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$100 Open-Source Arduino-based EVSE

62K views 79 replies 25 participants last post by  crackerjackz 
#1 ·
Hi All -

We (http://www.eMotorWerks.com) are about to launch a new open source product - Arduino-based EVSE starting at $100 kit price (cheating a little bit as you would have to provide the cable - for example, from a 110V charging cord your Leaf is coming with...)

Can go up to 240V 60A.

There will be options for color LCD screen, custom enclosures, etc.

A 32A J1772 plug with a 25-foot cable would be a $149 option - ~$100 cheaper than elsewhere.

If interested, please subscribe to this post and we will post more info (including all schematics / PCB / firmware) in a couple of weeks.

Thanks!
Valery.
 
#4 ·
" Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment "


" An electric vehicle charging station, also called EV charging station, electric recharging point, charging point and EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment), is an element in an infrastructure that supplies electric energy for the recharging of plug-in electric vehicles. "
 
#10 ·
Hi Kevin -

No, this is our own design. We wanted to reuse the architecture we developed for our charging systems (http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/10kw-60a-diy-charger-open-source-59210p52.html) and controllers. This way we can reduce the price further.

We also have all the AC components (relays, current sensors, connectors, etc.) integrated into the main PCB so you are all ready to go once assembled. There will also be a reduced functionality version that will charge your car but not have all the bells and whistles and cost $99 in a kit form, $149 in the assembled form. Including the enclosure.

Hope this helps.

Thanks!
Valery
 
#16 ·
My two cents on this Valery...wait until you have things far enough along that you feel you can freeze the design and release it with clear/complete documentation. Continue experimenting and changing, but don't make any further releases until you can do the above again. Don't rush to make the latest and greatest available to us because we will only piss and moan that documentation is confusing, parts are missing or not the same as on the BOM, etc. Don't even tell us about it because we will whine that we NEED that on our kit now. Just systematically make periodic releases as they are ready and trumpet the new changes/additions then. You will save yourself (and us) a lot of frustration.:D
 
#17 ·
I would have to agree.... I have a Deluxe version of the EV Dashboard but the android app is 10 months late, with every inquiry saying it's a few weeks out. Valery is a brilliant guy and I love the products but from a consumer point of view none of his products are ready for the public.

With that said I'm still looking forward to the EVSE, however now I know what to expect. It will be a good design with no documentation and some missing parts with no real way to mount it elegantly in an enclosure, and if you buy another one in 3-6 months it will be completely different. (I bought two 10kw charger kits 4 or 5 months apart and they are so completely different that none of the enclosure panels I designed for the first one will work with the 2nd.....)

There should also be a time translator....
Valery says 2 weeks = 2 months
Valery says 1-2 months = 8-12 months
Valery says it's in the works = 1-3 years

I hope this isn't taken negatively Valery, you are introducing products we need at a price point we can afford and for that I must commend you. Are you doing way more things at once than you honestly have time for, yes...

We want to know the things you are working on and what's coming up next, you give us a date of a few weeks and we get excited, but you have a small team working on so many things it's impossible to meet those deadlines.

Keep up the great work, and keep us upadated.
If you need help I'm sure there are lots of us in the community that have skills in PCB design, enclosure design, I'm also sure a lot of us would work for parts....
 
#26 ·
#28 ·
Congratulations on the Kickstarter project.

I have a couple questions before I pledge.

Does the basic package ($109) include GFCI? NEC requires GFCI on all charging stations 120/240v for both indoor and out. GFCI is not mentioned until the premium edition.

What relays are used to achieve 60A? The picture of the premium edition looks like a TE T9AS1 which is only rated to 30A.
 
#29 ·
Hi - thanks for your interest in our project!

Basic package does not include GFCI. It is intended to be more of a plug-in unit that you take with you on the road. It assumes that you plug into a GFCI protected outlet as all new garage outlets should be per code.

Relays used in production units will be 60A relays. What you see on the photos in the campaign are 30A relays, indeed. We have used that version to test operation / logic.

Thanks!
 
#31 ·
Thanks Caps18 - we also think that a beautiful display will be one of our great differentiators!

Re Kill-a-Watt - people expect that kind of device to cost $10. Which is out of the range of what we can afford to do, unfortunately. Basically, you need to be selling millions of units to just break even on something like this.
 
#32 ·
Hi All, EMW here.

EMW JuiceBox has reached its initial funding goal on kickstarter. Onward to a Stretch Wi-Fi goal of $40K!

EMW has announced that Juicebox kickstarter campaign has reached its initial funding goal on July 10th, 2013 - with 13 days left to go. Find the project on kickstarter at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1076207974/emw-juicebox-an-open-source-level-2-ev-charging-st
Thank you all for your great support! The JuiceBox is now REAL!
On to the stretch goal of $40K to make it a Wi-Fi ready!

If kickstarter reaches $40K goal EMW R&D will write all the support software to make WiFi Shield plug and play. EMW will also launch an online service that will allow you to access your JuiceBox and get stats / analysis / real-time status etc.

EMW will also make WiFi shields available through EMW store and you would be able to add that as an option before we ship your unit. The current 'official' seller of the official Arduino WiFi shield is SparkFun: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11287. EMW plans to source their own stock and expect to be able to offer that at a better price. EMW team is already testing a couple of shields to make sure they hit the right combination of reliability and cost.

To read more on the latest JuiceBox news and media coverage go to: http://emotorwerks.com/index.php?op...81&subid=460-39b115ed193021f15d2122a07d20f4da

Thanks,
EMW JuiceBox team
 
#35 ·
I have a juicebox on order, waiting to replace my avcon! I have dabbled a bit in arduino and already have a wifly shield, RN-XV WiFly Module from sparkfun. Since this is built from the same chip will this shield work on the juicebox? No reason to buy another if it works, this one is just sitting around.
 
#39 ·
Based on a recommendation Ill post here vs a separate thread.

So I am on the mild side (very mild...) of this hobby and bought the base edition juicebox. I wanted the premium but availability wasn't there and I am not good at waiting!

So here is my plan.

I wanted to know output amps but didnt plan to buy the LCD screen at the time. So I went with this : AMP UNIT


At the time it was a decision made out of concern and fear of the arduino stuff.

A day later I decided to try use the Leafs internal charger.. And my base edition only supports a "charge till" function. So that killed my fear of the arduino and I bought an RTC module and the FTDI module. I really want to be able to set the charger to run from 11pm to 7am with a simple "override" button.


Now suddenly I am thinking about an LCD Screen to show the time functions but Ill probably wait for the unit to arrive.
Im thinking for $6 shipped this might be the ticket


I still trying to decide if the base unit has a GFCI circuit or if I need the breaker. V- Any updates? Above it said No for the base.

Cheers
~J
 
#43 ·
Did you get anywhere with this? I am a complete novice when it comes to programming. I just purchased a Juicebox standard edition, primarily because I didn't want to wait the 4+ weeks on the premium. I would however like to add a display to mine. Please share how your progress is going and if you have any tips?
 
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