fastcharge

Will DC fast charging harm electric car batteries?

I wrote a blog post a couple of weeks ago about a new charging technology by JFE Engineering that can charge a battery to 50 percent in 3 minutes, and up to 70 percent in 5 minutes. While the technology is impressive, some readers wondered if that fast-charging battery technology would have a negative effect on the life span on EV car batteries.

Well, readers have little to worry about since that technology probably isn't making it to the U.S. or in stateside electric vehicles any time soon.

There are few public level 3 charging stations in the … Read more

Ecotality touts fast-charging stations for e-cars

Electric vehicles equipped with fast-charging capability are headed to production and will be on the road next year.

All that's needed to reduce the charging time for these cars from hours to minutes are Level 3 440-volt fast-charging stations. But to date, none are public.

Ecotality, a clean-technology company in Scottsdale, Ariz., wants to fill that void. It designs and sells these rapid rechargers for $15,000 to $35,000, depending on the structure requirements, mostly to warehouses and airports for fleet vehicles.

Given Ecotality's partnership with Nissan, the Tucson Metro Area, and the Pima Association of Governments (… Read more

Nissan, SDG&E partner on EV charging network

Nissan announced a partnership with San Diego Gas and Electric to develop and promote an electric vehicle-charging network for the San Diego area.

The automaker will help the power company acquire electric vehicles and will work with agencies and city departments to flesh out EV infrastructure implementation to make San Diego "plug-in ready."

SDG&E has made a commitment to bring 100 of Nissan's EV to San Diego to start, and Nissan representative Katherine Zachary said she expects zeros to be added to that number in the future.

For consumers, Nissan will publish deployment plans for … Read more

Tesla: Model S to have fast-charging battery

Telsa Motor's Model S sedan--set to debut March 26--will have 440-volt fast-charging battery capability, wrote Rachel Konrad, spokesperson for Tesla Motors, to CNET in an e-mail.

Although Konrad could not say how long it would take to charge the Model S sedan using either a 440-volt charger or the standard 220-volt charger, the Tesla Roadster's battery can be fully charged in about 3.5 hours using a 220V/70A system, she wrote.

The Model S is expected to have a driving range of 225 miles on a full charge. It's not a fair comparison, but Nissan's … Read more