The novelty was significantly larger in content, the booth much smaller: The charging infrastructure subsidiary of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG is entering the DC charging business. And it already has interested parties, mainly from the commercial sector. At Heidelberger, the focus has always been on service, which is also a key point here. The Dynamic DC focuses on high availability, efficiency, and dynamic power distribution in the offering. What we noticed at the booth: For a DC charging station, the Heidelberger dispenser is built very slim and timeless, which indirectly supports the main advantage of the new DC solution with the narrow booth.
Amperfied is increasingly focusing on large fleets and full service
Even at an event in 2024, the topic of service, which is becoming increasingly important, was addressed. Noting the growing demand from charging parks, logistics depots, and shipping fleets, especially the latter needing DC for trucks, they took the big step: A DC column is technically much more complex than AC. This too is moving towards large fleets: Recently, Amperfied secured an order from the "neighbor" SAP in Walldorf.
With the DC solution, Heidelberger is also thinking in multiple units, that is, an application with a central power unit to which up to six slim dispensers with two charging points each can be connected. The central power unit is intended to manage the available charging power so that the utilization of the overall system is optimized – depending on the number and
type of vehicles being charged. This aims to avoid unused capacities and is touted as an advantage over rigid standalone solutions.
Currently, it offers a maximum of up to twelve charging points on six dispensers with two DC charging cables each. Theoretically, one could start with a single dispenser and expand later. When fully utilizing the six dispensers, each CCS connection can be charged with up to 300 amps and 240 kW. In terms of the highest individual performance, up to eight charging points can be provided with 500 amps and 480 kW – or a demand-based mixture of both.
Space requirement is always an issue – here Amperfied separates the dispenser and the central power unit
An important advantage: The dispensers can be installed at a distance from the central power unit and are intended, thanks to the aforementioned slim design, to allow installation without loss of parking space. Operation is via a 15.6-inch touch display.
For operations, Amperfied relies on its software Pionix BaseCamp. This, in turn, is based on the open-source framework EVerest, which ensures broad compatibility and continuous development. This is the foundation for the user interface and other application-specific software components. As was important for Heidelberger with AC as well: with features like predictive maintenance and monitoring, failures are to be detected early, thereby avoiding downtimes and maximizing uptime as much as possible.
In Heidelberg, a service and logistics network has already been established for professional AC solutions to
react immediately. Our colleagues at Electrive.net spoke with Amperfied CEO Robin Karpp, who explained:
“At first, it was about having charging points at all. Consequently, it was about being able to charge faster. And now it's about being able to charge more reliably. And here, we can indeed take advantage of the Heidelberg Group's strength, namely to represent industrial service, industrial availability. That we can manufacture charging electronics has been the case for a long time.”
Spare parts supply benefits from printing machines
A point that was also emphasized during the AC presentation in 2024. Here, as with the production of the circuit boards, one benefits from the printing machine business: The existing Heidelberg service can provide spare parts logistics, which according to Karpp can deliver spare parts "to any corner of this earth" within 24 hours if required.
Also already known is sales, which also offers rental instead of purchase models: Instead of buying the DC systems, customers only pay when they can actually sell energy – whereby a DC column in full service then ideally has to make a significant amount of money to also be worthwhile for Amperfied. According to Karpp, this creates "aligned interests": Heidelberg takes care of the functioning charging infrastructure, while operators take care of the utilization of the charging park. It is clear: This reduces financial risks for the operators and, more importantly: It reduces initial investments. Incidentally, you still think from the printing machine here: According
to Karpp, you sell "availabilities" there too. This takes the pressure off ourselves: More important than sheer numbers for Amperfied are customers for charging points that we can then service. While a longer period is needed for the return on investment, Amperfied remains as a business partner for years.
Logistics companies appreciate the concept
A model that, according to Karpp, is also very appreciated by logistics companies, as for them, it primarily counts that the vehicle's battery is reliably charged within a certain timeframe. Because in the B2B business of logistics, one calculates exclusively in costs per kilometer and per minute – which is why any failure, including that of the charging infrastructure, disproportionately impacts the financials. To quickly gain experience here, Amperfied is setting up its own e-truck charging hub to gather its experiences. Electrive.net explained Karpp:
“Honestly, we went in to supply passenger cars first. The fact that there is now such a strong demand from trucks is actually a happy circumstance. I would say right now that we will implement the first charging parks with service supply contracts in the e-truck sector.”
What does that mean?
The charging infrastructure sector is increasingly differentiating itself and needs its own USPs: at Amperfied, it is the service along with the sales model – where one indeed benefits from the know-how as a printing machine manufacturer and opens doors especially in the B2B segment.
Sources: Amperfied press release, Electrive.net, Fair visit to Amperfied's booth
