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When I wrote about Tesla's rapid expansion of its supercharger network, I was equally surprised by the extent of its less publicly touted network of "destination chargers"—slower, "Level 2" chargers that it is distributing to hotels, malls, restaurants and other locations so folks can charge while they shop/eat/sleep, and thus relieve some pressure from the faster superchargers which folks use for longer distance road tripping.
It got me thinking about another network of charging infrastructure which folks often don't talk about: The Level 2 chargers which most of us electric vehicle drivers install in our homes and—sometimes—places of business. These chargers don't just enable our own electrified driving, but they also provide some peace of mind to any friends and relatives who may consider driving electric, and who can now be sure of a charge if they come for a visit.
In fact, I've noticed several private charging station owners—especially businesses—in my region are publicly listing their charging stations on the various apps that are available for locating charging spots. Interestingly, this isn't just limited to restaurants or shops offering charging as a perk for your business: We have real estate companies and industrial operations simply offering up their charge points as a free service to the electric vehicle community. (Often, they'll stipulate—quite reasonably—that their own vehicles get first dibs.)
Is a network of free- or metered Tier 2 charging stations the solution to EV range anxiety?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 21 2017, @04:40PM (6 children)
There seem to be so many incompatible chargers. I gather that there is some sort of base standard from the SAE now, but this might not cover fast charging?
I have a 13 kV 3-phase line behind my house. I could probably get a 3-phase drop from that; there is a house around here that runs the air conditioner off of 3-phase. I'm on FPL, Florida Power and Light. Would I be able to have a fast charger? Are they even sold for residential installation?
(Score: 4, Informative) by akinliat on Wednesday June 21 2017, @05:22PM (1 child)
Surprisingly, it's not as bad as it may seem at first glance. The base connector for Level 1 and 2 charging(110/240V@10-40A) is the J1772, which is nearly universal.
For fast charging, there are really only two options, plus Tesla. There's ChaeDMO, which is an older Japanese standard that's used on the Leaf and maybe a couple of other cars, and there's SAE/CCS (Combined Charging Standard), which is a J1772 connector with a couple of extra sockets for DC. Because there really aren't that many non-Tesla fast-charging stations out there, it looks like SAE/CCS will be the standard going forward, both because more cars already support it and because (I think) it has a higher capacity.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 22 2017, @07:07AM
So there is Tesla, ChaeDMO, and SAE/CCS. That is 3.
Installing 3 different fast chargers at my house is probably crazy. A charger with all 3 is probably unavailable. I'm guessing that fast chargers are not cheap.
An electric car is much less interesting if I can't make a reasonable long-term investment in a fast charger.
(Score: 3, Informative) by bryan on Wednesday June 21 2017, @06:06PM (1 child)
Unfortunately, the plug types are different between car manufacturers.
My Nissan Leaf has both [wikipedia.org] a SAE J1772 "Type 1" [wikipedia.org] (used at home for 110V and 220V) and a CHAdeMO [wikipedia.org] port (used for even higher speed charging at stations.)
European cars use a IEC 62196 "Type 2" [wikipedia.org] connector that can make use of the 3-phase power grid found there.
Tesla cars use their own port [wikipedia.org] on US models and a modified version of the type 2 connector on European models.
(Score: 4, Informative) by cellocgw on Wednesday June 21 2017, @07:29PM
Tesla has the software in place to handle a wide variety of voltages, and makes a set of cable connector adapters part of the standard toolset. I can charge from Tesla units, J1772, ChaDEMO, NEMA14, house (120VAC); I can buy adapters for the plugs used with laundry dryers and with arc welding machines.
Physicist, cellist, former OTTer (1190) resume: https://app.box.com/witthoftresume
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 22 2017, @04:45PM (1 child)
I'm guessing this is something that will filter out in time.
Look at cell phones.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday June 22 2017, @07:21PM
It took an EU directive for smartphone manufacturers to realize that charger lock-in was silly.