Two Oregon cities will start the state's electric car charging infrastructure
If you missed the story of this 1981 Ford Fairmont EV, click here.
Portland General Electric is gearing up to move Oregon into the plug-in vehicle future. The utility will be installing a dozen charging stations for EVs in Portland and Salem in the next two months. Sure, that might not seem like a lot, but this is just the demonstration part of the project; the utility is laying the foundation for mass adoption of plug-in vehicles in the next two to five years. An ambitious timeline? Sure, but that's what we need right now and public charging stations are vital to allowing people who don't have a garage at home to fill up their new electric cars.
Back in May, PGE got approval from the Oregon Public Utility Commission to install a lot of smart meters (850,000, to be exact) in people's homes. For the public vehicle chargers, PGE is working with ODOT to install the devices and let people know what they are. The Daily Journal of Commerce claims that there are already 400 EVs registered in Oregon.
[Source: Daily Journal of Commerce]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tim 2:09PM (7/02/2008)
How will people pay for the electricity they take from these public charging stations? They won't ask their neighbors to pay for them with their taxes will they?
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Ignatius 2:22PM (7/02/2008)
It's probably safe to assume that you put your credit card in and let it charge. It'll calculate how many KWH you use and charge you a premium upon the regular rate.
It'll probably also use a 240V or higher charging plug for faster charging. Though it still will take awhile, this can be good for people who need to get home and don't have enough charge or just want to top off.
GoodCheer 4:40PM (7/02/2008)
One possible business model would be that the local grid operator pays for the outlets, and uses them to supply "regulation down" service, (www.ornl.gov/~webworks/cppr/y2001/rpt/122302.pdf), so you could charge for free while providing a service to the grid.
Danielle Andre 2:11PM (7/02/2008)
How long does it take to charge?
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Mihkel 2:47PM (7/02/2008)
Well, the charging current will be the lowest of either charger can handle or car can handle. Charging time will be
(the energy your car battery is missing times)/((charging efficiency)*(charging voltage)*(charging current)).
Of course other factors will come into play, but this should give you a rough estimation. Modern batteries should, in theory, handle very rapid charging (A123 Systems, Altairnano), a matter of few minutes, but it remains to be seen, how fast this technology gets implemented in battery packs.
GoodCheer 4:36PM (7/02/2008)
There are already tens of thousands of plugs around the country (in RV parks) that can deliver about 12 kW (240V x 50A).
If you use about 250 Wh/mile, that would be charging at a rate of 48 miles of range per hour.
Serge 2:34PM (7/02/2008)
A commendable effort by the public utility by taking a proactive, than reactive approach.
I think that the plug standard will become a bigger issue as more such projects are implemented. Right now the 220V plug seems to a be a dominant method, but is best designed for longer time periods, i.e. overnight at home. I would start with integrating a charger into the parking meters.
Tim: read the article for an answer.
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meme 2:45PM (7/02/2008)
Danielle: That depends on the type of vehicle and the socket.
I hope that these are basic, run-of-the-mill, NEMA 14-50R or NEMA 14-60R sockets. Not some fancy inductive or conductive *charger* -- just an outlet. That way, any vehicle can charge with its onboard charger in the way *it needs*; you don't need a different kind of charger for each car. You only really need fixed installations of chargers when you're talking about fast charging in 5-20 minutes with many dozens or hundreds of kilowatts. And, with 14-50R or 14-60R, the vehicle could really take whatever it needs -- any amperage up to either 50 or 60 amps (depending on either it's the 50R or 60R) and either 120V or 240V. And they're not rare, either -- the 14-50R is the standard grounded range socket as well as the standard high-power RV socket.
Yes, a few older vehicles don't have onboard chargers, but not only is that concept being phased out, and not only are they only found in small numbers even today, but you can adapt a fixed charger for portable use. That's what Kris Trexler did on his "Charge Across America" EV-1 trip.
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Joseph 3:12PM (7/02/2008)
This is kind of useless.
EVs don't really need the government to provide charging stations. First of all, because there are so many different kinds of chargers and EVs with different batteries of different sizes, all the government can supply would be an outlet, so no one is left out.
There are so few EVs, and almost all of them are conversions, that the problem for apartment or condo dwellers is almost a non-existent issue.
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meme 3:28PM (7/02/2008)
"First of all, because there are so many different kinds of chargers and EVs with different batteries of different sizes, all the government can supply would be an outlet, so no one is left out."
And? What's wrong with providing an outlet? What's wrong with onboard chargers? A modern charger that can handle up to 50A/240V weighs only a couple dozen pounds, and that's assuming that you don't just use your inverter to charge. And if you're worried about this being a subsidy, did you notice that these have meters on them? It doesn't take much business to pay off a couple thousand dollars of installation costs. As for numbers of EVs on the streets, there may not be many now, but check back after Aptera, Mitsubishi, Subaru, GM, Toyota, Th!nk, Nissan, and many others start showing up in the '09-'11 timeframe.
frodus 4:12PM (7/03/2008)
Haha, thats so cool. I'll be working with Jeff Kim very soon. He and Synkromotive in Portland are in the same building in NW Portland. I met Jeff at an OEVA meeting several months back, and talked about charging stations.
Its hard around Portland to charge, mostly because of WHERE to charge. I think if charging stations are installed here, like they are in europe, we'd be pretty well off. Plus, once Plug-in Hybrids and Plug-in EV's start being more available, we'll be able to charge them. I've only got an electric motorcycle, but charging it would be nice if I could drive downtown for a couple hours, charge while I'm there, and come back to a charged cycle I can ride.
We can't use normal 14-50 or 14-60 due to NEC regulations. If someone were able to plug in their own plug, and slide their card, they could potentially cause problems to themselves and others. The issue right now, is finding a receptacle that is agreed upon. It can't be off the shelf available to you're average Joe. I don't like the NEC rules either, but its there. But one loophole exists, Local municipalities can overide it and make a decision. I think initially the grid will be set up for both 240 and 120, but with no receptacles for 240 until the decision is made to go forward.
And this is Shurepower and PGE providing the stations, but on public/government property.
I think is a great idea... there need to be filling stations like gas stations so when people DO drive their EV's, they can charge if they need to. Things only get better once we start seeing more LiFePo.
Vehicle to Grid is another thing. If you have a 20kWh pack, and you only use 5-6k to get to work, you can "buffer" the grid when there are large surges in the lines. The electrical companies can run their most efficient generators, without putting online the more expensive, older inefficient generators during peak times. Thats what they do now. If we can avoid that, it Saves them money, and if there are 100's of cars out there that do this, to help reduce the cost to operate for the electrical companies, and the EV's make money by providing this service... we may see electricity kWh costs come down.... or at least the EV charging will be cheaper for people that have them.
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Christian 2:10AM (7/03/2008)
APTERA, are you listening? Oregon should be State #2 after California!
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