Audi opens charging hub in Berlin

Following the locations in Nuremberg and Zurich, the Four Rings are now relying on a local partner company in Berlin and using the existing power connection. The neighboring Frischeparadies, with its attractive shopping market and gourmet bistro, is the cooperation partner for the hub and provides its power connection for it. In the future, Frischeparadies and Audi charging hub will be supplied via a shared power line, which both partners will distribute according to their needs and load.

“With our dynamic load regulation, we shift our energy demand to a time of day when Frischeparadies draws less load from the grid,” explains Elias Hammer, responsible at Audi for the rollout in Berlin and for the energy system integration of the Audi charging hub.

Second Life Batteries as Buffer Storage

The charging station equipped with Second Life batteries charges the buffer storage only when the Frischeparadies requires little electricity. With its self-developed intelligent and dynamic load control, Audi ensures efficient use of the existing power infrastructure. When choosing the location, Audi relies on an in-house data analysis that checks the local demand in advance.

"Berlin is thus another successful example of our intelligent charging concept," says Ralph Hollmig, project manager for the Audi charging hub. "In this way, we will manage all locations as efficiently and sustainably as possible. We are working on optimizing energy management. We can even envision a future where we engage in smart trading with exchange electricity. This also means, for example, that we buy electricity from renewable sources when it is cheap."

Thanks to the buffer storage from second-life batteries, which come from dismantled test vehicles from Audi, the company can bring a sustainable fast-charging infrastructure to places where the power grid would not be sufficient to constantly operate four high-power charging (HPC) points with up to 320 kW. While the fast-charging infrastructure without buffer storage currently often has to wait a long time for the required transformers, the Audi charging hub makes the best possible use of the existing infrastructure.