Following his participation in the latest virtual summit of Mobility Portal Europe, Daniel Alarcón, Technical Director at ABB E-Mobility, confirms that the company is developing a split architecture based on a direct current bus (DC bus).
The goal is clear: to maximise energy efficiency in charging systems for electric vehicles, especially in high-power environments such as heavy-duty fleets and logistics hubs.
In the traditional model, energy from solar sources or storage systems passes through an inverter to be converted into alternating current (AC), before being transformed back into direct current (DC) to power the vehicle.
This process leads to an energy loss of between 5% and 10%, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
“The DC bus allows both photovoltaic generation and batteries to inject energy directly, without intermediate conversions,” explains Alarcón.
This represents a qualitative leap in operational efficiency, at a time when infrastructure is beginning to scale towards megawatt-level power.
According to the EAFO platform, in 2023 Europe surpassed 12,000 charging points with more than 150 kW, and that number is expected to triple before 2025. This growth demands not only more chargers but also a complete reengineering of the associated electrical network to avoid bottlenecks.
Smart charging: technical efficiency and financial logic
ABB stresses that the design of new hubs must consider the economics of each individual charging point. Many current installations are oversized or poorly distributed, resulting in underutilised capital and uncertain returns.
“We need to think about unit economics per charging point,” the company states.
A report by McKinsey & Company agrees: one of the most common mistakes in the deployment of fast chargers is failing to have a viable business model per station.
ABB’s proposed architecture allows for power to be modularly distributed from a central cabinet to multiple chargers, adjusting the supply to actual demand. Each node thus operates with its own economic logic, reducing operational costs, optimising energy use, and facilitating scalability.
Available solutions and industrial capacity
Among the products already aligned with this logic is the ABB Terra 360, an ultra-fast charger of up to 360 kW that enables simultaneous charging of up to four vehicles.
This unit, designed for service stations, urban areas, and commercial fleets, allows for dynamic power distribution without intermediate AC/DC conversions, aligning with the principles of DC bus-based architecture.
At the same time, the company has reinforced its production capacity with the inauguration of its plant in Valdarno, Italy, considered the most advanced of its kind in the world.
There, a fast charger is manufactured every 20 minutes, strengthening the supply of advanced solutions across Europe, including Spain.
Interoperability and smart management: beyond the hardware
Technical efficiency is not enough without a good user experience. In Europe, more than 20% of fast charging sessions experience failures or interruptions, according to a study by Delta-EE.
The causes: vehicle-charger incompatibility, authentication errors, and a lack of standardisation across platforms.
“There’s been a disastrous user experience,” Alarcón admits.
ABB proposes a model inspired by the mobile telecommunications ecosystem: an interoperable network, managed centrally and constantly monitored.
“It’s not just about installing more charging points, but about orchestrated growth of all the elements,” he points out.
The company promotes the concept of “managed assets”, where each charger is monitored in real time through key indicators such as charging success rate, availability, and average session duration. This approach enables predictive management, reduces failures, and continuously improves the experience.
The ultimate goal: for charging an electric vehicle to be as simple as plugging in and using, without depending on multiple apps or prior planning.
