How to Use the GE Wattstation: A Tutorial

April 25, 2011

The momentum for electric vehicles just keeps growing: This week’s New York International Auto Show is featuring its first-ever Electric Vehicle Pavilion, where show-goers can test out zero-emission driving in either the Chevy Volt or Nissan Leaf. GE’s WattStation is also gaining traction on the road: After a four-city west coast tour last month, it made a successful appearancein Washington, DC last week for the Electric Drive Transportation Association’s annual conference.

A deconstructed Chevy Volt on display at the New York International Auto Show.

So just how do you use the WattStation charging system? This week’s Txchnologist, an online magazine presented by GE, goes beneath the WattStation’s fetching exterior – crafted by industrial designer Yves Behar, creator of the Jawbone phone headset – to break it down.

Fill ‘er up

Ease your car up beside a WattStation with a glowing green ring around the face, which signifies that it’s ready to charge. Press the touchscreen, which will then prompt you through the steps. (If you’re at a private charging station, you may need to wave a radio frequency identification card, or RFID, provided by the station’s owner, to gain access.) Input your phone number or email address, and the machine will ping you when the charge is complete. Then, remove the connector from the station and plug it into your car.

The WattStation home charging system, which can sit on the wall of your garage, is even simpler. Just plug it in and go.

The WattStation.

A handshake, then a negotiation

The EV and WattStation recognize each other through a five-pin connector that fits all standard electric vehicles.

The WattStation either accepts or negotiates a different standard of power and then begins the charge.

The WattStation accesses the grid’s power through a secure connection in the ground. The power moves through a “contactor,” which opens and closes to energize the connector. Fuses and ground fault monitoring ensure the device delivers reliable and safe power, Ciarcia says. The WattStation can provide a full charge in four to eight hours, compared with 12 to 18 hours at standard outlets.

Communication is key

The WattStation communicates with your car and your phone, but it can also talk to the smart grid, if the function is enabled, through advanced metering infrastructure, or AMI.

For example, if the grid is close to capacity and needs to shed some power load, it notifies the WattStation, which then responds by reducing its charging level. WattStation owners – for example, a city authority – can also receive data from their units to track usage and access.

The EV-charging market is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years. Research indicates that there will be a demand of 1.4 charging stations for every EV sold and GE wants to make the WattStation the charger of choice.

Pliny

So let me get this straight – you’re putting computers with power near parking spots, and

a) you expect that someone who doesn’t have an EV (or doesn’t need to charge) won’t park there.
b) that someone will park there ALL day and there will still be “enough” of these to go around
c) that nobody would ever hack the computer (for free electricity, or to harvest personal data from prior users)
d) that all this gizmo does is charge a car? (versus, charge for parking, keep track of the autos that park there (covert surveillance), annoy users with ads, …)
e) how much is it going to cost an operator to replace these when vandals crash into them?

I mean I’m sure you guys have worked out all the social implication, and the unintended but foreseeable consequences of putting these everywhere…
Larry Fisher

Whose research “indicates that there will be a demand of 1.4 charging stations for every EV sold”?
J. Monty

With gas hitting $4.00 a gallon and rising, this is the out of the box thinking that is needed. Electric vehicles are going nowhere until the charging infrastructure issue is addressed. Just as the light bulb was going nowhere until commercial power generation was established. I’m sure there was an equally long list of what if’s regarding establishment of the first power grids in the major cities. This may not be the ultimate answer, but it is, from what I see, the first serious commercial attempt to tackle the issue. Hopefully GE will take the next step and start putting Watt stations in their employee parking lots. Then we’ll know they’re serious.
GEreporter

Hi Larry, the ratio of 1.4 charging stations per electric vehicle comes from a Pike Research report. There are different opinions on what the ratio should and will be and it will vary by region and EV penetration.
Frederick Hiller

GE’s lesson plan says:

Fill ‘er up

Ease your car up beside a WattStation with a glowing green ring around the face, which signifies that it’s
ready to charge. Press the touchscreen, which will then prompt you through the steps. (If you’re at a
private charging station, you may need to wave a radio frequency identification card, or RFID, provided by
the station’s owner, to gain access.) Input your phone number or email address, and the machine will ping
you when the charge is complete. Then, remove the connector from the station and plug it into your car.

Please note the discontinuity of the last sentence in relation to the next-to-the-last sentence. These two
sentences need to be in reverse order. GE needs to hire an English major to avoid such confusing errors if
they want to get this thing off the ground.
Norm

@Pliny:

A) Yes, with a sign saying “EV Parking only”. Non EV vehicles would recieve a parking ticket.

B) People already park in regular spots all day, these will be no different. Obviously the numbers needed will have to be evaluated carefully.

C)How many ATMs get ‘hacked’? Thats is an easy issue to address since the interface will be very limited – just like an ATM.

D) Existing parking meters would handle parking fees. Usage tracking would be essential to ensure adequate numbers of chargers. How many ATMs annoy people with ads? Your fears here are essentially groundless

E) how often do vandals crash into parking meters?
Vijay

Has the Battery Technology matured enough to realize this in the near future at an affordable cost?