Porsche has just opened up what it’s calling the ‘Charging Lounge’, a beautiful and well-furnished luxury space for drivers to wait in while their electric vehicles are charging up outside.
“Porsche is planning to set up its own fast-charging stations along Europe’s most important routes, with a premium charging experience one expects of the brand. As a pilot site, the first Porsche Charging Lounge is opening today outside Bingen am Rhein [in Germany]. Just two minutes from motorway junction A60/A61, it offers six 300kW DC fast-charging stations and four 22kW AC charging points. Further Porsche Charging Lounges are currently planned for Germany, Austria and Switzerland,” Porsche said in a press release.
This rocks… So far. Six 300kW DC fast-charging stations? With the capability of upgrading? That’s so cool, dude. That’s going to cut down on wait times drastically. I’d love to see this across Australia, let alone the extra AC chargers, and the amenities the lounge offers.
What are those amenities? Glad you asked. There are complimentary soft drinks and snacks in the lounge, ‘Analogue and digital media’ options, and a free Wi-Fi network. There’s also… Dear god. There’s a smart mirror for doing workouts at the lounge. That’s so extra.
On the one hand, I would love a charging network to start adopting cool ‘charging lounge’ concepts; really nice spaces to wait in with coffee and snacks, instead of awkwardly placed superchargers that range from being at a highway stop with a McDonalds, to beside a dumpster at a petrol station.
On the other hand, I’m looking at this and I’m immediately reminded that I breathe the same air as people much better off than me. It’s an extravagant luxury project that Porsche is building out, admittedly in line with its own luxury and performance-craving consumers, but just another reminder that money is a completely different concept for some drivers. Not that similar things haven’t occurred before.
On this line, I was hoping to write something sappy like ‘it’s not all dread though, as non-Porsche owners can access the lounge and chargers’, but no, it’s only for Porsche owners with a Porsche ID, according to CleanTechnica. Not really a fan of this; there’s no technical reason why the lounge can’t be opened up to other cars (especially those using Type 2/CCS2 charging ports), but it’s not surprising: Charging Lounge access is a perk for being on Team Porsche.
Just so we’re clear, the Porsche Taycan starts at $174,695 in Australia, which is a subtle $135,805 more expensive than the cheapest ‘budget’ EV in the country (the BYD Dolphin at $38,890). It feels worlds away having these two cars in the same paragraph, but also, $38,890 isn’t a small amount of money either. It’s cheaper than what the lowest-cost EV was last year, but it’s still out of the reach of many drivers.
Look, at least this glorified service station-gone-tourist attraction for the rich is powered partially by solar panels installed on the roof, or so Porsche says. Additionally, the air conditioning of the lounge is handled by a heat pump, which is operated without any fossil fuels.
I’d love to see more of these, but perhaps without the exclusivity (don’t remind me of the Tesla drive-in diner, please). Maybe this is the blueprint for something much better.