Global automakers from the United States and Germany will demonstrate fast-charging technology that will enable the recharging of most electrified vehicles with compatible systems in as little as 15-20 minutes.
Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Daimler, Ford, General Motors, Porsche and Volkswagen have agreed to support a harmonized single-port fast charging approach – called DC-fast charging with a Combined Charging System – for use on electric vehicles in Europe and the United States. Live charging demonstrations will be conducted during the Electric Vehicle Symposium 26 (EVS26) May 6-9.
The combined charging system integrates one-phase AC-charging, fast three-phase AC-charging, DC-charging at home and ultra-fast DC-charging at public stations into one vehicle inlet. This will allow customers to charge at most existing charging stations regardless of power source and may speed more affordable adoption of a standardized infrastructure.
The International Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has chosen the Combined Charging System as the fast-charging methodology for a standard that incrementally extends the existing Type 1-based AC-charging. The standard is to be officially published this summer. ACEA, the European association of vehicle manufacturers has also selected the Combined Charging System as its AC/DC-charging interface for all new vehicle types in Europe beginning in 2017.
The charging system design was based on the collaborative review and analysis of existing charging strategies, the ergonomics of the connector and preferences of U.S. and European customers. The Combined Charging System was developed for all international vehicle markets and creates a uniform standard with identical electrical systems, charge controllers, package dimensions and safety mechanisms.
The system maximizes capability for integration with future smart grid developments through common broadband communication methods regardless of the global location of the charging system. The combined charging approach will reduce development and infrastructure complexity, improve charging reliability, reduce the total cost-of-ownership for end customers and provide low maintenance costs.
Commercially available combined charging stations are projected to be available later this year. All committed OEMs have vehicles in development which will use the Combined Charging System. First vehicles using this technology will be launched to the market in 2013.
Using currently available technology, I agree with Portland’s overall conclusion but I’m too tired to check his numbers. But we’re not tied to our current technology forever. The fact is that we will eventually run out of fossil fuels and we may eventually find a better use for them than burning them so I’d personally like to transition away before we use up that last drop. Doing so will require improvements in batteries in the short-term and a new technology for storing energy in the long-term, possibly super-capacitors. Using our current power plants to provide that electricity isn’t the solution either but we’re not ready to switch to any of the renewable alternatives. If P-E Obama really wants to solve this problem then he should begin by funding the basic research that private organizations and corporations just can’t afford to do in this area. If you are judged by quarterly results you can’t take the long view or you’ll get fired or de-funded. I don’t think the government could solve this with their own scientists but they could fund the research of others. We need a breakthrough and the NASA moon mission may help out with plans for a vehicle that can travel 1,000km on a single charge. Let them research and build that device and then it can be modified for terrestrial use, just as we got many of our high-tech devices (or their precursors) as a result of research arising from the NASA missions of the 60s and 70s.Unfortunately the government almost always adds to problems, like using prime farmland to grow corn-ethanol or adding tariffs to foreign sources but maybe he’ll take a smart approach to this problem. If we don’t solve this now while we have gasoline and heat, we’ll be facing dwindling supplies and $10 a gallon gasoline within a decade. When it’s all gone is a little late to begin finding replacement fuels and energy sources. Solar, wind, nuclear and geothermal could produce all the energy we need in the future, the heat from Yellowstone’s super volcano alone could provide most of it if we find efficient and safe ways to tap it. Doing so might also reduce the chance that it would erupt and end all life on Earth. We could also use orbital collectors that would be far more efficient and then beam that energy down to the surface, if we could get the green lobby to accept such a ’scary’ idea. Plentiful and cheap electricity from renewable sources would make worries about energy loss and efficiency a lot less meaningful. It doesn’t matter at all if you believe in global warming, we will run out of oil at some point and our coal reserves aren’t endless either so we should find alternatives while we still have cheap energy available