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Water installs 123 chargers at 23 South Korean highway rest areas, including 62 at 400 kW

By Eve

Water, the fast-charging network operated by Bright Energy Partners, has opened its first station under Korea Expressway Corp's rest area expansion project, installing two 400 kW and two 200 kW chargers at Cheongju rest area on the Gyeongbu Expressway. The company will deploy 123 chargers across 23 rest areas in Gyeonggi, Chungcheong, Gangwon and Gyeongsang provinces, with at least two 400 kW units at each site totalling 62 such chargers. All units feature both NACS and DC Combo connectors, enabling Tesla vehicles to charge at 120 to 200 kW without adapters, while Hyundai Ioniq 5 models can accept up to 238 kW, charging from 10 percent to 80 percent in 18 minutes.

Why it matters

The rollout marks South Korea's first 400 kW highway rest area charging and sets a dual-connector standard that accommodates both legacy CCS and emerging NACS fleets without adapters. Water's introductory rate of 294 won per kWh undercuts the public 393.1 won benchmark by roughly 25 percent, signalling competitive pressure on utilisation and tariff structures for CPOs bidding similar concessions.

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Original title
“Water installs 123 chargers at 23 highway rest areas, including 62 400-kW units”
Published
30 September 2026
Also covered by
Google News

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