Author: Zhu Yulong

The XPeng Supercharge Conference mainly showcased XPeng’s plans for charging infrastructure. Compared to data from the Charging Alliance, car companies also need to analyze their own situations in order to establish self-operated charging facilities.

XPeng showcased two things this time: the self-developed S4 supercharging pile and the rapid charging capability of the subsequent G9. The maximum power of a single S4 pile is 480 kW, the maximum current is 670 A, the peak charging power is 400 kW, and it supports XPeng G9. According to the current demonstration, it only takes 5 minutes to charge 200 km (CLTC).

The current layout of the main charging facilities of car companies is as follows:

• Tesla: According to corporate data released, as of the end of June, Tesla has built more than 1,200 supercharging stations and more than 8,700 supercharging piles in mainland China, as well as more than 700 destination charging stations and more than 1,800 destination charging piles.

• XPeng Motors: As of August 15, there are 1,000 self-operated stations, 799 supercharging stations, and 201 destination stations. According to the data from the Charging Alliance, XPeng has 4,015 rapid charging piles and 502 AC piles.

• NIO: As of August 9, there are 10,443 charging piles, 821 destination charging stations, and 4,980 destination charging piles (it is not clear how many are AC and how many are small DC); 936 supercharging stations and 5,091 supercharging piles have been built.

Rapid charging speed

The most surprising thing in this test is the charging current. The XPeng G9 started pre-sales on August 10. It is the first model to support XPeng S4 super fast charging. The car comes in two versions: single-motor with a range of up to 702 km and dual-motor with a range of 650 km. Both versions are equipped with a 98 kWh ternary lithium battery, and the power is indeed very high.The fast charging voltage is 691V, the current is 631Ah, and the power is 437kW. Estimated by 98kWh, the peak power of 4.46C is terrifying.

However, the vehicle displayed can indeed increase 210 kilometers after 5 minutes of charging.

This is how I understand it: the XPeng S4 fast charging pile currently displayed does have the ability to output 800V and 670A. It actually operates in a high voltage + high current mode, and can provide high-power charging for both types of vehicles. Compared with Tesla’s 250kW Super Charging V3, it has also been improved by one level, which is a challenge to the upcoming Super Charging V4. Porsche’s Turbo charging pile with 350kW fast charging also became part of the background, and 500A became the smallest current now.

In addition, the existing fast charging test results may also be similar to the Aion series before. In August last year, Aion officially released the super-speed battery technology that can achieve “charging for 5 minutes, driving for 200 kilometers” and the A480 super charging pile with the highest charging power in the world. The “world’s fastest charging speed world record challenge” live broadcast on the entire network, the SPEED++ team, and the AION mysterious challenge vehicle that carried the super-speed battery technology successfully achieved a score of “charging for 5 minutes, driving for 207 kilometers” and obtained the authority of the World Record Certification Agency (WRCA) Certification.

My main question is whether the G9, which will be released in 2022, has the ability of 400kW+ fast charging. Based on the characteristics of the mass-produced battery cells, there are two possibilities here.

• This is visible on the 98kWh product currently displayed.- This may also be a futures product to be pushed to 2023, and XPeng’s move is a bit similar to Aion.

Of course, we kindly believe that it should be the first possibility.

Charging Layout

The interesting part is that with XPeng’s fast charging pile, this momentum has come out—because if the station is built, you can’t fast charge without the ability, which is a bit like issuing a challenge to car companies and especially able to make consumers feel the difference. Therefore, the core of this release is still centered around the super replenishment system layout, and then create an atmosphere to give you a reason to change cars.

• 2022: The top 10 cities with XPeng G9 orders will concentrate on building S4 super fast charging stations;

• 2023: To explore key cities and provide ultimate replenishment experience on core expressways with S4 stations;

• 2025: Through intelligent, efficient, and high-quality replenishment solutions, create a 3 km energy station for car owners to build a residential area, and it is expected to build 2,000 XPeng super fast charging stations by 2025.

This has evolved into a question of how infrastructure is built and can mobilize users’ enthusiasm.

The improvements to XPeng’s S4 super charging pile include a 36% reduction in the weight of the gun line, mainly for different user groups to single-handedly hold the gun, plug and charge, touch and stop, intelligent power distribution, and any charging pile can output the maximum charging power, which can ensure the operation efficiency of the charging station. Liquid-cooled charging gun, active real-time temperature rise monitoring, high-power charging is also safe. The biggest challenge here is whether safety includes batteries.

Summary: My understanding is that this is a round of marketing promotion specifically for the 800V vehicle system. I am looking forward to China’s super fast charging, whether it is Guangzhou Automobile or XPeng. Let’s take a look at what kind of black technology has been used to ensure that the battery does not affect safety or affect lifespan under this work condition.

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.