Car Companies Standardize Plug for Electric Vehicles
Just a few hours after General Motors called for a standardized EV plug, one has been created!
Caroline Reichert, a spokeswoman for the Germany energy company RWE, said leading automotive and energy companies have reached an agreement for a standardized plug for electric cars. Some of the automakers include in that agreement are Volkswagen, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Fiat, Toyota and Mitsubishi.
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“A car must be able to be recharged in Italy in exactly the same way as in Denmark, Germany or France,” she was quoted saying in an edition of Die Welt to appear Monday.
The three-point, 400-volt plug, which will allow electric cars to be recharged anywhere in a matter of minutes, will be unveiled Monday at the world’s biggest industrial technology fair in Hanover, northern Germany.
No time frame for the introduction of the plug was mentioned, saying that talks between the companies were ongoing.
If electric vehicles are going to stand a chance against petro-based cars, standards are a must. This is a major step froward in EV mass production.
Update: The plug depicted above is not the agreed upon standard. At the time of the press release, I could not find a definitive picture. Sorry for any confusion.
More on Electric Cars:
- It’s On! Portland and San Francisco Battle For Electric Car Domination
- Chicago Gets First Solar Powered EV Charging Station
- World’s Top 10 Fastest Electric Cars
A Few Pictures of Upcoming Electric Cars:
-
- Fisker Kama
Source [PhysOrg.com]
Image Credit: Clayton B. Cornell
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April 20th, 2009 at 4:30 am
“have reached and agreement” ??
You should check both spelling and grammer before you post a breaking news story.
April 20th, 2009 at 4:36 am
Emily Post, you do realize that it is spelled “grammar” don’t you? Perhaps you should have checked that before posting.
April 20th, 2009 at 4:40 am
popurls.com // popular today…
story has entered the popular today section on popurls.com…
April 20th, 2009 at 4:43 am
Regretfully we have a journalism failure in this article as the plug shown in the article graphic is for USA 110~120VAC, not for 400v. as stated. I suspect that the correct plug will be of a twist-lock design as is typical of many higher voltage and amperage plugs used in commercial service and for industrial equipment.
April 20th, 2009 at 4:43 am
Emily, thanks for spell checking for us. Fixed!
April 20th, 2009 at 4:57 am
Sounding kind of bitchy there, Emily.
April 20th, 2009 at 5:00 am
Hey Emily, next time, before you get all high and mighty correcting someone else’s English, learn how to spell grammar.
April 20th, 2009 at 5:00 am
THAT plug in the picture looks to be standard 120v american outlet plug.
April 20th, 2009 at 5:09 am
Emily, don’t you intend that he should check his spelling and GRAMMAR?
April 20th, 2009 at 5:12 am
Emily, it’s “grammar.” Good try, though!
April 20th, 2009 at 5:12 am
Emily, perhaps you should take your own advice? There’s no E in grammar…pot meet kettle.
April 20th, 2009 at 5:17 am
Emily – “Grammer?” You should check both your spelling and grammar before you correct people.
April 20th, 2009 at 5:19 am
@emily I think you mean “granmar”. Might want to take your own advice.
April 20th, 2009 at 5:19 am
This is a “New” standard? (created)
This is just a u.s.a standard plug. I can see it now… Idiots plugging into 120 and pulling more amps and frying something.
Intelligent.
April 20th, 2009 at 5:25 am
Chris, while the male cord cap in the picture looks remarkably like a standard U. S. 120 volt unpolarized single phase cord cap, the attached cord is considerably larger in diameter, which would indicate much better insulation for a higher voltage. And then we do not have the actual dimensions. That thing could be 50.8 mm in diameter. That’;s 2 inches.
April 20th, 2009 at 5:28 am
For what it is worth, which is not really much. If that passed within hours of General Motors accepting it, GM must have been the hold-out.
April 20th, 2009 at 5:37 am
Emily, you’re such a whore.
April 20th, 2009 at 6:02 am
Awesome, I 400V cable with a metallic caseing (safety first)!
April 20th, 2009 at 8:08 am
The image used in the article was cover art for a 2006 or 2007 issue of Popular Mechanics IIRC.
April 20th, 2009 at 8:11 am
also note the plug is actually embossed with 15A 125V
April 20th, 2009 at 8:25 am
FTA: “… will be unveiled Monday …”. So the illustration does NOT show the actual plug design.
April 20th, 2009 at 8:32 am
If Auto makers have agreed a standard the someone had better tell the UK Government.
The BBC showed EDF installing 13A sockets for on street charging,the connecting lead had a 230volt 16Amp end to suit the vehicle.
13 amp sockets will only allow 3KW,new fast charge Lithium ion batteries will need far more than this.
These sockets need to be say 32 Amp 400 Volt 3 Phase.
April 20th, 2009 at 9:13 am
Clayton had what I feel is the right response to Emily — thanking her and fixing the error. While she could have been more discrete in her comment, I am not sure the article’s writer needed a whole team of “defenders” to gang up on Emily.
April 20th, 2009 at 9:38 am
It would be typical auto maker madness if the plug wasn’t the blue 3pin plug caravans and RV’s already use. There is already a great charging network available in the form of campsites…it just seems no one has thought about that yet!
April 20th, 2009 at 11:52 am
“three-point, 400-volt plug”
There is very little information about this plug standard in the article, but I think it is in reality a 3 phase 230V which combined gives the 400V system. This fit into the existing IEC standards of 3Phase + Neutral + Earth plug system. What is not mentioned is if it will be 32A or 16A.
An example of this plug can be seen at first photo here (perhaps the car plug will have a different shape):
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60309
About the photo of the article, it would be really useful if there was added a caption to the picture explaining what is displayed. As it is now you are always left wondering if the photo has any relation to the article or is for pure decoration.
April 20th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
@Rif: I doubt that they’ll go for a 3 phase system.
The picture does not seem to be relevant to the article…just decor.
April 20th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
What is up with all the hate towards emily….poor girly just wanted to help!!!
Even if the dumb shit cant spell! hahahaha Biaaattch!
April 20th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Emily, you stupid whore, I believe you meant “grammar”. Go die, Emily.
April 20th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Pretty sure the picture was thrown together to be a representation of what it “could” look like, since it is clearly printed on the plug that it’s a 120v. Since the standard was just reached, they probably haven’t actually produced it or if they have, didn’t post real pics yet. If they have, the photoshop dude needs to do more extensive searching. Also, I agree with the Emily bashing.
April 20th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Where did you get that picture of the Nema 5-15 plug?
I understand its not the one used for Plug in RV, but I sure would like to find out where I can buy a few of those. They look hard core.
April 20th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
@SomeDude
“I doubt that they’ll go for a 3 phase system.”
Why?
I have found and read the original article in Die Welt and it states:
Dreiphasig, mit einer Leistung von 400 Volt und bis zu 63 Ampere
In EN: Three phases, with a performance of 400 Volt and up to 63 Ampere.
http://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/article3583587/Super-Stecker-soll-Elektroautos-flott-machen.html
April 20th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
We all know that oil may run out and electric is cleaner (unless it’s produced by coal fired generators) but how are we going to produce it? Build more and bigger dams? Will we be able to recharge at home? 400 Volts going to every home in the neighborhood? Wow!
http://www.eco-snob.com
April 20th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
” recharged anywhere in a matter of minutes…”
Well even if it is 480 of ‘em (8 hours worth)… it’s still “minutes” no…? :-/
Logic failure.
April 21st, 2009 at 1:41 am
difinitive should be definitive
picture is OK. it is the news that is more important.
April 21st, 2009 at 2:36 pm
To follow up from my posts yesterday, there is now a site that shows the new plug. The plug has 7 pins, with 3P+N+E, 1 pin for connection detection and 1 data pin.
The standard allow for 1 phase or 3 phase 230V charge, which the charge station will be able to negotiate with the connected car. Charge can be at 16A, 32A or 63A.
This means that even the most feeble electrical US house installation with a minimal 220V supply will be able to fit into the single phase charge of the standard. With an upgraded installation charge time will be able to be much faster, using up to 43KW.
2009-04-21 DA: Industrigiganter går sammen om stik til elbiler
EN: Industry giants agree on plug for electrical cars
http://www.danskenergi.dk/Nyheder/Nyhedsoversigt/2009/09_04_21A.aspx
Product presentation sheet:
http://www.danskenergi.dk/~/media/Filer_til_nyheder/Standard_Stik_Elbil_2009.pdf.ashx
Again about the photo, I see that it has now been changed to a Prius plug-in hybrid. It does not solve the problem because it is still unclear what relation it has to the article. I understand the desire to have a photo at each article, but could you then not put a caption on the images, in this case saying that it is a model photo of some plug, not the actual plug standard. This would be a plus for content quality.
April 22nd, 2009 at 6:17 am
[...] Car Companies Standardize Plug for Electric Vehicles : Gas 2.0 (tags: green standards electric car plug) [...]
April 23rd, 2009 at 7:23 pm
To follow up on my previous postings there are now photos available of the new Mennekes vehicule charger plug.
http://ing.dk/gallerier/109314
Jerry-James: If you are interested on more about this subject and how the plug will fit into US power grid, email me.
April 27th, 2009 at 1:28 am
So if 400V becomes the standard, will that mean homeowners won’t be able to recharge their cars at home on the usual 120V-240V circuits available in most US homes?
If so, that seems like a further obstacle to sales.
Could an electrician inexpensively add a 400V circuit to my existing wiring?
August 18th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Any thing that provides the energy for a vehicle should have a standardized place for that application. When automakers were designing openings for gas and diesel tanks they didn,t publicize that information to the whole free world. The same rule should apply here, just design the plug and install it quietly, we’ll catch on soon enough.