EV Help (what kind of public charge port is this?)

[123]

I was surprised to see that the local community collage has EV parking.


The sad part is there are no EVs too use it.


My question is what kind of EV uses a charger like this?

[TomEV]

It's a J1772 plug -
SAE J1772 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Nissan Leaf and other new EVs and hybrids such as the Volt and Plug-In Prius are supposed to use the J1772 plug. Charging stations are being installed in many areas; most have the J1772 plug, and some also have a standard 20 amp/120 volt plug for EVs that don't have a J1772 style interface.

[gc-steve]

Originally Posted by 123

My question is what kind of EV uses a charger like this?

How long before that cable ends up like the air hose at gas stations? Twisted, mangled, and never returned to the holder.

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[123]

Interesting that the Nissan Leaf uses this kind of charger. I had heard talk of major cities around here getting Nissan Leaf chargers.

[123]

Where did our Federal Stimulus money go? Into building an EV infrastructure. The Governor announced thanks to stimulus funds The entire I-5 Will have charging stations including fast charging stations.

[bennelson]

I have a membership to the ChargePoint station system.

I also go go to the county technical college, but they have not charging station there, and my EV doesn't have the range to make it there and back!

That's the standard connector the the Volt, Leaf, and all other major EVs use.

As part of the official spec on that connector, law requires that it's a non-removable cable, that's why you see it coiled up like that, instead of as a removable cord that EVers would just carry in their trunk.

The odd part about this is that is supports the newly manufactured vehicles from GM, Nissan, etc., but is USELESS to people who have a homebuilt EV or an NEW with a standard 120V power connection. I suppose that's good for the economy... force people to buy expensive NEW vehicles, because those are the only ones supported by the infrastructure.

I know that the 120V version of that charging station has the power connection under that middle faceplate. I would certainly hope that this version of the charging station has the original 120V power connector in there still. That faceplate is locked. When you swipe your card, it unlocks the cover, then you plug in your extension, and close the cover, which locks back over it. That way, "those punk kids" can't unplug you when you are not looking.

Also, there is a guy working on J1772 to 120V AC adapter. He's building a custom box that has that type of connector on the one end, and a standard power plug on the other. It even has a "dummy" data connector to fool the charger into turning on, even though it's not the same power connector on the other end.

All I really want is just a plain electric outlet in a parking lot.
My local grocery store has 20-amp GFI outlets on EVERY street light in their parking lot. I asked for permission to use them, and was told that "We can't allow anything that would increase the utility bills of our customers."

Never mind the great free publicity that they would get, or that more people would go to their stores instead of the competition.

Very jealous that you have a charging station around.

[MPaulHolmes]

J1772
If you want to get your own J1772 cord for the house, it's ONLY $475, as opposed to $30 for an extension cord for 120v at home depot. haha. Dang! it's rated for 70 amps though. And built to order.
I find it really annoying that they would make a plug-in so complicated. I guess they are looking down the road when there will be so many plugs that it could negatively affect the whole electrical grid? So there would be some sort of priority given to the "more dead" batteries? Is that the reasoning behind it? Or is it just to make sure the plug can't come undone? Boy, if they try the charge sharing thing, I think it will take about 1 week before a person makes a crack for it, and sells a "charger" that charges all the way until full by faking signals.

[jackbauer]

Its the very same if not worse here in Ireland. The answer to the simple act of charging a car seems to be "more technology".

[vpoppv]

One of the reasons I'm hesitant to bug my college about a charging station is that they would probably install one of these, which would be useless to me; but then I'd never have the range to get there anyway. I did discover a few places near campus that had outlets right there at the parking spot which would be perfect. Anyway, I think that as far as charging stations go, I'm torn about these. I hate the idea that it has to be so expensive, and I think they are sort of pointless given how little everyone drives in a typical day anyway. Also, needing a special plug that costs about the same as my entire conversion annoys me. But I also see the flip side where these weren't designed for the handful of people across the country doing conversions, but rather are built for the OEM's. And when it comes to acceptance, the last thing we need is some dolt plugging in his Leaf and driving off while dragging a charging station behind him! In just the last couple days one of the guys in my local EV group wrote about driving off with the charger still plugged in, so the data transmission aspect, as much as I hate the idea, is probably necessary.

[Ryland]

Originally Posted by vpoppv

when it comes to acceptance, the last thing we need is some dolt plugging in his Leaf and driving off while dragging a charging station behind him! In just the last couple days one of the guys in my local EV group wrote about driving off with the charger still plugged in, so the data transmission aspect, as much as I hate the idea, is probably necessary.

My commuti-car doesn't turn on if it's got power from a cord going to it, a rely switches and charging starts, this is how it came from the factory.

I suspect it will take less then a year before someone starts to make a retrofit charger that works with these charging stations and a few months later someone will make an affordable one, 80 amps at 240 volts would charge my car in half an hour.