The Basque technology center Ikerlan has developed a second generation of chargers for the vehicles of the Wattson Charge company. This company is the author of the most powerful mobile network of chargers for electric vehicles in the State. IKERLAN has developed and integrated the power and communication electronics systems needed to convert a 200 kWh battery bank into a mobile charger. The charging power is 300 kW, and it has the ability to charge two vehicles at the same time.

Thanks to the technology developed by the Basque technology center IKERLAN for the company Wattson Charge, it is possible to charge an electric vehicle with a range of 100 km in less than 5 minutes without saturating the electric network and without having to go near an electric line. IKERLAN has been responsible for developing and integrating the second generation of power and communication electronics systems for mobile chargers installed inside an electric city van. Thus, Wattson Charge drives the van to the customer's location for service.

The company Wattson Charge is located in Madrid, and for now, it has created the first network of ultra-fast mobile chargers for urban electric vehicles in the State. It is a sustainable solution to the lack of ultrafast power lines and the difficulties of having adequate power in some areas of the Spanish public electricity network.

The Basque technological center and Wattson Charge presented the new system today at IKERLAN's facilities in Galar. In that facility there are laboratories for energy storage and electric mobility, where the prototypes have been developed. A clear example of this is the technology transfer project carried out by IKERLAN to the market, the main area of activity, which is growing year by year and currently accounts for 54% of the overall turnover (15.8 million euros in 2023).
"We have developed and integrated the power and communication electronics systems necessary to turn a 200 kWh battery bank into a mobile ultrafast charger that offers a special service to the electric vehicle network," explained Aitor Milo, senior researcher in the Energy Storage and Management team at IKERLAN.

With a charger with 300 kW power and two hoses, each van can charge two vehicles at the same time. This allows Wattson Charge to optimize its service for commercial customers - taxi companies, car hire or last mile transport. Currently, the fleet of electric vehicles rented by Europcar, Enterprise or Mutua Madrileña's Voltio receives the benefits of ultra-fast charging from Wattson Charge.

"It takes 5-10 hours to charge a destination, but the ultrafast electric lines of up to 300 kW can do it in a few minutes. However, only 1% of public chargers are ultra-fast, which is critical for companies with commercial fleets, as they cannot keep vehicles out of service for long periods of time. In addition, we bring the charger closer to the vehicle without expensive investment, installation or permits, and this is highly appreciated by our customers, as it gives them convenience, speed and profitability", says Rubén Valiente, product and operations manager and co-founder of Wattson Charge.

Encouraging the spread of electric mobility

This mobile charging network, currently operating in Madrid, offers the opportunity to contribute to the spread of electric mobility in the context of the decarbonisation of transport, and solves three challenges that the sector has to face: the speed of the charging process, the presence of ultra-fast charging points and the demands of high power peaks in the electric grid. to endure

"With today's electric infrastructure and energy demand, the electrification of transport is a problem when the process is stopped: the more electric vehicles and the faster the charging speed, the numbers rise, and the possible peaks of demand exceed the ultra-fast chargers that are intended to have power installed in most places. However, these off-grid batteries help to charge the vehicle to 300 kW, without overloading the electrical grid," explains Luis Mir, IKERLAN's head of Energy Storage and Power Electronics.

This collaboration with Wattson Charge is not the first domestic electric vehicle charging project developed by IKERLAN. In recent years, the technological center has carried out numerous projects of battery chargers and energy storage systems with the companies CESVIMAP MAPFRE, PREMIUM, VELTIUM, CEGASA or NUUK.

About the RESEARCH

IKERLAN is a pioneering center in technology transfer and in the contribution of competitive value to industry. It offers comprehensive solutions in three different technological areas combining: digital technologies and artificial intelligence, embedded electronic systems and cyber security, and mechatronic and energy technologies. Today, it has a team of 420 people, with headquarters in Arrasat, Donostia and Bilbao.