Ionity has inaugurated one of its largest charging parks in Merklingen, near Ulm, featuring a total of 24 High Power Charger (HPC) points. Notably, this facility marks the introduction of Alpitronic’s HYC400 charging points in collaboration with Ionity.
The HPC chargers at the Merklingen site are equipped with two charging points, each boasting a maximum capacity of 200 kW. Ionity refers to these chargers as Hyperchargers, distinguishing them from the regular Hypercharger software. Typically, when only one charging point is in use, higher outputs can be achieved, distributed between the two points in 50 kW increments. This deviates from the widely utilized HYC300 and HYC150 models, which distribute power in 75 kW increments but are not employed by Ionity.
In a departure from Ionity’s usual practice, the Merklingen charging park incorporates two different charging station models. Fourteen Ionity Halo model charging stations are positioned on one side, while on the other side, across a small green area, four HYC400 hyperchargers are deployed. This results in a total of 14 charging points offering 350 kW and eight hyperchargers providing at least 200 kW.
Ionity’s decision to integrate Alpitronic’s Hyperchargers stems from their ‘all-in-one’ design, eliminating the need for an external control cabinet and allowing flexible integration into existing and new Ionity locations. This approach streamlines civil engineering work, enhancing efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
The Merklingen facility is a significant addition to Ionity’s charging infrastructure in Germany, where the company currently operates 122 charging parks, mostly featuring four to six charging points. An additional 25 locations are under construction. As of December 2023, Ionity’s network spans over 550 charging parks with more than 3,000 charging points across 24 European countries.
