Audi Has Some Rad Ideas for an EV Charging Lounge
Audi's Charging Hubs are designed to provide EV owners with a cushy place to hang out while their vehicles are charging.
Luxurious Hubs
With more and more EVs hitting the road, there is a huge need for infrastructure to ensure EV owners have places to charge when needed. And while some might be happy to visit a charging station with zero frills, Audi has a much better idea - luxurious lounges called Audi Charging Hubs, which provide a comfy place to hang out while owners wait for their electric vehicles to finish charging.
Photos: Audi
Airport Experience
Even the exterior of the charging hubs is attractive to look at, with lots of LED lighting, a modern design, and Audi branding everywhere. Inside, owners will find a luxurious lounge befitting of their vehicle of choice, as well as a full array of snacks, beverages, and what the automaker simply refers to as "non-food" items.
Photos: Audi
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Familiar Appearance
Audi says the interior of its charging hubs is designed to look a lot like the interiors of its vehicles, so they'll be quite familiar for owners. The automaker only provided three images of these proposed hubs, but we can get a good sense of what to expect from them.
Photos: Audi
>>Join the conversation about Audi's EV Lounge right here in the Audi World Forum!
Fast Charging
Though one could theoretically pass a good bit of time in these hubs and be quite content, they certainly won't have to. Audi says its stations will be equipped with chargers that are capable of providing up to 270 kW of juice, which means that your e-tron GT can go from a 5 percent to 80 percent state of charge in just 23 minutes, provided you're getting that full 270 kW.
Photos: Audi
>>Join the conversation about Audi's EV Lounge right here in the Audi World Forum!
Portable Power
What's particularly unique about Audi's charging hubs, however, is the fact that they're modular and transportable. The charging pillars are housed in "cubes" and use recycled lithium-ion batteries, each capable of holding 2.45 Mwh of energy and using just a 400V hook-up in place of high-voltage cables.
Photos: Audi
>>Join the conversation about Audi's EV Lounge right here in the Audi World Forum!
Limited Stalls
Audi says the cubes can be charged overnight and receive more energy from solar panels during the day, then they can be packed up and moved elsewhere as needed. Each hub will have six charging stations in total, which helps portability but also limits the number of owners that can charge up at any given time. To solve that problem, Audi will let owners reserve stalls ahead of time.
Photos: Audi
>>Join the conversation about Audi's EV Lounge right here in the Audi World Forum!
Coming Soon
Audi will open its first charging hub in Germany soon, but there are currently no plans to bring one to the U.S., unfortunately. But we imagine that as EV makers like Tesla continue to offer more luxurious charging experiences stateside, Audi will be forced to follow suit in some capacity, even if it's at a more permanent location.
Photos: Audi
>>Join the conversation about Audi's EV Lounge right here in the Audi World Forum!
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