Are Electric Vehicle Charging Stations on the Way?
by Sean Fisher, Cincinnati, Ohio on 10.30.07
TreeHugger is undoubtedly psyched about electric vehicles such as the Tesla and Volt coming down the pipeline. However, it seems one critical piece of the electric car puzzle has been notably absent - how do you fill 'er up? Sure, if you live in an area where you can recharge through an outlet in your garage, things look good. However, for the rest of us, electric cars are impractical without some sort of infrastructure to get electricity from the grid into our batteries. Luckily, charging stations may be on the horizon. Yesterday, Project Better Place announced plans to provide a system of charging and battery exchange stations throughout the world.
The process by which customers buy power is being likened to mobile phone usage.
In the same way that wireless operators deploy a network of cell towers to provide an area of mobile phone coverage, Project Better Place will establish a network of charging spots and battery exchange stations to provide access to electricity to power vehicles. The company will work with car makers and source batteries so that consumers who subscribe to the network can get subsidized vehicles which are cheaper to buy and operate than today's fuel-based cars. Consumers will still own their cars and will have multiple car models to choose from.
The company is planning to start rolling out the concept in test markets over the next 2 years. If the project is successful, look for a few less gas stations where you live.
::Via Future Pundit and San Francisco Business Times
"If you live in an area where you can recharge through an outlet in your garage"?
This is very misleading, there is absolutely no fundamental requirement for a special outlet to charge an EV, ESPECIALLY if all you want to do is charge it (the requirements for useful V2G are slightly more arduous, but only slightly). Anyone who gets their electricity from the grid inherently lives in an area where they can recharge from an outlet in their garage.
An EV is no different to any other appliance in the house, if all you need is for your car to be able to recharge overnight then any household socket can easily meet the requirements.
2.4kW/hr capacity * 8 hours (overnight) = 20kWh
This is significantly more than the average daily usage. And even if it doesn't meet requirements (you need fast charging, or you routinely drive long distances) the cost of wiring your garage with a high capacity plug is pretty trivial compared to the cost of a new car.
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author's note:
I can see how this might be misinterpreted. However, I meant home recharging is only feasible if you live in an area with single-family homes and detached garages. Many people do not have this luxury. You are correct that most current electric and plug-in hybrids can use standard electric wiring.
Living an area with single-family homes and detached garages isn't the only way to get instant recharging infrastructure. Plenty of people live in apartment buildings, condos, or gated communities with shared garages or parking areas. It would be a matter of convincing the building management / condo association / homeowners association to add extra power outlets near the parking area. Such outlets might already exist, or could be cheaply installed.
Ha! That's an exceptionally good point and once I hadn't considered - I live in New Zealand, stand alone housing and off street parking are basically the norm here, in most cases people who don't have at least one or the other probably don't even have a car.
Sorry, I think it was MY statement that was misleading!
What is the typical parking configuration for concentrated living - apartments/whatever. It'd be a big parking complex wouldn't it? That'd be extremely cost effective to install a new system in, could easily be marketed as a feature too.
I think the trick would be to run cabling for the entire facility, then add charging outlets as required.
An actual power monitor etc on the charing point is relatively superfluous - any EV is going to have its own battery monitoring and charge controller, and as such an extremely accurate power monitor - it would be much more logical to standardise some tamper-proof (or very-tamper-resistant) circuit internal to the vehicle that piggy backed on the back of that.
At the same time, you could implement the communcations requirement for load control and V2G integration, and have the full EV fleet management system in one box at a marginal cost of probably about $1.
On-site solar trees that serve Electric and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles might be the answer you are looking for. The U.S. DOE and National Renewable Energy Laboratory are testing the first on-site renewable recharge station located in Golden, Colorado. The structure features 20 photovoltaic panels atop a single post, The PV canopy, tilted at a 30-degree angle, will produce an estimated 10 kilowatt hours while providing shaded parking. You can view the solar carports at: www.envisionsolar.com.
Another company is working to provide recharge stations over the road for idle reduction by long-haul heavy duty diesel vehicles. The drivers will be able to plug-in and shut-down their idling trucks during their mandatory 10 hour lay-over time and still maintain all cab comforts. The next phase of roll-out will be for EV's or PHEV's at rest stops, shopping malls, etc. when the vehicles are mass produced. Visit www.shurepower.com for more detail.
Ron
If I ran an electric cord out my window to my car, odds are that it would have be charging someone elses car all night.
Now the idea of a combination parking meter/charging station might go a long way. Pull up, dump in $2.00 worth of change and charge up. Either have a city owned system, or put a % tax on the machines (This electricity is obviously being used to power a vehical, so we need the taxes for roads, something we now get from gas taxes). Also use some of the money to build better mass transit.
Nick, in the US it is a different situation with regards to household electrical outlets. Standard outlets in an American house are 120V (+/-) limited to 15A (=1.8kW). For continuous operation it is advised that equipment be limited to about 85% of circuit capacity, which is why 120V electrical appliances in the US are limited to 1.5kW. At that rate it would take over 13 hours for a 20kWh charge.
Nick, in the US it is a different situation with regards to household electrical outlets. Standard outlets in a house here are 120V (+/-) and limited to 15A (=1.8kW). For continuous operation it is advised that load be limited to about 85% of circuit capacity, which is why 120V electrical appliances in the US are limited to 1.5kW. At that rate the charger would have to be the only thing drawing from the circuit and, if my calculator is correct, it would take over 13 hours for a 20kWh charge.
Close, but not quite. There are 2 standard 120V household outlets in the US, one of them (like you said) is on a 1,800 watt (15 A) breaker but is rated by code to handle 1440 watts. You derate to 80%, not 85%. The second standard outlet, but one that is found less often, is the 2400 watt (20 A) circuit, rated for 1920 watts. This is usually found on dedicated circuits for 120V washing machines, microwave ovens, and other special appliances. You are right that for someone that needs a quick charge at a friend's house they will almost always find 15 A outlets in the garage or on the outside of the home where the would most likely plug in.
There are 2 other standard 120V outlets that aren't usually found in the home, but are often found in campgrounds. One is on a 30A breaker, and the other has two 50A breakers (and can supply a single 50A 240V circuit if they are bridged together). It would be fairly trivial for an electrician - and some skilled homeowners - to install these higher-capacity outlets. Once electric cars become more common I expect these outlets will also become more common.
I like the idea of having the Solar Trees at shopping malls, supermarkets, airport parking lots, and transit station parking lots. If cities and businesses install the Solar Trees then we can all charge our cars with clean energy while parking in the shade!
Who wouldn't support businesses where there are Solar Trees?
Did someone say 20 kWh? That's barely equivalent to 2 gallons of gasoline. You won't find me leaving the house with that.