DOE issues $12M funding for dev of cheaper Level 2 chargers

[marccbr]

Looks like the government is listening to our complaints on this forum. They are issuing $12M in funding for someone to develop a cheaper Level 2 charger that cost half the cost of today's chargers. That should be pretty easy since today's chargers are grossly over priced.
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/06/15/doe-issues-12m-funding-opportunity-for-development-of-cheaper-l/

 

[planet4ever]

Looks like the government is listening to our complaints on this forum. They are issuing $12M in funding for someone to develop a cheaper Level 2 charger that cost half the cost of today's chargers. That should be pretty easy since today's chargers are grossly over priced.
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/06/15/doe-issues-12m-funding-opportunity-for-development-of-cheaper-l/

Note that AutoBlogGreen did not make the same mistake you did. Call it an EVSE, call it a charging dock, call it an EV plugin, but it's not a charger. This is a key point as to why we say it is overpriced; it's really just a fancy switch and fancy nozzle.

Ray

 

[tps]

Therefore, the Department wants to reduce the cost of residential Level 2 EVSEs in a way that goes above and beyond the cost reductions that will come with economies of scale.

I'm not sure exactly what cost reduction opportunities the DOE is looking for. I think economies-of-scale and competition will be the major factors which will drive down the price of an EVSE. Both of these require much larger volume than we've got today. Right now we're paying a lot for the R&D, tooling, testing, etc. These costs don't change that much regardless of whether you build 1000 or 1000000, but they could be spread out over many more units than are currently be produced once the volume goes up.

 

[davewill]

For residential applications, 80-90 per cent of electric vehicle charging will occur in the evening or at night based on survey and use data and each application should incorporate bi-directional communications between the equipment and energy service providers while slashing current costs in half.

The want the new EVSEs to be "smart" and talk to, and maybe be controlled by, your utility.

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

Looks like the government is listening to our complaints on this forum. They are issuing $12M in funding for someone to develop a cheaper Level 2 charger that cost half the cost of today's chargers. That should be pretty easy since today's chargers are grossly over priced.
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/06/15/doe-issues-12m-funding-opportunity-for-development-of-cheaper-l/

Note that AutoBlogGreen did not make the same mistake you did. Call it an EVSE, call it a charging dock, call it an EV plugin, but it's not a charger. This is a key point as to why we say it is overpriced; it's really just a fancy switch and fancy nozzle.

Ray

IMHO, the term EVSE will never catch on, it's just not intuitive and sounds excessively techie to the lay person. For lack of a better term I believe our efforts will gradually get buried in the avalanche of newcomers and simply cause frustration on both sides.
g

 

[jwatte]

Looks like the government is listening to our complaints on this forum. They are issuing $12M in funding for someone to develop a cheaper Level 2 charger that cost half the cost of today's chargers. That should be pretty easy since today's chargers are grossly over priced.
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/06/15/doe-issues-12m-funding-opportunity-for-development-of-cheaper-l/

Why does government need to fund that at all? If the chargers are overpriced, then there will be a margin, and electronics are famous for shrinking margins down to the hourly wage of a Chinese worker within months. Assuming there is consumer demand

Btw: I bet most people will call it a "charger" -- probably too late to change this (admittedly inaccurate) name.

 

[planet4ever]

IMHO, the term EVSE will never catch on, it's just not intuitive and sounds excessively techie to the lay person. For lack of a better term I believe our efforts will gradually get buried in the avalanche of newcomers and simply cause frustration on both sides.

I agree, which is why I call it a charging dock.

A boat dock is not a boat.
A computer dock is not a computer.
A charging dock is not a charger.

Is that too techie for lay people?

 

[ElectricVehicle]

Off thread, but this topic seems to invade many threads....

At the charged 2011 conference, they seemed to be using "Charging station". Similar to a (fossil) gas station or a cell phone / MP3 / laptop charging station / kiosk at an airport. The charge station is the whole bit, parking space, striping, signage, access, EVSE if level 1 or 2 or charger for level 3 Quick Charge.

Though in all casses the charging function is somewhat distributed - the contactor is at least off board for an EVSE and for any type of charger, the brains or control of the chraging algorithm is always in the car as part of the battery management system (BMS).

 

[jimcmorr]

FWIW... I like both "Charging Dock" and "Charging Station". Should be easy for "non-techie" types.