The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) approved a revised standard last week that will let electrified vehicles charge their batteries much quicker -- in as little as 10 minutes for plug-in hybrids or 20 minutes for battery-electric cars. The standard brings new technology to public charging stations and parking garages, but not to homes.
"Before, it was a matter of hours to charge an electric vehicle battery," Andrew Smart, director of SAE International, told us. "Now it will be a matter of minutes."
The J1772 standard calls for so-called DC fast charging, using voltages ranging from 200V to 500V and currents of up to 200A. Earlier versions described methods using voltages of 120V or 240V and currents of 15A or 80A. Using the new technology, plug-in hybrids will be able to go from 0 percent to 80 percent charge in 10 minutes; battery-electrics could go from 20 percent to 80 percent in 20 minutes.
GM's Spark EV could be the first to employ the new DC fast charging standard. (Source: GM)
The standard calls for connectors and electrical interfaces with two extra pins on board. Electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids already on the road, such as the Chevy Volt, will not be able to use the new technology immediately, since they don't have the new hardware and software. However, Kevin Kelly, a spokesman for General Motors, told us its forthcoming Spark battery-electric vehicle will have the new connector, interface, and software. "It's less important to do this on the Chevy Volt, because the Volt already has extended range on board," he said. "But it makes a lot of sense for the Spark EV."
The J1772 standard was created in 1996. It was revised in 2001 for use with a paddle-type connector and again in 2010 with a continued focus on AC charging. The new version is the first to address DC fast charging and the first to describe voltages as high as 500V and currents as much as 200A.
The standard reflects a consensus of 190 global experts representing makers of automobiles and charging equipment, as well as utilities, national labs, and municipalities. The experts had to consider the effects of temperature, humidity, and moisture, as well as mechanical aspects.
"You have people who are constantly plugging and unplugging it," Smart said. "You need to know everything, including the fatigue levels of the wires, connectors, and plastics. You also need to get input from people on the infrastructure side -- you've got people who write building codes, and you've got municipalities. It's not just the automakers."
Automakers say the technology could have a profound effect on the sale of pure electric vehicles, many of which require eight or more hours of charging. "This is a standard that everyone was waiting for," Smart said. "Everyone wanted it to be done quickly. But when it comes to developing a consensus between 190 technical specialists, it takes time."
I asked the same question about why it took so long, Rob. Their answer is a logical one. Getting a consensus of 190 technical specialists is difficult. That reason apparently didn't stop the ChaDeMo standard, however.
Most homes have single-phase AC, Beth, which won't cut it for fast charging. Fast charging requires three-phase AC (and the associated higher voltages and currents), which is typically used in industrial applications today. In contrast, today's home-charging systems usually use single-phase AC at 120V and 15A (about 16 hours or less) or single-phase AC at 240V and 15A (about 8 hours or less). SAE's new standard calls for up to 200A and up to 500V. Making those modifications to a home would be very expensive.
Beth, my guess is right about the voltage in the home. I think the important part of this development is that it could free the EV to travel beyond short trips from the home. Waiting 10 or 20 minutes at a public charging station is not that inconvenient.
Beth, I think that the issue with using this standard for home use is the current draw. Typical service to a home is 200A. This would use as much. I guess if you were willing to turn off everything in your home then you could use it. It is not only what is in your home that matters, but the infrastructure serving it. This would require a big upgrade in that. Commercial locations will have new infrastructure, thus will be able to deal with the current draw.
Unfortunately, SAE took so long to release the standard that the West Coast charger network had to opt for the existing Japanese ChaDeMo DCFC standard, already supported by the Nissan Leaf.
And, of course, China, Renault and Tesla have come up with their own standards as well.
And have you SEEN ChaDeMo and J1772-DC connectors? They're huge!
Unless there's an easy migration route from ChaDeMo to J1772-DC or some pressure to migrate to one of the smaller proprietary connections, we're in for a whole new VHS-Beta-Videodisc-style format war.
Definitely an important development and I, too, wonder what took so long. But then again, everything seems to take long in this segment of the market.
Also confusing to me is why does this have impact on commercial and public charging stations, but not for home use? Is it something to do with the voltage and residential infrastructure. Seems to me they'd want to address that.
Nice story, Chuck. It's amazing that the change in a standard would have that big an effect on charging hybrids and EVs. Makes you wonder why it took so long, especially on a feature that has such impact on hybrid and EV owners. This standard means you could actually take a trip with an EV.
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