SAE 2009: SAE J1772 plug standard could be finalized by this fall
The SAE task force that is currently working on a standard for a conductive connector for plug-in vehicles could finalize that work as soon as this fall. The proposed plug standard is currently going through certification testing at Underwriters Labs and that work is scheduled to be completed by the end of May. If the testing is successfully completed, the standard will go to balloting which could result in the standard being adoped within a few months. General Motors Gery Kissel, who is the sponsor of the J1772 task force is presenting at the SAE World Congress this week and he spoke with AutoblogGreen about the plug standard. Among the companies that are participating or supporting the standard are GM, Chrysler, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Tesla. The plug was also submitted to the International Electrotechnical Commission in Europe for approval. The proposed standard connector was developed initially by supplier Yazaki and adopted by the task force in January 2008.
The connector is designed for single phase electrical systems with up to 240 V and 70 A such as those used in North American and Japan. The round 43 mm diameter connector has five pins and will support communication over power lines, to identify the vehicle and control charging. The connector is designed to withstand up to 10,000 connection/disconnection cycles and exposure to all kinds of elements. The supporting manufacturers have committed to using the new plug including GM for the Volt and its derivatives. Tesla has even committed to changing over to the standard plug and retrofitting existing vehicles.
This plug is unrelated to the recently announced European plug standard. That plug is designed for 400 V three phase applications.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Snoopy 5:31PM (4/21/2009)
Sounds like good news on this front. If companies at both ends of the spectrum (i.e. GM and Tesla) and other companies like Nissan and Toyota are on board, then things appears to be headed in the right direction. That 400V one sounds pretty cool though, quicker charging and all.
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polo 6:21PM (4/21/2009)
Why would they make 240v plugs the standand??
For EVs to be widely adopted *FAST CHARGING* stations which use 400v will be needed. If this becomes the standard then that won't even be an option (without specialized customization of the car at owners expense). I hope Nissan makes a huge fuss about this. They're supposed to be working on fast charging stations in the US and already announced some partnerships. If this becomes the standard it would require either a blanket presence of charging outlets whereever a car could be parked (because if they can't charge at home for 4hours they will have to elsewhere), and raise costs for such an infrastructure significantly will causing a serious disincentive to anyone that charge at home for 4hours minimum.
I wouldn't be surprised if GM was purposely lobbying for this weaker charging standard just so they wouldn't have to worry about EVs being widely adopted (this weaker standard would eliminate primary factor that could lead to mass adoption: fast charging stations). Just goes to show you how backass some Americans are.
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Dave 7:43PM (4/21/2009)
"For EVs to be widely adopted *FAST CHARGING* stations which use 400v will be needed." - polo
And how long will it take to charge at one of these stations? One or two hours, perhaps? (And thats for a Volt, not a real EV)
NO ONE WANTS TO SPEND AN HOUR OR MORE PER DAY EVERY DAY AT THE GAS STATION. - A four hour charge while you sleep or work makes much more sense.
polo 8:49PM (4/21/2009)
"And how long will it take to charge at one of these stations? One or two hours, perhaps?"
These fast-charging stations have been in testing in Japan and Europe with numerous automakers for a couple years now and they get anywhere from 5-15minutes depending on the battery module. 5 minutes of google could have answered this for you, but apparently you'd rather look like an idiot.
"And thats for a Volt, not a real EV"
The only difference between the volt and a "real EV" is the battery capacity, and the addition of an ICE (which is not a factor in charging times). They both charge the same way, and can be charged just as fast, depending on the battery module and chemistry.
"NO ONE WANTS TO SPEND AN HOUR OR MORE PER DAY EVERY DAY AT THE GAS STATION. - A four hour charge while you sleep or work makes much more sense."
Again "Fast charging" stations are called FAST CHARGING stations because full recharges range from 5-15minutes, not an hour. A four hour charge while you sleep requires a charging station professionally installed at home, for anywhere from $500-$1,500, at owners expense. If you just plug it into a regular 3-prong socket its going to take longer than 4 hours due to the AMPs required. Right there you've cut off a huge market of potential customers: almost all apartment dwellers, anyone with off-street parking, and anyone else without a garage who doesn't feel comfortable leaving a car plugged in outside. And for businesses to start offering charging outlets to their employees EVs would need to be widely adopted first.
While here in America every EV customer will be required to install a $1k charging station that takes 4 hours for a full charge, in Europe and Japan people will pull their EV up to a charging station and get topped off in a few minutes...or go to a restaurant or mall with fast charge outlets and get topped off by the time they're ready to leave. This proposal is so assbackwards I think only GM could come up with it.
Chris M 9:09PM (4/21/2009)
Dave, we won't need to recharge at smelly gas stations, charging outlets can be installed in parking lots almost anywhere. That makes it possible to plug in, then go do something else while charging - you can't do that while filling up with gas, you've got to watch the pump nozzle in case of overflows or spills.
Since you can do something else while charging, a "one hour" charge will be sufficient in most cases, that gives time to grab a snack, use the restroom, or do some shopping. Of course, a 10 minute "quick charge" would be nice to have when in a real hurry.
Dave 9:24AM (4/22/2009)
"These fast-charging stations have been in testing in Japan and Europe with numerous automakers for a couple years now and they get anywhere from 5-15minutes depending on the battery module. 5 minutes of google could have answered this for you, but apparently you'd rather look like an idiot."
Cite a scientific article to back this up before you start calling people idiots.
You talk and tack and talk but give no evidence.
Show me a full sized car (not a neighborhood vehicle) with an acceptable range (100+ miles) that can recharge in 5-15 minutes without damaging the batteries.
The SAE is about 500,000,000 times smarter than you, so the burden of proof is on you.
Chris A 11:41PM (4/21/2009)
Actually the 400V standard was adopted by the "European" divisions of Volkswagen, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Fiat, Toyota and Mitsubishi.
The J1772 240V standard will be for the US and Japan.
The actual speed of charging would be the same for both systems as I doubt the wattage would be different (240V @ 70A = 400V @ 42A).
The 240V system makes sense in the US since it allows a single-phase electrical customer to be able to directly charge their EV without using a (usually inefficient, but they are getting better) transformer. No extra equipment to break in the charging cycle...
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matthijs 6:55AM (4/22/2009)
The European spec plug will be supporting 400V 63A
http://www.ecs-five.ch/parkcharge/do...teme-Rev07.pdf (.PDF) German but you can see the specs easily.
matthijs 7:52AM (4/22/2009)
http://www.ecs-five.ch/parkcharge/documents/Spezifikation%20MENNEKES-Ladesysteme-Rev07.pdf
Snoopy 5:13PM (4/23/2009)
I just realized, as a bit of an afterthought to my original comment, that it would be nice to see what the people at Better Place think about the proposed standards (both the 240V and 400V standards).
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Rif 4:35PM (4/25/2009)
Regarding the European (Mennekes) EV plug standard, this is what I have been able to glean from the net.
Short version of specs:
http://www.danskelbilkomite.dk/StdConnector.pdf
See matthijs link for longer specs.
Photos of plug:
http://ing.dk/gallerier/109314
The plug standard has 7 pins, i.e. 3 phases + neutral + (protective) earth. The plug also has a pin for presence detection and another control pilot pin. The presence detect is to only feed power when vehicle is connected and to immobilize the vehicle while cable is connected. Control pilot is a data pin to negotiate the charge current between vehicle and charger. Vehicle provides the current and if 1 or 3 phases can be used, same for charger side, highest common denominator is then used.
The electrical power pins are based on the IEC 60309 power system which is standard throughout the world.
http://www.internationalconfig.com/Documents/2004Catalog/i.pdf
The 3 phase system has 230V for each phase, combined this is known as a 400V system because of the phases are shifted 120 degrees.
The plug can charge on 1 or 3 phases, each of 230V. The current can be 16A, 32A or 63A. That means charging can be up to 43.5kW. For a Tesla roadster with 53kWh battery a full charge would then be less than 1h30mn (this time includes estimated 15% heat loss at battery while charging).
Perhaps more interesting the standard also allow for a simple 1 phase 230V with 16A charge, i.e. the power from a standard European wall plug.
It would hence be possible to use this Mennekes plug type in the US residential electrical standard, where a 240V with 16A, 32A or 63A is available. The 240V connection is from a dual 120V with 180 degree phase difference. These kind of connections are normally used for high load electrical equipment like airco or heater systems. The 50/60hz difference is not an issue because the power will be charging batteries.
The max spec of the standard with 43KW charging is very high load and will require special charging installation and thick power cables. This likely will be installed at special charging stations.
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Jack Rickard 11:49AM (5/19/2009)
It is a little more complicated than quite described. A standardized plug is very interesting.
But there's a little bit of a problem. We have two basic charging concepts going on here.
First, the batteries. Lithium Ion Iron Phosphate batteries do not need a great breakthrough in chemistry to support fast charging. The batteries I have NOW in my CAR can be recharged safely in 20 minutes. The problem is, it would take 540 amps at about 120 VDC to do this.
The CHARGER I have on the car is of course the limiting factor. Converting AC to DC requires some pretty big power supply components. The physical size of the charger I can carry in a Porsche is somewhat limited. I have a very expensive BRUSA charger that does an excellent job. But connected to 240 vac, it still takes nearly 5 hours to charge the batteries.
To do a QUICK charge, I need to plug into something that will provide a DC charge voltage, at a voltage compatible to my battery pack, at a level of 540 amps.
Actually, this IS possible. Just setup a larger bank of batteries, and slowly charge them using a regular charger. When I bring in the car, I simply connect this "mother" bank to my car. But I have to bypass the onboard charger, and connect the two banks with some pretty hefty 2/0 cables that can carry 540 amps at 120 vdc.
So a standardized charger plug to connect to AC supplies is very much needed. But it has nothing to do with QUICK CHARGE stations. Quick charge implies bypassing the onboard charger entirely, and providing massive current at DC voltages to the battery pack. It's quite doable, and several companies are working on the charging stations. But it won't have anything to do with an AC charge receptacle.
Jack Rickard
http://evtv.me