Here’s a little secret for you that I as a Mini-E driver with 18,000 miles will gladly share.
Public charging stations and range anxiety are way over-rated and over-hyped. Not to say that we won’t need public charging stations, we will need them and they will primarily be along transportation corridors for longer distant travel. We also need them emotionally as sort of a security blanket to sooth our apprehensions and transition to a more limited range. A security blanket that is reassuring but serves little other purpose.
Pundits, analysts, government and the E-car media are all gushing stories and programs around public charging stations.
The Secret?
I have publicly charged my Mini-E exactly 4 times in 14 months, I have plugged it in 400 times with my home charging. Even imagining a world with abundant charging stations that were free to use, for the most part I would not use them as the range of the Mini-E gets the job done for all my trips returning home to it’s charging cocoon and with no effort or worry is ready for me when I wake up with 100% charge. Talk about a sweet dream! I could see myself maybe once every two months needing a public charger for a longer trip.
Public charging will at best represent a small 20% of the charging marketplace. Immediately from there, the percentages will begin to decline as battery prices go down and range goes up.
The big market and the one that is flying under the radar screen?
Home charging.
Home charging will represent 80% of the marketplace and will grow from a market size of a few hundred chargers today to eventually 100 million chargers in a few short decades representing 1/3 of our nations fleet that will have a plug to plug into a home charger.
Leviton , a quiet giant has been working hard the past few years and is now entering that home charging space.
Leviton , a quiet giant has been working hard the past few years and is now entering that home charging space.
You may or may not be familiar with Leviton, but its products are in over 90% of us households and it’s manufacturing, distribution, sales, and brand loyalty from the electricians that will be installing your home station, position the company perfectly in the home charging space.
As an EV driver I had the honor of a few friendly visits with Mini-E #183 to Leviton’s facility in Southern California during the development of the EVSE and I wish them great success with their EVSE rollout.
PR Releases below.
Cheers
Peder
Mini-E #183, 18,000 trouble free sunshine powered miles.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/38346106
Press Release
PR Contact:
Pamela Winikoff
631 812-6155
Leviton Announces Residential Charging Stations for Electric Vehicle Market
Leviton introduces Evr-Green™ line of electric vehicle supply equipment
Melville, New York, July 20, 2010 – Leviton today announced its entry into the Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) market with a full portfolio of residential charging products. The Leviton Evr-Green™ line of EVSEs includes Level 1 and Level 2 residential charging stations. The product line will debut at the Plug-In 2010 Conference and Exposition in San Jose, California on July 26-29, 2010 in Leviton booth #310.
Leviton has developed an industry-first plug-in prewire system for the Level 2 EVSEs.
According to Mike Mattei, vice president and general manager for Leviton’s Commercial and Industrial Division, “As part of Leviton’s commitment to creating a sustainable future, we now offer a complete solution to EV charging. Leviton provides the charging stations as well as installation by certified contractors and extensive customer service. Evr-Green chargers comply with all industry standards, are backed by the industry’s only ten-year warranty, and are compatible with all the major EV manufacturers.”
The Evr-Green Level 1 portable cord set empowers consumers to charge their EV anywhere a standard outlet is available. Leviton also has developed a unique receptacle for EV owners to plug in their Level 1 cord set. In addition, Leviton’s Level 2 residential charging stations range from 16 Amp to 32 Amp charging levels. Both Level 1 and 2 EVSEs have SAE J1772™ connectors that are compatible with all North American plug in vehicles. Leviton will also provide a wide range of “smart” options and features for their residential products.
About Leviton
Leviton Manufacturing Company is the largest privately held global provider of electrical wiring devices, data center connectivity solutions and lighting energy management systems. Founded at the turn of the 20th century in America, Leviton has grown to become one of the preeminent leaders in the electrical industry. Today Leviton's product portfolio consists of over 25,000 devices and systems used in homes, businesses and industry. Proven to be a smart choice, nine out of ten homes throughout North America have Leviton products installed in them. Builders, electrical contractors and other industry professionals rank Leviton products #1 in brand preference. To request more information about Leviton’s Evr-Green portfolio, please visit http://www.evrgreeninfo.com. For more information, contact Leviton Manufacturing, 201 North Service Rd., Melville, NY, 11747, www.leviton.com
Peder,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the majority of EV charging will be at home and that only a small amount of public charging will really be necessary. However as you pointed out, the security of having them there and available may be necessary for many folks to fell comfortable enough to purchase an EV.
You and I have had the advantage of living with an EV before they are really commercially available so we have learned how it is possible to use a 100 MPC electric car with only a home based charger available.
I would also like to add that the second most important place of chargers would be at you place of employment. Hopefully large corporations that have big parking lots will install a dozen or so EV parking spots with chargers. Since I installed my work based wall charger I have the ability to really drive anywhere I need to go during the day and not worry about having enough juice to get home.
I see the breakdown to be close to this:
Home: 70%
Work: 20%
Other:10%
Obviously it will be different for everyone, but that's how I see it on average.
Peder and Tom,
ReplyDeleteI can't wait until more of us are in your shoes and there are enough of us to finally disprove the negativity, naysaying and misinformation about EVs that's so rampant right now.
I agree Tom, The workplace or Point B will be a strong location.
ReplyDeleteChistof, thanks for the comment, DOE Department of Energy study would lead one to believe it is going to happen very fast!
http://www.whitehouse.gov/files/documents/Battery-and-Electric-Vehicle-Report-FINAL.pdf
As far as Leviton and their outlook, let's just say they are making a pretty big play into the space based on many data points and OEM connections. I had signed a non disclosure agreement with them so I was unable to talk about this until their press release.
It was great to work with them as a pioneer and I hope to continue to do so.
In a few short years there will be lots of options.
Here's hoping you're first in line for a Leaf!!
Peder