Charging station

All you want to know about Charging station

A charging station, also called electric recharging point, charging point and juice point is a point that supplies electricity for the recharging of electric vehicles (including plug-in hybrids) and filling of compressed air vehicles.

Charging fees are be determined by local governments with some expected to offer the service for free.

1 Exchange Station and Removable Batteries
2 Places
3 Infrastructure
4 Deployment
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Exchange Station and Removable Batteries

Charging station is different from an exchange station, a place to swap a discharged battery or battery pack by a charged one and where you do not have to get out of the car, because the battery will be automatically taken out and replaced ^[1]. It uses a subscription model similar to how mobile phones work. Drivers would lease the batteries that power their electric cars, and be charged based on how much they drove. If they needed to drive farther than the range of the battery, drivers would pull over into a exchange station and swap the depleted battery for a fresh one in a few minutes ^[2].

On the other hand, MIRA has announced a retrofit hybrid conversion kit that provides removable battery packs that plug into a wall outlet for charging ^[3]

Places

Charging stations can be mainly found on the roads, streets, parking lots and taxi stands.

Infrastructure

Electric vehicles do not need a new infrastructure: polls have shown that many more than half of homeowners in the USA have access to a plug to charge their cars.Since the grid is ubiquitous, creating a charging infrastructure for EVs and for PHEVs for those who do not have such access, or who want to charge at work, is a much smaller challenge than to deliver a new alternative fuel type. It requires broadly accepted standards and companies that can use today's hardware and software technologies to begin ^[4].

Deployment

Better Place was started by Shai Agassi on October 29th, 2007, focused on building massive scale Electric Recharge Grids as infrastrucutre supporting the deployment of electric vehicles (including plug-in hybrids). The company has said it is in talks with more than 25 countries around the world.

In France, Électricité de France (EDF) and Toyota are installing recharging points for PHEVs on roads, streets and parking lots.^[5]. EDF is also partnering with Elektromotive, Ltd.^[6] to install 250 new charging points over six months from October 2007 in London and elsewhere in the UK.^[7] Recharging points also can be installed for specific uses, as in taxi stands.

The Renault-Nissan alliance and the largest French electric utility, Electricite de France (EDF) have signed an agreement to promote emission-free mobility in France. The move aims at offering all-electric volume vehicles from 2011 — including a countrywide network of battery charging stations. The French-Japanese car manufacturer has already signed similar agreements in a number of geographies outside of France including Israel, Portugal, Denmark and the U.S. state of Tennessee. ^[8].

Portland General Electric is installing 12 electric vehicle charging stations in Portland and Salem, Oregon as part of a demonstration project to develop the transportation infrastructure needed to support electric vehicles and anticipate the demand plug-in cars ^[9] .

Coulomb Technologies´ ChargePoint Network includes public charging stations, a consumer subscription plan and utility grid management technology for electric utility companies to smooth electrical demands on the grid ^[10] ^[4]. Gilbarco Veeder-Root are partnering with Coulomb to advance public charging facilities. Gilbarco will exhibit Coulomb Technologies' Smartlet Charging Station at the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) show, October 2008 ^[11]. At the end of 2008, Coulomb Technologies plans to roll out five curbside charging stations in downtown San Jose that drivers can access through a prepaid plan. The company is working with entities in Las Vegas Nevada, New York and Florida to do something similar there ^[12].

Carmaker Daimler AG and utility RWE AG are going to begin a joint electric car and charging station test project in the German capital, Berlin, called "E-Mobility Berlin." ^[13].

Carmaker VW and utility E.ON are going to begin a joint electric car and charging station test project in the German capital, Berlin and in Wolfsburg. ^[14]

A fleet of electric cars and charge points will be rolled out across Coventry (England) as part of a multi-million pound pilot project ^[15].

Drivers can now plug in at two park-and-ride lots in King County, which includes Seattle. The county plans to add sockets at three garages under construction. There are about 30 reliable sites in the Seattle area to plug in. Most are free, some require calling a fellow enthusiast ahead of time. Others charge the same as parking a gas-powered car -- $7 an hour ^[12].

In recent months, the cities of Edmonds and Lacey invited drivers to plug in their electric vehicles at free public stations ^[12].