Charged Up: Early EV Enthusiasts Will Find a Way

In Hawaii you can plug into the Islands’ first public electric vehicle charging station for free until the end of March. At a McDonalds in North Carolina you can charge your EV while the kids eat their Happy Meals. And in Seattle? Browse the stacks at the downtown library while your EV charges in the garage below.

In fact, if you Google electric vehicle charging stations you’ll see headlines announcing installations of one sort or another from coast to coast as companies like Coulomb Technologies, Aker Wade, NovaCharge and others race to get charging stations in place ahead of the EV rollouts expected later this year and next.

With charge times currently ranging from a few hours to overnight, equally promising is the push to equip these stations that are popping up with fast-charging capabilities. How fast?  Think, the company that makes the tiny EVs, says the level III charger it partnered with AeroVironment on can replenish a completely dead battery in its Think City model to an 80% charge in just 15 minutes. So presumably you could grab that hamburger and fries and have your EV charged by the time you finish.

But for all the frenzied activity to get an infrastructure primed for EVs, here’s an interesting perspective out of New York City. A McKinsey & Company study conducted for the city concluded that a dense proliferation of public charging stations may not be all that necessary for the early years of the EV transition. The thinking is that the first folks to buy EVs – the passionate early adopters – will probably be willing to adapt their driving patterns and parking spots to make it work.

The more useful effort, the report suggested, would be to find ways to help early adopters get charging functionality in their homes or places of business. One of the hopes, of course, is that EVs plugged into the electric grid will serve as backup batteries – storing energy that’s available to the grid as needed to meet demand.

In August, Ford announced it had developed an intelligent vehicle-to-grid (V2G) communications and control system for its PHEVs. The system talks to the grid and allows the vehicle owner to program when to charge, for how long and at what utility rate. Still, some are more optimistic than others about the V2G scenario happening any time soon, as this piece in EV World suggests. Others worry that too many EVs sucking power from the grid will be a hindrance rather than a help, but that seems to be a worst-case scenario in neighborhoods with broad EV adoption.

Standards, of course, have been another sticking point. If it’s going to work, EV owners need the equivalent of “plug-and-play” charging. Just recently there’s positive news on that front with  SAE International’s releases of a standard that outlines requirements for a standard charging connector for EVs, plug-in hybrids and charging systems. Basically, the standard would allow anyone driving a car with a plug to charge up anywhere.

So where could you charge up today if you wanted to? Check out this cool Alternative Fuels Locator tool from the Department of Energy. Select “electric” for type of fuel, enter your zip code and it’ll show you a map with the charging stations closest to you.

.

From SGN … Electric Transportation news and resources Windy City Gets First Wind-Powered Charging Station SAE to the Rescue with EV Charging Standard TVA and Partners to Test Solar-Assisted Charging Stations	Videos … Could Electric Charging Stations Replace Gas Stations? Solar-Assisted Car Charging Stations Chevy Volt Makes Deal with Pepco, Takes to the Road Hawaii’s First Vehicle Charging Station
Websites and blogs … Plugs and Cars blog California cars initiative EV World EV Podcasts Stay connected with SGN … Get LinkedIn with Jesse Be a Fan on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter Try our RSS feed Get our email digest	Related news and research … Better Place Draws Massive $350M to Charge Electric Cars Think, Aerovironment to Demonstrate 15-Minute Fast Charge Quick-Charge Stations Await EVs 30-Minute EV Fast-Charging Stations Coming in 3Q of 2010 Electric Car-Charging Network Expands Early EVs Won’t Need Many Public Charge Points, Says NYC