Shell’s European subsidiary SBRS introduces new 500-kW Shell PowerPack 500 depot chargers for heavy-duty electric vehicles.

The Shell PowerPack 500 is an interesting example of an all-in-one DC fast charger that can be upgraded to a small distributed system.

The primary block of the Shell PowerPack 500 is a 500-kW charger with two ports (CCS2 in Europe), which means that it can charge two EVs simultaneously, actively allocating the available power between them with an 80-kW granularity. The peak current is 600 amps, while the maximum voltage is 1,000 volts.

However, if the company’s needs increase, the system can be expanded to include up to two dual-head charging dispensers, for a total of six stalls. The power output remains at 500 kW, distributed between up to four or up to six EVs, which might be an interesting option, as many depots are power-constrained.

It’s worth noting that in North America, Tesla recently introduced the Basecharger, a 125-kW all-in-one charger for depots, with an option for expansion to three stalls (three Basechargers daisy-chained on a single breaker).

In other words, we have examples of a new wave of depot EV chargers with flexible expansion options.

The Shell PowerPack 500 is currently available in select European markets, but as the market develops, we should see similar solutions globally.