In the parking lot of the E. Carroll Joyner Visitor Center, a Level II EVSE (Electric Vehicle Service Equipment) station is the latest example of the University being on the cutting edge of research and development. The EVSE station, in addition to being the first in the Raleigh area, features the latest J1772 interface and is capable of charging a compatible electric car in two to four hours. In mid-November a second part of the University research project will arrive-a Ford Freestar Minivan converted to run solely on electricity.
The station is the creation of V. William “Bill” DeLuca, an associate professor in the College of Education’s Department of Math, Science and Technology. According to DeLuca, the goal of the project is to research the use of infrastructure in regards to Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEVs), and to provide outreach to the community about the benefits of the new technology.
Funding for the charging station and van came from a Clean Fuel Advanced Technology (CFAT) grant from the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the North Carolina Solar Center at N.C. State. According to Stacy Fair, director of the Joyner Visitor Center, the primary purpose of CFAT is to provide funding for transportation related emission reduction projects in North Carolina counties with poor air quality.
“Wake County is one of 24 counties in North Carolina that is considered a non-attainment or maintenance county for national ambient air quality standards,” Fair said.
“It’s a chicken-and-the egg type of thing,” DeLuca said. “We want electric vehicles, but we need the charging stations. What comes first, the electric vehicle or the charging station? We’re trying to build an infrastructure where there are enough charging stations around the area that people feel comfortable buying an electric vehicle knowing that there is going to be a fueling station available within their region.”
The charging station located in the E. Carroll Joyner Visitor Center parking lot was built by ClipperCreek Inc. and features both a Level I charging plug and the new Level II plug.
According to Fair, a Level I charging station is simply a regular outlet.
“It delivers a 110/120 volt alternating current,” Fair said. “There are multiple Level I charging stations everywhere, as long as your extension cord is long enough to hook up to your vehicle.”
The Level II EVSE is almost a two-fold improvement over the Level I.
According to Fair, “[The Level II EVSE] is 208 or 240 volt VAC… It will charge a vehicle in two to four hours, which is why it’s so important. With Level I, you’re really looking at an overnight charge; whereas Level II you could be in a meeting and charge your vehicle and by the time you’re done with your meeting, the car is ready to go to your next location.”
Fair is currently working towards her doctorate in technology education.
“The connector itself may be the most important piece of the Level II charger,” Fair said.
The J1772 connector was recently certified by the Society of Automotive Engineers, and will be the standard plug on such EVSEs. The charging station does not see many users, other than a handful of Honda Prius owners who have modified their cars to hybrid plugin vehicles.
“We do see it being used more frequently,” DeLuca said. “We hope it will be used more frequently.”
Caitlin Miller, a sophomore in horticulture, said she doesn’t know anyone who has an electric car.
“If the station is cutting down the time it takes to charge the cars, that’s definitely an improvement,” Miller said. “It will be easier for people and they will be more likely to buy the cars now.”
The Level II EVSE will be compatible with the soon-to-be-released Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf. The Volt and Leaf will be the first mass-scale production vehicles to feature the Level II interface, according to Fair.
The second phase of the project is to convert a 2006 Ford Freestar minivan to all electric power. This project is currently underway at the Electric Blue Motors Company in Flagstaff Arizona, according to Fair.
“Basically they took out the combustion engine and gasoline tank and are replacing it with a battery pack,” Fair said. “Right where you would normally open the door to put in gas is where you will plug it in.”
Once completed, the van will be used to give tours of campus to small groups and to promote the use of electricity for vehicles. The van is planned to arrive by mid-November.
Electric cars may pollute less, but what is their true effect?
According to Med Byrd, director of applied research in the pulp & paper abs, “Unless a car is solar, the electricity has to come from somewhere. It’s [up to] the engineer and scientist to think about it as a system.”
“The system has interconnections,” Byrd said. “Where did the electricity come from? If it came from a power plant that was burning soft coal, which is a horrific way to release carbon dioxide, you may be driving up greenhouse gasses faster than if you were driving a gas powered vehicle.”
According to Byrd, it’s the smart consumer, the smart student, the smart engineer and the smart scientist who stop thinking about things as A or B.
“[We ought to think] what is the net impact of A, what is the net impact of B, which one is better for me as a consumer and the environment,” Byrd said.
According to Fair and DeLuca, the goal is to develop a “smart” power grid, and to use a combination of clean energy options, such as wind, solar, and nuclear to power the PEVs. Some charging stations are equipped with solar panels, which supplement the power being drawn from the grid. According to Fair, some EVSEs in California are solely powered by solar energy, and as solar technology improves it will be implemented on many future charging stations.
David Audley, a freshman in undeclared engineering, said the electric car station is a good idea but will not be used much for a while.
“You need a lot more people to adopt the electric car and it needs to be cheaper before anyone will really use it,” Audley said.
