I just returned from the second annual Plug-In Vehicle Conference. Like last year, I was invited to discuss plug-in vehicle charging standards, since I chair the Society of Automotive Engineers committee that works with other major automakers and EV start-up companies on developing new charging standards. What made this year's event more exciting for me than last year is that I was able to finally show some of our initial charging hardware – the equipment people will use every day to charge the Volt’s battery.
On display was our version of a portable 120-volt cord, a charge cord that plugs into any standard wall outlet and allows the Volt to be recharged in about eight hours nearly anywhere there’s a plug.. The 120V unit can charge at its normal rate of 12 amps, but the user can select a slower rate of charge if a dedicated circuit is not available.
We also displayed our 240-volt wall-mounted charge station. With its 16 amp output, it can charge the Volt in about three hours.
The portable vehicle charge cord and wall-mounted charge station have three lights: one to indicate the unit is receiving AC power, one that indicates a ground fault circuit interruption, and one to indicate whether or not there is a ground present.
Having people finally get their hands on these components helped answer a lot of questions, including my favorite: "Why can't I just use an extension cord to plug in my car?"
The answers are safety and durability. Multiple levels of shock protection are built into these components. From ground-fault protection to the type of cable insulation are just a couple levels of protection used to make the charging process safe in any condition, rain or shine. And we didn’t stop there. The Volt cannot drive away if you accidentally leave the vehicle charge plug in place whether it is charging or not.
The electric charging equipment is tough too. You literally can drive over the vehicle charge plug, hose it down with water and plug in 10,000 times. Try that with your extension cord! And did I mention there’s a flashlight designed into the charge cord plug so that it will be easier to plug in your Volt at night?
Compared to last year's Plug-In Vehicle Conference, I felt a greater excitement in the air. We’re building and testing real Volts now and the development of new charging equipment is now complete. Stay tuned for more information about the charging equipment (including price) and about the Volt. We’re getting closer to the point when people can stop talking about the Volt and start driving it!
written by Aleks, August 28, 2009
"written by Neil R Gelinas, August 21, 2009
Just wondering why in 1987 could Chevy build a car the EV1 that got 140 miles on a charge using NiMH batteries and in 2011 can they only build a car the Volt to go 40 miles on a charge using a far superior Battery chem. composition? Not to mention they are lighter which would mean that you could add more cells to the pack than with the NiMH pack in the EV1? "
The reasons are simple. GM spent more money developing the EV1s, and would spend almost 10 times(exaggerated estimate) more just servicing these cars, than consumers would have made up for in sales. And as we already know, without making that move gm is still pretty messed up right now. Also, The market is not ready for a full electric car. Yes you can charge at home, but what about long trips? where would you have charged the EV1?(considering the only plug in it could use was a wall mounted high output charger.) Another issue here is, the cars were ridiculously expensive. $28,000 more than the avg decent car, in other words roughly the same price of gas over 10-20 yrs(assuming you dont drive like 1000 miles/week). I wont argue, yes its a good thing for the environment but though the technology exists, it is far from being cost-effective and hence why we have hybrids. your argument that why dont they use the new technology is invalid. they are using the technology currently available to be the most cost effective and consumer-ready for transition. Remember as with all great technologies it takes development and discovery to make things effective. Take a look at computers. They have been around since the early 40s. But at the time they were the size of a room. Noone ever thought it would ever be a household item. But slowly they built smaller and cheaper versions as technology progressed. Now enough with computers and back to the cars. Normally it would be the same as with the computers and we would have never seen hybrids, except that the government is pushing for a high mpg for cars, and thus, hybrids are the only costeffective method to meet these standards.
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written by Jim Stumph, August 21, 2009
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written by Neil R Gelinas, August 21, 2009
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written by Mark Czajka, August 20, 2009
http://www.charlescounty.org/
See add in upper right corner.
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written by Johnny Jennings, August 19, 2009
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written by Jake West, August 19, 2009
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written by Rick Hearn, August 17, 2009
Thanks for posting this info. If you have a moment, I have a question for you.
Your numbers for the 120/240 volt charge currents are a little higher than whan GM has previously given. (See http://www.narucmeetings.org/Presentations/Stanek PHEV_Nov08 - final90.pdf at slide 18.) Mary Beth gives charge rates of 1.2 / 3.3 kW versus your 1.44 / 3.84 kW. Are her numbers obsolete? Maybe her numbers are out of the Volt's charger while yours are in?
If you could shed any light I'd be appreciative. I realize there are limits to GM's openness about a billion dollar investment, so I'll understand if you can't comment further. Thanks either way.
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2) Why are there earlier posts that have not been answered ?
3) Where can I pre-order a Volt ?
4) How about a site with the Volt's specifications of all the various parameters (e.g. charging Q's see Rick Hearn's 8-17 etc.) - EVEN if these would be labeled as temporary / subject to change at this point.