[ARTICLE] Charging the Future with Electric Vehicles

By Louisa Gaylord, Communications Director

Steven Straus and a visiting student at an Electric Vehicle Charging Station information center in Portland, Oregon

Electric vehicles have filtered into the mainstream automotive market and are quickly becoming more popular. Billboards advertising the Leaf, the Volt and the Karma tower over highways in an effort to convince drivers to buy electric vehicles. Even Los Angeles, a city notorious for its smog, has taken the lead in improving air quality by promoting low- and zero- emissions vehicles.

Plug-in electric cars seem ready to become the next big thing, but fossil-free personal transportation is not really new. In fact, Thomas Edison created a car for Detroit Electric in 1914 that was powered with rechargeable batteries used in Swiss mining trains. But like most trends, electric vehicles were usurped when something easier and cheaper came along: mass production of gas-powered vehicles and the internal combustion engine. By the 1930’s the electric car in the United States had become extinct. However, public concern over carbon emissions has been mounting in the last two decades; public interest in the electric car has been renewed, even if completely electric vehicles have yet to take center stage.

In the 1990’s, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced the need for more fuel-efficient and low-emission cars on the roads, with the ultimate goal to reduce all emissions generated by vehicles. CARB created the first state regulations for the voltage and plug-in attachments, making it easier to standardize and measure the use of electric cars. These requirements are widely accepted by major manufacturers such as Toyota, Nissan and Tesla.

The electric vehicle industry uses a standard charger for cars that is maintained by the Society for Automotive Engineers (SAE). The SAE J1772 is an electric vehicle conductive charge coupler that was first used by international automotive supply company Yazaki, and allows up to 16.8 kW of power to be delivered to the car. The plug is designed to accommodate 120V and 240V charging stations found in North America and Japan. The connecting attachment is equipped with 5 pins to deliver charging power, ground the electrical current, prevent the car from moving while charging, and coordinate charging levels with the car. The J1772 coupler includes several levels of shock protection, and there is no voltage present when the charger is not connected to the car.

By today’s standards, an electric car is an automotive type vehicle that is intended for use on public roads and highways, and is primarily powered by an electric motor that draws from a rechargeable battery or other energy storage device. The vehicle may not weigh more than 8,500 pounds (3855.6 kg), because lighter objects take less energy to power than heavier ones. These parameters produce a diverse range of electric vehicles, even with a uniform charging coupler. These numerous models of cars create a growing potential job market for students to explore for vehicle maintenance, from repairs to constructing charging stations.

The Los Angeles Trade Technical College (LATTC) is embracing this mainstream shift toward electric cars. Their new six-level parking garage at West 23^rd Street and Grand Avenue has a particular focus on sustainability and low-emission vehicles. Electric car charging stations are provided on the ground level with room to accommodate up to 25 vehicles, with provisions to install stations on other floors to charge an additional 100 more. Glumac provided the electrical engineering design for the LATTC’s parking structure, including the charging stations.

LATTC has also introduced classes that teach students the maintenance and repair skills needed to work with alternative fuel technologies in diesel-dominant fields. This includes electric cars, but also teaches green industry experience with ethanol, biodiesel, compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, and fuel cell and hybrid technologies. Students earn the Hybrid and Electric Plug-In Vehicle Technology Certificate of Achievement upon completion of their studies. The school’s Transportation Technology Department recently received a donation of two electric cars from John Charlwood of Louroe Electronics, to give students the hands-on experience necessary to work with alternative energy vehicles.

Other projects Glumac has designed electric vehicle charging stations for include:

• Hewlett Packard in Roseville, California
• twelve | west in Portland, Oregon
• The VA Member Services Building in Yountville, California
• The Vancouver Hilton in Vancouver, Washington