OpenEVSE - Open Source Charging Station

[Wayneferguson]

I just picked up my leaf this week and am really excited about the openevse project. I'm an avid diy'er with experience wiring, soldering circuit boards, and PIC micro controller programming. I haven't done anything with Arduino but this could be a good excuse to learn more about it. I have a quick question about some of the products available on the web store and apologize if it's already been answered.

What are the main differences between the basic, standard, and deluxe kits? I can tell that the basic doesn't have the lcd and button, but don't know what differentiates the standard from deluxe. Just trying to figure out what product would be best to purchase.

Thanks for the help!
-Wayne

 

[chris1howell]

The standard has a monochrome LCD (blue on black).

The deluxe has a Red, Green, Blue LCD which changes color depending on state. It also adds a Real time clock for charging station based timers and a current measurement coil for real time current reading.

 

[VegasBrad]

Chris and the crew did a great job with these boards, I've ordered 7 boards now from him. The quality is great, the board is Very small and the support has been very good. A++ job

 

[chris1howell]

Rav4EVoom over at the myrav4 forum asked if the Poly case could withstand a drive over...

The answer is yes... I plan to test the diacast Aluminum Enclosure later this weekend.

I ran it over with a 2012 Nissan Leaf several times length wise, across the width, forward and backward. There was no permanent damage, just a little dirt on the enclosure and the button seal squeezed out (with no damage) when the enclosure was run over length wise.

Here are the results and carnage...

Poly Carbonate
Onset - 13808 lbs (first noise or deformation)
Peak load - 14234 lbs (squished into a pancake)

Diecast Aluminum
Onset - 13961 lbs
Peak load - 16175 lbs (Exploded into many sharp fragments)

 

[dsinned]

Thanks for doing this test, but what is your conclusion? I'm not a material expert, but from the test results posted, it appears the diecast enclosure is slightly stronger. Btw, did you do the test with the diecast enclosure used by the JB Basic or one of yours?

 

[TonyWilliams]

Thanks for doing this test, but what is your conclusion? I'm not a material expert, but from the test results posted, it appears the diecast enclosure is slightly stronger. Btw, did you do the test with the diecast enclosure used by the JB Basic or one of yours?

The aluminum box that those guys use is an off-the-shelf Hammond box. Anybody can get one to crush or build on OPENEVSE, or put Juice Box bits in it.

 

[surfingslovak]

Thanks for doing this test, but what is your conclusion? I'm not a material expert, but from the test results posted, it appears the diecast enclosure is slightly stronger. Btw, did you do the test with the diecast enclosure used by the JB Basic or one of yours?

The aluminum box that those guys use is an off-the-shelf Hammond box. Anybody can get one to crush or build on OPENEVSE, or put Juice Box bits in it.

Tony, it's a 1550WJ Hammond enclosure. I think you had an image of the 1590C.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Tony, it's a 1550WJ Hammond enclosure. I think you had an image of the 1590C.

I just selected a pic of the first Hammond box that popped up on google. I think Frys even carries them.

 

[chris1howell]

Thanks for doing this test, but what is your conclusion? I'm not a material expert, but from the test results posted, it appears the diecast enclosure is slightly stronger. Btw, did you do the test with the diecast enclosure used by the JB Basic or one of yours?

UL requires the Enclosure to survive a run-over. The conclusion is that either OpenEVSE enclosure will survive a run-over from any production EV or a Frito Lay Truck without crushing. Even a 85kw Model S at almost 5000lbs or about 1250lbs per tire is an order of magnitude away from crushing the enclosure.

I tested only OpenEVSE enclosures, honestly I have little interest in JB products. In fact I have never even seen a EMW product in person.

 

[surfingslovak]

I tested only OpenEVSE enclosures, honestly I have little interest in JB products. In fact I have never even seen a EMW product in person.

Chris, I think you die the EV community a huge favor by opens-sourcing your project. I watched it from the very beginning. That said, what is your take on the recent move by European regulators to prohibit the sale of EVSE kits? I was in touch with Ken Sharpe in the UK, who was giving away EVSEs based on your project through his charity. He recently had to shut down.

I participated in open source projects before, Mozilla being the most notable one, and before long many of them require a commercial vendor or some commercial interest to stay viable. The commercial arm provides funding and new requirements, and the open-source arm provides the R&D and a very helthy helping of innovation. I have no issue with Electric Motor Werks being a startup pursuing commercial interests.

I think we still need more and not less competition in this market segment. When they started out, and launched their Kickstarter campaign, I was surprised that they went with their own design instead of leveraging openEVSE. Any idea why that is? How do you see Electric Motor Werks and the commercial EVSE market in general?

 

[surfingslovak]

Tony, it's a 1550WJ Hammond enclosure. I think you had an image of the 1590C.

I just selected a pic of the first Hammond box that popped up on google. I think Frys even carries them.

Yes, Tony, Fry's carries the Hammond 1590C enclosure, but not the 1550WJ. DigiKey and Mouser are good sources for the that enclosure (and others too).

 

[chris1howell]

Chris, I think you die the EV community a huge favor by opens-sourcing your project. I watched it from the very beginning. That said, what is your take on the recent move by European regulators to prohibit the sale of EVSE kits? I was in touch with Ken Sharpe in the UK, who was giving away EVSEs based on your project through his charity. He recently had to shut down.

I participated in open source projects before, Mozilla being the most notable one, and before long many of them require a commercial vendor or some commercial interest to stay viable. The commercial arm provides funding and new requirements, and the open-source arm provides the R&D and a very helthy helping of innovation. I have no issue with Electric Motor Werks being a startup pursuing commercial interests.

I think we still need more and not less competition in this market segment. When they started out, and launched their Kickstarter campaign, I was surprised that they went with their own design instead of leveraging OpenEVSE. Any idea why that is? How do you see Electric Motor Werks and the commercial EVSE market in general?

I have not heard anything about an official regulation, however several months ago a professional union posted a blog and harsh criticism of DIY Charging Stations. If true I think it is unfortunate. People all over the world build their own airplanes which is far more complex and risky to the owner and public than a simple device like a charging station. An EVSE is nothing more than a smart power cord, not exactly rocket science...

I am not sure why EMW chose the path they did, I personally think not using OpenEVSE as a foundation was a big mistake. EMWs efforts could have added to the already existing community, but instead it split it in half. EMW spent a lot of time reinventing the wheel when they could have provided valuable improvements to the existing efforts.

I have had very little direct communication with Val. His only comments to me was he should have at least made the Juicebox pin compatible with OpenEVSE, but due to future commercial opportunities he did not want to be tied to any license (OpenEVSE licence is Creative Commons SA BY and GNU 3 - both allow commercial use). Given the similarities and hardware choices matching OpenEVSE blogs and forum posts, I believe EMW used OpenEVSE as a stating point.

 

[Deleted member 14724]

I have not heard anything about an official regulation, however several months ago a professional union posted a blog and harsh criticism of DIY Charging Stations. If true I think it is unfortunate. People all over the world build their own airplanes which is far more complex and risky to the owner and public than a simple device like a charging station. An EVSE is nothing more than a smart power cord, not exactly rocket science...

The electricians' unions probably have a lot more political power than whatever unions represent airplane mechanics. That's probably the whole of the backlash.

 

[surfingslovak]

I have not heard anything about an official regulation, however several months ago a professional union posted a blog and harsh criticism of DIY Charging Stations. If true I think it is unfortunate. People all over the world build their own airplanes which is far more complex and risky to the owner and public than a simple device like a charging station. An EVSE is nothing more than a smart power cord, not exactly rocket science...

Here is the cease and desist letter Kevin Sharpe's foundation has received. I believe that there was similar backlash throughout the European Union, but I will confirm that.

I am not sure why EMW chose the path they did, I personally think not using OpenEVSE as a foundation was a big mistake. EMWs efforts could have added to the already existing community, but instead it split it in half. EMW spent a lot of time reinventing the wheel when they could have provided valuable improvements to the existing efforts.

That sounds indeed very unfortunate. I'm not sure transpired last year around the timing of Electric Motor Werk's Kickstarter campaign.

I have had very little direct communication with Val. His only comments to me was he should have at least made the Juicebox pin compatible with OpenEVSE, but due to future commercial opportunities he did not want to be tied to any license (OpenEVSE licence is Creative Commons SA BY and GNU 3 - both allow commercial use). Given the similarities and hardware choices matching OpenEVSE blogs and forum posts, I believe EMW used OpenEVSE as a stating point.

Does the Creative Commons SA BY and GNU 3 allow commercial extensions without being forced to open source those? I remember from the Mozilla project that licensing was a big sticking point, and there were several re-licensing efforts.

 

[AlanSqB]

I don't know much about the UK, but in the US that letter would be filed immediately under G for garbage. It is a wannabe C&D from an individual that feels threatened. It does not appear to carry any weight or authority other than the threat of "escalation."

I would hope they can get some representation there to push back on this intrusion into a legitimate hobby activity.

 

[srl99]

UK Electric Vehicle Supply Association?!? Yawn! Their acronym should be UK-EVS-WANKERS.

 

[TonyWilliams]

I don't know much about the UK, but in the US that letter would be filed immediately under G for garbage. It is a wannabe C&D from an individual that feels threatened. It does not appear to carry any weight or authority other than the threat of "escalation."

I would hope they can get some representation there to push back on this intrusion into a legitimate hobby activity.

Yes, pure garbage letter with no merit or legal standing. I wouldn't bother responding, let alone give them notoriety.

That's not to say that these wankers won't cry to their MP's with tales of woe, looking for laws to protect them.

 

[chris1howell]

Yes, pure garbage letter with no merit or legal standing. I wouldn't bother responding, let alone give them notoriety.

That's not to say that these wankers won't cry to their MP's with tales of woe, looking for laws to protect them.

Yep, that's the letter I remember. You know you are doing something right if it makes people mad...

 

[kubel]

It would take all of my powers to resist the temptation to draw a giant phallus on the letter and return it to them. But even that would give them too much legitimacy.

I don't think I would go as far as to generally recommend people build their own charging station- but as long as you can follow instructions, it's not rocket science to assemble something like an OpenEVSE. Can it kill you if you make a mistake? Sure. But so can changing your own oil.

 

[chris1howell]

OpenEVSE manufacturing partner Risch Enterprises posted a few short Facebook videos. The videos show OpenEVSE parts on the laser cuter (LCD window, seals and mounting plate) and an Aluminum enclosure pins inserted on a custom pneumatic press.

I have shared them here.
https://www.facebook.com/openevse