Bosch today announced World’s first electric-car charging cable with integrated technology for flexible recharging without a control box.The three-phase cable enables so-called mode 2 and mode 3 AC charging at up to 22 kilowatts. With the flexible smart charging cable, there is no need for a wallbox when recharging at home. This is what customers want. In Europe, 84 percent of electric car drivers recharge their vehicle at home in the evening or overnight (source: newmotion EV Driver Survey 2020).
The technology integrated into each of the plugs makes the recharging process safe and reliable. The type 2 connector at the vehicle end of the cable contains the components for controlling and monitoring the charging power. At the other end, the household plug with adapter houses the temperature control and a residual current device. This ensures that no overloading or overheating occurs even during regular recharging at a household power socket with up to 3 kilowatts of charging power. If necessary, the safety technology deactivates the cable before the situation becomes critical.
To be able to integrate the control and safety technology into the compact cable connectors, Bosch developers have significantly reduced the size of the electronics components compared to previous applications in control boxes. Here, they benefited from the miniaturization expertise that it is constantly developing within the company. The flexible smart charging cable is a great example of how Bosch is using innovative high-tech to make everyday life easier while helping electromobility achieve broader acceptance.
Bosch developed the new cable in a very short time: the development team succeeded in bringing the new charging cable to market maturity within just 18 months. Recharging electric cars has never been so easy with Bosch’s new flexible smart charging cable with integrated control and safety technology. Bosch’s new flexible smart charging cable does without the usual charging brick – as the bulky in-cable control box is colloquially known – when charging at a 230-volt power socket. The flexible smart charging cable, weighs less than three kilograms. On average, this is a good 40 percent less than conventional charging cables with a control box.
