• Home
  • EV News
  • EV Blogs
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Vehicles
    • Sales
    • Electric Cars
    • Tata Electric Cars
    • Electric Scooters
    • OLA Electric
    • Electric Cycles
    • Electric MotorCycles
    • Electric Cargo Vehicles
    • Campus Vehicles
  • Categories
    • Community Charging
    • Buyer's Guides
    • Real Life EV Stories
    • How To Guides
    • EV Test Reports
    • EV Travelogues
    • EV Conversions
    • Events
    • Educate
  • About Us
  • Community
    • Discord
PluginIndia Electric Vehicles

Need of the hour - DC Quick charging

1/12/2013

3 Comments

 
By Kamlesh Mallick
PictureReva in the streets of London
The best part about owning an electric vehicle is the fact that you don't have to visit a petrol pump.  
The infrastructure needed to deliver 'fuel' to your electric car or bike, is already present. 
Every home and workplace has an electric socket.  All we need to do is to plug-it in and rock!

In India we use 230 Volts, alternating current as the power source. Plugs and sockets have either grounded /earthed 3 Pin connections or ungrounded 2 pin connections. For Higher current, there is a 15 Amp version of the same 3 Pin plug.

Generally an electric car or an e-bike provides a charging system to recharge the batteries.
The charging system basically pumps electricity into the batteries as quickly as the batteries will allow.
By using a 230-volt circuit, an EV might be able to receive 230 volts at 15 amps, which is equal to 3450 watts of power.  In theory, this kind of power can charge an electric car having a 10kWh Lithium-Ion battery in around 3-4 hours and an e-bike having a 1kWh Lithium-Ion battery in around an hour.

Picture
DC Quick Charging
If you want to add more juice in a shorter amount of time, the main option is a DC fast charger, sometimes called Level 3, drawing 480 volts or more, which could charge the Mahindra e2o electric car from 0 to 80 percent of its charge in about 20 minutes. The plugs include pins for data, letting the charger communicate with the car. This communication channel lets the car tell the charger how much electricity it wants at any given time during the charging cycle, helping preserve battery life.
Also the need to convert AC current into DC is not a requirement during quick charging.  DC current is directly fed into the battery which ensures a more optimal charge process.

Well, no home can provide a 480-volt source that can support current of 125 amps.  So these DC quick charging stations will have to be installed either by the government or by the auto companies in association with the government.

Picture
Two dominant quick-charging standards
DC Quick Charging Standards
In America, Europe and Japan, there are three competing quick-charging standards
  • CHAdeMO
  • SAE Combo Coupler
  • Tesla Superchargers

CHAdeMO is a DC quick-charge protocol originated in Japan and used in the Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi MiEV and a few others.  Nissan is expanding CHAdeMO charging stations across USA and Europe.  The problem with against CHAdeMo is that you need two battery ports, one for AC charging and one for DC quick charging.

The SAE Combo Coupler is used by eight U.S. and European automakers, the combo coupler incorporates AC Level 2 and DC quick-charging on one bulky charger. 
Its all right there in one port, so if DC is unavailable you can use AC and you don't have to worry about connectivity.  Currently Chevrolet Spark electric uses the SAE combo charger.

Tesla owners get lots of adaptors with their Model S, so they can charge on CHAdeMO and their own Supercharger network. 
The Supercharger station is a high-current, high-amperage source that plugs into the Tesla Model S standard charging port.  A Supercharger station can fill up the battery of the Model S entirely in an hour.
Nissan Leaf owners using the CHAdeMO quick chargers in Los Angeles
Picture
Solar powered Tesla Supercharger station
What bout India? 
Well, we have only one electric car in the market and apparently the Mahindra e2o does support DC fast charging.
As far as e-bikes are concerned, the current generation of e-bikes don't support quick charging. But the future generation of e-bikes could use quick charging.

So why do we need to start building DC quick charging infrastructure?

As Mahindra is the first mover in selling electric cars, i hope they really read this and start working on this.
This could be important for Mahindra, due to the following reasons:
  • Strategically placed quick chargers will enable, existing customers of the Mahindra e2o to occasionally travel more than 100 kms and thus solve the problem of long distance driving.
    This would change the e2o from a commuter car into a regional car.
  • A decent quick charging network will act as a sales pitch for potential customers who are worried about the ‘limited’ range of the e2o.
  • A quick charging network developed around important cities can also help in selling future EV’s launched by Mahindra like the Verito Electric Sedan and the Reva NXG.
PictureDramatic increase in range of an EV
The quick charging network can be built using common weekend routes around major cities.
For example, there is huge traffic on the Mumbai-Pune expressway between Mumbai and Pune. And lots of people drive to Mahabaleshwar on weekends.
So just by adding 2 quick charging stations - 1 at Lonavala and 1 just outside of Pune.  This increases the range of an electric car to around 300 km.

This would be an excellent sales pitch for people who don't want to spend around Rs 6-7 Lakhs for just a commuter car.

Although Mahindra is adding lots of charging stations within cities, we feel most of these charging stations would remain underused as most people would charge their EV's at home.
Mahindra should instead work on quick charging infrastructure and look for ideal locations around various cities and install these DC quick charging stations to rapidly increase the sales of their electric car(s).  

Either Mahindra could do this themselves or work with the government or tie-up with other automakers who plan to launch EV's in India.  For example, BMW and Nissan are looking to launch their electric cars sometime next year.  Mahindra could work with them.  If Hero Electric (e-bike seller) plans to come up with a Lithium-Ion based power bike that supports quick charging, they could work with the car companies too.

Final Words
DC quick charging facility is a must to remove the tag of a commuter vehicle for electric cars and bikes.  
This would surely be a game changer and would attract huge numbers of people towards EV's.

Is the government listening and would they help?
Will the automakers come together, like never before to make this change?

One thing is for sure, if we see any action in the near future, we would watch the electric revolution unfold right before our very own eyes!

3 Comments
Blistering Barnacles
1/12/2013 07:39:53 am

These Mahindra Guys could build a "fast-charge-car-park" that can accomodate 10 cars near some restaurants, Hotels and famous tourist spot so while people eat, sleep or hike the car gets recharged. The Mumbai-Pune expressway adds so much to the pleasure of driving... and its raised to a crescendo when it rains, and you have ghazal playing on the car stereo, sipping on hot masala-chai, with bhajia and packora or samosa...the beauty of the hills is at its highest. The route is also important for the frequent business travellers and people who travel up and down daily. I feel Mahindra should put such charging station (carparks) around a lot of places in Maharashtra like Mumbai to Gujrat, Mumbai to Aurangabad, Mumbai to Pune should stretch all the way to Goa.

They could achieve this by partnering with local house owners, Homestays or small time businesses, teashop, restaurant etc. It would help both their businesses.

Instead of spending millions on advertisements such useful carpark-charging stations could do more benefit for everybody.

Reply
PlugInIndia
1/12/2013 08:08:28 am

Hey Barnacles!
That is true. Totally agree on your suggestions.

Reply
Andrew link
3/10/2020 03:10:33 pm

How did you tap into the factory system without outputs like on an aftermarket head unit

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Ask Your EV Guru
    Blogs From Heart & Soul
    Buyers Guides
    Charging Stations
    Clean Energy
    Commercial Vehicles
    Community Initiatives
    Conversion Kits
    Electric Bikes
    Electric Bus
    Electric Cars
    Electric MotorCycles
    Electric Scooters
    Events
    EV Expos & Exhibitions
    EV Industry News
    EV Sales
    EV Technology
    EV Travelogues
    How To Guides
    Interviews
    Podcasts
    RE:LIVE Events
    Student Projects
    Surveys

    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013

    Picture

    RSS Feed

Plug in india

About us
Advertise with us
Contact us

Privacy Policy
Terms of Service

Support US

Get access to exclusive perks
  • Become a YouTube member
  • Become a Patreon

Subscribe to our newsletter

© COPYRIGHT 2019. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • EV News
  • EV Blogs
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Vehicles
    • Sales
    • Electric Cars
    • Tata Electric Cars
    • Electric Scooters
    • OLA Electric
    • Electric Cycles
    • Electric MotorCycles
    • Electric Cargo Vehicles
    • Campus Vehicles
  • Categories
    • Community Charging
    • Buyer's Guides
    • Real Life EV Stories
    • How To Guides
    • EV Test Reports
    • EV Travelogues
    • EV Conversions
    • Events
    • Educate
  • About Us
  • Community
    • Discord