The environmental technology award of the state of Baden-Württemberg 2023 goes to MAHLE chargeBIG. The subsidiary of the automotive supplier MAHLE wins in the category “measurement, control and regulation technology, Industry 4.0” with the charging solution chargeBIG6. It is specially designed for charging electric cars in apartment buildings and for smaller fleets.
chargeBIG6 is easy to connect to existing home power connections and can charge up to six electric cars. State Secretary Dr. Andre Baumann in the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Energy Economics of an “important solution for e-mobility”.
The award is a confirmation of our approach: chargeBIG6 uses the existing electricity connection in a house. “We are bringing e-mobility to market faster,” explains Sebastian Ewert, founder and CEO of MAHLE chargeBIG GmbH. The expansion of the charging infrastructure is a crucial prerequisite for the advance of e-mobility.”
With the addition of chargeBIG6 to its product range, MAHLE chargeBIG addresses small users. In apartment buildings, single-user solutions, such as wall boxes, place a heavy burden on the power connection. If additional charging points are to be added, a new and more powerful power connection is often required, which is associated with additional costs. In apartment buildings, the charging point is part of the existing grid connection of the corresponding apartment. The billing takes place via the respective residential electricity meter. No separate billing system is required. The lockable socket protects against misuse.
chargeBIG6 is easy to install via plug & play, inexpensive and easy to expand. The integrated load management ensures intelligent utilization of the existing grid connection and prevents overloading. The charging system consists of standard components for control cabinet construction. In the event of a defect, only the affected component must be replaced – in contrast to classic individual solutions, where the entire wallbox often has to be replaced.
The expansion of the charging infrastructure is of great importance for e-mobility. Individual solutions without intelligent control are not sustainable. They put more strain on the power connection of, for example, apartment buildings and as demand increases, a new, more powerful power connection must be installed quickly. We say: first use the existing power connection intelligently before the excavator has to move in for connection expansion,” says Michael Wagner, product developer at MAHLE chargeBIG. Since we have developed chargeBIG6 around load management, it is technically more powerful and at the same time easier. With this concept, we are able to be significantly cheaper – with products made in Germany.”
The Ministry of Environment, Climate and Energy Baden-Württemberg awards the Environmental Technology Award Baden-Württemberg every two years. The prize is to be awarded for outstanding and innovative products and processes in environmental technology. The prize money is 100,000 euros and will be distributed in four categories and a special prize from the jury. The categories are divided into “energy efficiency”, “material efficiency”, “emission reduction, processing and separation” and “measurement, control and regulation technology, Industry 4.0”.
