If the upcoming long-range electric cars are to be charged in less than an hour to up to at least 80% battery capacity, then the carmakers will need to substantially raise the power bar of their charging stations – in the same way as it was already done by Tesla Motors and their Supercharger.

As the first large serial carmaker that announced a long-range electric car with its E-Tron Quattro Concept, Audi is understandably quite involved in the development of the direct current (DC) fast charging station with 150 kW of power. Audi already announced a new alliance with BMW, Daimler, Opel, Porsche and Volkswagen called the Charging Interface Initiative e.V. (CharIN e.V. initiative).

The best way forward is the Combined Charging System (CCS) that makes it possible to charge electric cars with alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) via the Combo plug. According to Ricky Hudi, Head of Development for Electrics/Electronics at AUDI AG: "Together with our partners in the CharIn initiative, we are fully focusing on quick charging stations that are based on the CCS standard. This method is powerful, thoroughly developed and convenient."

Such a charger must be compatible with short-range previous EV models, which can only be charged at 40-50 kW as they don't accept high power. The question remains – how will other car manufactuers, which currently only work with CHAdeMO and other standars, adapt to the new CCS?