Designwerk On the winning side: Mega Charger wins smarter E AWARD 2024

19.05.2024 – The smarter E AWARD is part of Europe’s largest trade fair alliance “The smarter E Europe”, an international platform that showcases trends and developments in the field of the energy transition. The award was presented on the eve of the start of the trade fair to companies that impressed with particularly innovative technologies and products in the field of electromobility and charging infrastructure.

Designwerk Technologies AG qualified for the international award in 2024 with two of its new products. In addition to the mobile fast charger MDC 88-920, the Stationary Battery Backed Charging System (SBC), or Mega Charger for short, was also nominated. Both products made it through to the final round of the competition. The Mega Charger ultimately emerged as the winner in the e-mobility category, beating off strong competition. With this award, the jury recognized technically outstanding and pioneering solutions.

Our award winner

Together with partners, Designwerk has developed one of the world’s first megawatt charging stations for heavy electric trucks. The battery-buffered charging system is aimed at companies that want to significantly reduce the charging times of their commercial vehicles in continuous and shift operation. It combines innovative fast-charging technology with grid stability. The entire technology is housed in an industrial container and is designed to charge electric trucks up to six times faster than conventional 350 kW stations. With a battery capacity of 600 kWh, the new Megawatt Charging System (MCS) can charge from ten to 80 percent within a break of around 30 minutes. In the future, the SBC will also enable the intermediate storage of up to two megawatt hours of electricity thanks to high-voltage battery systems in second-life applications. This avoids peak loads in the power grid. The aim is to operate the charging stations in a grid-friendly manner. Two charging standards are available on the charging container so that the Mega Charger can be used in a wide range of applications: The new international standard Megawatt Charging System for charging capacities in the megawatt range and CCS for the currently widespread High Power Charging. In future, the mobile container will be able to charge up to two commercial vehicles with 1.4 megawatts at the same time. The scientific support for this technical innovation is being provided by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) and renowned industry and university partners. The Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH) and the University of Applied Sciences of Eastern Switzerland (OST) are also involved. In July 2024, the Mega Charger will be put into active daily operation at our customer Galliker Transport AG and put through its paces.

Our award finalist

At the same time, Designwerk Technologies launched the latest member of the mobile fast charger family at Power 2 Drive: the MDC 88-920. It combines the advantages of the existing product group – mobility, compatibility and uncompromising performance – in an unprecedented compact design. With a current of 250 amps and a voltage of up to 1000 volts, the MDC 88-920 achieves a continuous charging power of 84 kilowatts (kW). This means that even vehicles with large battery capacities, such as 450 kilowatts per hour, can be charged in less than four hours. Whether trucks, buses, ships or airplanes – the powerful MDC offers flexible and ultra-fast charging options for a wide range of applications. The castor set makes it easy to transport and flexible to use. The fast charger also features the latest generation of power electronics. It draws power from the standard industrial socket formats CEE 63 and CEE125 and can charge vehicles with the CCS type 1 and 2 charging standards, CHAdeMO and the Chinese GB/T standard. The NACS charging standard and the new MCS standard can also be integrated without any problems. This allows companies that have different connections at the main and secondary sites to swap cables easily and in a matter of seconds. Users receive straightforward support with charging management. Charging processes can be analyzed and diagnoses created via interfaces.