DC Fast · Public & Fleet
AX-Rapid 180 DC fast charging station
180 kW through liquid-cooled CCS1 and NACS cables — 20% to 80% in roughly 22 minutes on a typical 400-volt EV. Built for sites where the driver is waiting rather than parked.
Installed cost typically lands between $68,000 and $145,000 per unit depending on site works and utility service. CALeVIP funding can offset a substantial share of that on qualifying public sites.
Be realistic about the timeline before you commit
DC fast charging is not a bigger version of a home charger. A single AX-Rapid 180 can draw more power than a mid-sized office building, which means the constraint is almost never the hardware — it is the utility.
In PG&E territory, a new service capable of supporting DC fast charging commonly takes three to nine months from application to energization, and occasionally longer where a transformer or upstream capacity upgrade is required. Any vendor quoting you a six-week turnaround on a greenfield DC site is either ignoring the interconnection or has not checked it.
We front-load this deliberately. The utility application goes in during week one, before equipment is ordered, because that clock is the critical path and everything else has slack against it.
Demand charges deserve a spreadsheet, not a guess. A DC fast charger used lightly can generate a monthly demand charge larger than the energy bill itself, because commercial tariffs bill on your highest 15-minute peak. On low-utilization sites, battery buffering or a lower-power unit is often the better economic answer. We model this before recommending anything.
Specifications
| Model | AX-Rapid 180 (SKU AV-R180-DN) |
|---|---|
| Charging level | DC fast (Level 3) |
| Maximum output | 180 kW, dynamically split across two cables |
| Output voltage | 200–1000 V DC — supports 400 V and 800 V architectures |
| Input | 480 V AC three phase, 250 A |
| Connectors | CCS1 and NACS, both liquid-cooled, 15 ft cables |
| Typical charge time | 20–80% in ~22 min (75 kWh pack, 400 V) |
| Peak efficiency | 96% |
| Payment | Contactless card reader, mobile app, RFID, Plug & Charge (ISO 15118) |
| Network protocol | OCPP 1.6J with 4G failover |
| Display | 10 in sunlight-readable touchscreen |
| Enclosure | NEMA 3R, IK10 impact rated |
| Certification | UL 2202, FCC Part 15 Class A, NEC 625 compliant |
| Accessibility | CBC Chapter 11B compliant mounting and reach ranges |
| Warranty | 3 years parts and labor; 5-year extended available |
Funding a DC fast charging site
CALeVIP's Fast Charge California Project announced $55.2 million in new funding in May 2026, targeted at public DC fast charging with an emphasis on underserved communities. Eligible ports can receive up to $100,000 each, with ports rated 275 kW and above at the top of that range and 150–274.99 kW ports eligible for up to $55,000 under Window 2.
Two application windows are scheduled: October 2026 and February 2027. These windows are competitive and ready-to-build projects score better, so site control and a completed utility application matter before you apply.
Note that the federal 30C tax credit is no longer available — it expired on 30 June 2026. Build your model without it.
Find out if your site can support DC fast charging
Send us the address and we will check the nearby distribution capacity, estimate the utility timeline, and tell you honestly whether the site works before you spend anything.