EV charging should be everywhere! It’s my mission to show how easy it is to charge EVs and solve the problems preventing charging where people need it most.
beautiful and brilliant. although it seems the ultimate is the car company that figures out how to provide a retractable charge cord inside the vehicle ala the way charge cords are like with irons today.
every campground uses the Nema 14-50 outlets and they get plugged in and out all the time and no issues. these are also outside all the time no issues just put it in a box... anyone else have an RV?
Could Do you have a version that could be put on light poles in parking lots? Many parking lots have cabling intended for halogen lights but now only power LED lights. Perhaps many light poles could support something like 6 amps without any change in cabling? Considering where light poles are in parking lots, EVSEs sitting on light poles might be available for 2-4 different parking lots, so specific EV designated spots wouldn't be necessary - reducing friction with ICE drivers.
This would be terrific. Having these at shopping centers, restaurants - but *especially apartment buildings* would be so important. Apartment buildings would be a place where the relative initial uniqueness of these setups would be workable, since the tenant would be using this all the time and if these really have better uptime the setup would be great.
Damn, as a European I had no idea just how bad you guys have it in the US. I thought you guys were always ahead but it seems its taken you ages to agree on a charging standard (NACS) and now you guys have discovered why bring your own cable is a better idea lol
Nema is also not suitable for public use for safety reasons as it is always live - J1772 does not turn on until it sees the car connect. There is also no way for a NEMA to tell the car how much current it may draw, which would be problematic where there are multiple chargepoints on a single supply
I thought from the first time I charged my 2014 Leaf that we got the cable management thing backward. Why isn't the AC cable onboard the vehicle, with a retracting system like some vacuum cleaners? Cheaper EVSEs would lower the barrier for installation in apartment building parking lots, public parking lots, curb-side...
The J 3400 document has the type 2 connector in it as well as the NACS connector, so J3400 could mean either. And it specifies type 2 for the charger and of an untethered cable like this. So for compliance with what will soon be a standard, type 2 is the way to go. But it's overly large complicated for that use, so from a technical and usability point of view, type 1 (J-1772) or nacs would have been better.
@@charliesullivan4304While Type 2 is a bit larger than needed, with space for 2 extra pins that will not be populated for single phase use, it does have locking to the EVSE outlet. Type 1 does not have a lock feature, making theft easier. Also, SAE wanted to provide for commercial vehicle charging for fleets with more efficient 3-phase power, which is available at most commercial and industrial properties.
@@georgepelton5645 Yes, I just think it's unfortunate to have ~7 kW residential chargers forced to use hardware that's sized for higher power commercial fleets.
@@charliesullivan4304 The pins and conductors for the cables are sized for the ampacity: 16, 32, or 64 A. None of the “metal bits” are oversized. The only extra hardware is just a bit more plastic to mold the slightly larger plugs and outlets.
In the 'Communist' European Union , and even in the UK, we have one standard for lower powered public chargers, the Mennekes plug. We also have one standard forDC rapid chargers. With my untethered charger lead I can use charge points all round the UK where I live, and also all around Europe. My cable locks into the car when I plug in , and also locks into the charge point as it connects. It will only disconnect 'on demand'. It lives in the boot of my car, where is is dry and clean.
My parking garage has three of those ChargePoint units with the retractable cable. All six cords are laying on the ground because the retractors have failed. The chargers are only about a year old.
No, dude. They"re good for some cars in weird spots - like your product - but they're useless weight and bulk and times for bicycles, motorcycles, autocycles, and compact cars.
I live in Copenhagen Denmark and of course use the detachable cable. I don’t understand why the U.S. didn’t go this way. The type 2 cable doesn’t come with the car because it is as cheap to buy separately and many people have a cable already and don’t need a second cable. I wish you good luck with your business.
One of those Blink chargers is at my local McDonald's that they remodeled less than a year ago, I found one of those cables/plugs on the ground where they can get run over.
Agree totally. Level 2 chargers that require a cable not uncommon in NZ. Have a number at my work so I charge while working. Cable stays in a bag in the car so always available. Hope the US decides this will work.
It was an intentional cynical decision that Americans are too lazy to carry around their own cables so the Europeanmodel was not adopted. I do not know if that is true or not and if it would’ve succeeded. Personally, I do think it would’ve succeeded, but it’s probably too late to go back.
I feel like the detachable cable model has a lot of desirable properties, even for private home charging - if the combined cost of the charger and removeable cable can be sold for the same price point as an identical charger with an attached cable. To give an example, my parents live in a house that has a driveway, but the parking area is not enclosed by any garage or gate. With a traditional charger, the cable mounted to the house would be sitting there all night, every night, making it a matter of when, not if, somebody decides to cut the cable, leading to expensive bill to replace the entire charger. With a detachable cable, the risk of cable theft is greatly reduced, as there is no exposed cable to steal except for the limited hours the car is actually charging (which, for the amount of driving my parents do, would not be that much). It would help with standard cable management issues, such as obstruction of the walkway or handles accidentally getting run over. A NEMA 14-50 outlet kind of solves these problems, but the detachable cable solution does it in a better way. The charger itself is still secured to the wall 24/7. No plug wear issues. Less effort to plug and unplug. Etc.
You skipped over the fact that RVs use NEMA 14-50 plugs and they plug and unplug at RV parks just fine. And a NEMA 14-50 ‘charger’ is essentially a cable, the charger is built into the car.
Just out of curiosity, how often do you need to replace the outlets at the RV park you manage/own? I can't find any real data and it'd be good to hear from someone like yourself with real world experience. 👍
Running an RV and charging an EV are two very different use cases. An EV pulls as much as 48amps for as long as 6 hours. That continuous load is WAY harder on the outlet than an RV that maybe pulls 20, or 30, but only when the AC kicks on at the same time you’re using the stove. The rest of the day your RV might be pulling 5 and that outlet cools down and never overheats.
@@andykokes569014-50 mobile chargers don't draw 48A. They usually draw about 32A and lock to the car when the car locks. An RV with a 14-50 cable usually has two AC units that can run continuously day and night. They are exposed to the elements and get plugged in daily. How is that different? I'm not advocating for a 14-50 over a type 1 or 2 but a proper 14-50 is durable.
I feel this is a fantastic idea! I'm not an investor but I can spread good words about your product. Keep up the good work and I hope to see your charging station in the near future!
You're telling me a Hubbell 14-50 outlet won't stand up to daily plugging and unplugging? Why don't you just make a better 14-50 outlet then? Most of us already have (or have easy access to) the hardware to use those.
If Home Depot sells a so-so outlet for $10-15, but a Hubbell quality outlet is over $50, what would you expect the average consumer to do? Hubbell's went up to $100 during the pandemic. I like Josh's idea. But he needs to get product out into the real world where people can try it. He needs to get a standard cable accepted by the US market. Otherwise, we may wind up with numerous plug types, competing cables, and nobody is happy. Good luck Josh. I would purchase one for my driveway if you would make them and sell them to the public.
He addressed that by speaking to the option of putting in a commercial quality outlet (like the Hubbell), but most people don't do that, which is the problem.
Hi Josh - When a Home Flex charging station is purchased that is registered under another driver's name, we do attempt to reach out to the previous owner on record to get their permission to transfer ownership of the station. If the previous owner of record gives us the OK, we can transfer ownership. If we cannot reach the previous owner, we will give three attempts to reach out to them and only if they do not reply, we can then reassign to the new owner. Our Support team will review your case and will provide additional details.
Who is paying for the electricity? Why wouldn't you have an authorization to connect and charge therefore allowing the home owner to make money off of charging?
Here is my advices, you are probably better than me to know what's shit and what is not, but I really know that the feedback always help. (6 points incoming) 1. Build modular if you can. Use standards communications (usb or others). Build it so it is SERVICEABLE. Being modular help this by identifying what works, what doesn't and will help with replacing parts easily. 2. Keep all possible costs low. This is especially important for mass adoption. If you use standard communications, and everything (like powering with an arduino or raspberry pi) you could even just sell the software, and have some videos or website explaining how to build it DIY, just providing some specific parts to comply with regulations). This could both improve your project spreading, but keeping costs down, and improving serviceability of the final product. Using standard communications would even allow you to sell diagnosis tools for maintenance "here what is not working, replace it, you can find a part here : ..., you can even just scan that QR code to get there, and here a QR on a video on how to service that part" 3. As you need to burry some electric cable from your house, maybe you could split everything : just some basic things in the post, the main control unit in the house close to electrical pannel. This will help with modularity, and keep maintenance costs down, as replacing the exterior unit will be cheaper, and less things exposed to weather. 4. I see that you are talking about wifi. You should maybe consider offering some kind of software (app ? cloud ? If you need some advices with that, I'm an android dev, so you know...) in order to allow easy identification of who is charging and how much electricity you are getting in order to simplify splitting the bills. I do not support AT ALL every apps and authentification for fast charging, this is stupid, just put a credit card ffs. But in your case, charging always from the same spot close to your home means that it makes total sense. This could also allow you to get a bit more computationnal powerif you split communication to your house, and maybe even the main switch. 5. I don't know if you though about it, but a locking mecanism to prevent the car cable to be stolen could be some use. You could get like some part (a chain ?) hold with a lock inside the post, and "customers" could put their lock to the chain. If someone malicious let something locked into, you just remove the chain by unlocking the owner lock, throw everything, put another chain and voila. 6. Evs are often sold with some regular 120V charger. You could probably put just some regular exterior outlet switched by some computer (arduino ?), with authentification like you probably already do, and just let people use their own 120V chargers. I think this could be a viable marketing strategy to do both, allowing even people not from your neighborhood to charge on your post through the authentification system or something like that. That's for later, probably, but you know. And last : good luck man. This needs to be everywhere. Roadtrips are not that common, you know, you don't get that each week. But if you had chargers everywhere, why would it matter ? Your car would be charged each time it's parked, that's the dream. That's even more convenient that gas station because car are parked most of the time anyway.
Very cool hack! You seem to be the right person to ask for a video about making a hardwired box that has a length of cable with the adapter plugs at the end, for connecting the mobile adapter when at home.
I'm in Chicago and people ignore all signs including handicapped parking it would help if the municipalities could endore it so maybe it won't get blocked and depending on the height people may not see it I would prefer a Retractable cord in case of theft but the no cord idea is genius good luck
Really confused about what you mean by “The US” is going to type 2? That doesn’t make sense as we are in the process of transition every vehicle to NACS. NACS would be more appropriate as it has every hardware feature as Type 2 minus 3-phase support. And it’s a smaller form factor.
You could use a shorter cord with the retractable spool, making it cheaper for you, and more accessible to consumers than them having to bring their own cord around. You only need a few feet of cord - people won’t be charging from 3 spots away.
Josh, one word, "Induction". Of course you would have to create a standard as well as authentication, payment, and most of these things are already done. You just have to put it together. There's lots of other details like the car must have the appropriate hardware and regulations on placing induction panels on the street. If the city allowed the installation of those charging stalls they would probably approve induction too. This is because it does not require maintenance or very little. It is also much safer than handling long cables. and it is safe if there is a flood.
Have you thought about expanding on this by offering the homeowners to earn a percentage by adding a simple payment interface so other people can charge too? I could see this as a lucrative opportunity for people who don't even own an ev to join the network and expand it even faster. Neighbors could have nfc tags or something to lower the price when changing to only cover the homeowners electric bill. Just a thought I had
