L3 Charging ?

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hill

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 21, 2010
Messages
1,871
Location
Lake Forest, CA
http://www.allcarselectric.com/blog/1059391_what-good-is-fast-charging-for-electric-cars-if-its-closed

Is there only ONE L3 in all of California ... the 2nd largest state that EV's are being sold in? And if there's only one public L3 station ... is it not even running? Does it lack U.L. or some kind of other official approval? In the read above, according to George, there's a sign on it saying it's:
" .... awaiting 'appropriate certification.' ..."
Seems there's an awful lot of unused $700 receptacles going to no use, if this is the case.
 
Still off as of yesterday:

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That's really sad. ECOtality, I'm looking at you!


"Daddy, what's that large socket on the left for?"

"Well son, many years ago, the Japanese had an excellent idea to quickly charge the car in the time it takes for a cup of tea and newspaper."
 
DC Fast Charging is coming. I have no doubt about that. It will be interesting to see 'when'. When it does, I'm taking a trip to either Tucson, Flagstaff, L.A., or San Diego...maybe all 4 (not at the same time). :mrgreen:
 
LEAFfan said:
DC Fast Charging is coming. I have no doubt about that. It will be interesting to see 'when'. When it does, I'm taking a trip to either Tucson, Flagstaff, L.A., or San Diego...maybe all 4 (not at the same time). :mrgreen:
Come see us in LA! :D
 
Just as the Level 2 Ecotality Blink EVSE deployment was delayed until UL listing (on ~Dec 30, 2010, I believe), their Level 3 EVSE deployment is being delayed by UL certification. When I asked an electrical contractor for Ecotality (who had installed my Blink) if he had any idea as to when that certification might occur, he said he had heard it might be sometime in August 2011. He did not comment how authoritative a source that info came from. I know the company he works for installs both commercial Level 2 Blink EVSEs (mostly) and residential ones (I believe they will also eventually install Level 3 EVSEs).

It is extremely important that all these EVSEs be safely designed! EV acceptance would be severely curtailed by any electrocutions of casual EVSE users, don't you think?

Since the Level 3 EVSEs operate with a higher voltage/power than the Level 2s and actually have charging circuitry (that the Level 2s don't), it is not surprising that it is taking longer to get UL certification...
 
Kataphn said:
LEAFfan said:
DC Fast Charging is coming. I have no doubt about that. It will be interesting to see 'when'. When it does, I'm taking a trip to either Tucson, Flagstaff, L.A., or San Diego...maybe all 4 (not at the same time). :mrgreen:
Come see us in LA! :D

Ok Kat, LA it is! Thanks for the invite. :D :mrgreen:
 
I told my dad that as soon as the QC in Vacaville is fixed, we were going to take a road trip up there to try it out.
 
Amped4LEAF said:
The only active, public L3 charger in the States currently is in Portland.

Not true. I believe we have one here in Dallas that is working, but it is on the other side of town and I've had no desire to drive over and check it out, especially since my Leaf doesn't have the level-3 port anyway.
 
1. The sign posted on the QC station is clearly worded, with helpful information (nearby L2 stations). Good Job!

2. UL LISTING (there is no "certification" or "approval") covers safety issues, like voltages over 24 volts, and failure modes. It does not determine that the device actually works well for the intended purpose.

So, a very poor functional design might be "power-safe" (wire sizes, connectors, power relays, etc.), but not actually communicate properly with a particular EV, or work on a hot, cold, humid, or snowy day.

The backlog of products seeking UL Listing is probably ... very long.
 
(sigh) . . . so, if the one and only California L3 is down for some type of U.L. cert, it'd stand to reason that Oregon's and (if they have one) Texas' L3 will be going down too. The L2's took a ridiculously long time to get U.L. approval - and yet most of them are ridiculously simple pass-through devices ... hardly needing volumes of research and time for approval. What does that say for how long quick charge infrastructure hopefulls will be waiting ?
 
hill said:
(sigh) . . . so, if the one and only California L3 is down for some type of U.L. cert, it'd stand to reason that Oregon's and (if they have one) Texas' L3 will be going down too. The L2's took a ridiculously long time to get U.L. approval - and yet most of them are ridiculously simple pass-through devices ... hardly needing volumes of research and time for approval. What does that say for how long quick charge infrastructure hopefulls will be waiting ?
The City of Portland approved the installation of the DC Quick Charger specifically without the UL listing. The only information I could find out was that the city believed that the unit fulfilled the technical requirements in order for safe operation and granted the permit and approved the inspection based on that information. The one here won't be turned off anytime soon. :D
 
I'm feeling a whole lot better about my gamble to NOT pay for the L3 charger connection in my car. I honestly hope that these systems will be built out but I really dislike the vaporware that these companies push and attempt to look 'green' while not actually producing the product.
 
adaminla said:
I'm feeling a whole lot better about my gamble to NOT pay for the L3 charger connection in my car.
What is going to disappoint me to no end is if there is not a substantial number of DC quick chargers available by the end of next year. Otherwise I feel the investment by the U.S. Department of Energy for the EV Project DC quick charge ports will be wasted as far as getting data about DC quick charge usage.
 
Today's Ecotality press release promises to begin a major installation of 'public' charging stations and the rollout of something like 14,000 stations by year end. I'm not sure how they are going to possibly ramp up that fast but hey, we'll see it when it happens.

http://www.ecotality.com/news/press.php

So far, I am VERY impressed with the Chargepoint systems near me at Pasadena City College and Cal State Los Angeles. I suggested to them that every city library ought to be a good site for them to explore installing a charger. What better way to spend an hour or two getting some juice for the car than juicing your brain at the same time!
 
adaminla said:
Today's Ecotality press release promises to begin a major installation of 'public' charging stations and the rollout of something like 14,000 stations by year end. I'm not sure how they are going to possibly ramp up that fast but hey, we'll see it when it happens.
Did I miss something? I didn't see even a hint that any of those 14,000 stations would use the Quick Charge port or be anything else faster than the residential charging stations they have already put in. It seems to me that they are doing L2 Blink and nothing else.

Ray
 
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