Popular Science Names Electrify America EV Charger Winner Of 2018 award

Award winning charger

Popular Science has named Electrify America’s electric vehicle (EV) charging system an award winner for its 2018 “Best of What’s New" in the Automotive category.

Each year, Popular Science reviews thousands of new products and innovations and chooses the top 100 winners across 10 categories. To win, a product or technology must represent a significant advancement in its category.

With a focus on both future and present-day electric vehicles, Electrify America’s charging systems have a range in power from 50 kilowatts (kW), the most commonly used charging power for electric vehicles today, up to 350 kW which is capable of adding up to 20 miles of range per minute to a vehicle.

"The Best of What's New Awards allow us the chance to examine and honor the best innovations of the year," says Popular Science Editor-in-Chief Joe Brown. "This collection shapes our future, helps us be more efficient, keeps us healthy and safe, and lets us have some fun along the way. From simple household items to massive space-exploration tools, we’re proud to bring you the Best of What's New 2018."

The chargers have been custom-designed by Electrify America and have several advanced features, including liquid-cooled cables. This is the first time that liquid-cooled CCS1 charging cables have received certification for a 150/350 kW DC Fast Charger. The cooling is a key factor in enabling higher-amperage charging without a significant increase in the cable thickness for charging power at and above 150 kW from 350 amps.

With a much smaller cable cross section than the traditional high-powered cable option, these cooled cables are thinner, more flexible, lighter and easier for consumers to handle than the standard 350A capable copper cables when charging their EV.

“We are thrilled to have the Electrify America charging system honored among the Best of What’s New by Popular Science," said Giovanni Palazzo, president and chief executive officer of Electrify America. “As a brand new company, our team has focused on the customer since day one. Our goal is to develop and offer future-proof technologies that are easy to use so that we can help expand EV adoption in the U.S."

Planned charger rollout

All charging stations offer a CHAdeMO (50 kW) connector, plus additional dual-handle chargers with CCS1 (50 to 150 kW or 350 kW) connectors, ensuring that all fast charging capable cars will be able to use the Electrify America stations. The Electrify America system will offer DC Fast Chargers ranging from 50 kW to 150 kW for metropolitan locations, and an L2 AC charger also will be offered at a majority of metro DC fast charging stations to accommodate plug-in hybrids and non-DC-charge capable EVs. Highway stations will offer four to ten chargers with CCS1 connectors, while metropolitan charging stations will have three to six.

Electrify America selected four key charging equipment suppliers – ABB, BTC Power, Efacec and Signet – to jointly deploy its new ultra-fast electric vehicle (EV) charging systems throughout the United States. The charging equipment suppliers are sharing the delivery of more than 2,000 chargers across 484 stations in the U.S. Electrify America’s ultra-fast charging systems utilize both HUBER+SUHNER and ITT Cannon high power charging (HPC) systems which features a much smaller cable cross section than the traditional high-powered cable option.

Electrify America is investing $2 billion into Zero Emission Vehicle infrastructure, access and education programs across America as it rapidly expands its nationwide charging network, the largest commitment of its kind to date. Electrify America’s nationwide DC fast charging stations will be located in 17 metropolitan areas and along high-traffic corridors in 42 states, including two cross-country routes.

About Best of What’s New

Since 1988, the editors of Popular Science have reviewed thousands of products in search of the top 100 tech innovations of each year—breakthrough products and technologies that represent a significant advancement in their categories. Best of What's New awards are presented to 100 new products and technologies in 10 categories: Aerospace, Automotive, Engineering, Entertainment, Gadgets, Health, Home, Recreation, Security, Software.

About Popular Science

As one of America’s oldest and most trusted magazines, Popular Science has spent a century and a half bringing readers the most amazing innovations and discoveries. From thought leaders to skeptics, from digital natives to print devotees, Popular Science’s audience is as diverse as the stories in and on our pages. And we all have one thing in common: a boundless sense of wonder. Established in 1872, Popular Science is published by Bonnier Corp. Bonnier Corp. is one of the largest consumer publishing groups in the United States, and is the leading media company serving passionate, highly engaged audiences with more than 30 special interest magazines and related multimedia projects and events.

About Electrify America

Electrify America LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Volkswagen Group of America headquartered in Reston, VA and with an office in Pasadena, CA, is investing $2 billion over 10 years in Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) infrastructure, education and access. The investment will enable millions of Americans to discover the benefits of electric driving and support the build-out of a nationwide network of workplace, community and highway chargers that are convenient and reliable. For more information, visit www.electrifyamerica.com.