I'm thinking of building a "BEV Social Network" where you could register your location, charge type etc. Then if you wanted to drive somewhere, say, from Vancouver to Toronto, you put in your start and end destination, and the site would create an itinerary for you of what route to travel, and where to charge based on the networks registered users. The site would handle the "reservation" process with the resident if need be. So you would just enter your start and end location, the system would say, "Preparing charge spots", then it would handle getting in touch with the users via email. If you had a charger at your house, the network would email you and say "Someone is looking for a charge spot at this date and time, are you ok with that" Once the system has a path from A-Z with charging stations in the middle, you are notified. What other features would be cool? For the techies, it would be build on LAMP. Anyone wanna help
You might want to check out: OpenChargeMap.org : The open, global database of charging point information (for integration of public charging stations) PlugShare - Electric Vehicle Charging Network (for something similar to what you suggest, but seems to be US-only) Regards, Mark.
I agree we already have many sites to search for charging options and for my area of the country E. Tennessee PlugShare seems to be the best option. I have been adding sites to multiple databases. At some point I hope we consolidate the data so we do not need to check multiple sites.
Interested ! I have this in my todo list for a while. I could contribute the Android version and also contribute on the web side... Serge
My 2c is that this is a cool idea, and needs to combine public and private charging points (together with travel range, route planning, reservation, etc). I would really like to see openchargemaps used as the base for all public EV chargers. The guys there have made an incredible start, and I really hope they can get the support they need to build it out. Regarding the private charging points, and reservation/social side, that is probably beyond what openchargemaps should/can be doing, but I know they have been discussing it. It is probably worth getting on to their mailing list and discussion with them. Regards, Mark.
I'd give it a try and use it if it is hassle-free. I think it's a major problem to keep all the data of individually planned routes up to date. What if a trip is canceled, or if plans change on the road (yes this happens . Data must be purged and free slots could be redistributed. My dream solution would be a route planning App in the Model S touchscreen that negotiates slots with "smart" (= communication enabled) charge spots.
The ability to reserve -- and then elegantly cancel a reservation -- is important. Cancellation should be easy enough; think about how a restaurant reservation system like OpenTable works. The system would have to have some light penalty for no-shows. Any of these private sharing networks are likely to be a bridge to commercial charging. There will come a point where the EV owner located conveniently to the highway will have a constant stream of people charging at his house, and either he or his neighbors will consider the traffic to be a nuisance. But that presumes a much greater penetration of BEVs than is likely any time soon.
We already have well over 100 EV charging maps/apps in existence today and have catalogued 91 here http://sourceforge.net/projects/openchargemap/forums/forum/1250135/topic/3889257 PLEASE work with the folks at OpenChargeMap so that we can all share the data in an open and free way and stop you becoming closed database #101 :wink:
IMO this is only true when you have a limited number of Charging Stations... when you reach large numbers then the requirement to book in many locations simply goes away... indeed, many of the rest stops that we talk to want to use first-come-first-served for their DC Fast Chargers. Hotels, etc will install large numbers because they will be cheap - the 32A "mennekes" version of this product retails at ~$380 today and will be $100 within 5 years;
The charger itself will become cheaper, but the establishment will need to be cautious about the total rating. Installing 10 32A chargers necessarily requires having spare capacity on your power system of 320A (plus a margin). That could also add 66kW to the peak usage, would could entail upgrades of the local distribution transformer and (likely) an increase in the demand charge for electricity to the establishment. It's the total cost that matters, not just the plug!
Well, obviously, at some point the real expense will be upgrading other "behind the scenes" infrastructure - breakers / wiring / panels / transformers / etc. There is only a finite amount of extra capacity to put in new EV charge spots before the location starts to need general power upgrades.
it's trivial.... I was at a hotel recently that had a 50kW cardboard compactor... the only people who think this power level is significant are EV drivers... none of the electrical power people I talk to see this as a problem in commercial locations.
I know at least two UK utilities who are prepared to install 50kW DC Chargers for FREE because they want the customers... I never hear them complain about the cost of infrastructure upgrades if it's going to result in more people using electricity.
Kevin stop that, please :biggrin: Fox News moderators depict EVs as 'toasters', do not feed the 'cardboard compactor' picture to them... even more scary! :scared:
yeh, I know what you mean :biggrin: I just suggest that anyone who thinks an EV uses a lot of power visits the power room of a mid size hotel
Ouch. On average, that's more than my entire house...and we have electric EVERYTHING. I guess that includes the entire hotel (lobby, parking, etc.)
