Tesla’s superchargers are in great demand and the company can hardly keep up with the expansion. That’s why they decided to use additional mobile superchargers at some highly frequented charging stations. For example, diesel generators are not used for the power supply.
The mobile superchargers are powered by a large rechargeable battery called a megapack, which is also manufactured by Tesla. It lies on a low-bed trailer, around it are charging stations where the cars can plug on each other.
According to the company, such a megapack has up to 3 MWh storage capacity – enough to charge up to 100 Tesla vehicles. According to information from users, the individual charging stations will be able to charge the connected cars with up to 125 kW. Tesla owners had discovered such a mobile supercharger network in San Luis Obispo, California. There was a truck trailer with Megapack and suitable charging stations, as several photos on Twitter show.
So far, no user outside the USA has seen the mobile supercharger. It is therefore assumed that they will only be used locally. Whether they could also come to Europe remains questionable.
There is a market for mobile charging stations
Smaller start-ups can also experiment with mobile charging stations or rechargeable batteries. Chargery is one such candidate from Berlin who has developed a mobile charging service for electric vehicles. A battery transported by bicycle is connected to the vehicle, secured and picked up again at the end of the charging time. The batteries could be recharged in four hours, an electric car such as a BMW i3 or a Nissan Leaf. Together they have a capacity of 24 kWh.
Sixt sees a lot of potential in the Startup Chargery, so they are also investing in the development of their idea. It is “a flexible alternative to the hitherto little developed charging infrastructure”, explained the car rental company and announced that it would use the service for its electric fleet. Among other things, Sixt rents out the BMW i3 and BMW i8 electric cars. Various hybrid vehicles are also part of this fleet.
