Meet the EV equivalent of a full jerry can – a 141-kilowatt-hour battery charger on wheels that can drive autonomously wherever it’s needed, flexibly expanding charging networks and providing much-needed juice to stranded drivers.

Chinese auto giant Wuling unveiled two mobile electric vehicle charging stations in Guangzhou last week, one about the size of an ice cream cart and the other much larger at 7.5 feet tall, 6.5 feet long and 3, 1 feet wide (2280 x 940). x 1969 mm) capable of autonomous driving.

The main need addressed by Wuling’s four-wheeled and self-powered batteries is to allow electric vehicle charging stations to expand if demand increases.

Wuling

If you think lines at gas stations can be long, think how long the line at an electric vehicle charging station could get on a holiday weekend in a city of ten million people – once most vehicles on the road are electric…

This is happening much earlier in China than in the West. China is converting its entire road fleet to electric vehicles at a staggering rate, which is only eclipsed by small scandinavian countries with populations the size of mid-tier Chinese cities combined with enormous wealth driven by massive GDP per capita figures. It’s hard to see any other large country coming close to what the Middle Kingdom has achieved so far.

Mike Hanlon/New Atlas

Tests in China, Wuling says, have shown that this autonomous battery, which currently has a top speed of 5 km/h, can substantially increase the efficiency and flexibility of an electric vehicle charging station.

The Wuling EV Autonomous Charging Station debuted at the Canton Fair (also known as the China Import and Export Fair 2024) in Guangzhou last week, and the image above captured my first look at the product while I was I ran into him on the exhibition floor.

The aim is to sell ‘Mobile Energy Storage Charging Vehicles’ (MESCVs) in various battery capacities, with the range-topping 141kWh self-driving model fetching a very reasonable $42,000.

Wuling calls this new breed of vehicle the “Mobile Energy Storage Charging Vehicle” (MESCV) and it was created in response to the current needs of the Chinese market, and we can see countless uses for it beyond adding flexibility to charging stations.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see these vehicles become commonplace in car dealerships and service centers, and perhaps any campus or factory that needs a portable power source or charging facility from time to time (I mean all of them). The idea is for MESCV to charge when rates are lowest and be available to revive dead batteries anywhere.

The smaller mobile energy storage charging vehicle VA100T comes with 30KWH, a 20KW charging gun and will sell for $11,000.

Metaphorically, these cars are the electric vehicle equivalent of a can of gas, and in a country leading the way in the new energy vehicle economy, we expect an even bigger powerbank to eventually be available in a system faster, able to drive on the highway. autonomous vehicle that road service companies around the world will buy in bulk.

Source: Wuling