Paper of Different Types of Charging Point for Electric Cars & Description on EV ChargeHub
1. ECE-617 Economic Control of Interconnected Power Systems, Fall-2016, NJIT, New Jersey
Different Type of Electric Charging Points for Smart Cars
& Description on EV ChargeHub
Chintan H. Patel
ECE Department
New Jersey Institute of Technology, New Jersey, USA
Cp327@njit.edu
ABSTRACTS: Smart Grid is the Modern era technology
where the transmission of the power is done in a smart
way and the information is send to and fro from
Provider and Customer. This paper is based on the
description of different types of electric charging points
for electric cars and the details of those charging points,
their construction, installation and much more. This
paper will also go through an app called EV chargeHub
for charging station and charging points for the cars
I. INTRODUCTION
The SMART GRID can be described in simple words
according to some of the papers that I have went through
that they are electrical systems that can integrate the
behavior and the actions of the users connected to the
system of the electricity company power generators,
consumers that would do both in order to efficiently
deliver sustainable, economic and secured electric
supplies. The main aim of the smart grid is all about
innovative products by intellectual monitoring,
controlling, communicating, and self-healing
technologies such as:
i. Providing better facility for the operation of
generators of all the sizes and technologies.
ii. Consumers that would optimize the operation of
the system.
iii. Choice of the supply.
iv. Reduce the environmental impact of the whole
electric supply system.
v. Improve the system reliability, quality and
security of the electric supply.
The Power Industry in the modern era is undergoing
major changes, the advancement in the technology has
seen a rapid growth in the utilization of distributed
generation, which makes the power industry more
competitive and attractive. Due to power deregulation,
environmental reforms and also the government
regulations have taken the power industry to the smart
grid platform from the old-age power distribution method.
i. Overview of the smart grid connection.
Smart Grid is a rapidly growing industry right now along
with the distributed generation, renewable energy
sources, energy storage etc. The self-healing,
empowerment of customer, improved power quality and
to distribute different types of power generation systems
in one single distribution line are some of the main
characteristics of the Smart Grid. In addition, there are
some other important features in the smart grid like
advanced control system, digital sensing and digital
meters, advanced grid systems such as the SCADA
(Supervision Control and Data Acquisition0 and FACTS
(Flexible AC Transmission Systems) are some of the
major technologies that are used to improve the services
that are provided in the smart grid.
FACTS: This system is used for alternating
current transmission for the enhancement of the
control ability and also increase the power
transfer capability based on the power electronic
devices and some other static controllers.
SCADA: This system is basically used for control
and communication of data system, for their
operation, monitoring and also controlling the
power through the grids.
2. These paper discuss the charging of the electric cars and
different types of charging points for the electric cars
now-a-days and the description of thee charging point that
while give us a brief idea about how to use this charging
stations and which type of charging points should be
installed and why.
II. ELECTRIC CHARGING
Electric chargeable car is totally different from the
cars that run on gasoline. It is much more convenient to
have an electric car charging station at home, as when you
come home it would take you couple of minutes to just
plug-in and charge the car. But it is different for the
charging point in the public, so here is some brief idea and
a small guide for electric car charging.
Home Charging: The electric car owners would charge
their cars 95% of the times at home, rather than outside.
There are some common ways to charge these cars at
home. The electric cars these days have a standard plug-
in directly for the electricity outlet. The electric cars have
an “onboard charger’ in the car itself. The car is also
provided along with a charging cord that we connect
between the electricity outlet and the car.
ii. Example of Charging cable
Using these type of charging for the car would just put
on approximately 4-5 miles range of driving for 1 hour of
charging. For faster charging of these cars the EVSE
(Electric Vehicle Service Equipment) system can be used
at home. This name kind off sounds weird but What is a
EVSE?
This is the product that people are talking about this
days, it is basically known by different names such as
‘home charger’, ‘wall charger’, or may be sometimes also
‘a home charging station’. This EVSE device basically
would convert the AC power from your home power
outlet to DC and would feed to your car battery with the
help of the on-board charger. This would consist of
different types of cord or cords + boxes that are used to
charge your car, as there are innumerous types of EVSE.
iii. Example of EVSE
The main problem that the electric charging station’s or
the electric car owner’s face is that not all the charging
points are manufactured equal, or even the car on-board
chargers.
There is also another version of Electric Cars available in
the market known as PHEV (Plug-In Hybrid Electric
Vehicle). So what is PHEV? A Plug-In Hybrid Vehicle is
basically a hybrid electric vehicle which uses a
conventional method of both Rechargeable Batteries
and Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) for all the
vehicles, and also having a Plug to connect to the
electrical grid for charging of the battery.
iv. Structure of a PHEV
The important thing in the world of electric cars is that
not all the electric cars created are equal, and even the
electric 0n-board charging points or the cords are also
different. Here are some of the example of the cars with
their charging capacity with there on board charger and
the range that they can run after a full charge, and also
how much the car will run after the charge.
Model
Max
Charge
~Miles
Added
Per Hour
100% Electric or
PHEV
Audi A3 e-tron 3.3 kW 11 PHEV
BMW i3 7.4 kW 25 100% Electric / R
Cadillac ELR 3.3 kW 11 PHEV
Chevy Spark
EV
3.3 kW 11 100% Electric
Chevy Volt 3.3 kW 11 PHEV
3. Fiat 500e 6.6 kW 22 100% Electric
Ford C-Max
Energi
3.3 kW 11 PHEV
Ford Fusion
Energi
3.3 kW 11 PHEV
Ford Focus
Electric
6.6 kW 22 100% Electric
Honda Accord
Plug-In Hybrid
6.6 kW 22 PHEV
Hyundai
Sonata Plug-in
Hybrid
3.3 kW 11 PHEV
Kia Soul EV 6.6 kW 22 100% Electric
Mercedes B-
Class Electric
10 kW 29 100% Electric
Mercedes
S550 Plug-in
Hybrid
3.3 kW 11 PHEV
Mercedes
C350 Plug-in
Hybrid
3.3 kW 11 PHEV
Mitsubishi i-
MiEV
3.3 kW 11 100% Electric
Nissan LEAF
3.3 kW / 6.6
kW
11 / 22 100% Electric
Porsche
Cayenne S E-
Hybrid
3.6 kW / 7.2
kW
12 / 24 PHEV
Porsche
Panamera S E-
Hybrid
3 kW 10 PHEV
Smart Electric
Drive
3.3 kW 11 100% Electric
Tesla Model S
10 kW / 20
kW
29 / 58 100% Electric
Tesla Model X
10 kW / 20
kW
29 / 58 100% Electric
Toyota Prius
Plug-In
3.3 kW 11 PHEV
Volkswagen
e-Golf
3.6 kW / 7.2
kW
24 100% Electric
III. TIPS FOR BUYING AN EVSE
There are some points that a person should keep in mind
while he/she are getting installed an EVSE.
For a good EVSE anyone should pay like ~$700
and not more than that, or may be ~$1000 with
the installation charge.
Make sure to get EVSE installed from a certified
electrician, unless an until you know the quality
of the work of a non-certified electrician.
A 30-Amp EVSE is recommended, but a 40-Amp
or higher EVSE is strongly recommended, but the
current EV might not be able to use the higher
Amp. But they would be useful for the long term
EV.
Get a portable EVSE (in-case if you want to
move) it’s is not that expensive than a
permanently installed EVSE.
You can also get a tax rebate on the EVSE that
you install, from the utility jurisdiction, city or
even state, so you may keep a track record of the
costs and receipts as proof.
The level 2 charger EVSE, is better than the
simple cord that comes with the EV. But if your
usage is not much and if your battery is small and
have good span off time between 2 charges than
there is no need to spend extra money for on
getting an EVSE.
IV. FAST CHARGERS (LEVEL 3 & LEVEL 4)
The important part is to understand that the speed of
the charging is never the same at 1% of the charge at 99%
even if you use any type charger. When the battery is
almost empty the power will flow into the battery at a
rapid speed, and as the battery is being filled up the rate
of charging would slow down. This phenomenon is called
‘Tapering’. This can be noticed when you start to charge
the battery at 50% of the charge, but it would be really
strong when it would reach 80%, so if you really need to
fill 99% to 100%, then only charge it otherwise just
charge up to 80% and get going, because some charging
stations cut off the charging at 80%.
Some of the chargers that are available in the market
or the charging stations are must faster than the other, the
most that are seen at the station are the LEVEL 2 that
charge your EV at almost the same rate as that of EVSE.
But there are also LEVEL 3 & LEVEL 4 available in the
market.
LEVEL 3: The Level 3 charger also known as DC Fast
Charge that helps the EV to charge at a much faster rate
than Level 2 and Level 1. This is technically called a DC
Fast Charge and not the level 2 and level 1, as they would
supply AC power to the EV through the on-board
charging while the Level 3 would use the DC electricity
to your car battery by-passing the on-board charger
through special charging point. But instead of using the
name DC Fast charger, it is called LEVEL 3 charger as to
make it simple for routine.
CHAdeMO: This is a trade name for charging of electric
cars delivering up to 62.5kW of DC current (500V,
125A) with a special connector. CHAdeMO was formed
by 4 companies, The Tokyo Electric Company, Nissan,
Mitsubishi, & Fuji Heavy Industries. Later Toyota
4. came into this group as the fifth. This all companies use
the connector named TEPCO DC connector for fast
charging. CHAdeMO also comes under the LEVEL 3
charger more popular than SAE COMBO fast charger
during these days. These type of charger is also
compatible with Tesla model S with a special adaptor.
Also they have a ‘NO CHARGE to CHARGE’ program
for Nissan LEAF where people can get their cars charge
for free at certain location in several states. At the
moment, CHAdeMO has a max power output of 50kW.
SAE COMBO: the LEVEL 3 dc fast charging standard’s
the German and the US automakers haven’t built a good
strong network as that of Nissan has built with
CHAdeMO. So it is somewhat hard to find the SAE
COMBO fast chargers on route. The SAE Combo also has
the same max power output as that of the CHAdeMO of
50 kW.
SUPERCHRGER: The Tesla Supercharger Network,
this networks are only for TESLA users and are widely
installed throughout US and EUROPE. These chargers
can charge cars faster than any other type of electric car
chargers out in the market. Tesla is working on increasing
the network of the superchargers. This would create an
advantage for the popular EV Company. At this moment
Tesla Superchargers has the max power output of 120kW.
Below is some data for some electric car, about which
type of chargers these cars would use and how fast they
charge in 30 minutes.
Model Fast Charger
Type
Standard/
As an
Option
Miles of
Charge in
30 Min
BMW i3 SAE Combo Standard 75-100
Chevy Spark
EV
SAE Combo Option 75-100
Kia Soul EV CHAdeMO Standard 75-100
Mitsubishi i-
MiEV
CHAdeMO Standard 75-100
Nissan Leaf CHAdeMO Option 75-100
Tesla Model
S
Supercharger
&
CHAdeMO
Standard/
Option
75-100
Tesla Model
X
Supercharger
&
CHAdeMO
Standard/
Option
170
Volkswagen
e-Golf
SAE Combo Standard 75-100
Here as of February 2016 the data collected about how
many charging stations are there throughout United States
and the number of charging points across United states.
V. CHARGING NETWORKS
Different charging station networks are there in the
market. Generally, for all the charging station you have to
get a card for each individual to use the charging station.
It is pretty easy to get these cards for electric car charging,
anyone would just go on the website of the company
network and register for an account. There are some
common networks, some of them are as follows:
ChargePoint, Blink, Greenlots, eVgo, Aeroviroment,
Azra, SemaConnect, Circuit Electrique, Sun Country
Highway. The rates of the charging would vary from
session, monthly, yearly or may be flat rate to even per-
kWh rate to hourly rates. Their are also some charging
station that provide charging free of cost, generally
installed by the government bodies.
The information of these networks can be found on some
of the apps that shows the recent details updated by there
survey and also updated from the feedbacks of the people
that are using. Some of the apps are PlugShare, EV
Charge Hub, and ChargePoint. This type of apps would
help you to set a backup charger or two in case of the one
you planned is down or not working. This type of apps are
accessible from your computer or even from your mobile.
Here we are going to talk about the App EV ChargeHub.
VI. EV ChargeHub
This app shows the location on the map where the
charging stations are available. This would also show the
type of charger available at a particular charging station,
whether they are in working condition or occupied. I have
put up some snapshots from the mobile app to explain the
features of the app.
5. v. Symbol of ChargeHub.
vi. Map showing the location of the charging station
The above map shows some location for the charging
station near NJIT, Newark, New Jersey and the other
image shows the map with the location in the Manhattan
area, New York city.
vii. Image of information page
The above image pops up in the app when you hit the ‘?’
on the bottom right hand side corner of the screen. This
will give you the information of what color symbol is for
which charging level, their availability and also has the
specific symbol for Tesla Supercharge.
viii. Particular location information
The above image is for a particular location. This can be
obtained when you click on the charging station location
shown on the map. This will give you the charging station
details such as how many charging points are there, how
many are available, there type, directions to the station.
This would also show if the station is paid or free, with
the price rates of some charging stations available.
6. ix. Filter for the App
The above snapshots show the filter that is available for
the app. This link to filter is on the center right hand of
the screen, the symbol is like a ‘funnel’. This would allow
you to filter for different level of charging, types of the
charging point, different networks in the market, and even
some filter for map and charges. The last image is of the
main menu that gives us a brief idea of the app where
people can find some info of the station with one other,
there log-in information. They can also give some
feedback for the app for the service improvement or what
they like about the app.
This is not the only app in the market that provides such
information, about the electric cars charging station, there
are several more app available, but I think that this app
came out to be better than some of the apps that I saw.
Though the other app PlugShare had a trip planner but did
not give option over many number of networks on the
market plus It also lagged on providing the distance
between any two station that the user is looking at and
cannot direct to google maps directly or any navigation
app on your mobile phone.
REFERANCES
1. http://evobsession.com/electric-car-charging-
101-types-of-charging-apps-more/
2. http://file.scirp.org/Html/5-6401061_4957.htm
3. http://www.ecsintl.com/Websites/ecsintl/images/
jeffedwards-smartgrid4thgenpaper.pdf
4. https://www.statista.com/statistics/416750/numb
er-of-electric-vehicle-charging-stations-outlets-
united-states/
5. EV ChargeHub Application from Iphone
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_hybrid