Charging Ahead

Recently I attended a meeting EV enthusiasts where the panel of speakers covered their remedies for the trouble with "Charge Rage".  There were options for home and business charging.  There were a few options for changing how charging is done, either by splitting the charger or making charging open source. But one of these options stood out as something that I could move forward with immediately.

The first speaker was a representative from NRG Energy, a car charging company.  The speaker, Mehrshad Kouhkan, is a business and marketing agent for the company and had many plans for both consumers and businesses.  One of the plans that is offered by NRG energy helps give Electric Vehicle owners, who own a single family home, a method for installing a charging station for a low monthly fee.

There was a 30% rebate on the purchase and installation of a charging station, that covered up to $1000 of the cost.  Unfortunately, that deal ended at the start of 2014.  But with this opportunity through NRG Energy, I will be able to afford the considerable cost of both the install and charging station.

 The homeowners package includes installation and the price of the charging station.  For nearly $40 per month over the next 36 months (which comes to $1440) plus permits, the cost can be under $2000.

But Why Do you Need a Charging Station at Home?

We're all told that we "need" a charging station at the home.  It's a good question to ask why this is necessary.  There are several reasons for purchasing a charging station.

• Speed

The charging station usually has a higher voltage, like an electric stove or clothes dryer.  These devices pull more current at a higher voltage, therefore getting more power at once. Most home appliances are geared for 120V, but certain ones are set for higher.  An electric car can be set for as much as 440V (or more)

• Convenience:

Most people who own an electric car, change their vehicle at home, in their garage.  If you have the plug right there mounted on the wall, then you can easily connect to it when you arrive home. 

• Efficiency

Most electric cars come with a 120V portable charging station.  This device, although effective, is equivalent to reducing your home water inlet to a straw.  It will allow you to get water, but it will be very slow. But with the proper equipment, not only will the charge be faster, but cleaner and more efficient

• Communication

Electric vehicles are quite on the cutting edge of technology, not merely in the fact that they are efficient, but in their ability to communicate with us.  An EV has an on-board data service that can send information to your smartphone or computer.  But some charging stations can also do this.  A smart charging station can send you updates if the vehicle is done charging or if someone unplugs it.

Minor Issue

I'm grateful to finally be getting the charging station.  But I there is only one minor issue that I wish was more likely (in the US).  Although it's good to get a charging station, the on-board charger is the bottleneck.  It's not actually possible to charge faster than the on-board charger will allow.  So to charge faster, you would have to replace a part in the vehicle.  With the Smart, there's no US option for a DC Fast charger (yet), only in Europe.  But in the near future I hope to see more DC Fast charging station in the US, allowing us Smart ED owners to recharge in < 1 hour .

How do You Find a Charging Station for an Electric Vehicle?

Ah, the power, the Raw POWER... er uh, yeah.  There is no trick to this.  We already know that power outlets are pretty much everywhere.  If you can find a building with electricity, you've got power.  But how many buildings offer access to a power outlet near a parking space?  Not too many, at least not too many that haven't already designated that space for an electric vehicle.

There are several companies that began creating charge stations as early as 2009, for the debut of the Tesla Roadster.  The company is called Coulomb Technologies.  CT created the site called ChargePoint and began to churn out a standard, simple charge station.  Now, five years later, there are thousands of these charge stations all over the world. And they all operate conveniently through a simple plastic card or an app on your smartphone.

The ChargePoint app can be installed on any smartphone and used to find all the public charge stations that are offered by CT.   All these stations are connected to the ChargePoint network and will update on the app to let all the users know which stations are in use.   You can either map to the charge station of your choice, or have the app just find the closest available station.

There are several other apps available for finding these. The following is a list of applications that I have downloaded and tested.

• EV Charging Locator
• CarStarions Charging Stations
• ChargePoint Find EV Charging
• PlugShare

All these apps will assist you in navigating to the station that you're seeking.  For the most part they will provide some detail about the station as to the voltage / current levels that are available.  The only trouble that they each seem to suffer from is pinpoint locations.  You may find yourself searching a parking lot for several minutes before you find the station.

I hate to use a gas station as an example, but they're typically easy to find.  A gas station is usually quite large, has a BIG sign with its logo, and has easy access to the street.  There are often people going in and out of them regularly, unless the station is closed.  EV charging stations are much smaller (even level 3).  They're often not easy to spot or are inconveniently placed due to the misunderstanding of how they're to be used.  

Apps

When I purchased the Smart ED, I got a recommendation from the salesman that I should use EV Charging Locator to find the charging stations.  It is the most comprehensive app that I've found for charging stations. It's impressively easy to find a station using this app, the station icons aren't just one color and give some idea of whether they're being used or are out of service.  Of the apps listed, this one is my favorite.

CarStations "Charging Stations" app is another that I downloaded and tested.  It's very pretty. It is possible to leave comments, but one of the key things that I'd quite like is some indication prior to visiting a station, as to whether it is in use.  The icons on the map offer nothing until selected. Of course like many mapping apps, you can get all the information after tapping the target, but with this app you only really get the address, type, and distance.  For the most part this app is good if you know what you're getting into already, but for a novice, I would avoid it.

As noted above, the ChargePoint app will offer access to all its world wide charging stations.  And as ChargePoint is the largest US provider of stations it is quite comprehensive.  Immediately upon opening the app you will notice ChargePoint specific stations versus all others.  The icons that represent ChargePoint will have a status built into the icon.  You will know instantly whether a stations is available, being used, or out of service.  Tapping any station will bring up the address, then drop you into a screen that gives the current status of that station.  It's fairly comprehensive, but not at all conducive to use while driving. 

Lastly, PlugShare.  Plugshare is quite good for those who want to sociable. It was actually the first app that I installed to use before I purchase the Smart ED.  It's helpful in that the icons are colored depending on the use status of the station.  It also allows for private citizens to include their own home charger on the map.  But the best feature that PlugShare offers is an photo database.  

Although it is entirely possible to help re-position the icons on all the other apps so that the placement is ideal, you cannot add more than comments.  PlugShare allows EV owners to add images to give others a much more clear idea of what to look for.  

Tips

I like to make some final comments on using a charging station, that differ from something that may be more familiar (i.e. Gas Station Pumps)  Consider the following...

• Is the station Public or Private?
• Some companies have had their stations added to the map by overzealous employees or random people.  I've encountered at least one station that was not public, although listed as such. 
• Is the station Free or Paid?
• Most stations are paid, but through ChargePoint it is possible to get free fuel.  There are the occasional free stations, but they may not work.
• Is the station Functional?
• You may wrack you brain over this, remove the plug and re-connect, but still nothing.  Sure it was a great parking spot, but now you have no power and have to go searching for another.
• Be sure to report this to the store or on the app of your choice.
• Take a picture with your camera phone, if you have one.
• Is the station Compatible?
• Not all stations have plugs that will work with your vehicle.  Although there are a couple of standards, not all vehicles have all of them.  
• J1772 is the most common, but the Nissan Leaf and Tesla S have a two different plugs that will not work for a vehicle like the Smart ED that only comes with J1772.

Public Plug-In Electric Vehicle Charge Etiquette

Until electric car charging gets to be as fast as pumping gas, there will have to be some decent sharing going on.  Like the classic “nobody is watching” scenario, people act very differently when there’s no other person around to tell them that they should probably wait their turn at the charging station.    A person may desperately need to use the charging station, because they know that if they don’t start getting some charge now, they may not be able to get to their next appointment on time.

The change from the old standard, that we've all lived with for our entire lives, is that getting fuel has its costs..  Fueling a gas vehicle takes a few minutes and may cost a lot, but fueling an electric will take a while and won’t cost much.  This is the trade off.  If you don’t have a lot of time, it’s too late to complain that your electric car takes an hour to charge.  

Pure Battery Electric

Consider that people who drive pure battery electric vehicles cannot merely visit a gas station to refuel, where those with plug-in hybrid vehicles can. Although plug-in hybrid vehicle drivers would like to charge as much as the next electric vehicle driver, they have an alternative. Thereby, it would only seem fair to allow the pure battery electric vehicle driver to get a full charge.

Plug-in Lock

Some electric vehicles have a locking ability to maintain control over the plug until charging is complete, but not all do. In line with the ideal of the Charging Etiquette it would be considered appropriate to leave any plug connected until charging is complete. Fortunately, if the vehicle does not have an indicator for the charge, the station does. Once charging is complete, the station will terminate and disconnect the lock (if there is one).

Owners of Electric Vehicles should not be offended if the charging has been completed and another person takes the plug. However, as charging stations are, as yet, not ubiquitous, it is prudent to track one's vehicle status and move the vehicle once charging has completed.

Do unto others...

It's reasonable to think that the best situation is not the most common and that there will be occasions when you or another is in some form of peril. The justifications are innumerable, but it is how we handle them that it is important.

• If you are in need of charge and the plug is taken, it is reasonable to leave a note on the windshield of the current user.  
• You may want to leave your mobile number and kind remark for a future response time.
• If your vehicle has finished charging, please considerate of others and move your vehicle to another space.
• If you need a charge and you can see clearly that the other has finished, remove the plug with the same care that you would for your own vehicle.  
• Please try not to lay the cable across the other vehicle or wrap it tightly around any wheels or bumper.  
• If the cable will not reach, do not force or attempt to stretch it.
• Make no assumptions about the state of the other vehicle.
• You do not know the situation of the other EV owner, as to whether they have a back up generator or that you feel that they have "enough" charge.
• You do not have the right to unplug a hybrid plug-in, regardless.

Getting ICE'd

Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles are still by far the most prevalent vehicle on the road.  Although you may be aware of the latest trend in fuel efficiency and electric vehicles, not everyone is aware yet.  More than likely a person that parks an ICE vehicle in an EV space is not aware of the mistake and leaving a hurtful note will not bring them to justice.  

It is appropriate to leave a note to help in informing the population of the distinction.  It is not appropriate to verbally punish a person for that mistake. As the saying goes "a little kindness can go a long way."


A more concise list of these ideals can be found via PlugInCars.com