Convenient charging of electric cars with Terra SC

Electromobility gets a boost from new Terra SC chargers

ABB has launched its Terra Smart Connect (SC) DC charger. The innovative, economically priced product will substantially improve the payback of fast charger installations for electric cars in Europe. Terra SC will be available for ordering in small quantities in Europe in the second quarter of 2012.

Photo by ABB

Terra SC is specially designed for fast charging in the commercial and office areas. It fully charges an electric car in 30 to 120 minutes, while the driver is in a meeting or goes to watch a movie. The Terra SC is also perfectly suited for people who want to drive further, but do not necessarily need a full charge. It can charge the batteries of currently available electric cars from thirty percent to eighty percent in less than half an hour.
Standard Terra SCs have a stainless steel housing suitable for installation outdoors, an intuitive user interface with an eight-inch full-color touchscreen and the intelligent interface features for which ABB’s Terra chargers are known. It is quick and easy to install at almost any location thanks to its ultraflat design and easy tiedown points for floor and wall mounting, taking up very little space. Furthermore, Terra SC has a widely used three-phase 32 A input, so that, unlike many other DC fast chargers, the power supply does not need a costly upgrade.

Full range of connectivity features

The Terra SC is a web-connected charger that comes with a full range of connectivity features, including remote assistance, management and servicing and smart software upgradeability. Its key optional features include RFiD and PIN code authorization, a billing interface for parking operators and a web-based statistics module with data per user to support energy usage reporting. ABB’s connectivity suite supports all existing and future connection standards within the same network.

Photo by ABB

Terra SC perfectly complements ABB’s existing fast-charge solutions portfolio. ABB’s highway fast chargers, Terra 51 and Terra Base Station 100.2 with multiple connections, are mainly for use at sites that offer fifteen to thirty minute “charge and go” services. Terra SC is a cheaper alternative for locations where people are inclined to spend a number of hours and do not necessarily need to charge their vehicles in fifteen to thirty minutes.

Convenient charging with the Terra SC is therefore perfectly suited for company car parks, fleet operators, (off street) parking operators, rental companies, car dealerships, EV infrastructure service providers, roadside meeting places and shopping malls. ABB will launch a standard version with a 20 kW DC charger and a dedicated company fleet version, which also features two integrated alternating current (AC) connections for 8-hour charging, allowing three cars to be charged simultaneously.
The increasing number of electric vehicles is boosting global market opportunities for charging solutions, including highly developed monitoring systems and software to support the grid. ABB estimates that the market size for charging infrastructure solutions will be USD 1 billion by 2017. Since launching the first commercially operated European fast charging stations in the Netherlands in May 2010, ABB has supplied and installed many DC charging stations and networks in the entire region. In January, ABB won an order for the construction of a network of 200 fast charging stations in Estonia. It will be the world’s first nationwide DC charging infrastructure.