The Future of High-Power Charging: Sennan Electric Flexible Charging Stack Technology

As electric vehicle batteries grow larger and charging speed expectations rise, traditional fixed-power charging stations face a fundamental limitation: each charging bay is allocated a fixed power capacity regardless of actual demand. This means that when one vehicle charges at full power while an adjacent bay sits idle, the idle bay's allocated power is wasted. For commercial charging plaza operators, this inefficiency directly impacts revenue and return on investment. The solution is dynamic power allocation — and Sennan Flexible Charging Stack technology represents the company's answer to this challenge, offering 480kW and 960kW systems that distribute power across multiple charging terminals based on real-time vehicle demand.

 

Chongqing Sennan Electric Co., Ltd. developed its flexible charging stack product line to address the economics of high-power charging sites. Instead of installing multiple independent 120kW or 240kW stations, each with its own power modules, operators deploy a centralized power cabinet connected to multiple charging terminals. The power cabinet's total capacity — 480kW or 960kW — is dynamically allocated to whichever terminals have vehicles connected and actively charging. This approach, central to Sennan Electric smart charging solutions, maximizes power utilization, reduces equipment cost per charging bay, and enables future capacity expansion through modular power module additions.

 

This article examines the engineering, economics, and applications of flexible charging stack technology, with detailed analysis of the Sennan Electric 960kW charging station — the flagship model in the company's flexible charging product line.

 

 

Traditional charging plazas use a one-to-one architecture: each charging station contains its own power modules, and each station serves one or two vehicles at a fixed maximum power. If a plaza installs four 120kW stations, the total installed capacity is 480kW — but each individual station is capped at 120kW regardless of what the other three stations are doing.

 

Flexible charging, also known as power-sharing or dynamic power allocation, uses a one-to-many architecture. A central power cabinet houses the power modules and controller, and multiple charging terminals connect to this cabinet via DC cables. The controller continuously monitors each terminal's demand — the state of charge of connected vehicles, their maximum charging rate, and their remaining charging time — and dynamically allocates power from the shared pool.

 

Consider a 960kW system with six charging terminals. If only one vehicle is connected and accepts 400kW, the controller can allocate up to 400kW to that terminal while the remaining 560kW capacity stands ready. When a second vehicle arrives and accepts 250kW, the controller adjusts the allocation — perhaps 400kW to the first terminal and 250kW to the second, using 650kW of the 960kW total. As more vehicles connect, power is redistributed dynamically, ensuring that no vehicle waits unnecessarily and no power capacity sits idle.

 

 

The 480kW model serves as the entry point to the company's flexible charging product line. It is designed for medium-scale charging plazas — typically four to six charging bays — where the total power demand across all bays rarely exceeds 480kW simultaneously but individual vehicles may need up to 240kW or more.

 

Key specifications of the 480kW model:

 

 

The 480kW system is particularly well-suited for:

 

 

 

The Sennan Electric 960kW charging station represents the pinnacle of the company's flexible charging product line. With nearly one megawatt of total power capacity, this system is designed for large-scale charging plazas serving high volumes of electric vehicles — highway supercharging corridors, urban fast-charging hubs, and commercial fleet depots with 24-hour operations.

 

Key specifications of the 960kW model:

 

 

The 960kW system's power module architecture uses 60kW hot-swappable modules — the same modules used across the company's DC charging product line. This standardization means that operators running both standalone DC stations and flexible charging stacks share a common spare parts inventory, reducing maintenance costs and simplifying logistics.

 

 

 

The intelligence that defines Sennan flexible charging stack technology lies in its dynamic power allocation controller. This controller continuously processes real-time data from all connected charging terminals and makes power allocation decisions based on multiple factors:

 

Vehicle State of Charge (SoC): Vehicles with low SoC can accept higher charging power, while vehicles approaching 80% SoC naturally reduce their charging rate. The controller prioritizes power delivery to vehicles with low SoC, ensuring they reach a usable charge level quickly.

 

 

The economic case for flexible charging stacks over fixed-power stations depends on site utilization patterns. The following analysis illustrates the break-even economics:

 

 

Configuration	Fixed Architecture	Flexible Architecture
Installed stations	6 × 120kW stations	1 × 480kW stack + 6 terminals
Total installed power	720kW	480kW
Power utilization (typical)	40–55%	70–85%
Peak demand charge	Higher	Lower

The flexible architecture reduces both capital expenditure (fewer power modules needed due to higher utilization) and operating expenditure (lower grid connection capacity and peak demand charges). The trade-off is that if all six bays simultaneously need maximum power — a rare occurrence — the flexible system cannot deliver 720kW, while the fixed architecture can.

 

Sennan Electric smart charging solutions address this trade-off by allowing operators to size the power cabinet based on statistical demand patterns rather than worst-case peak demand. Most charging plazas see staggered vehicle arrivals, meaning that peak simultaneous demand rarely exceeds 60–70% of theoretical maximum. By right-sizing the power cabinet to actual demand patterns, operators achieve significant cost savings without compromising service quality.

Integration with Smart Energy Management

Beyond dynamic power allocation, the flexible charging stack integrates with the company's smart energy management platform, enabling advanced features:

Solar Integration: When the charging plaza includes on-site solar generation, the controller prioritizes solar energy for charging — reducing grid power consumption and operating costs. Excess solar generation can be directed to energy storage or exported to the grid.

Energy Storage Integration: Battery energy storage systems (BESS) can buffer power demand, allowing the charging plaza to charge the BESS during low-demand periods and discharge during peak demand — reducing peak demand charges and enabling charging capacity beyond the grid connection limit.

Demand Response: The controller can participate in utility demand response programs, temporarily reducing charging power during grid stress events in exchange for financial incentives.

Dynamic Pricing: The system supports time-of-use pricing, automatically adjusting charging power and session pricing based on grid conditions and operator pricing strategy.

Safety and Protection

As with all products in the company's portfolio, the flexible charging stack incorporates comprehensive safety features:

• Module-level protection: Each power module has independent overcurrent, overvoltage, and overtemperature protection
• Terminal-level protection: Each charging terminal includes ground fault detection, leakage protection, connector lock monitoring, and cable temperature monitoring
• System-level protection: Cabinet-level fire detection, door alarm, emergency stop, and surge protection
• Communication redundancy: Dual communication paths between power cabinet and terminals ensure continued operation even if one path fails

Applications and Case Studies

The flexible charging stack architecture is particularly valuable in the following scenarios:

Highway Supercharging Corridors: With 6–12 bays and variable traffic patterns, highway rest stops benefit from the ability to deliver maximum power to individual vehicles when traffic is light and distribute power efficiently during peak travel periods.

Urban Fast-Charging Hubs: City-center charging plazas serving ride-hailing fleets and commercial vehicles need to maximize throughput per square meter. The compact terminal footprint of flexible systems allows more bays in limited space.

Fleet Depots: Logistics companies charging delivery vans overnight can use dynamic allocation to ensure all vehicles are charged by morning departure, regardless of individual arrival times and initial SoC.

Retail and Commercial Centers: Shopping malls and commercial complexes can offer charging as a value-added service, with the flexible architecture providing adequate charging speed without overspending on equipment.

 

 

 

Future-Proofing and Scalability

One of the most compelling advantages of this flexible charging architecture is its scalability. As vehicle charging speeds increase — with next-generation EVs supporting 350kW+ charging — operators can upgrade their existing flexible charging stacks by adding power modules rather than replacing entire stations.

The 960kW power cabinet can start with fewer modules (e.g., 480kW with 8 modules) and be expanded to full 960kW capacity as demand grows. This phased investment approach reduces initial capital expenditure while preserving a clear upgrade path — a critical consideration for B2B operators managing multi-year deployment schedules.