BMW Group Installs Public ‘400kW Ultra-Fast Charger
BMW Group Korea (CEO Han Sang-yoon) has installed and begun operating the nation’s first public ‘400kW ultra-fast chargers’ to maximize charging convenience for electric vehicle owners.
Leading the quantitative and qualitative growth of the domestic EV charging infrastructure, BMW Group Korea has completed the installation of a total of four 400kW ultra-fast chargers: two at the BMW Charging Hub Lounge near Seoul Station, a key hub, and two at the BMW Driving Center in Yeongjongdo, Incheon.
The new 400kW ultra-fast charger delivers two to four times the output of existing 100~200kW fast chargers. Consequently, for 800V high-voltage architecture EVs like the New BMW iX3, it takes only 8.5 minutes to charge an 80kWh-class battery from 10% to 80%, enhancing the charging experience for EV users.
Notably, this ultra-fast charger is designed to benefit not only 800V architecture vehicles but also owners of existing 400V architecture EVs. Although the charging speed of typical 400V-class vehicles is limited by the charger’s current limit, BMW Group Korea’s 400kW ultra-fast charger expands the maximum current to 500A, boosting the maximum available output to approximately 200kW. As a result, charging time for 400V-class vehicles is also reduced by about 1.7 times.
BMW Group Korea has also placed value on the technical stability and quietness of the 400kW ultra-fast charger. To address the inevitable heat generation issues during high-power charging, a water-cooling system has been applied in parallel, unlike the previous forced air-cooling standalone structure. This prevents overheating of the cable and connector, consistently maintaining high-power charging performance without output degradation.
Furthermore, despite being an ultra-fast charger, its operating noise has been lowered to 65dB or less, providing a pleasant environment for waiting customers and minimizing the potential for noise-related complaints. Additionally, the overall system is equipped with protection systems including ▲ output overvoltage and overcurrent protection systems ▲ leakage, cable overheating, and cooling anomaly detection devices ▲ and an emergency stop button, enhancing reliability.
Meanwhile, since the end of 2022, BMW Group Korea has been sequentially opening ‘BMW Charging Stations,’ public premium charging stations, nationwide. In 2023, it announced the mid-to-long-term charging infrastructure expansion project ‘Charging Next’ and has completed the installation of a total of 3,030 EV chargers nationwide to date. It plans to continue quantitative growth, expanding to a total of 4,000 units within this year.
Having achieved qualitative innovation by adding relaxation to charging with the establishment of the BMW Group’s first lounge-type charging space, ‘BMW Charging Hub Lounge,’ near Seoul Station in 2024, BMW Group Korea is setting the standard for EV charging infrastructure in the domestic automotive market, including the opening of an ‘ESG Charging Station’ this year that adds eco-friendly value to charging.
