A dozen medium- and heavy-duty vehicles came together for testing of a megawatt charging system at Daimler Truck North America’s Electric Island in Portland, Oregon.

The Charging Interface Initiative (CharIN), a global industry association pushing electrification of transportation, recently hosted a North American Conference and Interoperability Testing Event of the new Megawatt Charging System standard to North America.

It was the first time that the medium- and heavy-duty vehicle industry was the focus of a CharIN testing event.

Global automotive manufacturers, charging station companies, component suppliers, energy providers, government officials, research institutes, influencers, and grid operators gathered at DTNA’s headquarters in Portland, Oregon, Oct. 4-7 for the Sixth CharIN North America Conference and Testival event.

During the event, more than 300 representatives from 58 CharIN member companies conducted conformance and interoperability tests at the Electric Island charging facility in Portland.

Electric Island was created in a collaboration between DTNA and Portland General Electric and specifically built with heavy-duty vehicles in mind. It provided an ideal location to host interoperability tests that involved the latest electric vehicles, electric vehicle supply equipment, electric control units, and communication controllers.

Earlier this year, four years after kicking off a task force on heavy-duty charging for commercial vehicles, CharIN E.V. demonstrated the Megawatt Charging System at the International Electric Vehicle Symposium in Oslo, Norway.

The MCS, with DC fast charging connector for heavy-duty electric vehicles, was developed to create a worldwide standard. It combines the benefits and the features of the Combined Charging System (CCS) with a new connector design to enable a higher charging power. The MCS is designed for a charging voltage of up to 1,250 volts and 3,000 amps.