Hi there! As electric vehicles continue their march towards mass adoption, charging networks struggle to keep pace. Yet quality matters as much as quantity when it comes to guaranteeing EV convenience. Detroit‘s Lincoln Electric thinks it has built a better fast charging mousetrap to keep your EV adventure reliably rolling.
Let‘s dive under the hood to see how this industrial stalwart plans to power up the open road – and your electric lifestyle along with it.
Why the World Needs Companies Like Lincoln at the EV Power Plant
Range anxiety still hounds potential EV buyers today. Surveys show up to 61% rank max driving distance as their top purchase consideration. But range means little without convenient, working chargers to pencil in your detours and destinations.
While networks are expanding, dependability remains Achilles‘ heel. Studies in California – America‘s bellwether EV market – uncovered alarming downtime rates for major charging providers during observation periods:
| Provider | % Non-Functional Stations |
|---|---|
| ChargePoint | 36.6% |
| EVgo | 25.5% |
| Electrify America | 19% |
With nearly one-third of stations out of order in the country‘s most EV-progressive region, it‘s clear builders must balance quantity with quality. Lincoln believes its stalwart designs can achieve over 95% uptime in the harshest conditions.
This promises game-changing reliability as America‘s EV infrastructure expands tenfold over the coming years thanks to $7 billion in federal incentives.
Why Lincoln Electric Has the Right Stuff
You probably know Lincoln Electric for its top-rated welders powering everything from utility trucks to offshore oil rigs. So why does a welding gear specialist think it can ace EV charging?
In a word: power. For over 100 years, Lincoln has engineered brutishly tough electrical backbone hardware for the most demanding operations on earth. These include:
- Portable pipeline welders braving -60° Arctic extremes at 80% duty cycles
- Tower rig welders shrugging off corrosive offshore salt spray around the clock
- Rugged engine-powered welders that U.S. military branches deploy across 150 countries
Companies like Caterpillar, John Deere, and Cummins also rely on Lincoln‘s 24/7 robotic welders for their domestic factories. When outputs over 300 kilowatts and 99% duty cycles are standard, you build an unmatched mastery of high-efficiency power transfer and thermal management.
In fact, Lincoln‘s core power systems share 95% commonality with the demands of DC fast charging. This expertise allows them to rapidly develop chargers scaling from 50kW to insane 300kW+ outputs matching next-gen electric semis. And with all final assembly in America, federal funds earmarked for domestic EV manufacturing apply too.
This is why Lincoln feels supremely confident – make that obsessed – with constructing the most durable, reliable fast charging experience on the market. Which leads us to…
Fanatical Attention to Uptime
"What good is an EV without functional chargers to drive it?" poses Lincoln‘s Fast Charge team. They know reliable charging remains the unfinished business for America‘s EV expansion.
While competitors play catch-up, Lincoln is leveraging its fanatical quality standards from mission-critical welding systems. We‘re talking space shuttle-grade tolerance testing here.
- Multi-day stress tests above 60°C/140°F at max electrical loads to uncover weaknesses
- Requirements for IP67 waterproofing plus extreme dust, debris and vibration resistance
- Redundant failover at both the component and system levels
- 90% American-made components prioritizing long-term servicing
- Comprehensive thermal analysis driving active liquid cooling and ventilation
Add all this to Lincoln‘s existing national technical repair network, and you‘ve got the ingredients for industry-leading charging uptime.
The company is so confident about durability that it‘s discussed offering unlimited free replacement parts under warranty. This would reimburse even travel costs for on-site repairs. Try getting that level of charging infrastructure support from other networks!
Delivering the Goods in 2023…and Beyond
Lincoln Electric has invested millions into charger research since early 2022. To guarantee robust designs, they even built a dedicated testing lab emulating some of America‘s harshest climes using environmental chambers. Talk about serious prep!
The company is slated to begin mass production of its standards-based 50kW chargers – scaling to 315kW – in Q3 2023. Locations will focus on the Midwest‘s automotive corridor spanning Michigan and Ohio.
Within three years, Lincoln plans over 2,000 operational charging bays across the country. It already has the internal expertise from its diesel welding generators to maintain this equipment in rugged conditions. Charger chemical, mechanical, and electrical integrity will be preserved for minimal 8-10 year lifecycles before upgrades.
So by 2025, expect to see Lincoln‘s chargers powering road trips across America‘s heartland. Their target? To slash non-functional station rates to below 1% nationwide through rigorous quality assurance.
Lincoln Electric brings a hearty 100-year pedigree for designing electrical backbone hardware that runs rain or shine. By adapting its expertise from high-uptime welding systems to chargers, Lincoln could build the reliable infrastructure pillar EVs need for the long haul. I don‘t know about you, but I‘m excited to road test these chargers once they‘re installed in my Midwest stomping grounds!
Data Source on Charger Uptime Rates: University of California, Berkeley1
