Category: EV News

Electrify America, a non-profit organization funded by Volkswagen to install multiple DC Fast Charge stations on highways and roadways across America, has begun installing these systems in Nevada.

The Premium Outlet Malls South is a shopping district near Las Vegas Blvd and Warm Springs Road, just south of the Las Vegas Strip. The company is hosting six DC Fast Charge stations with 12 charging ports of various power-delivery capabilities for different model EVs equipped with different levels of fast-charge battery packs.

Two of the stations will carry “ultra fast” plug connectors capable of delivering electricity at a maximum power-transfer rate of 350 kilowatts. At this time, no plug-in electric car battery pack has been equipped to handle this combined amount of voltage and current flow from a DC Ultra Fast Charger. However, the installation of these systems will future-proof these DC Fast Charge systems near Las Vegas Blvd., so that newer vehicles with ultra-fast charging rates that will be developed over the next ten years, will still be able to use this site.

The plug-in connectors on these charging stations are based on the SAE International standard for DC Fast Charging, known as the Combined Charging System, or CCS. The latest CCS version 2.0 coincidentally has a maximum power rating of 350 kilowatts, that can be achieved through a combination of voltage and current settings. Voltage can be adjusted from 200 – 1000 Volts DC, while current flow can reach a maximum of 500 Amps.

Three of the six stations at the Las Vegas Premium Outlet South shopping district will be also use a similar CCS connector, but have a maximum power-transfer capability of 150 kilowatts.

The last DC Fast Charge station has two different connectors. One is a CCS-compatible plug rated at 150 kilowatts while the second plug is a CHAdeMo standard plug rated at 50 kilowatts. CHAdeMo is an older DC Fast Charge standard developed by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and implemented more than a decade ago. It has been used by Japanese automotive manufacturers in the Nissan LEAF and Mitsubishi i-MiEV that were sold in the US during 2012 and beyond.

Each CHAdeMo-equipped vehicle had two separate charging ports, one for the standard SAE J1772 Level 1 and 2 AC charging systems, as well as a separate CHAdeMo port for DC Fast Charge systems.

All six DC Fast Charge stations have been provided by ABB, a worldwide manufacturer of electric vehicle supply equipment for the automotive industry.

Currently, the Tesla Supercharger network of DC Fast Charge stations are rated at 120 kilowatts to enable Tesla Models S, X and 3 to travel cross-country and recharge a 250-mile range pack in about forty minutes. Tesla owners can purchase an optional CHAdeMo adapter cable but at 50 kilowatts, charging time is closer to two hours to top off a Tesla model battery pack.

A 150-kilowatt DC Fast Charger should reduce the time required to refill an electric car’s battery cells to about 35 minutes, while a 350-kilowatt Ultra Fast DC Charger should be able to recharge a compatible battery pack in about ten minutes.

Implementing this EV technology roadmap to enable an electric car future may have some speed bumps over the next ten years.

Building out the necessary charging station infrastructure to safely deliver electricity at the same rates as high-voltage transmission lines will still be a tremendous challenge to designers, installers, product managers, maintenance people and even first responders to a traffic accident or DC Fast Charge station malfunction.

A lot of “real world” testing will be required with each new level of DC Fast

Charge technologies over the next decade.

Already, Electrify America has experienced a recall of 350-kilowatt DC Fast Charge cables after recent testing found a problem in some of the units. Retrofits to the original cable designs were required to systems that have already been installed.

An onboard card reader can process all major credit cards for the purchase of electric power, as well as process payments through Apple Pay and Android Pay.

DC Solar has installed 19 portable trailers around the Las Vegas valley that are equipped with ChargePoint AC Level 2 charging stations to provide electricity at no cost to electric car owners.

The electric power for the ChargePoint station on each trailer can be generated by three portable resources: adjustable photovoltaic solar panels, a battery backup storage system, and a biodiesel generator.

Each DC Solar charging station trailer also has digital LED display screens on both the ChargePoint station control panel and alongside the full length of the trailer that can be leased to businesses to provide advertising announcements. Advertising revenue can be used to offset any maintenance or biodiesel costs incurred by DC Solar while providing free electrons to electric car drivers.

DC Solar portable ChargePoint stations installed in the Las Vegas valley are located at:

1. 5965 W. Sahara Avenue
2. 4030 W. Charleston Avenue
3. 1555 E. Flamingo Road
4. 2151 N. Rancho Drive
5. 4880 W. Oquendo Road
6. Charleston Boulevard and Art Way
7. 9111 Las Vegas Boulevard South
8. 1094 S. Buffalo Drive
9. 276 N. Jones Boulevard
10. 1019 S. Decatur Boulevard
11. 2169 E. Tropicana Avenue
12. 3070 W. Sahara Avenue
13. 6730 Las Vegas Boulevard South
14. 3965 E. Charleston Boulevard
15. 5115 W. Spring Mountain Road
16. 1007 E. Cheyenne Avenue
17. 3100 Fremont Street
18. 7730 S. Jones Boulevard
19. 889 S. Valley View Boulevard

Locations of more than 300 ChargePoint stations in the Las Vegas valley and throughout the rest of Nevada can also be found through a map app provided by ChargePoint at this link:

https://na.chargepoint.com/charge_point

The Nevada Electric Vehicle Accelerator (NEVA) website also includes the Plugshare.com mapping service, that can be used to locate both ChargePoint and non-ChargePoint EVSE charging station sites throughout the state and around the country:

http://nevadaeva.org/evse-locator-map/

For more information about DC Solar and their innovative portable electric power solutions, visit the company website at:

http://www.dcsolarsolutionsmfg.com/

Update: During March 2018, DC Solar removed its trailers from all locations due to a billboard permitting requirement requested by the City of Las Vegas. The company will re-install its trailers at the original sites once the permitting requirement has been resolved.

The Specialty Equipment Market Association, also known as SEMA, celebrated its 50th annual trade show at the Las Vegas Convention Center this month from Nov. 1 – 4, with over 2,400 exhibit booths and more than 160,000 international attendees.

The event featured a “hot rod” culture that originated from Los Angeles in 1966 at Dodger stadium and moved to Las Vegas in 1977.

Attendees and exhibitors are interested in showcasing and developing custom enhancements to stock automobiles by creating products after market that enhance performance, body styling, comfort and passenger safety for all types of “rides”.

Some of the electric car highlights at the trade show included a 1962 pickup truck EV conversion from Local Motors, a closer look at Formula E race car technologies, a custom Tesla Model S styling enhancement,and a look at the aluminum “body in white” for both the new Chevrolet Bolt and Tesla Motors Model X.

Local Motors recently acquired motor technology from Motoczysz, an electric motorcycle builder who won several international electric motorcycle competitions at Isle of Man, eGrand Prix and other events.

The organization’s online design community has been challenged to work with this motor to adapt it to many different forms of electric vehicle transportation.

The first working prototype is a 1962 Datsun 1200 pickup truck that has been converted to an electric vehicle. The truck uses the Motocysz motor powered by a lithium-ion battery pack built into the truck bed.

Other electric vehicle exhibits during SEMA 2016 included custom styling of a Tesla Motors Model S by Unplugged Customs.

Two welding exhibits at SEMA 2016 featured the unpainted aluminum “body in white” shells in the North Hall of the exhibit for the Chevrolet Bolt and Tesla Motors Model X.

Magelec Propulsion, owned by Craig Daniels, exhibited its contribution to the Formula E electric car racing circuit by showcasing its MGU M61R electric motor, that is rated at 200 kilowatts and is coupled with its company’s F6R gearbox.

The NextEV racing team uses this motor in its Formula E car. Maximum speed is 225 km/hour up to 12,000 rpm and acceleration time from 0-100 km/hour is 3.0 seconds.

Vehicle electrification is becoming accepted by SEMA attendees and its hot rod car culture. During a Vehicle Electronics Forum led by John Waraniak of SEMA, discussion panel members agreed that some form of vehicle electrification will be required to achieve CAFE standards of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.

EVs were also the best platforms to enable autonomous, self-driving vehicles.

Waraniak began his automotive career with Hughes Aircraft and GM by working on the pioneering Sunraycer, a solar-powered electric car that won the very first World Solar Challenge race in Australia during 1987. The SunRaycer technology was also implemented into the GM Impact prototype, the predecessor to the EV1 electric car program launched by GM during the 1990s.

10/1/2016 NASCAR DC Solar 350 “Show & Shine”

NASCAR staged the DC Solar 350 Camping World Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, beginning at 5:30 PM on Saturday, October 1.

On Saturday morning from 10 AM to 3 PM, Star Nursery, KVVU-TV Fox 5, KKLZ-FM radio and the Las Vegas Review-Journal co-sponsored a pre-race festival that included a 2nd annual “Show and Shine” car show to benefit local children’s charities.

There were 211 car entries in the event that raised over $35,000 for Speedway Children’s Charities:

http://lasvegas.speedwaycharities.org/

This year, the Show & Shine car show included an “Electric Car” category with awards for first and second place judging.

LVEVA members Evan Eskelson, Jim Katzen and Stan Hanel participated in the electric car category of the “Show & Shine” event.

Evan Eskelson exhibited a 1987 Aztec 7 kit car EV conversion, that was sponsored by a donation of ten 12-volt DC batteries from Enersys/Odyssey Battery company.

The EV conversion has been built on a Volkswagen Bug chassis with a fiberglass body that included gullwing doors.  The body shape and style had been modeled after a 1980s Lamborghini Countach car design with a sharp wedge front and foldaway headlights.

Jim Katzen exhibited a vintage 1981 Jet Electrica electric car, built by Jet Industries on a modified Ford Escort glider.

An integrated charging system recharges both the traction battery pack and the auxiliary pack through one central electronics unit.

DC Solar provided portable ChargePoint CT4020 AC Level 2 stations and 110 VAC outlets mounted on trailers that were powered by photovoltaic solar panels and a storage battery pack to recharge the electric cars.

Both electric cars at the Show & Shine event were able to recharge their traction battery packs from sunshine while exhibiting at the car show.

DC Solar also sponsored the DC Solar 350 NASCAR Camping World Truck series race that night, that included a chase competition among the top eight NASCAR truck series drivers.

DC Solar power generation trailers were also used to provide LED tower lighting to multiple locations around the Las Vegas Motor Speedway complex.

DC Solar trailers also supplied power to a Busch Beer Garden and other vendor exhibits during the pre-race festival.

Video billboards with changing advertising displays could also be mounted on a DC Solar trailer and powered from the photovoltaic solar panels and battery backup power systems attached to the trailer.