charging. The Nissan LEAF and Mitsubishi MiEV feature both J1772 and CHAdeMO ports. Meanwhile, SAE and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) are working on a connector that incorporates AC (Levels 1 and 2) and DC connections on the same plug. It will also use Power Line Carrier technology to exchange data among the vehicle, charger, and smart grid. Several US and most European carmakers (Ford, GM, Chrysler, Audi, BMW, Mercedes, and VW) have agreed to use this “Combined Charging System,” which should be released some time in 2012. Vehicles and charging stations are currently being manufactured with CHAdeMO, or with no DC connection, so if SAE/IEC publish a competing standard, could it cause a costly conflict? Two charger makers to whom we posed the question didn’t seem too concerned. Phil Charatz, CEO of Fuji Electric America, said, “Fuji has adopted the CHAdeMO standard. Vehicles with the SAE Quick Charge Interface are not likely to be on the road until 2014, so in the near term, both standards will need to be available. Equipment manufacturers and automotive companies must remain flexible and be able to adapt as the market determines the leading standard.” Jonathan Read, CEO of Ecotality, said, “we built our DC Fast Charge units with two ports, allowing for dual functionalities should standards change. It will be much less costly to change out one port of our hardware systems than to replace the unit entirely.” Whatever happens, even if different regions (North America, Europe, Japan) end up with different standards, while the result may be a headache for equipment makers, it probably won’t be much of an issue for EV drivers.
Do public charging stations make sense? Will anyone use them? As readers of the Charged blog know, every week brings news of a new batch of public charging stations opening up, from the Oases of the Illinois Toll-way to the Cracker Barrels of the Tennessee Triangle to the West Coast Electric Highway. Europe and China are getting wired up even faster than the US. Much of this activity is being driven by government support. The US government has financed two major charging networks, which have already installed thousands of chargers in several states: Ecotality’s EV Project and Coulomb’s ChargePoint America. Many state and local governments are also getting into the act.
Definitions
Policy-makers obviously see Descriptions of charging levels vary slightly depending on the public chargers source. For the purposes of as an important this discussion, here is a basic part of the new overview of the terms: energy economy. Some in governLevel 1: ment and the 120VAC up to 16A supplied to industry speak of the vehicle. a chicken-and-egg scenario in which Level 2: people won’t buy 240VAC up to 80A supplied to EVs until there’s the vehicle. a comprehensive network of DC Fast Charging: public chargers A charging station supplied available. Others by up to 600VAC at 400A. The believe that most hardware converts to VDC and EV drivers will do supplies power at a current their charging at specified by the vehicle, based home or at work, on the State of Charge (SOC) of and are skeptical the battery pack. about the actual use of public charging stations. It’s much too early to know how much use public chargers will see, but there’s no doubt that their presence does a lot to raise public awareness of EVs. After all, how could we expect the general public to buy a plug-in car when they have never seen a car plugged in? They may also be an effective cure (or placebo) for the latest malady to plague the long-suffering consumer: the dreaded range anxiety. This is the fear of running out of juice that afflicts potential EV buyers (the condition is almost unknown among actual EV owners). Fuji’s Phil Charatz: “Of particular importance to achieving widespread adoption is helping drivers overcome range anxiety, and DC Quick Charging has proven to be a source of reassurance for consumers. As the development of charging infrastructure continues, Fuji views DC Quick Charging as a critical aspect of the industry’s long-term success.”
Where are the best places to put them?
Forest Williams, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Liberty PlugIns, believes that a lot of people will charge at work, and that many businesses will add chargers to
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