WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.120 Have you ever wondered what’s inside one of these electric car chargers? 00:00:04.120 --> 00:00:06.560 Well then, this is the video for you! 00:00:06.560 --> 00:00:08.100 The short answer is, 00:00:08.100 --> 00:00:09.559 not a lot really. 00:00:09.559 --> 00:00:13.700 The longer answer has to do with how electric vehicles charge themselves 00:00:13.700 --> 00:00:16.379 because this isn’t actually a charger. 00:00:16.380 --> 00:00:23.120 The industry name for this device is EVSE, which stands for electric vehicle supply equipment. 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 00:00:27.200 --> 00:00:30.000 than this video is already guaranteed to be. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:35.120 Fundamentally, this device is merely a controlled access point to the power grid. 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 00:00:39.400 --> 00:00:41.840 thanks to a series of interactions on Twitter. 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:43.700 You know who you are. 00:00:43.700 --> 00:00:50.080 First, qualifications; this video is discussing Level 2 AC charging in North America. 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 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 00:01:01.309 --> 00:01:03.039 so mentioning them is irrelevant. 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:07.740 DC Fast Charging, the most famous system of which being the Tesla Superchargers, 00:01:07.740 --> 00:01:09.560 is not where we’re headed either. 00:01:09.560 --> 00:01:11.420 Not today, anyway. 00:01:11.420 --> 00:01:17.090 Instead, this video is about quote unquote “slow” at-home or at-the-office charging 00:01:17.090 --> 00:01:19.520 and the devices which make that work. 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) 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:31.200 this is how the vast majority of your charging will (and in my opinion, should) occur. 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 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 00:01:42.210 --> 00:01:45.740 percentage of the population reliant on DC fast charging, 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. 00:01:51.880 --> 00:01:55.780 Plugging in at home or at work is not only much more convenient, 00:01:55.780 --> 00:01:59.260 but requires less radical infrastructure and from my perspective 00:01:59.260 --> 00:02:03.100 seems a lot easier to manage on a connected smart grid. 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 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:12.770 is because these things are stupidly simple devices. 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. 00:02:18.740 --> 00:02:20.040 Let’s explain what I mean. 00:02:20.120 --> 00:02:24.180 Most things we call chargers are really DC power supplies. 00:02:24.190 --> 00:02:27.310 Yes even those aren’t often really chargers. 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; 00:02:33.320 --> 00:02:36.560 in the case of standard USB that would be 5 volts. 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:40.040 The charging is done by the device you give the 5 volts to 00:02:40.040 --> 00:02:43.100 because it knows how to treat its battery best. 00:02:43.100 --> 00:02:45.420 Electric cars are pretty much the same. 00:02:45.420 --> 00:02:49.780 In the case of Level 1 and 2 charging, they handle the charging themselves. 00:02:49.780 --> 00:02:53.240 But they go one step further than your phone or laptop. 00:02:53.240 --> 00:02:57.160 Because electric vehicles come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, battery chemistries, 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. 00:03:03.180 --> 00:03:04.240 So it isn’t. 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 00:03:09.580 --> 00:03:11.670 it needs for its own electronics. 00:03:11.670 --> 00:03:14.100 A reminder to the keyboard warriors out there; 00:03:14.100 --> 00:03:18.220 we’re not talking about DC fast charging in this video. 00:03:18.220 --> 00:03:21.840 This device has one job and one job only. 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:25.120 To safely deliver AC power to a car. 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:27.880 The car itself contains the battery charger. 00:03:27.880 --> 00:03:28.820 Want to see it? 00:03:28.820 --> 00:03:32.060 Well, in the Chevy Bolt EV it’s here. 00:03:32.060 --> 00:03:36.100 These four boxes represent all of the electrical bits of a Bolt. 00:03:36.110 --> 00:03:37.730 The Bolt’s Bits. 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 00:03:42.250 --> 00:03:46.480 to the inverter module and high-power accessories like the air conditioning compressor 00:03:46.480 --> 00:03:48.040 and cabin heater. 00:03:48.040 --> 00:03:52.760 Below it is the inverter module which actually drives the traction motor (and thus wheels) 00:03:52.760 --> 00:03:55.820 and recovers charge under regenerative braking. 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 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 00:04:06.460 --> 00:04:10.360 (in other words this is the equivalent of an alternator in a conventional car). 00:04:10.360 --> 00:04:13.380 And below it is the onboard charger. 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. 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 00:04:24.710 --> 00:04:29.120 easier if you can run conventional things like lighting, infotainment, power windows, 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:31.930 the computers, etc off of low voltage. 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 00:04:36.490 --> 00:04:40.420 don’t need to change - imagine a 400 volt turn signal bulb. 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, 00:04:45.320 --> 00:04:49.240 but more importantly when the car is off and not charging, 00:04:49.240 --> 00:04:54.760 contactors inside the battery open removing traction battery voltage from everything. 00:04:54.760 --> 00:04:56.160 What are contactors? 00:04:56.160 --> 00:04:58.500 Well, you’ll find out shortly. 00:04:58.500 --> 00:05:01.980 You can actually hear those contactors close when you turn on the car. 00:05:01.980 --> 00:05:03.240 [two dinstinct thunks] 00:05:03.240 --> 00:05:04.940 [Classic General Motors Seatbelt Bong] 00:05:04.940 --> 00:05:06.440 Or plug it in. 00:05:06.440 --> 00:05:10.000 [A single clunk, followed by a beep] 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:13.180 And obviously when the high voltage system is shut down, 00:05:13.180 --> 00:05:17.660 you need something else to close those contactors and turn it back on, 00:05:17.660 --> 00:05:19.930 and that’s why the bulk of the car’s control systems 00:05:19.930 --> 00:05:25.150 run at the conventional 12 volts and why there’s a standard battery, too. 00:05:25.150 --> 00:05:27.640 Anyway, again, this is the onboard charger. 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 00:05:31.440 --> 00:05:35.660 I can’t recommend this video from the Weber Automotive YouTube channel highly enough, 00:05:35.660 --> 00:05:37.540 it’s fantastic. 00:05:37.540 --> 00:05:39.340 Also everything is a lot cleaner. 00:05:39.340 --> 00:05:42.660 But this module here is the actual charger. 00:05:42.660 --> 00:05:47.180 It takes AC power coming from the car’s charge port, rectifies it to DC, 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. 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. 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. 00:06:04.500 --> 00:06:08.840 The car’s onboard charger may be capable of pulling more power from the grid 00:06:08.840 --> 00:06:11.550 than a given circuit can safely provide. 00:06:11.550 --> 00:06:16.420 It’s the EVSE’s job to tell the car how much current it can pull 00:06:16.420 --> 00:06:19.240 and then to supply it with voltage when requested. 00:06:19.240 --> 00:06:22.520 Let’s now take a closer look at the device itself. 00:06:22.520 --> 00:06:27.120 This is a Siemens VersiCharge unit, a fairly basic EVSE. 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. 00:06:35.580 --> 00:06:41.040 Since 2010, every single battery electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid for sale in the US 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:45.700 that doesn’t begin with T and end in esla has this very connector on it. 00:06:45.710 --> 00:06:49.540 From the Chevy Volt, the Ford Focus Electric, the Nissan Leaf, the Volkswagen E-Golf, 00:06:49.540 --> 00:06:53.320 the Toyota Prius Prime, the Kia Soul EV, the Hyundai Kona Electric, and yes, 00:06:53.320 --> 00:06:58.040 even the Wheego LiFe, they all have this charge port. 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 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:09.660 capable of delivering up to just shy of 20 kW, though typically most units 00:07:09.670 --> 00:07:12.510 deliver between 6 and 7.2. 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 00:07:17.180 --> 00:07:21.600 it can deliver between 6.2 and 7.2 kW. 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. 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 00:07:30.860 --> 00:07:35.300 in two hour increments, a fairly easy way to take advantage of time-of-use rates 00:07:35.300 --> 00:07:37.490 if your utility offers them. 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 00:07:42.860 --> 00:07:48.150 even program that based on GPS location so it charges immediately when on a public charger, 00:07:48.150 --> 00:07:50.860 but only between certain times at home. 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 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). 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 00:08:05.160 --> 00:08:07.380 if you don’t get to be smug about? 00:08:07.380 --> 00:08:08.900 Let’s now open it up. 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. 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 00:08:19.010 --> 00:08:24.080 to help your smugness, and partly because it helps manage the cord when not in use. 00:08:24.080 --> 00:08:27.794 The power leads from the plug (which interestingly are not colored properly, 00:08:27.794 --> 00:08:31.240 the white wire should be red since there is no neutral but whatever) 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. 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 00:08:41.760 --> 00:08:44.290 if installed and wired properly. 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. 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. 00:08:56.900 --> 00:09:01.300 This contactor is the single control device of this unit. 00:09:01.300 --> 00:09:04.540 A contactor is simply an electromagnetic switch. 00:09:04.540 --> 00:09:09.820 When energized it closes, connecting the charge cord directly to incoming power. 00:09:09.820 --> 00:09:11.540 When it’s open, it doesn’t. 00:09:12.400 --> 00:09:13.400 That’s it. 00:09:13.540 --> 00:09:15.440 That’s all these devices do. 00:09:15.900 --> 00:09:17.260 They're a fancy light switch. 00:09:17.260 --> 00:09:18.640 [loud CLACK of contactor] 00:09:18.640 --> 00:09:23.320 But it is a critical safety device and what keeps your car from overloading a circuit. 00:09:23.330 --> 00:09:25.350 Let’s talk about that part first. 00:09:25.350 --> 00:09:27.820 Keep in mind that the car is the load. 00:09:27.820 --> 00:09:30.100 The charger is inside the car. 00:09:30.100 --> 00:09:32.720 This device is simply a gateway to the grid. 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, 00:09:37.880 --> 00:09:42.040 but in reality the device itself consumes maybe 5 watts. 00:09:42.040 --> 00:09:44.730 The car is where the load actually comes from. 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. 00:09:49.780 --> 00:09:54.560 The device can only supply 30A because it’s on a 40A circuit. 00:09:54.570 --> 00:09:57.840 Technically it's allowed provide up to 32 continuously, 00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:01.160 and truthfully I don’t know why they capped it at 30, but anyway 00:10:01.160 --> 00:10:03.220 the device needs to tell the car 00:10:03.220 --> 00:10:05.680 “Hey! Don’t pull more than 30A. 00:10:05.680 --> 00:10:07.560 You’ll make trouble if you do.” 00:10:07.960 --> 00:10:11.760 And it does that through very rudimentary signalling protocols. 00:10:11.760 --> 00:10:15.140 So, here’s a close-up of the pins on the car’s side. 00:10:15.150 --> 00:10:17.040 And now on the plug side. 00:10:17.040 --> 00:10:19.670 This one helpfully labels which pin is which. 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. 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 00:10:29.230 --> 00:10:32.400 out this video I recently made on the US electrical system. 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, 00:10:38.180 --> 00:10:41.350 but on a 120V circuit only one of them is. 00:10:41.350 --> 00:10:45.020 The other smaller pins are the control pilot and the proximity pilot. 00:10:45.020 --> 00:10:46.470 Let’s start with proximity. 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. 00:10:52.140 --> 00:10:57.310 On the EVSE side, the proximity pilot and ground pin are connected via a resistor which 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. 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:07.480 This completely passive method ensures that when the car is plugged in, 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 00:11:13.960 --> 00:11:16.190 and won’t let you shift from park. 00:11:16.190 --> 00:11:20.880 A well-thought-out design preventing the careless from driving away with the charge point. 00:11:20.880 --> 00:11:25.880 The control pilot is a little more complicated, but still not all that much. 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. 00:11:32.800 --> 00:11:36.840 Without a car plugged in, that circuit is open so nothing happens at all, 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, 00:11:41.960 --> 00:11:45.130 there’s a resistor on the car for the EVSE side. 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. 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 00:11:56.630 --> 00:11:59.730 protective earth and the control pilot pin. 00:11:59.730 --> 00:12:02.460 This signals presence to the EVSE. 00:12:02.460 --> 00:12:07.600 To request power the car lowers that resistance value down to 882 ohms. 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:13.000 That will cause the EVSE to close the contactor, and then the vehicle can charge. 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 00:12:17.380 --> 00:12:23.440 resistance further to 246 ohms to signal that it requires ventilation when charging. 00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:28.040 This is used to prevent such a hypothetical vehicle from being charged indoors. 00:12:28.040 --> 00:12:31.600 I’m not aware of any consumer-facing applications where this is in use, 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:37.100 but if you were ever wondering why your charger says “ventilation not required” on there - 00:12:37.100 --> 00:12:38.380 that’s why. 00:12:38.380 --> 00:12:42.160 It’s to prevent such a car (perhaps one with lead acid batteries which could produce 00:12:42.160 --> 00:12:44.320 a lot of hydrogen when charging? 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:46.740 Really not sure what would require ventilation) 00:12:46.740 --> 00:12:51.500 But anyway, to prevent such a car from being charged with this supply. 00:12:51.500 --> 00:12:55.700 Most importantly, though, that 1kHz square wave being sent on the control pin 00:12:55.700 --> 00:13:01.340 is pulse-width modulated to signal the maximum charge current the car is permitted to take. 00:13:01.340 --> 00:13:06.120 That is arguably the single most important thing the EVSE does. 00:13:06.120 --> 00:13:10.100 See, a Chevy Bolt has a 7.2 kW onboard charger. 00:13:10.100 --> 00:13:14.220 That happens to match the rating of this EVSE so we’re all hunky dory. 00:13:14.220 --> 00:13:17.600 But what if I wanted to charge it on a smaller circuit? 00:13:17.610 --> 00:13:22.050 Say I had installed a 3.6 kW charger on a 20A circuit. 00:13:22.050 --> 00:13:26.280 The car needs to know it’s only allowed to pull 3.6 kW 00:13:26.280 --> 00:13:29.280 or else it would overload the circuit and trip the breaker. 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, 00:13:34.380 --> 00:13:37.830 and if it’s faulty you could very well have a fire on your hands. 00:13:37.830 --> 00:13:40.070 Better to not tempt fate. 00:13:40.070 --> 00:13:44.240 The EVSE is also monitoring the circuit for any ground-faults and will open the contactor 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:45.560 should one occur. 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. 00:13:50.820 --> 00:13:55.100 And they’ll also self-test things like the integrity of the protective earth and provide 00:13:55.100 --> 00:13:56.700 other various protections. 00:13:56.700 --> 00:14:01.460 But at a core level, all this does is announce its presence and capacity, 00:14:01.460 --> 00:14:03.560 and wait for a signal to initiate charging. 00:14:03.560 --> 00:14:04.340 Then it goes 00:14:04.340 --> 00:14:05.020 *CLACK* 00:14:05.020 --> 00:14:06.620 and the car does the rest. 00:14:06.620 --> 00:14:11.740 So if these are merely fancy light switches, why are they so gosh darn expensive? 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, 00:14:17.640 --> 00:14:20.760 a contactor from an air conditioning unit, a power supply, 00:14:20.760 --> 00:14:22.570 and a willing middle schooler. 00:14:22.570 --> 00:14:23.840 The answer? 00:14:24.420 --> 00:14:27.240 [incredibly annoying rising "ehhhh" sound] 00:14:27.240 --> 00:14:30.480 OK well in fairness, there are plenty of options these days 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:35.060 which can provide all that this car can take for around $300. 00:14:35.060 --> 00:14:39.310 The greatest cost of installing a charging station will always be simply running a new 00:14:39.310 --> 00:14:42.220 circuit to wherever you need it to be. 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 00:14:47.700 --> 00:14:50.240 for garages in new building codes. 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:55.140 But anyway, the charger itself need not be expensive because it’s a pretty dumb device. 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. 00:15:00.640 --> 00:15:05.360 The greatest cost in these units is almost certainly the charge cable itself. 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:10.380 It’s a fairly specialized and quite beefy multi-conductor cable, built to withstand 00:15:10.380 --> 00:15:12.340 a fair bit of abuse. 00:15:12.340 --> 00:15:16.580 This entire unit weighs something like 20 pounds or roughly 9 kilograms, 00:15:16.580 --> 00:15:20.890 but the vast majority of that is just this cable. 00:15:20.890 --> 00:15:23.780 The actual unit is a plastic box. 00:15:23.780 --> 00:15:28.580 The connector itself is designed for 10,000 insertion / removal events, which means it 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. 00:15:34.029 --> 00:15:38.220 The connector’s handle is also a little more specialized than you might realize. 00:15:38.220 --> 00:15:41.080 Can you hear the little microswitch in here when I depress the latch? 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:42.420 [clicky clicky noise] 00:15:42.420 --> 00:15:47.300 This actually adds another resistor across the proximity pin and the protective ground, 00:15:47.300 --> 00:15:50.690 which signals to the car that it’s about to be unplugged. 00:15:50.690 --> 00:15:54.220 This is actually among the most elegant parts of this design spec. 00:15:54.220 --> 00:15:58.040 More or less the instant the car sees that resistance change, 00:15:58.040 --> 00:16:00.380 it stops pulling power from the grid. 00:16:00.380 --> 00:16:04.220 That means that when you interrupt a charge by unplugging the connector, current flow 00:16:04.230 --> 00:16:09.860 has stopped before the pins are actually separated (and indeed before the contactor opens) 00:16:09.860 --> 00:16:15.880 which prevents arcing and prolongs the life of both connectors and the contactor inside the EVSE. 00:16:15.880 --> 00:16:16.880 Pretty neat. 00:16:17.060 --> 00:16:20.720 Now, just because these devices are really quite simple doesn’t mean there isn’t 00:16:20.730 --> 00:16:22.480 room for innovation here. 00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:27.089 The biggest limitation with this standard is that the car can’t really communicate 00:16:27.089 --> 00:16:29.040 with the charger other than to say 00:16:29.040 --> 00:16:31.660 “please provide power” and (rarely) 00:16:31.660 --> 00:16:33.550 “I need ventilation.” 00:16:33.550 --> 00:16:38.120 There really isn’t anything like negotiation going on, and the charger is completely unaware 00:16:38.120 --> 00:16:42.410 of the characteristics of the car such as its state of charge, battery capacity, or 00:16:42.410 --> 00:16:44.850 indeed maximum charging rate. 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 00:16:49.460 --> 00:16:51.760 should that ever come to fruition. 00:16:51.760 --> 00:16:55.640 Let’s talk about load sharing because that is a powerful tool for things like 00:16:55.640 --> 00:16:57.910 multi-family residential situations. 00:16:57.910 --> 00:17:01.760 Here, Tesla currently leads the way by quite a margin. 00:17:01.760 --> 00:17:06.959 Load sharing allows a given circuit to provide multiple vehicles with electricity by managing 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:11.200 the current each vehicle can pull when more than one is plugged in. 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:14.350 Say you have a 40 amp circuit like this thing is on. 00:17:14.350 --> 00:17:19.680 Well, you could put all of the allowed 32 amps continuous into one charging station 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:25.760 and thus one vehicle, but you could also share that amongst multiple charging locations. 00:17:25.760 --> 00:17:29.900 See, a 40 amp circuit like what supplies this is capable of providing 00:17:29.900 --> 00:17:34.360 roughly 600 miles of driving range over a 24 hour period. 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 00:17:40.600 --> 00:17:42.140 on a typical day. 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. 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 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. 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:01.600 As individual vehicles are unplugged or finish charging, 00:18:01.600 --> 00:18:05.180 they will allow the remaining vehicles to pull more current. 00:18:05.180 --> 00:18:08.960 Now this isn’t unique to Tesla but right now Tesla has the most flexible 00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:14.600 and also most economical solution available through their quasi-proprietary wall connectors. 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 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:23.740 wirelessly, which greatly simplifies installation. 00:18:23.740 --> 00:18:29.289 While spreading even 60 amps (the max supported by the wall connector) out between 16 cars 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 - 00:18:35.500 --> 00:18:40.009 it’s to allow things like shared parking lots or garages in multi-family dwellings 00:18:40.009 --> 00:18:44.040 to have more charging points with less capital investment. 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, 00:18:49.260 --> 00:18:52.600 and Tesla has one other advantage up their sleeve here. 00:18:52.600 --> 00:18:56.800 Because Tesla is Tesla they’ll have absolutely no reservations about allowing 00:18:56.800 --> 00:19:00.570 direct communication between the cars and the wall connectors. 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, 00:19:08.180 --> 00:19:12.300 they just use Tesla’s proprietary connector rather than the real deal, 00:19:12.300 --> 00:19:15.929 so I don’t think they talk through the charge cable itself. 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. 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 00:19:25.480 --> 00:19:26.980 with an adapter. 00:19:26.980 --> 00:19:28.120 Thankfully. 00:19:28.120 --> 00:19:30.900 That’s why they’re not quite proprietary. 00:19:30.900 --> 00:19:31.600 Barely. 00:19:31.600 --> 00:19:36.260 But if Tesla vehicles can talk to each other and also the network of wall connectors 00:19:36.260 --> 00:19:40.509 through some other means like WiFi, they can communicate their states of charge 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. 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 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 00:19:55.160 --> 00:19:58.020 be quite soon via a firmware update. 00:19:58.020 --> 00:20:01.660 Still though, similar solutions are available from companies like ClipperCreek, 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 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 00:20:10.140 --> 00:20:14.520 but anyway those companies don’t have the advantage of vertical integration 00:20:14.520 --> 00:20:17.820 and so their products tend to be a little more expensive. 00:20:17.820 --> 00:20:21.840 That’s the downside of serving everybody and not perpetuating a walled garden. 00:20:21.840 --> 00:20:27.760 Plus right now, there’s no codified state-of-charge communication between car and EVSE. 00:20:27.760 --> 00:20:29.880 However, that could change. 00:20:29.880 --> 00:20:33.340 A proposed update to the SAE J1772 standard 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... 00:20:36.440 --> 00:20:42.480 would enable real vehicle-to-charger integration using power line communication protocols. 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:46.159 That would help enable my personal EV charging pipe dream. 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. 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. 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, 00:21:03.960 --> 00:21:08.120 an EV driver can register their car, plug it in anywhere on the network 00:21:08.120 --> 00:21:13.480 and have the electricity it uses automatically added to their own personal electric bill. 00:21:13.480 --> 00:21:18.160 Public charging today is a mess of competing companies each trying to make a profit 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 00:21:23.480 --> 00:21:25.040 would just step in. 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 00:21:30.859 --> 00:21:34.600 be easy to implement without stranding drivers. 00:21:34.600 --> 00:21:38.720 And, should backfeeding of the car’s charge to the grid ever be a thing, 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:41.400 well that's a perfect way to make that happen. 00:21:41.400 --> 00:21:45.032 If you’re a policy maker and/or someone who works for a utility, 00:21:45.032 --> 00:21:49.360 I’d just like to say I really think you oughta start looking at this. 00:21:49.360 --> 00:21:54.980 If you had L2 chargers everywhere, you incentivize people to keep their cars plugged in 00:21:54.980 --> 00:21:59.480 and if their cars are able to feed the grid in times of excess demand, 00:21:59.480 --> 00:22:02.289 well now you have access to battery storage 00:22:02.289 --> 00:22:04.180 which you didn’t need to pay for. 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 00:22:09.400 --> 00:22:14.100 is that you could potentially offer incentives and opt people in, or you could simply codify 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. 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. 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. 00:22:31.060 --> 00:22:35.040 Which is obviously a pretty tough sell in the US at present. 00:22:35.040 --> 00:22:40.060 But for now, your garden variety EVSE is a pretty dumb device. 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. 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 00:22:49.100 --> 00:22:52.380 their own charger in a private garage, it would be this; 00:22:52.380 --> 00:22:55.960 have an electrician install a NEMA 6-50 receptacle. 00:22:55.960 --> 00:22:59.540 I installed this one myself, and yes I know that needs to be in conduit-- 00:23:00.040 --> 00:23:00.980 I’m getting to it. 00:23:00.980 --> 00:23:06.860 Anyway, many EVSEs are available with this plug, and they come in various capacities. 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 00:23:11.149 --> 00:23:14.884 your EVSE happens to develop a fault of some kind and becomes unusable - 00:23:14.884 --> 00:23:18.169 then you can simply replace it yourself in mere moments. 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. 00:23:22.580 --> 00:23:25.000 It’s just a fancy light switch. 00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:25.920 Thanks for watching. 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. 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 00:23:35.279 --> 00:23:39.359 for more people, and to help leverage them as much as possible. 00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:44.409 The real challenge is how to get EV charging more accessible to renters, multi-family dwellings, 00:23:44.409 --> 00:23:47.020 and areas with street-parking only. 00:23:47.020 --> 00:23:51.340 Tesla deserves praise for their innovation with the wall connector, but I do hope they 00:23:51.340 --> 00:23:55.460 will eventually join the rest of the automotive industry and remove the dichotomy 00:23:55.460 --> 00:23:58.560 in North American charging standards that as of 2020 00:23:58.560 --> 00:24:03.299 they alone are maintaining for a competitive advantage. 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 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 00:24:14.169 --> 00:24:19.120 and connector exists for all vehicles not made-by-Tesla. 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 00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:27.690 and what that might mean for the future adoption of electric vehicles. 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 00:24:32.119 --> 00:24:35.289 now were not yet finalized, and they totally should have! 00:24:35.289 --> 00:24:39.960 EVs wouldn’t be taken seriously were it not for the Supercharger network. 00:24:39.960 --> 00:24:46.560 But a robust standard exists now that every manufacturer has signed onto. 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. 00:24:52.040 --> 00:24:54.620 And better do it now than later. 00:24:54.620 --> 00:24:58.020 Just for context, that little orange thing below this charge port? 00:24:58.020 --> 00:25:03.420 That covers the high-power DC pins of this CCS-combo connector. 00:25:03.420 --> 00:25:09.960 Again, every modern EV and plug-in hybrid going back to 2010 except for Teslas 00:25:09.960 --> 00:25:15.402 has a J1772 connector, and by augmenting it with these large DC pins, 00:25:15.402 --> 00:25:18.900 DC fast charging was added without removing compatibility 00:25:18.900 --> 00:25:22.320 with existing Level 1 and 2 AC infrastructure. 00:25:22.320 --> 00:25:26.580 Now that Nissan has dropped the competing CHAdeMO from the US market, 00:25:26.580 --> 00:25:31.300 every new EV will soon have this exact plug 00:25:31.300 --> 00:25:32.920 or it will be a Tesla. 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 00:25:36.980 --> 00:25:42.860 the connector needlessly bulky can handle more current than Tesla's proprietary connector. 00:25:42.860 --> 00:25:47.940 If Tesla chooses to support CCS in the North American market as they have already done 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. 00:25:53.400 --> 00:25:59.659 But until that day, I will remain incredibly annoyed at them for being the last remaining 00:25:59.660 --> 00:26:03.320 automaker holding onto a proprietary connector. 00:26:03.320 --> 00:26:09.260 That doesn’t help move electric vehicles forward, it just helps Tesla. 00:26:09.260 --> 00:26:12.560 Anyway, let’s cut to black before I get a mob on my hands. 00:26:13.560 --> 00:26:15.980 ♫ interoperably smooth jazz ♫ 00:26:16.820 --> 00:26:19.160 [various sounds of struggle] 00:26:19.160 --> 00:26:22.060 This isn't awkward at all... 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] 00:26:28.080 --> 00:26:29.940 This line is a tongue-twister! 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... 00:26:34.380 --> 00:26:35.177 [sighs] 00:26:35.177 --> 00:26:35.860 Great. 00:26:35.860 --> 00:26:38.760 But they go one step further because... 00:26:38.760 --> 00:26:41.420 oooh, skipped a line! That's exciting! 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 00:26:46.480 --> 00:26:47.840 enunciation failed a little bit. 00:26:47.840 --> 00:26:50.560 ...downside of serving everybody and not just - 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; 00:26:55.360 --> 00:26:58.200 I didn't write that in because I didn't open this 'till later. 00:26:58.200 --> 00:27:01.340 Is not where we're headed today either. Oh, shoot! 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? 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. 00:27:12.520 --> 00:27:15.820 It really isn't anywhere near as complicated as some people make it out to be. 00:27:17.480 --> 00:27:18.040 SUPPORT CCS, ELON!