Most tow truck operators would prefer that the motorist drive instead of being towed to the nearest facility. For the electric car motorist who ran out of charge on the road, Rapid Charging becomes the equivalent of the “1 gallon of gas” road assistance.

There are concerns that Rapid Charging may reduce the life of the vehicle battery, the Rapid Charging for most drivers should only occur a few times during the batteries life.

Polar’s Rapid Charging is limited to the Level 3 charging guidelines as established by the battery manufacturer. Many electric vehicles models are being supplied with a DC connector that goes direct to the Battery and not through the on board AC charger; this is referred to as a Level 3 connection. The battery has an internal management system (BMS) that monitors each cell’s: temperature and voltage, and calculates the battery’s state of charge, this information creates a charging instruction that is sent to Polar’s Rapid Charger through communications wires within the Level 3 connector. The battery packs used on most consumer vehicles are protected and will disrupt charging if the battery cells are being stressed.

Rapid Chargers are useful on test tracks for electric vehicle developers, intermodal freight yards, dealership car lots, and tow trucks. All these applications involve rapid charging of cars away from the utility grid. Using Polar’s DC Generator as a rapid charger is the best product to accomplish this task.