July 2017 - The electric vehicle charging stations come in many different forms and with many different types of charging current, from single-phase and three-phase AC to high-performance DC. This is also reflected in big differences between charging times. That's not to say that a fast DC station will be the best solution in every case however, since many of today’s electric vehicles are only equipped to support slower AC charging. With the new AllCharge charging system, technology company Continental has developed a universal solution to the problem of today's heterogeneous charging infrastructure.

The system also impressed the editors of German car magazine 'Auto Test'. At the 'Auto Test Winner' 2017 awards ceremony, which took place on July 18 in Cologne, Continental's 'AllCharge' system won the special award in the 'Connectivity' category. The new charging system will be presented to the general public for the first time at the IAA Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

"We are delighted to receive this award, which we see as confirming the need for practicable and fast charging solutions if electric vehicles are to become widely accepted," says Oliver Maiwald, Head of Technology & Innovation with the Powertrain division at Continental, who stepped up to receive the trophy at the ceremony in Cologne. Continental is a technology leader in electric mobility and has helped to set the pace in this field with its many innovations over the past two decades. "We drew on the full breadth and depth of our systems expertise when developing AllCharge. Because our aim is to make topping up an electric vehicle as easy as refueling a conventional model," says Maiwald.

The approach taken by Continental's engineers is actually incredibly simple. Rather than cramming the car with extra technology to match all the different types of charging station, they have instead turned the powertrain itself into a full-blown charging system. To do so, they drew on the powertrain's existing components, utilising the fact that AC/DC switching at different voltages is already an inherent feature of the electric powertrain.