Audi shows off luxurious charging hub of the future

Audi has revealed a new concept for charging your car that attempts to transform the tedious time spent waiting for a top-up into an experience more akin to a visit to an airline's first-class lounge.

Described as a "concept for quick-charging for premium-level electromobility", Audi has attempted to reinvent the plugging-in experience as something you'll savour, with the futuristic charging station claimed to boast a whole range of amenities.

As well as a comfortable place to spend time, Audi has ensured its next-generation charging station also features some cutting-edge technology that includes energy storage units that repurpose lithium-ion batteries from the car-maker's development vehicles.

Those big batteries mean Audi's charging hub negates the need for both high-voltage lines and transformers and means its presence doesn't put pressure on the local power grid.

Speaking of power, Audi says its charging hub packs 2.45MWh of energy storage that feeds enough power to charge six cars at up to 300kW.

Built out of what Audi describes as "container cubes", the car-maker says the charging hub's construction enables "maximum flexibility and scalability" since they're quick to construct and easy to transport.

In the future, the hubs could be installed at various locations including remote places off the power grid. Roof-mounted solar panels, meanwhile, help power the facilities in the lounge or top up the batteries.

To prove the technology works, Audi says it will begin a pilot program in Germany, with possible locations already being shortlisted.

The first charging hub is set to open as soon as later this year with the aim of collecting customer feedback. For the pilot phase the car-maker says it will allow non-Audi owners to use the chargers and some parts of the lounge.

Audi's switch to providing infrastructure solutions accompanies an earlier announcement that it would introduce more then 20 pure-electric models from now until 2025.