ECOtality Level 2 charger : Blink

[sdbonez]

One person reported being told that the UL testing was complete, and successful, and that only paperwork, manufacturing, [and shipping] remain.

..that's what I heard from their CEO of NA at the SD event...

 

[garygid]

Apparently some retesting was needed or is/was being done.

 

[sdbonez]

I just got an email from Ecotality that it's now official...just as they said it would be by 'mid-January'.

"ECOtality's Blink EV Charging Station Earns the UL Mark
Blink Electric Vehicle Home Charging Station Receives Safety and FCC Approval"

http://www.ecotality.com/newsletter/20110112_Blink_UL_Listing.html

 

[BnBinSD]

Ecotality just emailed the following:

January 14, 2011 – ECOtality, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECTY), a leader in clean electric transportation and storage technologies with a full range of products for charging electric vehicles (EV), has partnered with Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) to ensure connectivity on the Company’s Blink™ electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to guarantee customer satisfaction. ECOtality will utilize the Sprint Command Center, across its nationwide system of residential, commercial, and public charging stations to control Machine-to-Machine (M2M) provisioning, billing, device, service management, and to run the Blink Network.

I just read a review where a Volt wouldn't charge at the reviewer's home or the airport and in another situation the cord was too short, so she wasn't able to charge for most of the review - SF Chronicle - Volt: Electric Car with a backup - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/01/12/national/a084724S91.DTL&type=autos

Anybody know what restrictions the Leaf has for it's L1 charging (amperage, extension cord length/gauge)?

 

[garygid]

See the topic on the Nissan L1 EVSE (12 amps).

 

[SilverLeaf]

http://venturebeat.com/2011/01/31/ecotality-cisco-electric-car-charging/

Cisco jumps into electric cars via Ecotality partnership

Electric car charging company Ecotality has integrated its Blink car charger with Cisco’s home energy management systems. The Cisco-Ecotality parntership will allow electric car charging status and electricity rates gathered by the Blink charger to be viewable on a Cisco home energy controller.

The Cisco/Ecotality combined service will be rolled out as a part of Ecotality’s EV Project, a $230 million rollout of about 15,000 public and residential electric car chargers and a study of charging habits supported in part by US Department of Energy dollars.

Note: Also received this update earlier today as an email notification from ECOtality.

 

[Coffee_Slurry]

So... Any public Blink chargers yet?

 

[SeattleBlueLeaf]

I'm putting my feedback about the Blink that was installed at my house this week into the Ecotality thread. I'm not sure why there are two threads... maybe it should go here instead?? :?:

Thread - "Official EV Project / Ecotality / free charger thread"

 

[johnr]

From ECOtality / Blink Press Release this morning:

ECOtality, Roush Begin Mass Manufacturing of Blink EV Charging Stations

Michigan Gov. Snyder Applauds Production of First Blink Electric Vehicle Home Charging Stations

LIVONIA, Mich. – February 11, 2011 – ECOtality, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECTY), a leader in clean electric transportation and storage technologies, today began the mass manufacturing of its Blink Level 2 Charging Stations at Roush Manufacturing. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will join executives from both companies at a ribbon-cutting event to witness the first Blink units roll off the manufacturing line.

"Throughout each step of The EV Project, we've seen unprecedented consumer demand for electric vehicles, and partners like Roush have played a key role as we've brought our smart charging stations to market," said Don Karner, president of ECOtality. "Roush's stellar reputation and automotive OEM experience made them an ideal partner as we made the move to full-scale manufacturing. Together we are excited to bring an innovative, American-made charging station to EV drivers nationwide."

ECOtality partnered with Roush in July 2010 to manufacture the company's flagship Blink home and commercial charging stations. The agreement marked a major move for Roush-a global powerhouse in cutting-edge product development, composition, creation and testing-into the electric vehicle industry. This is an important evolutionary step for Roush and the automotive industry, as an existing Roush automotive facility has been modified to now support the developing EV industry. With the opening of the facility, Roush has been able to rehire employees that were previously laid off.


Mass production of the Blink Level 2 Charging Stations at Roush Manufacturing.

"Roush is an excellent example of a Michigan company that has reinvented itself and is successfully applying the power of Michigan to the next emerging industry," said Governor Rick Snyder. "Partnerships like these help us to ensure Michigan stays on the leading edge of technology and enhances our economic development efforts."

The Blink charging stations form the centerpiece of the rich charging infrastructure network ECOtality is deploying as part of the DOE-backed EV Project. Recently, the Blink chargers received Underwriters Laboratories (UL) listing and production immediately started.

"Roush is very excited about this program," stated Evan Lyall, CEO of Roush Enterprises, Inc. "ECOtality and the DOE have partnered to develop an outstanding product, we welcome the opportunity to demonstrate our ability to adapt our product development and integrations expertise to an emerging industry sector."

The home charging stations offer several advantages over conventional charging stations, including advanced energy monitoring capabilities that allow homeowners to optimize their energy usage and charge their vehicles when rates are lowest. The Blink Network charger interface is the hub where users can receive information about their EV and Blink Home Charging Station including charge status, statistics and history.

Blink Home Charging Stations are available now to EV drivers and are free of charge to EV Project participants. The units can be installed indoors or outside at commercial locations, and both hardwire and plug-in charging stations are available. For more information, including product spec sheets, please visit www.blinknetwork.com.

As part of The EV Project, the largest rollout of EV infrastructure in history, ECOtality will monitor the energy usage and output of charging stations, to determine a viable method for mass adoption of electric vehicles and empower the smart grid.

ECOtality is project manager of The EV Project and will oversee the installation of commercial and residential charging stations in 17 cities and major metropolitan areas in six states and the District of Columbia. The project will provide an EV infrastructure to support the deployment of 8,300 EVs. The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy through a federal stimulus grant of $114.8 million, made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The grants are matched by private investment, bringing the total value of the project to approximately $230 million.

 

[wsbca]

advanced energy monitoring capabilities that allow homeowners to optimize their energy usage

Does being able to yank the plug to "optimize energy usage" by inhibiting the 7/24 vampire load count as an advanced capability? :roll:

I know, shame on me for looking a gift horse in the mouth, but if nothing else the irony of this bit of marketingspeak is irritating.

 

[DarkStar]

advanced energy monitoring capabilities that allow homeowners to optimize their energy usage

Does being able to yank the plug to "optimize energy usage" by inhibiting the 7/24 vampire load count as an advanced capability? :roll:

I know, shame on me for looking a gift horse in the mouth, but if nothing else the irony of this bit of marketingspeak is irritating.

We don't even know what the Blink draws when not plugged into a vehicle yet... Lots of guesses, but nothing confirmed. I'll wait to pass judgment...

 

[TRONZ]

Can someone please, please, please put a meter on one of these things??? We all want to know what the standby power consumption is. The speculated numbers are all over the place.

 

[wsbca]

Sparky is measuring 11-13w with a TED:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=692&start=440

So, definitely better than the reported (by the manufacturer) 30w, but as he says, still too high. Electricity that could fuel the car for 500+ miles a year, utilized to somehow help optimization of electricity usage? What the what? It needs a screen saver and a deeper sleep mode - it's not like it is critical that it be available for remote query 24-7, especially if it's using wifi or cellular. Having the networking up only when the car is charging should be adequate. I know it also has Zigbee, which would need to be up continuously for that mesh protocol to work, but if that's not what is being used (how could it be, hardly anybody, relatively speaking, is going to have one of these, for some time to come), then that should be turned off (maybe it is, and that's why it's 12 instead of 30). I realize 130kWh/year is in the noise for many people, and that's fine for them, but given that it's >5% of my annual non-EV usage, it is going to get some attention, and criticism, especially when the putative intent is to facilitate the saving of energy.

 

[evnow]

Sparky is measuring 11-13w with a TED:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=692&start=440

So, definitely better than the reported (by the manufacturer) 30w, but as he says, still too high. Electricity that could fuel the car for 500+ miles a year, utilized to somehow help optimization of electricity usage? What the what? It needs a screen saver and a deeper sleep mode - it's not like it is critical that it be available for remote query 24-7, especially if it's using wifi or cellular. Having the networking up only when the car is charging should be adequate.

I think switching off the LCD should reduce the zombie load quite a bit. The network should be on only when connected to the car ...

At a minimum, all appliances should be provided with a simple on-off switch. I would have no problem switching the unit on manually before connecting to the car - and switching it off in the morning.

 

[garygid]

Remember, for all items:
UL listing does not mean a device works well, or even works at all,
only that the "high-voltage" aspects are handled reasonably safely.

 

[evnow]

Ofcourse, 130kwh a year is $15 a year. I'd pay that much for a free EVSE. But this is about efficiency.

Hopefully, they can upgrade the firmware to add deep sleep mode.

 

[TomT]

I have to be honest: I have no problem with that and really don't give a crap! I have more important things in my life to worry about than whether or not my EVSE is pulling 12 watts at idle! And, hey, I leave both my Dish DVRs and all my internet/network equipment on 24/7 too!

Sparky is measuring 11-13w with a TED:
So, definitely better than the reported (by the manufacturer) 30w, but as he says, still too high.

 

[wsbca]

I have to be honest: I have no problem with that and really don't give a crap! I have more important things in my life to worry about than whether or not my EVSE is pulling 12 watts at idle!

That's perfectly cool. To each his own. For me, personally, it needlessly (which is the key point) flunks the what if everyone did it (had one that did that) test*. But then so does lots of stuff, including all kinds of other stuff that I do. Am I being all vegan-wearing-leather about it? I don't think so - I'm just expressing some dismay at what I perceive to be a technical misstep, which is particularly visible to me because it (among other things, like not properly accounting for charging inefficiency) blergs up my attempt to size our solar properly for zero net consumption. It's a tiny burr under my nerd saddle, not exactly a "worry in my life". If I was really worried about it I wouldn't be using an electricity gulping computer to post this, I'd be living in a cave.



* -> 6,899,200,000 * 12 * 24 * 365 = what...725 trillion kWh/year?

 

[TRONZ]

The important thing is that we know what something is before we buy it. I and alot of other people are now doing a little shopping/info comparing of EVSE's so we can make an informed choice. I like being well informed. Some people don't. So be it. Thanks for the data of about 12w in standby, I and others will weigh it into our EVSE selections.

 

[trentr]

11-13w is not acceptable. Looks like a hard switch is in order. My comcast box draws around 30w on or off! So, I have it plugged in to an outlet strip with a switch along with my other A/V equipment(pre/power amp, dvd, roku, etc) saves me quite a few bucks per year. Kill-a-watt is a nice tool to have around. On the other hand, my wifi laser printer draws about 1-2watts on stand-by, but I still turn it off. :lol: