1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,120 Have you ever wondered what’s inside one of these electric car chargers? 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:06,560 Well then, this is the video for you! 3 00:00:06,560 --> 00:00:08,100 The short answer is, 4 00:00:08,100 --> 00:00:09,559 not a lot really. 5 00:00:09,559 --> 00:00:13,700 The longer answer has to do with how electric vehicles charge themselves 6 00:00:13,700 --> 00:00:16,379 because this isn’t actually a charger. 7 00:00:16,380 --> 00:00:23,120 The industry name for this device is EVSE, which stands for electric vehicle supply equipment. 8 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:27,200 Kinda weird that we’re calling it “an equipment” but let’s not get any more pedantic 9 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:30,000 than this video is already guaranteed to be. 10 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:35,120 Fundamentally, this device is merely a controlled access point to the power grid. 11 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:39,400 I’ve been wanting to make this video for a long time but finally got motivated to do it 12 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:41,840 thanks to a series of interactions on Twitter. 13 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:43,700 You know who you are. 14 00:00:43,700 --> 00:00:50,080 First, qualifications; this video is discussing Level 2 AC charging in North America. 15 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:55,840 Those of you with your fancy three phases need not comment on your Type 2 connectors because 16 00:00:55,840 --> 00:01:01,300 yes, I know they exist in Europe, Australia, and elsewhere but they do not exist over here 17 00:01:01,309 --> 00:01:03,039 so mentioning them is irrelevant. 18 00:01:03,039 --> 00:01:07,740 DC Fast Charging, the most famous system of which being the Tesla Superchargers, 19 00:01:07,740 --> 00:01:09,560 is not where we’re headed either. 20 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:11,420 Not today, anyway. 21 00:01:11,420 --> 00:01:17,090 Instead, this video is about quote unquote “slow” at-home or at-the-office charging 22 00:01:17,090 --> 00:01:19,520 and the devices which make that work. 23 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:25,200 Unless you plan on exceeding your vehicle’s range in a day (in other words are doing long distance travel) 24 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:31,200 this is how the vast majority of your charging will (and in my opinion, should) occur. 25 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:37,000 I very much hope we focus on getting more level 2 chargers in more places to help accommodate 26 00:01:37,010 --> 00:01:42,210 those who need a car but don’t live in a single family home rather than make that huge 27 00:01:42,210 --> 00:01:45,740 percentage of the population reliant on DC fast charging, 28 00:01:45,740 --> 00:01:51,880 thus replicating the fueling infrastructure we have today but with high-speed chargers instead of gas pumps. 29 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:55,780 Plugging in at home or at work is not only much more convenient, 30 00:01:55,780 --> 00:01:59,260 but requires less radical infrastructure and from my perspective 31 00:01:59,260 --> 00:02:03,100 seems a lot easier to manage on a connected smart grid. 32 00:02:03,100 --> 00:02:08,960 But the main reason why I hope we go with the more Level 2 less DC charging route 33 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:12,770 is because these things are stupidly simple devices. 34 00:02:12,770 --> 00:02:18,740 I said earlier that these aren’t chargers; in fact, these are basically just fancy light switches. 35 00:02:18,740 --> 00:02:20,040 Let’s explain what I mean. 36 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:24,180 Most things we call chargers are really DC power supplies. 37 00:02:24,190 --> 00:02:27,310 Yes even those aren’t often really chargers. 38 00:02:27,310 --> 00:02:33,320 They contain electronic circuitry designed to turn AC mains voltage into a defined and stable DC voltage; 39 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:36,560 in the case of standard USB that would be 5 volts. 40 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:40,040 The charging is done by the device you give the 5 volts to 41 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:43,100 because it knows how to treat its battery best. 42 00:02:43,100 --> 00:02:45,420 Electric cars are pretty much the same. 43 00:02:45,420 --> 00:02:49,780 In the case of Level 1 and 2 charging, they handle the charging themselves. 44 00:02:49,780 --> 00:02:53,240 But they go one step further than your phone or laptop. 45 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:57,160 Because electric vehicles come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, battery chemistries, 46 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:03,180 and battery pack voltages, it’s not really feasible to put the power supply outside of the car. 47 00:03:03,180 --> 00:03:04,240 So it isn’t. 48 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:09,580 This device has no voltage conversion circuitry in it of any kind, except for the wee bit 49 00:03:09,580 --> 00:03:11,670 it needs for its own electronics. 50 00:03:11,670 --> 00:03:14,100 A reminder to the keyboard warriors out there; 51 00:03:14,100 --> 00:03:18,220 we’re not talking about DC fast charging in this video. 52 00:03:18,220 --> 00:03:21,840 This device has one job and one job only. 53 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:25,120 To safely deliver AC power to a car. 54 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:27,880 The car itself contains the battery charger. 55 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:28,820 Want to see it? 56 00:03:28,820 --> 00:03:32,060 Well, in the Chevy Bolt EV it’s here. 57 00:03:32,060 --> 00:03:36,100 These four boxes represent all of the electrical bits of a Bolt. 58 00:03:36,110 --> 00:03:37,730 The Bolt’s Bits. 59 00:03:37,730 --> 00:03:42,250 Up on top here to the left is a junction box which splits out traction battery voltage 60 00:03:42,250 --> 00:03:46,480 to the inverter module and high-power accessories like the air conditioning compressor 61 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:48,040 and cabin heater. 62 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:52,760 Below it is the inverter module which actually drives the traction motor (and thus wheels) 63 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:55,820 and recovers charge under regenerative braking. 64 00:03:55,820 --> 00:04:00,760 On the right up top you have a DC-DC converter which takes high traction battery voltage 65 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:06,460 and steps it down to 13.8 volts or so to power accessories and charge the 12V battery 66 00:04:06,460 --> 00:04:10,360 (in other words this is the equivalent of an alternator in a conventional car). 67 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:13,380 And below it is the onboard charger. 68 00:04:13,380 --> 00:04:19,700 Side-note, a lot of you may be asking why an electric car needs a standard 12V lead-acid battery. 69 00:04:19,700 --> 00:04:24,700 Technically, it doesn’t *need* it but the design of the car becomes much safer and also 70 00:04:24,710 --> 00:04:29,120 easier if you can run conventional things like lighting, infotainment, power windows, 71 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:31,930 the computers, etc off of low voltage. 72 00:04:31,930 --> 00:04:36,490 It’s easier because it means the things that are the same from a gas car to an EV 73 00:04:36,490 --> 00:04:40,420 don’t need to change - imagine a 400 volt turn signal bulb. 74 00:04:40,420 --> 00:04:45,320 And it’s safer because, well for one you don’t have high voltage wiring running all over the place, 75 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:49,240 but more importantly when the car is off and not charging, 76 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:54,760 contactors inside the battery open removing traction battery voltage from everything. 77 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:56,160 What are contactors? 78 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:58,500 Well, you’ll find out shortly. 79 00:04:58,500 --> 00:05:01,980 You can actually hear those contactors close when you turn on the car. 80 00:05:01,980 --> 00:05:03,240 [two dinstinct thunks] 81 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:04,940 [Classic General Motors Seatbelt Bong] 82 00:05:04,940 --> 00:05:06,440 Or plug it in. 83 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:10,000 [A single clunk, followed by a beep] 84 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:13,180 And obviously when the high voltage system is shut down, 85 00:05:13,180 --> 00:05:17,660 you need something else to close those contactors and turn it back on, 86 00:05:17,660 --> 00:05:19,930 and that’s why the bulk of the car’s control systems 87 00:05:19,930 --> 00:05:25,150 run at the conventional 12 volts and why there’s a standard battery, too. 88 00:05:25,150 --> 00:05:27,640 Anyway, again, this is the onboard charger. 89 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:31,440 It’s kind of hard to see in situ, if you’d like a closer look at these components 90 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:35,660 I can’t recommend this video from the Weber Automotive YouTube channel highly enough, 91 00:05:35,660 --> 00:05:37,540 it’s fantastic. 92 00:05:37,540 --> 00:05:39,340 Also everything is a lot cleaner. 93 00:05:39,340 --> 00:05:42,660 But this module here is the actual charger. 94 00:05:42,660 --> 00:05:47,180 It takes AC power coming from the car’s charge port, rectifies it to DC, 95 00:05:47,180 --> 00:05:52,760 boosts that up to the battery pack’s required charge voltage, and sends that into the battery pack. 96 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:59,040 Inside the pack itself you’ve also got various modules which monitor each cell and help balance everything out. 97 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:04,500 Now, here’s where things get a little complicated and where the critical role of the EVSE comes in. 98 00:06:04,500 --> 00:06:08,840 The car’s onboard charger may be capable of pulling more power from the grid 99 00:06:08,840 --> 00:06:11,550 than a given circuit can safely provide. 100 00:06:11,550 --> 00:06:16,420 It’s the EVSE’s job to tell the car how much current it can pull 101 00:06:16,420 --> 00:06:19,240 and then to supply it with voltage when requested. 102 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:22,520 Let’s now take a closer look at the device itself. 103 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:27,120 This is a Siemens VersiCharge unit, a fairly basic EVSE. 104 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:35,580 It has a NEMA 6-50 plug on one end, and the industry-standard SAE J1772 connector on the other. 105 00:06:35,580 --> 00:06:41,040 Since 2010, every single battery electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid for sale in the US 106 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:45,700 that doesn’t begin with T and end in esla has this very connector on it. 107 00:06:45,710 --> 00:06:49,540 From the Chevy Volt, the Ford Focus Electric, the Nissan Leaf, the Volkswagen E-Golf, 108 00:06:49,540 --> 00:06:53,320 the Toyota Prius Prime, the Kia Soul EV, the Hyundai Kona Electric, and yes, 109 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:58,040 even the Wheego LiFe, they all have this charge port. 110 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:05,040 This connector is part of the universal nationwide (except for Tesla) Levels 1 and 2 charging standard 111 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:09,660 capable of delivering up to just shy of 20 kW, though typically most units 112 00:07:09,670 --> 00:07:12,510 deliver between 6 and 7.2. 113 00:07:12,510 --> 00:07:17,180 This unit, like many out there, is rated for 30A, so depending on the voltage it receives 114 00:07:17,180 --> 00:07:21,600 it can deliver between 6.2 and 7.2 kW. 115 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:26,650 We find a user interface on the front of this device, though not all EVSEs are going to have one. 116 00:07:26,650 --> 00:07:30,860 The most useful thing this does is allow you to delay charging for up to 8 hours 117 00:07:30,860 --> 00:07:35,300 in two hour increments, a fairly easy way to take advantage of time-of-use rates 118 00:07:35,300 --> 00:07:37,490 if your utility offers them. 119 00:07:37,490 --> 00:07:42,860 Though it should be noted most cars can do this themselves, in fact on the Bolt EV you can 120 00:07:42,860 --> 00:07:48,150 even program that based on GPS location so it charges immediately when on a public charger, 121 00:07:48,150 --> 00:07:50,860 but only between certain times at home. 122 00:07:50,860 --> 00:07:55,760 A lot of the symbology on here is, I believe, shared between multiple models because I don’t 123 00:07:55,760 --> 00:08:00,580 think this unit has any sort of WiFi connectivity (though frankly, I don’t really care either way). 124 00:08:00,580 --> 00:08:05,160 Oh, and of course it has fancy lights on it because what good is driving an electric vehicle 125 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:07,380 if you don’t get to be smug about? 126 00:08:07,380 --> 00:08:08,900 Let’s now open it up. 127 00:08:08,910 --> 00:08:13,430 You might be surprised to learn that most of what’s in here is simply empty space. 128 00:08:13,430 --> 00:08:19,010 The unit is way larger than it actually needs to be, partly so it can have those fancy lights 129 00:08:19,010 --> 00:08:24,080 to help your smugness, and partly because it helps manage the cord when not in use. 130 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:27,794 The power leads from the plug (which interestingly are not colored properly, 131 00:08:27,794 --> 00:08:31,240 the white wire should be red since there is no neutral but whatever) 132 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:37,120 go to a terminal block, allowing you to replace the plug or hardwire the unit if so desired. 133 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:41,760 One reason to do that is that this particular model is weatherproofed and so can be outside 134 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:44,290 if installed and wired properly. 135 00:08:44,290 --> 00:08:51,120 From there a few small feeders go to the circuit board, and two large conductors go to one side of a contactor. 136 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:56,900 Out the other side of the contactor you’ll see that it goes to the main conductors of the charge cable. 137 00:08:56,900 --> 00:09:01,300 This contactor is the single control device of this unit. 138 00:09:01,300 --> 00:09:04,540 A contactor is simply an electromagnetic switch. 139 00:09:04,540 --> 00:09:09,820 When energized it closes, connecting the charge cord directly to incoming power. 140 00:09:09,820 --> 00:09:11,540 When it’s open, it doesn’t. 141 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:13,400 That’s it. 142 00:09:13,540 --> 00:09:15,440 That’s all these devices do. 143 00:09:15,900 --> 00:09:17,260 They're a fancy light switch. 144 00:09:17,260 --> 00:09:18,640 [loud CLACK of contactor] 145 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:23,320 But it is a critical safety device and what keeps your car from overloading a circuit. 146 00:09:23,330 --> 00:09:25,350 Let’s talk about that part first. 147 00:09:25,350 --> 00:09:27,820 Keep in mind that the car is the load. 148 00:09:27,820 --> 00:09:30,100 The charger is inside the car. 149 00:09:30,100 --> 00:09:32,720 This device is simply a gateway to the grid. 150 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:37,880 It is labeled as though it’s a 30A device which makes things easier for regulators and electricians, 151 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:42,040 but in reality the device itself consumes maybe 5 watts. 152 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:44,730 The car is where the load actually comes from. 153 00:09:44,730 --> 00:09:49,780 So first and foremost, it needs to tell the car how much power it can safely pull. 154 00:09:49,780 --> 00:09:54,560 The device can only supply 30A because it’s on a 40A circuit. 155 00:09:54,570 --> 00:09:57,840 Technically it's allowed provide up to 32 continuously, 156 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:01,160 and truthfully I don’t know why they capped it at 30, but anyway 157 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:03,220 the device needs to tell the car 158 00:10:03,220 --> 00:10:05,680 “Hey! Don’t pull more than 30A. 159 00:10:05,680 --> 00:10:07,560 You’ll make trouble if you do.” 160 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:11,760 And it does that through very rudimentary signalling protocols. 161 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:15,140 So, here’s a close-up of the pins on the car’s side. 162 00:10:15,150 --> 00:10:17,040 And now on the plug side. 163 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:19,670 This one helpfully labels which pin is which. 164 00:10:19,670 --> 00:10:25,880 The three largest pins are Line 1, Line 2/Neutral, and a safety ground or protective earth. 165 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:29,220 If you’re confused on why pin two is only sometimes neutral, you might want to check 166 00:10:29,230 --> 00:10:32,400 out this video I recently made on the US electrical system. 167 00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:38,180 In short, we use split phase power, and on a 240 or 208V circuit both pins will be hot, 168 00:10:38,180 --> 00:10:41,350 but on a 120V circuit only one of them is. 169 00:10:41,350 --> 00:10:45,020 The other smaller pins are the control pilot and the proximity pilot. 170 00:10:45,020 --> 00:10:46,470 Let’s start with proximity. 171 00:10:46,470 --> 00:10:52,140 The main purpose of these pins is to tell the car and the EVSE that they’re connected to each other. 172 00:10:52,140 --> 00:10:57,310 On the EVSE side, the proximity pilot and ground pin are connected via a resistor which 173 00:10:57,310 --> 00:11:03,440 allows the car to know it’s plugged into an EVSE even in the event the EVSE is dead. 174 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:07,480 This completely passive method ensures that when the car is plugged in, 175 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:13,960 even if the EVSE is faulty or there’s no power to it, it knows it’s connected to an EVSE 176 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:16,190 and won’t let you shift from park. 177 00:11:16,190 --> 00:11:20,880 A well-thought-out design preventing the careless from driving away with the charge point. 178 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:25,880 The control pilot is a little more complicated, but still not all that much. 179 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:32,800 If it’s awake and ready to charge, the EVSE puts a 1 kHz square wave signal out on the control pilot pin. 180 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:36,840 Without a car plugged in, that circuit is open so nothing happens at all, 181 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:41,960 but when a car is plugged in, just as there’s a resistor on the EVSE side for the car, 182 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:45,130 there’s a resistor on the car for the EVSE side. 183 00:11:45,130 --> 00:11:50,780 In fact, the car can manipulate the resistance in order to signal different things to the EVSE. 184 00:11:50,780 --> 00:11:56,630 Per the spec, when the car is connected it should have a 2740 ohm resistance across the 185 00:11:56,630 --> 00:11:59,730 protective earth and the control pilot pin. 186 00:11:59,730 --> 00:12:02,460 This signals presence to the EVSE. 187 00:12:02,460 --> 00:12:07,600 To request power the car lowers that resistance value down to 882 ohms. 188 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:13,000 That will cause the EVSE to close the contactor, and then the vehicle can charge. 189 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:17,380 There is also a very special and rare case where the car will lower the pilot circuit 190 00:12:17,380 --> 00:12:23,440 resistance further to 246 ohms to signal that it requires ventilation when charging. 191 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:28,040 This is used to prevent such a hypothetical vehicle from being charged indoors. 192 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:31,600 I’m not aware of any consumer-facing applications where this is in use, 193 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:37,100 but if you were ever wondering why your charger says “ventilation not required” on there - 194 00:12:37,100 --> 00:12:38,380 that’s why. 195 00:12:38,380 --> 00:12:42,160 It’s to prevent such a car (perhaps one with lead acid batteries which could produce 196 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:44,320 a lot of hydrogen when charging? 197 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:46,740 Really not sure what would require ventilation) 198 00:12:46,740 --> 00:12:51,500 But anyway, to prevent such a car from being charged with this supply. 199 00:12:51,500 --> 00:12:55,700 Most importantly, though, that 1kHz square wave being sent on the control pin 200 00:12:55,700 --> 00:13:01,340 is pulse-width modulated to signal the maximum charge current the car is permitted to take. 201 00:13:01,340 --> 00:13:06,120 That is arguably the single most important thing the EVSE does. 202 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:10,100 See, a Chevy Bolt has a 7.2 kW onboard charger. 203 00:13:10,100 --> 00:13:14,220 That happens to match the rating of this EVSE so we’re all hunky dory. 204 00:13:14,220 --> 00:13:17,600 But what if I wanted to charge it on a smaller circuit? 205 00:13:17,610 --> 00:13:22,050 Say I had installed a 3.6 kW charger on a 20A circuit. 206 00:13:22,050 --> 00:13:26,280 The car needs to know it’s only allowed to pull 3.6 kW 207 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:29,280 or else it would overload the circuit and trip the breaker. 208 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:34,380 Which is of course inconvenient, but also you’re then relying on the breaker to actually trip, 209 00:13:34,380 --> 00:13:37,830 and if it’s faulty you could very well have a fire on your hands. 210 00:13:37,830 --> 00:13:40,070 Better to not tempt fate. 211 00:13:40,070 --> 00:13:44,240 The EVSE is also monitoring the circuit for any ground-faults and will open the contactor 212 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:45,560 should one occur. 213 00:13:45,560 --> 00:13:50,820 They're usually designed to self-reset at least a few times so that you aren’t left without a charge in the morning. 214 00:13:50,820 --> 00:13:55,100 And they’ll also self-test things like the integrity of the protective earth and provide 215 00:13:55,100 --> 00:13:56,700 other various protections. 216 00:13:56,700 --> 00:14:01,460 But at a core level, all this does is announce its presence and capacity, 217 00:14:01,460 --> 00:14:03,560 and wait for a signal to initiate charging. 218 00:14:03,560 --> 00:14:04,340 Then it goes 219 00:14:04,340 --> 00:14:05,020 *CLACK* 220 00:14:05,020 --> 00:14:06,620 and the car does the rest. 221 00:14:06,620 --> 00:14:11,740 So if these are merely fancy light switches, why are they so gosh darn expensive? 222 00:14:11,740 --> 00:14:17,640 It’s not exactly hyperbole to say the functions of this EVSE could be replicated with an arduino, 223 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:20,760 a contactor from an air conditioning unit, a power supply, 224 00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:22,570 and a willing middle schooler. 225 00:14:22,570 --> 00:14:23,840 The answer? 226 00:14:24,420 --> 00:14:27,240 [incredibly annoying rising "ehhhh" sound] 227 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:30,480 OK well in fairness, there are plenty of options these days 228 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:35,060 which can provide all that this car can take for around $300. 229 00:14:35,060 --> 00:14:39,310 The greatest cost of installing a charging station will always be simply running a new 230 00:14:39,310 --> 00:14:42,220 circuit to wherever you need it to be. 231 00:14:42,220 --> 00:14:47,700 Which is why it would be *great* if we could require at least one 40A 240V circuit 232 00:14:47,700 --> 00:14:50,240 for garages in new building codes. 233 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:55,140 But anyway, the charger itself need not be expensive because it’s a pretty dumb device. 234 00:14:55,140 --> 00:15:00,640 I believe I've said this a few times now, but it is basically a fancy light switch. 235 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:05,360 The greatest cost in these units is almost certainly the charge cable itself. 236 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:10,380 It’s a fairly specialized and quite beefy multi-conductor cable, built to withstand 237 00:15:10,380 --> 00:15:12,340 a fair bit of abuse. 238 00:15:12,340 --> 00:15:16,580 This entire unit weighs something like 20 pounds or roughly 9 kilograms, 239 00:15:16,580 --> 00:15:20,890 but the vast majority of that is just this cable. 240 00:15:20,890 --> 00:15:23,780 The actual unit is a plastic box. 241 00:15:23,780 --> 00:15:28,580 The connector itself is designed for 10,000 insertion / removal events, which means it 242 00:15:28,589 --> 00:15:34,029 should last a couple of decades in a private setting, and a good few years at least in a public one. 243 00:15:34,029 --> 00:15:38,220 The connector’s handle is also a little more specialized than you might realize. 244 00:15:38,220 --> 00:15:41,080 Can you hear the little microswitch in here when I depress the latch? 245 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:42,420 [clicky clicky noise] 246 00:15:42,420 --> 00:15:47,300 This actually adds another resistor across the proximity pin and the protective ground, 247 00:15:47,300 --> 00:15:50,690 which signals to the car that it’s about to be unplugged. 248 00:15:50,690 --> 00:15:54,220 This is actually among the most elegant parts of this design spec. 249 00:15:54,220 --> 00:15:58,040 More or less the instant the car sees that resistance change, 250 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:00,380 it stops pulling power from the grid. 251 00:16:00,380 --> 00:16:04,220 That means that when you interrupt a charge by unplugging the connector, current flow 252 00:16:04,230 --> 00:16:09,860 has stopped before the pins are actually separated (and indeed before the contactor opens) 253 00:16:09,860 --> 00:16:15,880 which prevents arcing and prolongs the life of both connectors and the contactor inside the EVSE. 254 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:16,880 Pretty neat. 255 00:16:17,060 --> 00:16:20,720 Now, just because these devices are really quite simple doesn’t mean there isn’t 256 00:16:20,730 --> 00:16:22,480 room for innovation here. 257 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:27,089 The biggest limitation with this standard is that the car can’t really communicate 258 00:16:27,089 --> 00:16:29,040 with the charger other than to say 259 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:31,660 “please provide power” and (rarely) 260 00:16:31,660 --> 00:16:33,550 “I need ventilation.” 261 00:16:33,550 --> 00:16:38,120 There really isn’t anything like negotiation going on, and the charger is completely unaware 262 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:42,410 of the characteristics of the car such as its state of charge, battery capacity, or 263 00:16:42,410 --> 00:16:44,850 indeed maximum charging rate. 264 00:16:44,850 --> 00:16:49,460 That could be quite useful for things like load sharing and potential back-feeding to the grid 265 00:16:49,460 --> 00:16:51,760 should that ever come to fruition. 266 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:55,640 Let’s talk about load sharing because that is a powerful tool for things like 267 00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:57,910 multi-family residential situations. 268 00:16:57,910 --> 00:17:01,760 Here, Tesla currently leads the way by quite a margin. 269 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:06,959 Load sharing allows a given circuit to provide multiple vehicles with electricity by managing 270 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:11,200 the current each vehicle can pull when more than one is plugged in. 271 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:14,350 Say you have a 40 amp circuit like this thing is on. 272 00:17:14,350 --> 00:17:19,680 Well, you could put all of the allowed 32 amps continuous into one charging station 273 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:25,760 and thus one vehicle, but you could also share that amongst multiple charging locations. 274 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:29,900 See, a 40 amp circuit like what supplies this is capable of providing 275 00:17:29,900 --> 00:17:34,360 roughly 600 miles of driving range over a 24 hour period. 276 00:17:34,360 --> 00:17:40,600 But if you typically drive just 40 miles in a day, you only need about 7% of that output 277 00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:42,140 on a typical day. 278 00:17:42,140 --> 00:17:48,940 Sharing it among multiple charge points allows for more people access to one circuit at the same time. 279 00:17:48,940 --> 00:17:53,280 So long as the charge points can talk to each other, they can simply command whatever vehicles 280 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:58,480 are plugged into them to pull less current so that it can be spread out between more vehicles. 281 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:01,600 As individual vehicles are unplugged or finish charging, 282 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:05,180 they will allow the remaining vehicles to pull more current. 283 00:18:05,180 --> 00:18:08,960 Now this isn’t unique to Tesla but right now Tesla has the most flexible 284 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:14,600 and also most economical solution available through their quasi-proprietary wall connectors. 285 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:20,240 Up to 16 gen 3 wall connectors can share a single circuit and communicate with each other 286 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:23,740 wirelessly, which greatly simplifies installation. 287 00:18:23,740 --> 00:18:29,289 While spreading even 60 amps (the max supported by the wall connector) out between 16 cars 288 00:18:29,289 --> 00:18:35,500 leaves a paltry sum for each vehicle, the idea isn’t really to allow 16 cars to charge at once - 289 00:18:35,500 --> 00:18:40,009 it’s to allow things like shared parking lots or garages in multi-family dwellings 290 00:18:40,009 --> 00:18:44,040 to have more charging points with less capital investment. 291 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:49,260 It is very unlikely that all 16 units will ever be in use at the same time, 292 00:18:49,260 --> 00:18:52,600 and Tesla has one other advantage up their sleeve here. 293 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:56,800 Because Tesla is Tesla they’ll have absolutely no reservations about allowing 294 00:18:56,800 --> 00:19:00,570 direct communication between the cars and the wall connectors. 295 00:19:00,570 --> 00:19:08,180 It’s my understanding that the Tesla wall connectors use the same protocol as SAE J1772 in the cable, 296 00:19:08,180 --> 00:19:12,300 they just use Tesla’s proprietary connector rather than the real deal, 297 00:19:12,300 --> 00:19:15,929 so I don’t think they talk through the charge cable itself. 298 00:19:15,929 --> 00:19:20,220 I’m absolutely certain I’ll be corrected if I’m wrong so I won’t even bother asking. 299 00:19:20,220 --> 00:19:25,480 But the good thing is that this allows non-Tesla vehicles to charge on a Tesla wall connector 300 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:26,980 with an adapter. 301 00:19:26,980 --> 00:19:28,120 Thankfully. 302 00:19:28,120 --> 00:19:30,900 That’s why they’re not quite proprietary. 303 00:19:30,900 --> 00:19:31,600 Barely. 304 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:36,260 But if Tesla vehicles can talk to each other and also the network of wall connectors 305 00:19:36,260 --> 00:19:40,509 through some other means like WiFi, they can communicate their states of charge 306 00:19:40,509 --> 00:19:46,620 and rather than split the available current equally, it can be prioritized to vehicles with lower charge. 307 00:19:46,620 --> 00:19:50,540 From my perusal of the manual of the Gen3 wall connector it doesn’t look like this 308 00:19:50,549 --> 00:19:55,159 prioritization feature is currently live, but of course there’s no reason to think it won’t 309 00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:58,020 be quite soon via a firmware update. 310 00:19:58,020 --> 00:20:01,660 Still though, similar solutions are available from companies like ClipperCreek, 311 00:20:01,660 --> 00:20:05,300 and indeed inside this Siemens unit there are some connections which make me think it can be 312 00:20:05,300 --> 00:20:10,140 bonded to other units and even limit its charge rate based on a little potentiometer I saw in there 313 00:20:10,140 --> 00:20:14,520 but anyway those companies don’t have the advantage of vertical integration 314 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:17,820 and so their products tend to be a little more expensive. 315 00:20:17,820 --> 00:20:21,840 That’s the downside of serving everybody and not perpetuating a walled garden. 316 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:27,760 Plus right now, there’s no codified state-of-charge communication between car and EVSE. 317 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:29,880 However, that could change. 318 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:33,340 A proposed update to the SAE J1772 standard 319 00:20:33,340 --> 00:20:36,440 [through gritted teeth] really would have been nice to have given it some sort of name, guys... 320 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:42,480 would enable real vehicle-to-charger integration using power line communication protocols. 321 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:46,159 That would help enable my personal EV charging pipe dream. 322 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:53,700 I would love for power utilities to start installing their own level 2 EVSE equipment all over the place. 323 00:20:53,700 --> 00:20:58,980 Help get people in apartment buildings set up, and those who live in areas with on-street parking only. 324 00:20:58,980 --> 00:21:03,960 If the car can communicate with the EVSE, and the EVSE is part of a smart grid, 325 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:08,120 an EV driver can register their car, plug it in anywhere on the network 326 00:21:08,120 --> 00:21:13,480 and have the electricity it uses automatically added to their own personal electric bill. 327 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:18,160 Public charging today is a mess of competing companies each trying to make a profit 328 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:23,479 in one way or another, and maybe that’s where we should go but personally I kinda wish utilities 329 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:25,040 would just step in. 330 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:30,859 Plus, if the car can tell the grid its state-of-charge, dynamic load-balancing on a huge scale would 331 00:21:30,859 --> 00:21:34,600 be easy to implement without stranding drivers. 332 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:38,720 And, should backfeeding of the car’s charge to the grid ever be a thing, 333 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:41,400 well that's a perfect way to make that happen. 334 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:45,032 If you’re a policy maker and/or someone who works for a utility, 335 00:21:45,032 --> 00:21:49,360 I’d just like to say I really think you oughta start looking at this. 336 00:21:49,360 --> 00:21:54,980 If you had L2 chargers everywhere, you incentivize people to keep their cars plugged in 337 00:21:54,980 --> 00:21:59,480 and if their cars are able to feed the grid in times of excess demand, 338 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:02,289 well now you have access to battery storage 339 00:22:02,289 --> 00:22:04,180 which you didn’t need to pay for. 340 00:22:04,180 --> 00:22:09,400 And yes I know that idea is unsettling to many people, but the beauty of a smart grid 341 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:14,100 is that you could potentially offer incentives and opt people in, or you could simply codify 342 00:22:14,100 --> 00:22:19,700 into vehicle design that every EV has a 10% charge buffer that’s invisible to the driver. 343 00:22:19,700 --> 00:22:24,760 That way there's some battery capacity that they don't even know they have and never affects their range. 344 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:31,060 There’s so much we could do, all it takes is some imagination and willingness to regulate some things. 345 00:22:31,060 --> 00:22:35,040 Which is obviously a pretty tough sell in the US at present. 346 00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:40,060 But for now, your garden variety EVSE is a pretty dumb device. 347 00:22:40,060 --> 00:22:45,440 Even Tesla’s wall connectors when installed individually really don't do anything more than this does. 348 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:49,100 If I can give a piece of advice to those who are in a situation where they can install 349 00:22:49,100 --> 00:22:52,380 their own charger in a private garage, it would be this; 350 00:22:52,380 --> 00:22:55,960 have an electrician install a NEMA 6-50 receptacle. 351 00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:59,540 I installed this one myself, and yes I know that needs to be in conduit-- 352 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:00,980 I’m getting to it. 353 00:23:00,980 --> 00:23:06,860 Anyway, many EVSEs are available with this plug, and they come in various capacities. 354 00:23:06,860 --> 00:23:11,140 It will allow effortless changes in the future, and also offers some peace of mind in case 355 00:23:11,149 --> 00:23:14,884 your EVSE happens to develop a fault of some kind and becomes unusable - 356 00:23:14,884 --> 00:23:18,169 then you can simply replace it yourself in mere moments. 357 00:23:18,169 --> 00:23:22,580 Though as I hope I’ve shown you, there really isn’t much that can go wrong with these. 358 00:23:22,580 --> 00:23:25,000 It’s just a fancy light switch. 359 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:25,920 Thanks for watching. 360 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:30,860 I hope with this video I’ve explained that this piece of the EV puzzle is actually quite simple. 361 00:23:30,860 --> 00:23:35,279 There’s a lot more we could do and in my opinion should do to make EVs more feasible 362 00:23:35,279 --> 00:23:39,359 for more people, and to help leverage them as much as possible. 363 00:23:39,359 --> 00:23:44,409 The real challenge is how to get EV charging more accessible to renters, multi-family dwellings, 364 00:23:44,409 --> 00:23:47,020 and areas with street-parking only. 365 00:23:47,020 --> 00:23:51,340 Tesla deserves praise for their innovation with the wall connector, but I do hope they 366 00:23:51,340 --> 00:23:55,460 will eventually join the rest of the automotive industry and remove the dichotomy 367 00:23:55,460 --> 00:23:58,560 in North American charging standards that as of 2020 368 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:03,299 they alone are maintaining for a competitive advantage. 369 00:24:03,299 --> 00:24:08,059 I know, I can’t help myself here, but I say that not necessarily to disparage Tesla 370 00:24:08,059 --> 00:24:14,169 but to let the less-familiar with the EV world know that an industry standard charging protocol 371 00:24:14,169 --> 00:24:19,120 and connector exists for all vehicles not made-by-Tesla. 372 00:24:19,120 --> 00:24:24,000 And also to get some of the more die-hard Tesla fans to engage with that reality 373 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:27,690 and what that might mean for the future adoption of electric vehicles. 374 00:24:27,690 --> 00:24:32,119 Yes, you may wish to bring up that Tesla went their own way because the standards we have 375 00:24:32,119 --> 00:24:35,289 now were not yet finalized, and they totally should have! 376 00:24:35,289 --> 00:24:39,960 EVs wouldn’t be taken seriously were it not for the Supercharger network. 377 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:46,560 But a robust standard exists now that every manufacturer has signed onto. 378 00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:52,040 They owe it not just to future Tesla owners but also the industry as a whole to support it. 379 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:54,620 And better do it now than later. 380 00:24:54,620 --> 00:24:58,020 Just for context, that little orange thing below this charge port? 381 00:24:58,020 --> 00:25:03,420 That covers the high-power DC pins of this CCS-combo connector. 382 00:25:03,420 --> 00:25:09,960 Again, every modern EV and plug-in hybrid going back to 2010 except for Teslas 383 00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:15,402 has a J1772 connector, and by augmenting it with these large DC pins, 384 00:25:15,402 --> 00:25:18,900 DC fast charging was added without removing compatibility 385 00:25:18,900 --> 00:25:22,320 with existing Level 1 and 2 AC infrastructure. 386 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:26,580 Now that Nissan has dropped the competing CHAdeMO from the US market, 387 00:25:26,580 --> 00:25:31,300 every new EV will soon have this exact plug 388 00:25:31,300 --> 00:25:32,920 or it will be a Tesla. 389 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:36,980 And don’t tell Tesla loyalists but these bigger pins which they often like to say make 390 00:25:36,980 --> 00:25:42,860 the connector needlessly bulky can handle more current than Tesla's proprietary connector. 391 00:25:42,860 --> 00:25:47,940 If Tesla chooses to support CCS in the North American market as they have already done 392 00:25:47,940 --> 00:25:53,400 in Europe and China, I will be so delighted I’ll make a video about just that. 393 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:59,659 But until that day, I will remain incredibly annoyed at them for being the last remaining 394 00:25:59,660 --> 00:26:03,320 automaker holding onto a proprietary connector. 395 00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:09,260 That doesn’t help move electric vehicles forward, it just helps Tesla. 396 00:26:09,260 --> 00:26:12,560 Anyway, let’s cut to black before I get a mob on my hands. 397 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:15,980 ♫ interoperably smooth jazz ♫ 398 00:26:16,820 --> 00:26:19,160 [various sounds of struggle] 399 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:22,060 This isn't awkward at all... 400 00:26:22,060 --> 00:26:27,200 Up on top here to the left is a junction box which splits out tractshion [said a little weridly] 401 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:29,940 This line is a tongue-twister! 402 00:26:29,940 --> 00:26:33,840 Oh my god I'm just looking at all those technical words that I wrote down there... 403 00:26:34,380 --> 00:26:35,177 [sighs] 404 00:26:35,177 --> 00:26:35,860 Great. 405 00:26:35,860 --> 00:26:38,760 But they go one step further because... 406 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:41,420 oooh, skipped a line! That's exciting! 407 00:26:41,420 --> 00:26:46,480 But when a car is plugged in, just as there's a resistor on the EVSE seuh be dueh nuh 408 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:47,840 enunciation failed a little bit. 409 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:50,560 ...downside of serving everybody and not just - 410 00:26:51,180 --> 00:26:55,360 I should've - I didn't write, see the thing about the connections that are in here; 411 00:26:55,360 --> 00:26:58,200 I didn't write that in because I didn't open this 'till later. 412 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:01,340 Is not where we're headed today either. Oh, shoot! 413 00:27:03,180 --> 00:27:07,500 Did you know it's really that simple? Did you know that the car is where the charger lies? 414 00:27:07,500 --> 00:27:12,520 Some of you undoubtedly did, but if this is news to ya I hope it makes you think more positively about the situation. 415 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:15,820 It really isn't anywhere near as complicated as some people make it out to be. 416 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:18,040 SUPPORT CCS, ELON!