Re: Charging at home

[LEE A HART <XURQ03A@PRODIGY.COM>]

Tom Shay wrote:
>It's less convenient to charge my EV at home
>than to "charge" with gasoline at a gas station.

I'm curious, Tom. Just what is the proceedure for charging your EV? Perhaps
something like:

 - park the car
 - open the hood, trunk, or gasoline filler door (wherever plug is hidden)
 - get out an extension cord (from trunk, back seat, etc.)
 - unroll and untangle the extension cord
 - plug one end into car
 - plug other end into outlet
 - set timers and switches to start charger
 - observe lights, gauges, etc. to insure that it is really charging

When finished charging, you reverse the process:

 - manually turn off the charger
 - check lights or gauges to insure that batteries really did charge
 - unplug extension cord from socket
 - unplug other end from car
 - roll up extension cord and stow (in trunk, back seat, etc.)
 - close door (gas filler, hood, trunk, etc.)
 - get in car and drive away

While each step is easy, there are a lot of steps. Filling a gas tank has
fewer steps, and you do it less often. I can see why someone might find
charging an EV no better, or even worse than gassing up an ICE.

But perhaps we are only perpetuating the ICE paradigm. This rigamarole is
patterned more after refueling a car than recharging a battery. Why isn't
charging an EV as easy as charging a cordless phone or electric drill?

Maybe we need a charging connector that automatically connects when you drive
up to it. The charger needs to be totally automatic, too; only an alarm is
something is *wrong*, rather than checking indicators to see if everything is
right. Such systems are well within the capabilities of the state of the art.

For us home converters, it isn't hard to cut the number of steps needed to
charge in half. A well positioned outlet that only needs a short, tangle-free
cord. A coil-cord or self winding reel to eliminate tangle and cord storage. A
connector on the car that is easily accessed, instead of hidden behind some
access door. A charger that automatically starts, and cuts off when it is finish
 ed.

Would that help, Tom?

Lee Hart                     If you would not be forgotten
4209 France Ave. N.          Soon as you are dead and rotten
Robbinsdale, MN 55422 USA    Either write things worth the reading
phone (612) 533-3226         Or do things worthy of the writing
e-mail XURQ03A@prodigy.com   (Ben Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanac)
Re: Charging at home