Agreement on Charging Standards?

From AutoWeek this morning:

http://www.autoweek.com/article/201...arge_system_for_EVs&utm_campaign=awdailydrive

Seven automakers have agreed to use a common single-port fast-charging system for electric cars in the United States and Europe. The goal is to reduce development costs and make it easier for consumers to adopt electric vehicles.

Audi, BMW, Daimler, Ford, General Motors, Porsche and Volkswagen will use identical charge plugs and the same system for communication between the charger and the car in their electric vehicles.

The automakers say they reached the agreement after studying current EV charging strategies and connectors.

The agreement should also help make it easier for governments and utilities to plan and develop infrastructure for electric-vehicle recharging.

The standardized charging ports and recharge stations will be compatible with the J1772 port now used for Level 1 and Level 2 chargers in the United States.

Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20111012/CARNEWS/111019966#ixzz1aaUcLlqg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is a better article:
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/12/german-automakers-plug-a-unified-standard-for-d-c-fast-charging/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As Tom Saxton mentions in the article, it seems dumb to decide this now without considering the new Tesla Model S connector.

He added that in the next few months SAE would begin testing the prototype combo charging system in production vehicles. If the testing is successfully concluded, a final standard could be published by the organization in the first quarter of 2012.

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What production vehicles are they talking about? Are there DC quick charge capable production vehicles available from the manufactures in question? I have yet to see any in their showrooms for purchase myself.

I'm just curious... How can it be "standard" if there are a dozen different versions? The only thing that seems to be "standard" is the use of electricity to recharge the car! :lol:

The (SAE) "agreement" is only between certain manufacturers that are not producing QC EV's or QC stations. I am far more interested in the "agreement" between manufacturers that are selling QC EV's and QC stations. When (if) SAE arrives it will simply be a second standard and rolled out based on demand.

TRONZ said:

The (SAE) "agreement" is only between certain manufacturers that are not producing QC EV's or QC stations. I am far more interested in the "agreement" between manufacturers that are selling QC EV's and QC stations. When (if) SAE arrives it will simply be a second standard and rolled out based on demand.

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Agreed TRONZ, and pretty much what I said in the Spark thread....no EVSE manufacturer that I'm aware of has signed on to this abomination (or the Tesla one either, for that matter).

News story: Seven auto makers, none of which is building any EV's today, and none of which have any future plans to build any EV with quick charge capability, have agreed on a standard for EV quick charging which would of course apply only to cars made by other manufacturers. The new standard is incompatible with 100% of the world wide installed base of quick charging stations, and with all quick charge capable EV's.

all of these manufacturers Audi, BMW, Daimler, Ford, General Motors, Porsche and Volkswagen are planning on offering BEVs, perhaps once they settle on a standard connector they will offer quick charge capability.. The important thing is that chademo cars and chargers can be adapted to the new standard. Luckily very few cars using the Chademo connector have been sold..

The good news is that the Europeans, Japanese and Americans will use the same J1772 connector.. only the Chinese are using something else.

mwalsh said:

...no EVSE manufacturer that I'm aware of has signed on to this abomination (or the Tesla one either, for that matter).

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Does anybody know if Tesla ever offered its EVSE for an international standards?

A wise man once said: "The best thing about standards is there are so many to choose from." :lol:

J1772 is very likely going to be the default at this point. The public infrastructure is already being rolled out which makes for a strong incentive to but a vehicle that can use it. For example, why would I buy GM's latest BEV boondoggle when I have no place to plug it in away from home? The J1772 ship has already sailed and it'll take years for any other standard to catch up.

I can't help but think they are deliberately trying to muddy the waters.
=Smidge=

Huh? It sounds to me like you are trying to muddy the waters. Even if the Spark has DC charging - not a given - using the new connection that GM has just signed on to, I believe that port is supposed to support a standard J1772 connection for AC charging. Do you have contrary information?

Ray

Smidge204 said:

The J1772 ship has already sailed and it'll take years for any other standard to catch up.

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I don't think so... Reading between the lines, I think the intent of using Homeplug GREEN/PHY has little to do with quick charging, which will offer very limited benefits, if any, but everything to do with pulling a fast one and tacking the new communications protocol onto existing L2, which only has very limited smart-grid capabilities. The existing J1772 EVSEs will work, but you'll have to buy a new L2 EVSE with Homeplug GREEN/PHY in order to do the smart-grid functions which will be necessary in the future to get the utility's best rates and coolest features.

IMHO, they should have stuck with CAN from the BEV to EVSE; it's MUCH more established than Homeplug. This will be yet another delay in the new SAE standard. This is a delaying tactic, nothing more.

**WARNING!!. Topic below used with standard oil entrenched automobile manufacturing company analogies and logic**

i can see the logic behind having one standard plug for EVs so there is no confusion amongst the "foggier" set.

after all, i still see confusion in roundabouts and they are one way!

**End of Warning. you may resume your normal thinking**

I think the HomeLink communication through the "gonad" connector is for L3 Charger-to-Car control (not for L2), meant to replace the [more reliable?] existing QC CAN control.

For EVSE/L3 communication to/from the PU, that is a different issue entirely.

As we begin to discover, decode, and publish the QC CAN messages (and eventually the QC charging protocol), we can hope that it will become an Open Standard, available to everybody.