Audi’s Luxury Charging Hub Expanding—Just Not Here

• Audi expands reservation-only charging hub concept to Berlin, after successful tests in Nurumberg and Zurich starting in 2021.

• The charging hub employs used batteries from Audi test vehicles to store power, thus requiring a minimal connection to the grid and less hardware during the build phase.

• The automaker plans to expand the charging hub concept to more cities, after observing a 70% customer return rate at one of its existing hubs.

A reservation-only luxury charging hub with a work and rest area inside may have seemed like a one-off concept at first, when the automaker opened the first one in Nuremberg, Germany, in 2021, but the idea is gaining momentum.

The automaker has just opened its third charging hub near a Frischeparadies supermarket and bistro in Berlin, powered by second-life batteries. The batteries themselves—usually sourced from Audi prototype EVs that had been dismantled following a testing phase—draw power from the supermarket on a load- and needs-oriented basis during off-peak hours.

Audi has previously showcased this cube-based charging system that sips power from an existing grid connection, requiring relatively little electrical infrastructure work.

"Our dynamic load control system enables us to shift our energy demands to a time of day when Frischeparadies is using less power from the grid," said Elias Hammer, the Audi Manager responsible for the rollout in Berlin and energy system integration for the Audi charging hub.