ROME – In terms of sustainable mobility, electric solutions are generally opposed to those that use natural gas or hydrogen. L-Charge has managed to bring together the 3 alternative energies to advance lithium battery vehicles. Its goal is to recharge the batteries of electric cars in no more time than it takes to fill a petrol or diesel tank. A bet that does not depend on his will alone, but also and above all on the limits of the technology of the cells incorporated in electric cars. Suffice it to say immediately that today it is practically impossible with energy capacities that now most often exceed 50 kWh. But tomorrow, with other chemicals or with supercapacitors, all of this will become possible. Meanwhile, the solutions proposed by L-Charge are of relative interest, but nevertheless real.
The least that can be said is that the young Russian company does not foresee half measures. For the heart of its stationary charging unit, it chose to place a Jenbacher J312 engine that still weighs around 8.1 tons. Hence the use of a real container. The generator set, which according to its manufacturer agrees to run on natural gas, propane, pyrolysis gas, mining gas and many others, has a footprint of 4.7 x 1.8 m, for a height of 2.3 m . It develops a power available for charging up to 600 kW. This causes L-Charge to say that with its solutions it is the electric vehicle that will limit the operating time, and not the charging equipment. Higher versions have also been studied by the company.
On its website, L-Charge assures that its stationary solution would be able to deliver up to 7,200 kWh per day. Enough to recharge 288 electric cars with an average of 25 kWh, using liquid natural gas (LNG). Motorway rest stops, conventional petrol stations and car parks could be equipped with an L-Charge container in less than 24 hours and with no other connections. The container could also be connected to national and / or local natural gas distribution networks.
As for mobile stations, the company has already considered several solutions, starting with a van equipped with a 120 kW charging system. A demonstrator on an Isuzu truck has already been tested and put into service, with usable power up to 250 kW. L-Charge indicates for its mobile unit the possibility of recharging up to 48 electric cars per day, for a total of 1,440 kWh.
To justify its solutions, L-Charge presents several arguments: users of electric vehicles feel the lack of charging points in public areas; citizens do not buy electric vehicles for fear of not being able to recharge their batteries; fast chargers grow too slowly; the reference to the time to fill up with fuel makes drivers of electric vehicles unhappy; there are no stations to accommodate heavy vehicles; the electricity network to cover a myriad of public charging points is currently very limited.
The young Russian company stresses that the carbon emissions of its plants would be around 70 grams of CO2 per kilometer traveled thanks to the use of liquefied natural gas. That probably translates a little too generously into a 68% reduction in air emissions compared to diesel models. For these infrastructures, however, the comparison with the European electricity grid, and the French one in particular, does not seem to have the ability to compete. L-Charge, however, definitely points towards North America and China.
The roadmap initially presented by the startup inevitably suffered from the Covid-19 pandemic. However, a first charging truck is running in Moscow making several refuelings via the Combo CCS connector. L-Charge plans to equip Paris, Amsterdam, London, Berlin, Barcelona and New York with pilot mobile stations, with infrastructure development, in the period 2022-2023. China is expected to follow in the following period.
The data expected for 2022, however, at the moment, are modest, with orders for only 10 mobile stations and as many containers. By 2026 the total number of units delivered could instead exceed the threshold of 2000 units. The turnover would therefore go from 10 million to 2 billion dollars (from 8.8 million to 1.76 billion euros). Now, L-Charge is focusing on two mobile stations that will be put into operation in London this year
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