Audi opens new EV charging lounge for Christmas

Audi is set to open the world's first lounge-style electric vehicle charging hub in its home market of Germany.

It will complete Audi’s rollout of new rapid charging sites, although the inaugural EV lounge in Nuremberg is much different from usual drive-in spots.

Sitting close to the city’s exhibition centre, it is in a prime spot for business and connected travellers and will open its doors from December 23.

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With the pilot location, Audi is road-testing this new charging concept for the first time. “We want to use it to test flexible and premium-oriented quick-charging infrastructure in urban space,” said Ralph Hollmig, Audi's charging hub project manager.

“We’re going where our customers don’t necessarily wake up in the morning with a fully charged electric car and at the same time thinking about increasing charging demand in the future.”

The hub has a huge 2.45MWh (2450kWh) of electric storage to keep up with high charging demand, and the storage means the connection into the lounge is just a 200kW green power connection already available. The 200kW input continually fills the storage modules and solar panels on the roof additionally provide up to 30kW of green energy.

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Peak charging rates of up to 320kW can be obtained at six charging points. A total of about 80 vehicles can be charged per day without reaching the limits of the energy storage system’s capacity combined with the hub’s 200kW power input.

The Audi hub aims to meet "customers' expectations of a premium charging experience", with a fully staffed 200-square-metre business-style lounge they are expected to spend around half an hour at. The modernist building is produced from "flexible container cubes" that are moveable so it can be packed up and moved if required.

“Our customers will share multiple benefits,” says project manager Hollmig. “With an exclusive reservation option, a lounge area, short idle time thanks to high charging capacity, and a novel swivel arm to simplify handling the cable.”