Every year, the Shanghai Charging & Swapping Expo (CPSE) serves as a bellwether for technological iteration and business model transformation in the EV charging industry. In contrast to the hardware specification race (involution) seen in previous years, the most significant implicit change at CPSE 2026 in Shanghai is the accelerated deployment and large-scale promotion of high-voltage direct-connected (HVDC) charging technology.

Moving from pilot demonstrations by leading companies in the previous two years to gradual small-batch commercial application and mass‑production launches in 2026, high‑voltage direct‑connected charging has officially become a key deployment technology for megawatt-class heavy-duty trucks, ports, and logistics yards.

As an industry practitioner with years of deep experience, Hotson provides an objective assessment based on first‑hand observations at this year’s exhibition.
The concentrated surge in high‑voltage direct‑connected charging this year is not a deliberate hype by manufacturers, but an inevitable outcome of the iterative evolution of the EV charging industry’s competitive landscape.
Traditional charging stations follow the classic model of “10 kV grid + external line-frequency box-type substations + low-voltage rectification.” This architecture suits conventional medium-capacity heavy-duty truck charging stations. However, when facing truck stations with a capacity of 2 MW or more, it presents three fatal pain points:

High electrical losses: The total system loss of traditional charging stations typically ranges from 8% to 10%, leading to extremely high electricity costs over long‑term operation.
High investment costs: External box-type substations, civil foundation works, and high‑voltage cable laying account for nearly 30% of the station’s infrastructure costs.
Difficult construction and expansion: Power-frequency box-type transformers are bulky, grid-connection procedures are cumbersome, and future power expansion of the station is severely limited.

Against this backdrop, high-voltage direct-connected charging technology, with its architectural innovation advantages, has become the optimal solution to the pain points of megawatt-level stations and the core promoted solution by major manufacturers at this year’s exhibition.

High-voltage direct-connected technology refers to a power electronics technology in which a PCS (Power Conversion System) or charging device is directly connected to a medium-to-high voltage grid (e.g., 10 kV, 35 kV) without the need for a traditional power‑frequency step‑up transformer. This technology uses multi‑level topologies such as cascaded H-bridges to connect multiple low-voltage battery clusters or power modules in series, directly outputting a high‑voltage AC that matches the grid, thereby eliminating the power-frequency step-up transformer that is essential in conventional power systems.

A 10 kV high-voltage direct-connected charging station saves space and money, with two mainstream core technical routes: one is called the Phase-Shifting Transformer (PST), and the other is the Solid-State Transformer (SST). What are their respective advantages and disadvantages?

The phase-shifting transformer is a Panama-technology transformer using a line‑frequency iron core, following the traditional electromagnetic approach. It can be understood as an upgraded plus version of a conventional transformer. Its advantages are mature technology, low cost, easy maintenance, and smooth grid acceptance testing. The disadvantage is that the equipment is heavy and occupies a large footprint. The overall electrical loss of the entire charging station can be controlled at around 4%.

The solid-state transformer uses an all-electronic architecture without heavy iron core coils. It employs SiC (silicon carbide) plus high-frequency electronic step-down converters to directly convert 10 kV to DC. Advantages include compact size, space savings, and higher charging efficiency. Long-term power savings mean the overall station loss can be controlled at about 3%. Disadvantages are high initial investment cost, relatively fragile (prone to damage), and high maintenance threshold for after-sales service.

The PST is a mature, high-configuration version that can be used now. The SST is the ultimate version that may become fully popularized in the future.

At HOTSON, we engineer DC protection components specifically for the demanding requirements of High-Voltage Direct-Connected Charging Stations. Our Ceramic High-Voltage DC Contactors — rated from 150A to 1,000A (EVHA series :EVHA800 ,EVHA1000 ) and up to 2,000 VDC — are designed with permanent magnet arc-blowing technology to deliver reliable, zero-flashover interruption even under high fault current conditions.
Hotson offers the IEC, UL, CE, and TÜV certified, tested dc contactors you need — with customization available for non-standard specifications.