Tesla has opened the eyes of enthusiasts?and other automakers?to the idea that electric cars don?t have to be boring. And while there?s an armada of ambitious rivals on the way from Europe and elsewhere, with long driving ranges and high levels of performance, they?re still going to be a hard sell if, during road trips, they can?t be charged up nearly as quickly as a gasoline car can be filled. With that in mind, four automakers in Europe?BMW Group, Daimler, the Ford Motor Company, and Volkswagen Group?have agreed to work together to set up a network of fast-charging sites.
Europe?s big automakers know they need to solve the issue as they prep long-range EV entries that are slated to begin arriving in 2019, including production models based on the Porsche Mission E (shown below) and Mercedes-Benz Generation EQ concepts. As battery packs match (or exceed) Tesla sizes of 90 kWh and beyond, a quick top-off using Level 3 DC fast charging isn?t at all that fast anymore. Point the blame at the typical maximum power of 50 kW for fast chargers; that?s enough to bring short-range EVs like a Volkswagen e-Golf or a Nissan Leaf up to 80 percent in about half an hour, but it?s simply not fast enough for a road trip in a longer-range EV. In the meantime, the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV is the first to tease this emerging new reality. Its 60-kW pack can regain 90 miles of range in about 30 minutes from a typical CCS fast charger, according to Chevy, but beyond that, it?s slower g...