The penetration of electric vehicles (EV) is closely related to the infrastructure construction of chargers. The charging time of EVs is inversely proportional to the power of chargers. In order to shorten the charging time to close to the time of traditional refueling, the development of chargers is moving towards liquid-cooled superfast charging at 350kW or above.
Its main approach is to adopt liquid cooling for the power module and charging cable to solve the heat problem during high-power charging. As liquid-cooled charging cables provide car owners with a better user experience, cable manufacturers with technical know-how are keenly investing in and leading the development of liquid-cooled charging cable systems.
Recently, liquid-cooled charging cable technology has received more attention and investment because it greatly improves the user experience of car owners. Compared with regular fast-charging cables, liquid-cooled charging cables are lighter, thinner and easier to handle, and they can effectively control temperature rise, allowing continuous charging with high current, and thereby reducing charging time.
Chart 1: EV-per-charger ratio in China, Europe and US, 2018-2023 (k units)
Table 5: Liquid-cooled cable specifications by cooling medium type
Chart 2: Liquid-cooled and 350kW regular charger prices and prices per kW (NT$k)
Chart 3: Cost structure of liquid-cooled charging gun system and comparison to regular system (NT$k)
Table 6: Players' roles in liquid-cooled charging gun system R&D and design