VIDEO: Awesome Mobility ReCharge concept is awesome!
While a future with electric cars on the roads seems quite certain now, the charging infrastructure being put in place is mostly of the slow variety. For those in a hurry, though, help may be on the way. The Deflt University of Technology in Holland seems to be spawning another group intent on bringing fast-charging to the masses. They've produced a short video for the faculty of Industrial Design Engineering illustrating a system that keeps it simple and eliminates some potential problems like equipment vandalism and handling high-voltage lines. With the "Awesome Mobility" system, as it's being called, you don't even have to get out of your car! Sweet!
The group hasn't just made a video. We are told that this project also includes a business plan to help make the concept a reality. They are currently working furiously on the Awesome Mobility website as we speak and we hope to follow their progress there. In the meantime, hit the jump for some fast-charging video and let us know what you think.
[Source: YouTube / Awesome Mobility]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
joe 6:23PM (2/24/2009)
As official representative of all that is awesome, I will require some proof that this contraption can/will work and all other manner of detail.
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Rick 6:42PM (2/24/2009)
Can't we have some kind of on the go charging like some kind of induction strip running down the middle of the lane or something?
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GoodCheer 6:50PM (2/24/2009)
Hey, why not. It works for electric buses.
Chris M 12:43AM (2/25/2009)
There would be some technical issues to be solved, and cooperation with the government would be needed, but yes, it could be done.
Eletruk 1:29PM (2/25/2009)
There was a system call E_Tran:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OYtYY_vSjo
Main drawback was it was a switched system. Worked fine with one car, but what happens when you put more cars on the system?
GenWaylaid 9:14PM (2/24/2009)
Inductive power transfer may generate too much heat when you're trying to dump energy into a car faster than it's being used up. Inductive transfer would also generate strong magnetic fields and may cause interference with nearby electronics and radio equipment.
I still haven't seen anything that beats a good ol' cable for simplicity and cheapness. To fast-charge an electric car requires a cable over 1" in diameter, though. That could be too heavy for some users, but perhaps the end of the cable could be hanging from a spring attached to an arm above the charging station, like the spray hose at an auto-wash.
As for the payment approach, what's wrong with the model we already have in gas pumps? Replace the fuel meter with an electric meter and it's ready to go. No need to reinvent this wheel.
The real challenge to fast charging, to which I still haven't seen a good response, is storing enough energy to handle the rapid draw-down from several electric cars without passing the surge back to the grid.
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jake 12:32AM (2/25/2009)
That's the biggest problem with rapid charging, the rest is relatively trivial since the experience will be similar to your typical gas station.
A possible way to is to use batteries as buffers, but those will run out if you have steady stream of customers, and they are fairly costly. Definitely the station must not draw so much power that it'll overburden the grid. If we double the charging time from 10 minutes for the quickest 250kW Aerochargers to 20 minutes, then we just need 125kW per charging point. From what I heard from some friends, a small supermarket can get a 1 MW service. That'll be enough to charge 8 cars at a time.
Add other measures such as grid communication and supplemental energy from solar panels & wind to decrease chances of over loading the grid. The buffer batteries ideally would be charging slowly overnight while the electricity is cheap or when there are less customers. The station may also use V2G technology to offset some of the load on the grid when there are less customers. It's definitely doable.
Chris M 12:53AM (2/25/2009)
How fast do you need the "fast charging"? When filling a gas tank, you need to watch it, in case it overflows or the hose slips out. When recharging, it isn't necessary to monitor it, charging is automatic and won't spill or overflow, so you can walk away and do something else, like take a break, grab a snack, use the restroom, shop a bit, etc. Under those considerations, a One Hour Charge would do just fine.
Anton 1:17AM (2/25/2009)
This might work in some places, i would however like to know how it handles snow, ice and sand..
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Eletruk 1:46PM (2/25/2009)
Watch this, it's the Th!nk electric car driven in the winter in Norway. It does just fine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMF2zn4IxLY
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Ambush 2:25AM (3/01/2009)
I think Anton was referring to the in-ground charging system.