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Award-winning fast charging
The AIT Austrian Institute of Technology wins the renowned Houska Prize with the “Medusa” project (sustainable multi-megawatt fast charging on the medium-voltage network).
Award-winning fast charging
The Houska Prize is the largest private prize for applied research in Austria. In the 'Extra-University Research' category, AIT achieved first place with the “Medusa” project. The pioneering project, which is coordinated by AIT, deals with the development of multi-megawatt fast charging stations with a direct connection to the medium-voltage network in combination with an efficient and sustainable energy supply. This technology is crucial to making electromobility, especially in heavy transport, economically viable. Current charging stations require around 4.5 hours to charge a typical 400 kWh bus battery. Medusa reduces this time to just eight minutes. By combining battery storage systems and photovoltaics, emissions are reduced to a minimum. Medium-voltage technology is a key to the global electrification of heavy transport.
Practical research
“Medusa stands for innovative solutions with direct market relevance – that’s exactly what it takes to successfully implement new technologies,” emphasizes Brigitte Bach, AIT Managing Director and spokesperson for the management. Alexander Svejkovsky, AIT Managing Director adds: "Winning the Houska Prize impressively confirms our strength in successfully exploiting innovations. Medusa is a prime example of how we specifically transform research results into market-oriented solutions and thus create sustainable economic added value for Austria." Project leader Markus Makoschitz, Principal Scientist at AIT and Professor at the Montanuniversität Leoben explains: "We focus on smart, economical solutions, performance, efficiency and market relevance. Only then will our multi-megawatt fast charging stations really be effective in practice." The Medusa project, started in 2021 and currently in the second implementation phase, focuses on the construction of a large-scale demonstrator and on analyzes of geographical conditions and traffic flows in conjunction with network simulations. Medusa is financed as part of the Climate and Energy Fund's Zero Emission Mobility 2023 program. In addition to coordinator AIT, the following partners are involved in the project: AVL List GmbH, Infineon Technologies Austria AG, EnerCharge GmbH, Lotus Wireless Technologies India Private Ltd., Virtual Vehicle Research GmbH, Miba Cooling Austria GmbH & Co. KG, Vienna University of Technology and the Montanuniversität Leoben.