I was thinking about this as I read the electric-vehicle parking-space thread. If we start putting EV chargers in reserved parking spaces, will they fit all EVs?
There are three types of possible (North American*) plugs, right? [ul][li]Regular 120V outlet, which is standard, no prob, but takes an age and a half to charge a car. A regular 15A plug at 120V carries a power of 1.8 kW.[]The 240V outlet, which presumably has a NEMA 14 socket. A Nema 14-50 connector for an electric stove carries 50A at 240V for a power of 12 kW. []Higher-power connections. [/ul]I believe the higher-power connections are the ones that ‘natively’ plug into the car, as when you get the special charger wired into your garage. Are these high-power connectors the same across EV brands? [/li]
I think that that 50A/240V circuit is the single largest-power circuit regularly wired into a house. Anything larger is custom.
I seem to recall reading on the Tesla site that the car comes with two charging cords, a 120V cord and a 240V cord. Looking over the site, it mentions a charger that provides a 3.5-hour charge using 70A at 240V (16.8 kW), but I think that’s the special high-power charger built into the wall.
If we just put 120V outlets for EV charging, as are done for block-heater connections in colder areas, they will charge the cars slowly. Is anyone providing 240-V outlets for EVs?
What about pay-operated outlets? They could be combined with parking meters!
My local NPR station talked about it briefly earlier today. It sounds as though it is pretty standardized between manufacturers. The terminology they are using is: Level 1 charging station-standard 120, Level 2 charging station- 240, and Level 3 480. Level 3 stations sounded less finalized due to most cars not yet having a Level the charging capacity.
At the recent auto show pretty much all the cars being previewed had both Level one and level 2 charging capacity.
Cities trying to promote green energy are the major proponents around the country, like in Boston the various public parking lots provide outlets at electric only parking spaces free of charge. Anywhere I’ve seen these they have been pay to park lots, but the power is free provided you paid the same parking charge as everyone else, the electric only spaces are also premium spaces, just after the handicap spaces)
Commercial pay for power options haven’t caught on yet but are likely to come with more Level 3 stations that can charge a car in 20 minutes or so.
Combined with all this is much needed upgrades to the American electrical grid. We are lagging behind in technology upgrades and basic maintenance. ‘Smart grid’ is the new lingo that is out and about which basically refers to adjusting and billing power usage based on peak power costs.
Running a electric car costs about 2 cents a mile in power usage. The electric companies would happily charge lest then a penny for that same power if it was charged during off peak time.
BTW from an electrical point of view a nema-14 is unlikely. Non-locking plugs are being poo pooed for anything other then permanent fixtures(dryers refrigeration ect)
Anything that functions like an extension cord or movable equipment the pressure is for twist locks like the ones mentioned in your link.
But the Tesla already uses a 14-50 connector. Most other electric cars don’t appear to use plugs at all, at least not for 240V; they have hard-wired charging stations, with a plug for the car. This is what’s going to make standardization a bitch, as everyone is using a different plug design for the car. There is a standard for these car plugs, but it doesn’t specify design, only wiring.