eVgo in San Diego: Fashion Valley Chademo & SAE

[Randy]

As many of you have already heard and seen on Facebook, eVgo will be hosting an event on Monday evening 9/30 in San Diego at their first San Diego Freedom Station installation. It consists of a single Level 2 Chargepoint EVSE, a Nissan / Sumitomo Chademo DC Fast Charging station, and an ABB SAE Combo DC Fast Charge station.

The Monday event is part of the 2013 Plugin Conference, which is being held in San Diego this year...

The first photo shows the stations installed before the NRG / eVgo logos and artwork were attached. The level 2 station is off to the left of the main island.

The second and third photos show a photo shoot with a Chevy Spark and the GM spokesperson as they demonstrate the SAE Combo charging process...

These stations will be open to the public after the event on Monday evening, but you will need an eVgo card to use them...More information is available on their website...

 

[Randy]

Oh, and look who showed up to also take part in the photo shoot...

Mr. BMW i3 !!!!!!

 

[mwalsh]

No, I hadn't. That's quite a change from the statement 3 weeks ago where they said CHAdeMO only for now with a space set aside for Combo later. I wish these companies would make up their fucking minds and quit making me look like an idiot!

 

[Randy]

Well, if it makes you feel any better, Michael, this is a one-off to demonstrate the technology and for Plug-in, and not the usual complement of equipment at upcoming Freedom station installations. The "Trigger" in the eVgo settlement hasn't been reached yet to start installing the combo stations in all locations (that would be 2 SAE Combo units UL listed and on the market and then a short time delay).

The ABB unit is from Europe and has a 400 volt 3-phase input, so a special transformer was used to power it from the 480 volt source...

 

[scottf200]

The "Trigger" in the eVgo settlement hasn't been reached yet to start installing the combo stations in all locations (that would be 2 SAE Combo units UL listed and on the market and then a short time delay).

The ABB unit is from Europe and has a 400 volt 3-phase input, so a special transformer was used to power it from the 480 volt source...

Do they have to be UL listed or do the comparable works.

Efacec Becomes First Company to Receive ETL Certfication for SAE Combo Charger
http://insideevs.com/efacec-becomes-first-company-to-receive-etl-certfication-for-sae-combo-charger/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ABB Becomes First in Europe to Pass Independent Testing and Receive CE Marking For Multi-Standard Chargers
http://insideevs.com/abb-becomes-first-in-europe-to-pass-independent-testing-and-receive-ce-marking-for-multi-standard-chargers/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

UL, CSA, ETL and CE: Whats the Difference?
http://www.crownaudio.com/certifmarks.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The ETL Listed Mark is an alternative to the CSA and UL marks.

 

[ELROY]

So what kind of charger is in the middle? Is that just a regular L2 charger?
Seems like we are not getting the charger pictured in the right, at the Camarillo Outlet Stores.

 

[Randy]

In the Fashion Valley installation, the center piece of equipment is called the "Customer service tower". It doesn't contain any charging equipment, but has the electronics that are required to operate the station. The Level 2 EVSE is not pictured, but is off to the left of the Nissan Chademo unit.

The picture at Camarillo shows the Nissan Chademo unit on the left and the customer service tower on the right. It looks like the space in the center would be for the future SAE charging station...

 

[edatoakrun]

...It looks like the space in the center would be for the future SAE charging station...

I certainly hope when/if eVgo starts installing SAE DC chargers in large numbers they will put in SAE/CHAdeMO Combo stations next to the existing CHAdeMO's, rather than SAE exclusive chargers.

It would be another* just-too-pathetic an example of infrastructure-design-by-lobbyists if they put in DC chargers designed to be useless to 99+ % of the DC capable BEVs in California.

You folks in Southern/Central CA would have to buy your own SAE-to-CHAdeMO converters (assuming they existed) just so avoid the lines at the eVgo CHAdeMO stations a few feet away.

*Such as not putting any eVgo Stations in the Northern third of the State, where many of the PG&E ratepayers who actually suffered from the Enron conspiracy live.

 

[Randy]

...It looks like the space in the center would be for the future SAE charging station...

I certainly hope when/if eVgo starts installing SAE DC chargers in large numbers they will put in SAE/CHAdeMO Combo stations next to the existing CHAdeMO's, rather than SAE exclusive chargers.

It would be another* just-too-pathetic an example of infrastructure-design-by-lobbyists if they put in DC chargers designed to be useless to 99+ % of the DC capable BEVs in California.

You folks in Southern/Central CA would have to buy your own SAE-to-CHAdeMO converters (assuming they existed) just so avoid the lines at the eVgo CHAdeMO stations a few feet away.

*Such as not putting any eVgo Stations in the Northern third of the State, where many of the PG&E ratepayers who actually suffered from the Enron conspiracy live.

It would definitely save on demand charges if there was one DC Fast Charging station that had two cords and could only charge one car at a time...Approximately 50kW load instead of 100 kW load could save approximately $1,000 per month in this region...