Unassuming Black Box Can Charge EVs At Up To 400 kW With A Household Connection

• The Smart Charging Cube is a portable DC fast charging cabinet.
• It can charge up to four EVs at a maximum speed of 400 kW.
• Thanks to a set of huge batteries, it doesn’t need a powerful grid connection.

This is the Smart Charging Cube, a modular and portable DC fast charger that can accommodate up to four electric vehicles at once. Its party trick is that it can deliver up to 400 kilowatts of power without needing a powerful grid connection.

It can even output up to 1,000 kW if it’s connected to an external Megawatt Charging System (MCS) cabinet. Meanwhile, the minimum mains connection current is just 32 amps, which is usually the norm for a simple household connection in Europe. That said, the input current can go as high as 630 amps because there’s a huge battery that needs to be charged when there’s no EV connected to the charger.

With a capacity ranging between 500 kilowatt-hours and a whopping 1,100 kilowatt-hours, the Smart Charging Cube is essentially an EV fast charger with an integrated battery that can operate anywhere without needing to excavate the ground. That’s a big bonus in places like temporary job sites, where electric trucks need a top-up from now and then.

It’s worth noting that while the battery-powered fast charger can be hooked up to a regular household mains connection with just 32A, it would take three and a half days to completely fill up the largest-capacity battery available at 400 volts. Meanwhile, with a 630A connection, it would take just four hours.

The Smart Charging Cube is made by a German company called AW Automotive, which specializes in making stationary battery storage systems. This particular version of the charging cube is sold by Man Truck & Bus, which builds several electric trucks and buses, but the original product, known as the PowerCube, has been deployed by several other entities.

In the United States, similar solutions have been developed by companies like FreeWire and Electric Era, though these chargers feature much smaller batteries that are only suitable for passenger EVs and not big trucks.