.
• The company claims the new distribution cabinet has an industry-leading power density.

Swiss-based technology company ABB has unveiled a new power cabinet for EV fast chargers that’s capable of delivering over 1 megawatt of power to a single connected electric vehicle. Dubbed the OM M-Series, the cabinet boasts an industry-leading power density of 625 kilowatts/square meter, enabling charging networks to make the most of space-constrained sites.

The distribution cabinet can be paired with several of ABB’s dispensers, making for a customizable setup that can cater to all sorts of scenarios. The full-blown M1200 setup comes with three distribution cabinets that can deliver up to 1.2 MW, either to a single EV through a liquid-cooled MCS connector or to a maximum of 24 electric cars that use CCS or NACS connectors.

ABB OM Ultra DC Fast Charger

Photo by: ABB

When specced for megawatt charging, the only dispenser compatible with the new power cabinet is the OM Ultra, which can output a maximum of 1,500 amps at up to 980 volts. It has a single MCS cable that can be used for big rigs. 

For passenger EVs, the OM Solo dispenser can deliver up to 800 kW to a single electric car, thanks to its 800A peak current. It has a single, liquid-cooled cable that can be configured with a CCS or a NACS connector. The same type of charger is also available with a phase-cooled CCS cable, in which case the output drops to 600A, and an air-cooled NACS cable that can deliver up to 375A. ABB also makes the OM Duo dispenser, which has two outlets that can deliver up to 800A each.

ABB OM Duo DC Fast Charger

Photo by: ABB

All this being said, not all sites are created equal, and the company knows this. That’s why it’s also offering smaller power cabinets—the base M200 delivers 200 kW, followed by the M400 with 400 kW and the M800 with 800 kW.

The whole system is modular, so one site can start out with the base 200 kW unit and then add more cabinets to keep up with the utilization rate. And because the dispensers themselves only need to be hooked up to the cabinet, the upgrade costs should be kept to a minimum.

As modern EVs are now capable of charging at over 300 kW, the charging infrastructure needs to keep up with the increasing power demands. ABB is far from the only company that is going into the megawatt space—Alpitronic also has a megawatt-capable split DC charging system, which can deliver up to 600 kW to a single EV, and Tesla’s latest Supercharger setup can output up to 1.2 MW. China’s BYD is also knee-deep into the megawatt charging business with its 1.5 MW Flash chargers.