Charging and the standard

We just had a couple of speakers at our EAA meeting from the very large local power companies in and around the NY area (Con Edison,National Grid). When I asked as to what consideration they gave to the DIY conversions, they didn't even know there was a DIY market! There was also a consulting company for Con Edison there (sorry I forgot their name right now) who did know of the DIY conversions and said the answer basically was the following-1- It would have to have the same standardized plug as the rest (easy) 2- It would have to be able to talk to the plug in station as to SOC and the like (reasoning is if power has to be rationed if everyone plugged in at once, the lower charged cars would get priority for the power) (not so easy) and the third item is that the car would have to be approved by some testing body (UL maybe) to be up to the standards like the manufacturers are building. (this is to protect them in case you built a car with 18 gauge charging wires and it caught fire or something) (not easy at all). So to answer the question, there will probably be no support for the DIYer at any charging stations.
Since our meeting, we have been trying to get them to listen to our charging needs, but in reality, they don't care about the DIY guy. What else is new......
Oh they did mention the tepco fast charging system, they have not accepted that standard as of yet, and are not sure how they would implement that very high current charge station yet.
Mike
www.EV-propulsion.com

"I know this isn't real popular with DIY EVers but I suggest they look up NEC article 625. There is an established standard and for 120 vac outdoor charging a standard plug is allowed."

I was refering to being compatible with the charge station infrastructure being designed in our NY area (and probably most of the country) using the new J1772 standard at public charging stations. But yes you are correct for private charging.

"Do they mean the whole car would need approval or just the charger? Requiring a UL approved charger would not be a bad idea anyway. Ethernet communication through power wires is well developed."

They actually didn't say (or know) since the DIYer really wasn't considered in the overall plan, but they did lead to apprval of the complete power wiring of the car, as they brought up the small gauge wires to the battery point, which of course is beyond the UL listed charger. They pretty much assumed that they would require some sort of standard. I guess there could be a way around this unless the data between the charge port and car is substantial. It may just allow factory electric vehicles, which will probably be read by a VIN # data reading. These guys didn't know what information would be required from the car to turn on the charge station, as that is yet to be determined from what I understand. It may have to see that it is a factory built EV. There were talks of VIN #s, CC numbers,etc, because public charging won't be free. Unless stores and shopping centers want to pay for it so you shop while charging, but as far as the utility companies are concerned, they are getting paid from someone for the electricity and infrastructure set up.
Mike
www.EV-propulsion.com

Actually there is a revision of this NFPA NEC code coming up, that is going to change all this (words from power company charging station people) to bring it up to date, as this is something like 10 or more years old. I'm sure it is being written to their advantage and probably having to use a standardized plug and who knows what else. That 625 code you have to admit is pretty vague, I was told the new version is going to be a lot more specific.
BUT, regardless of what the code is, and keeping with the OP, here in the Northeast the infrastructure right now will have NO provision for a standard plug. This is straight from the people building it around one of the largest cities in the US. As of now it is not going to be easy, if at all possible, for a DIYer to use a public charging station in this area. In the 90's there was some charging stations around the area but they still didn't have a normal plug. And they all had different types of plugs for the vehicles (factory built) that were in that area. They were free though...