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GRA said:
danrjones said:
This one is going in near me, sure looks like some of the CCS will be 350KW, some 150KW and a lonely 50 KW Chademo, based on the annotation.

What vehicles right now can use 350 KW CCS?


None, but the Taycan will be able to charge at 270kW out of the gate, and as batteries get bigger/able to accept higher C rates there'll be cars that can use it. Porsche is talking about 400-500kW down the road, which won't be possible for 800 volt packs as long as the stations are limited to 350A, i.e. no more than 280kW, but if the input/output is the max. of 350A @ 950V, the AC/DC placard limits on the BTC chargers I looked at in Castro Valley, they could output up to 332.5kW (assuming a PF of 1.0).


Re the above, via GCC:
Electrify America network first to charge 800V EV battery at 270 kW
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2019/09/20190910-ea.html


. . . On 4 September, the day of the global launch event, a Porsche Taycan, with its 800-volt architecture, charged at Electrify America’s Bloomsburg, PA charging station. The vehicle charged at a maximum power level of 270 kilowatts, the fastest charging speed for passenger vehicles on the road today.

The vehicle, which drove approximately 250 miles directly from Niagara Falls, utilized Electrify America’s 350 kW chargers to obtain a 5 percent to 80 percent charge in just 22.5 minutes. . . .
 
^^ I'll guess that the Porsche drove the 250 miles starting from 100% and ending at 5% for a trip range of 250/0.95 = 263 miles.
Then it charged 75% of its range in 22 minutes, which works out to (263*0.75)/22 = 9 miles a minute charge rate.

Not bad at all, but nowhere near Tesla performance in a Model 3 that costs 1/3 as much.

Keep at it, Porsche
 
Richmond, VA (I-95 ex. 83A/B @ Jct. S.R. 73, on U.S. 1) is open, #3 for the month and #288 total.

This shortens what had been one of the longest remaining legs on I-95, the 134 miles between Stafford and Emporia, VA, to two legs of 62 and 73 miles. It also shortens the 121 mile leg between Zion Crossroads and Newport News, VA via I-64/295/64 to two legs of 52 and 71 miles.
 
Anyone know what the hold up is on the EA chargers on CA, especially along 395?

Seems like bishop, coso junction and mojave are just sitting there mostly done.
 
danrjones said:
Anyone know what the hold up is on the EA chargers on CA, especially along 395?

Seems like bishop, coso junction and mojave are just sitting there mostly done.
Utility needs to install the transformers and such

Utility crews are busy doing fire season risk reduction.

After fire season, perhaps.
 
danrjones said:
Anyone know what the hold up is on the EA chargers on CA, especially along 395?

Seems like bishop, coso junction and mojave are just sitting there mostly done.

Was reported several weeks ago that utilities were concentrating on wildfires and installs were on the back burner.
 
danrjones said:
They are concentrating on starting fires?


No, that was the past two years - this year they're concentrating on keeping them from starting. :roll:


Two more sites have opened, making 5 for the month and 290 total: Yreka, CA (I-5 ex. 773, Jct. with S.R. 3); Turlock, CA (S.R. 99 ex. 214).

Yreka extends I-5 south from Grant's Pass in Oregon. We still need Anderson (preferred) and/or Willows to open to complete it as far as Sacramento.

Turlock shortens the 132 mile leg between Elk Grove and Madera to two legs of 73 and 60 miles.

With the opening of these two California takes the lead, which should never be relinquished, from Texas as the state with the most open EA QC sites, 29 and counting.
 
I visited EA in Herkimer NY this evening. Of the 4 stalls, 3 of them fail to charge. I hear/read reports that the same patterns exists across I-90 in NY. Is this others' experience as well? The plus side is that the one working charger is the CCS / CHAdeMO charger. Of course, being a considerate CCS owner, that's the last one I tried (in the off chance a Leaf showed up - none did).

The cynic in me wonders if this isn't done intentionally in order to limit demand charges. I mean, it would be very expensive if, for example, four Konas all showed up and charged at 75kW each for 15 minutes, and that's all the charging that was done for the month. This corridor is low duty-cycle for sure.
 
DougWantsALeaf said:
My guess is that EA drastically underestimated the repair cycle needs on these chargers.

That's possible but there really aren't that many moving parts to wear out. There is the obvious one of the handle that gets inserted into the car but otherwise it is probably mostly just solid state electronics. It is high power electronics but even so, almost any industrial building probably uses more power constantly and you don't see electricians fixing the power distribution networks at commercial buildings every day.
 
GetOffYourGas said:
I visited EA in Herkimer NY this evening. Of the 4 stalls, 3 of them fail to charge. I hear/read reports that the same patterns exists across I-90 in NY. Is this others' experience as well? The plus side is that the one working charger is the CCS / CHAdeMO charger. Of course, being a considerate CCS owner, that's the last one I tried (in the off chance a Leaf showed up - none did).

The cynic in me wonders if this isn't done intentionally in order to limit demand charges. I mean, it would be very expensive if, for example, four Konas all showed up and charged at 75kW each for 15 minutes, and that's all the charging that was done for the month. This corridor is low duty-cycle for sure.
When I was traveling across the US a couple months ago, many of the EA locations were having trouble and out of service. I do not believe it is on purpose but I do believe they are wanting to look good by saying they have installed a lot of stations. Whether they work or not is not part of the statistics so far. They definitely have a shortage of trained repairman and have voiced this to me. EA is also not prepared to be heavily relied on.
 
EA is a dummy organization bankrolled by VW to meet a legal consent decree that demanded a very rapid roll-out. To meet timelines EA throws money at vendors who may well use sub-par contractors in the cash grab. Building a DCFC network is a complex task with a LOT of moving parts. It only takes glitches here and there to cause big problems. I'll bet that corners are cut to meet timelines and quality control is inadequate.
 
Still, there are signs that things are improving. The chargers are getting repaired faster now.

Sagebrush, I agree that there are many complexities, and not just the chargers, but with the payment systems, etc...

I think they made a mistake by not covering the stations, as the elements in most of the county will ravage them quickly.

That said, they have that huge new stream of tier 3 income with all the new Porsche Taycans sucking juice at 270.
 
goldbrick said:
DougWantsALeaf said:
My guess is that EA drastically underestimated the repair cycle needs on these chargers.

That's possible but there really aren't that many moving parts to wear out. There is the obvious one of the handle that gets inserted into the car but otherwise it is probably mostly just solid state electronics. It is high power electronics but even so, almost any industrial building probably uses more power constantly and you don't see electricians fixing the power distribution networks at commercial buildings every day.

There might be a reason for that. There is a bank of transformers at my work and the facility is shut down twice a day for maintenance. Its all electric so power demand is VERY high and motor faults are common with at least 10-30ish a shift. Its kinda looking like the fault is shifted towards the equipment rather than the source.

I think there is also a question of weather tolerance. Interesting to see how they fare when the first Winter arrives for many of them?
 
goldbrick said:
That's possible but there really aren't that many moving parts to wear out.
It's an interesting question why public charging stations break down so often, but it seems to be a fact that they do.

Vandalism?
 
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