Primary Deliverable
The primary deliverable is a charging station that can deliver comparable refueling time constraints afforded to the ICEs in an effort to assuage “range anxiety” and make intrastate and interstate travel a safe reality for all PEV customers.
There are currently three levels of charging available to PEV owners today:
1. Level 1 charging is standard on almost all PEVs consisting of a 120-volt circuit that is plugged into any home outlet which is slow but sufficient for leisure or overnight charging. The time to fully charge with this level is 10 to 20 hours. [3] For comparable ICE intrastate and interstate travel times this is not conducive with the project’s goal.
2. Level 2 charging uses a 240-volt circuit. Level 2 Charging is widely used for public charging stations, and can fully charge a PEV in about 3 to 8 hours adding about 25 miles of range per hour of charging. [3] The time to charge is too long and not conducive to the project’s goal of competing with ICE refueling time constraints.
3. Level 3 (DC Quick chargers) is a permanently installed charger that requires a 480-volt three-phase alternating current connection. Quick Charging boosts the charge to about 50 or 60 miles of range in about 30 minutes of charging. [3] Although not quite a peer in the time frame for ICEs it is comparable and can become competitive.
Rapid chargers are the best option at this time to compete and be comparable to ICE refueling time constraints. In a time comparison of gas and electric refueling; the 20 to 30 minutes it takes to fully charge a PEV using a DC quick charger can be equated to filling up at the pump then taking time to grab a snack or bite to eat before getting back on the road. That being said, PEV technologies are advancing daily and vehicles are being constructed of lighter composite material in hopes to be equal to or near the gas and go time of ICEs.
There are currently three types of Level 3 chargers to choose from:
1. Tesla Supercharger is a network of 480-volt fast charging stations, but is exclusive to Tesla owners and cannot be used by other PEV owners.[6]
2. CHAdeMO is a quick charging method for battery electric vehicles delivering up to 62.5 kW of high-voltage direct current. It is the global industry standard.[7] Most, if not all, public and private quick chargers around the world are the CHADeMO standard.
3. SAE J1772 Combo Coupler charger is a variant of the J1772 (Level 2) connector with additional pins to accommodate fast DC charging.[8] The combo coupler incorporates AC Level 1, Level 2 and DC quick-charging on one charger. While the SAE charger won't be commercially available for months, with Ford, Volkswagen, GM and BMW committed to it, the Combo standard could one day make CHAdeMO obsolete.[8] A CHAdeMO charger could conceivably be reconfigured as an SAE charger thus making it the optimum choice to meet the current customers’ needs while being able to accommodate future needs. [9]
3.2 Top Level Requirements
3.2.1 Order, receive and inspect charging systems, payment systems, backup generator, cabling, electrical components, building materials, asphalt and cement.
3.2.2 Complete installation of electric car charging stations, associated cables and power lines, payment system, temporary power supply and connection to VA power grid.
3.2.3 Test and verify operation of charging stations, payment system, temporary power supply and connection to VA power grid.
3.2.4 Replace all disturbed asphalt and cement.
3.2.5 Construct structure for charging stations to protect them from the elements.
3.3 Technical Performance Measures
The project will be required to procure and install charging stations meeting the following requirements:
3.3.1 Recharge most standard car batteries in 20 to 30 minutes to 80% battery capacity.
3.3.2 Will measure power consumed and determine payment required based upon a preprogrammed cost per kilowatt hour consumed.
3.3.3 Will manage receipt of payment for power consumed through the use of credit card, cash or an established account.
3.3.4 Provides necessary protection form theft of or mischarging for power use.
3.3.5 Charging stations will come equipped with auto retract charging cords.
3.3.6 All wiring will be underground and laid out within each of the selected rest areas as shown in Figure 4 .
3.3.7 Connection to the Power grid shall meet all federal, state and local codes.
3.3.8 Procure and install emergency backup power generator and fueling system capable of providing power for up to 5 hours upon loss of power.
4. Functional requirements
All technical and non-technical requirements will be addressed and agreed by the stakeholders and the Project Manager throughout the lifecycle of the project. The goals of requirements management (RM) are to ensure that requirements of the Charging stations are controlled to establish a baseline for development, acquisition, or management; and to ensure plans, work products, and activities are consistent with the requirements. The RM plan establishes an orderly method by which the goals of requirements management will be achieved. From the work break down structure, a high level technical and non-technical requirements list is generated.
High Level Requirements
• The system shall maintain and operate under DOE and federal regulations.
• The system shall deliver excellent customer service to ensure client satisfaction
• Order, receive and inspect charging systems, payment systems, backup generator, cabling, electrical components, building materials, asphalt and cement.
• Complete installation of the DC Quick charging stations, associated cables and power lines, payment system, temporary power supply and connection to VA power grid.
• Test and verify operation of charging stations on VA power grid, payment system, and temporary power supply.
• Replace all disturbed asphalt and cement.
• Construct a structure for DC Quick chargers to protect them from the elements.
• Turnover operations of the fully functional electric car charging stations to VDOT.
The project shall consider electric charging station that performs the following functions:
• Maintain charging time (20-30 minutes for 80% capacity)
• Each electric vehicle charging station shall be posted with signage indicating the space is only for electric vehicle charging purposes
• Voltage and amperage levels;
• Hour of operations if time limits or tow-away provisions are to be enforced by the property owner;
• Safety information;
• Contact information for reporting when the equipment is not operating or other problems
• Charging stations need to be built in locations that consumers spend at least 15 minutes