The Audi Charging Hub has been a success, and new centres will be opened

Nowadays, when we fill up our vehicle’s fuel tank, it takes only a few minutes to complete the task, the complete opposite of electric vehicles, which, at least for now, need much longer to recover acceptable energy levels, however fast the charging. Because of this, charging zones, mainly petrol stations, have stopped being mere places to pass through and have become places for leisure and entertainment.

But if you are a Audi customer, and if everything continues to go as well as it has so far, this waiting experience while your vehicle charges will be in line with your vehicle’s segment, that is, premium. Just before the start of summer 2021, the German brand presents its pilot project Audi Charging Hub, which consists of high-power charging stations (HPC) that also feature, on an upper floor, a space to enjoy various services as well as snacks and drinks while our vehicle charges.

Audi launched its first Audi Charging Hub in the city of Nuremberg, which, we remind you, serves as a recycling point for lithium-ion batteries that are reused and has a storage capacity of approximately 2.45 MWh, with six charging centres that deliver up to 300 kW and require a standard high-voltage connection of 400 volts, so only 11 kW per container is needed to recharge the batteries of the three storage modules overnight. To support the recharging of these batteries, there are solar panels that provide up to 30 kW of additional green energy.

Between January and the end of April of this year, 2022 alone, Audi recorded 3,100 charging sessions at its Nuremberg centre, which amounts to an average of 24 charges of around 800 kWh per day across its six high-power charging points. The upper room, of about 200 m² with a 40 m² terrace, received an average of 35 customers per day, a figure the German brand says is growing. That is why this Audi Charging Hub pilot project has been a success for the brand with the four rings, so it will go ahead, and Audi has already announced where the new centres will be located.

Audi has confirmed that the next city to receive a Audi Charging Hub will be Zurich, in the heart of the city’s banking and insurance district, which will be more compact than the one in Nuremberg and will feature special characteristics such as a redesigned swivel arm to make charging easier, which can be carried out with a power of up to 320 kW. In addition, the screens located at the charging points are height-adjustable, and there is enough space between the pods and the cars to allow the necessary mobility for wheelchair users.

After Zurich, in the second half of 2022, it will be the turn of Salzburg and Berlin, with a compact version similar to the one found in the Swiss city. But this does not end here, since in 2023 three other German cities will receive the Audi Charging Hub and, in mid-2024, other German cities to which Audi has proposed candidacy will also join.