Eurac Research, together with the Bolzano-based company Alpitronic, and with support of Alperia / Neogy have successfully tested its Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) charging prototype, managing to charge two electric vehicles, a Hyundai IONIQ 5 and a Tesla Model 3 with power from a Nissan E-NV200 van.
The V2V charging prototype uses a modified Hypercharger 50, Alpitronic’s most compact and powerful charging device, to connect the van that provides power and the car that needs to be recharged. A power output of 20 kW was achieved during the test for both Hyundai and Tesla electric vehicles.
The relevant charging power allows to charge an electric vehicle short on power in a relatively short time, so that it can reach the nearest charging station.
V2V functionality allows the van’s own vehicle battery to be used as a source of power, eliminating the need to carry a separate high-voltage storage battery to charge the empty vehicle.
One of the advantages of this technology is its potential application in emergency situations. For instance, if a vehicle runs out of power before reaching a charging station, or if the charging station reached malfunctions, V2V charging can be a viable alternative. This aspect may become increasingly relevant as the number of electric vehicles on the road registers steady growth in the coming years.
Furthermore, the prototype’s usage is straightforward and immediate: the charging process can be easily started via the touch display on the Hypercharger, which was optimized to control the charge and discharge processes. This was a successful demo application of a prototype, for a market ready product still several steps are necessary.
