Exclusive ! BeLib : Paris installs its New EV Charging Service

You all heard about about Velib, then Autolib, now there will be Belib in Paris very soon !

Update : Paris Nov 21, 2015 : All Charging Standards Available ! 

More details on my Facebook Page

Update : Paris Nov 14, 2015 : More details on my Facebook Page

I have been charging my EVs here for the last 4 years now


So after seeing the removal of my usual Paris city hall Charging Station (from the 90's) few weeks ago, construction including underground wiring, I knew something EV related was going on there

These last two days, I have seen major improvements there and the charging stations are installed now, and covered to hide & protect them from curious people - like me :) - 

From the stickers on the covers, I can see they are from a French company called COMATELEC SCHREDER and built in Spain by its sister company SCHREDER SOGELEC

They are specialized in street lights from what I can see on their website but are also offering an innovative street light post that can hold EV charging outlets

Apparently they are starting with this site only for now, as a flagship one because it is right behind Paris city hall .... and other old green charging stations (from DBT) are still up and running


They will have 3 types of outlet including an accelerated charge one, at 22kW:
- one regular : 230V single phase at 8A giving 2kW
- one type 3 (our French standard, which will be changed to type 2, European standard (or Mennekes)) : 230V single phase at 16A giving 3.7kW
- one accelerated charging (same as above) : 400V 3-phase at 32A giving 22kW

Originally forecasted for the end of 2015, and with 180 charging stations (now only 60), the project has been delayed by the Architectes des Batiments de France (ABF) because the original charging stations were to massive and too high, blocking the view of beautiful Parisian buildings ...



Now they are of regular size and well under construction, I think this particular site is ready !





We should see the major Anne Hidalgo come outside her office and inaugurate them soon :)

Charging my LEAF at Parly 2 Mall for the BMW i3 test drive

Arriving at the Parly 2 Mall, next to Versailles and started to go around this - big - parking to try to find a charging spot



I found them ! EV Charge Spots !


Now I can go shopping there, park right away without looking for a spot and charge :-) cool

(I remember spending  a lot of time looking for a spot sometimes)


I like simple sockets like this: Keep it Simple !




My EVSE extender - 3.49 EUR for the white 16A cord and 5 EUR for the weatherproof junction box -

The only problem is the one next to it had a broken lid and rain going straight into the live wires ... oops

Tesla Model S - Charging in Europe

Tesla Model S - Charging in Europe
The Model S comes with all kinds of adapters for charging

Here a 400V 32A 3-phase AC outlet

The Mennekes or Type 2 plug is the standard for EVs in Europe

SMA SPS - SECURE POWER SUPPLY on SMA Sunny Boy 3000TL US 4000TL US 5000TL US

"If the Sun is Up and the Grid is Down ..."

Here is a short video of the great feature SMA inverters can offer: the SPS for Secure Power Supply

Usually, on all inverters, in case of a power outage, a mandatory feature is the automatic cut off of production to protect grid workers from electric shock

If the grid is down and your solar roof is still in the sun, you can now have the inverter keep producing on dedicated outlets controlled by a switch that triggers this function on the system... What a great idea !

An EVSE for Renault ZOE to plug anywhere !

An italian electronic designer, Davide Di Rizzo / ELPA, built and tested successfully an EVSE for Renault ZOE, allowing regular 220V outlet charges at selectable current levels, which is still not available from the maker, Renault 

But, but, the main question remains: Will it improve the charge time in any way ? ... We will see

Source: Automobile-Propre & Renault-Zoe Forum Pro

Vectrix Charging at Work - From Empty To Full

Few days ago, after coming back from vacation , the timer on my Vectrix did not work - because of a low lithium button battery - and the night charge of my Vectrix did not take place ...

When I discover this in the morning, I usually go to work, but slower, trying to save up my battery to make sure I get there and charge in my office building undergound parking

Well, this time, as I was arriving, I got the low battery solid red light on the dash and sure enough the battery gauge went to empty as soon as I turned the bike OFF and ON again; I do not like this because everytime I get this low, the charging process is taking very long because the NiMH battery pack over-heats ....

Here are the different phases of charge my Vectrix went through during that day:

It starts with a pack at 125V and a CP - Constant Power - charge phase where the charger gives out all the power it can to charge the battery pack in bulk; 153 means it is trying to reach 153V as a target voltage; The speedometer tells us that there are 12A -on 120 / 10- going into the battery pack right now: 12A x 125V = 1,500W the  charger can deliver; Battery cells temperature is pretty low at 13°C

An hour and ten minutes later, voltage went up to 143V and Amps went down to 10.5, still 143V x 10.5A = 1,501W, always the same 1500W the charger is pushing into the battery pack

Temperature went up 3 degrees only and we gained 7 bars on the right - voltage - gauge 

After maybe two to two hours and a half, came a TR - Transition - charge phase where the charger has quit because it reached 153V, and the whole pack is being cooled by fans only for a determined period of time (countdown here showing 5mn and 32s): the cells temperature is now at 21°C, but maybe it got higher as it was closer to 153V; We now have 11 bars on the voltage gauge

My Vectrix plugged  in  a simple 220V outlet at work

After the end of the TR phase, the charger goes into CC - Constant Current - phase and delivers only 3A and tries to complete the charge to the top; Note that the cells temperature is up again at 27°C

Now the charger has quit because the cells temperature got too high - here showing 43°C !! and maybe went up to 50 ? - and a CO - Cooling - phase is taking place and I have the red battery sign flashing a now to let me know that there has been an over-temperature situation; We are near the complete state of charge though, with 14 bars and 145V

Towards the end of the afternoon, I saw the charge mode go into EC - End of Charge - even if there were only 14 bars of voltage indication (not 17 bars for full)

Because the cooling had stopped, the temperature went up to 46°C, and the red battery sign was still flashing; I re-started the cooling process by turning th bike ON -and OFF to remove the key- and let fans blow until I finally left the office

Leaving the office ...

Temperature went down to 40°C, which is still a lot, so I decided to ride smoothly and accelerate softly not to go into an over-temp situation again

...

And finally arrived home without any problems, and a good state of charge left (2 bars used only), 135V, and a little temperature decrease down to 38°C

I started charging right away (my timer is out of order, so no other choice)

went for a smoke outside, and came back after 13mn and we are now at 142V and 33°C (the fans do their job while charging)

...

The next morning, the Vectrix was fully charged and the temperature was still a bit high with 33°C and the red flashing battery warning ON ... it is just a warning

Next day again, arriving back from work, I am back to a regular situation, 5 to 6 bars used for my daily round trip commute