OC Posted with Permission from u/warman12363

Still can’t believe they left their Gatorade there!

It's got electro-lytes

Maybe it sorta powers them up

It’s what cars crave.

It's what Electric Vehicle Chargers crave

Fascinating

There are a lot of big wires in there. Can the grid support one of these in every driveway?

Worth nothing this is’t where the actual “charger” is in the technical sense. This is the dispenser. The part that does the actual AC -> DC conversion (like power brick for your phone) is located in a large utility box nearby.

These are the "Level 3" chargers which charge up to 100x (but usually only 10-20x because heat) faster than home chargers.

How many amps is that puppy pulling? 200? 3 phase?

Up to 500, although most are limited to 350, and yes I believe it's all 3 phase.

I got 100amp panel in my house. Lol so of me and both my neighbors and guy across the street all pooled our electric we could have a fast charger. Maybe lol

You know how much energy is in a Gatorade? That stuff can power anything.

These are big wires because this is DC fast charging. IDK about this particular charger but they can go up to 350kw draw at peak. (A microwave is ~1.5kw).

Most people at home will use AC charging that plugs at ~5-50kw and those typically use similar wiring to electric stoves. EVs let you set charge schedules and it won’t be surprising if most electric companies offer discounts for charging after midnight.

But yes the grid will have to grow significantly as we electrify cars, heating, and industry. To the tune of double or tripling it’s current capacity. Expanding the grid will be a lot of work but it’s an extremely solvable problem and one that is being taken seriously and being worked on in earnest in the US and other places.

This is a 150kw station, that I’ve seen up to 163kw at

I doubt electric heating will ever take off in my area. I've never seen electric heating, not even auxillary. I've never seen or heard of electric boilers either. Maybe one day I'll have the pleasure of installing one

[deleted]

The form that electric heating is going to take is likely to be different than what most people expect. Straight electric heating isn’t going to play a big role. Most of it will be air or geothermal heat pumps.

An air heat pump is just a slightly modified central air system. In an air heat pump the AC unit can run “backwards” as well as forwards. In the backward configuration, the “hot side” is placed inside and the “cold side” outside. This turns out to be really cheap and effective down to about -20F (-28C). That covers most of the population.

For colder climates the trick is to conceptually bury the cold side of the heat pump below the frost line. In practice this is done by burying a recirculating water line beneath the back yard. The cost here is on par with installing or replacing a septic system.

The nice thing is both of these solutions are very efficient and cost comparatively little to operate. Swapping a house in NY from oil and a normal central AC to geothermal cuts annual heating and cooling costs in half. Throw in the tax incentives going into effect in the US next year and the whole thing pays for itself in just a few years.

That's all done with a reversing valve for mini splits. I know geothermal exists but have only seen it in rural areas. I don't have enough space in my yard to trench up for the loops. I also live in a region that can be sub zero for a few weeks. -20 is probably the coldest I've seen minus windchill. I've only seen one oil burner in the wild and it threw me off being in the middle of a metro area I've serviced for years.

Comment and question:

It's DC so no way it's 3 phase. Common y'all

Question: what's the insulation on the bus bar? Never seen that. Typical I've seen is epoxy dip...

AC coming in has to be 3 phase though? Can't just throw these on residential lines.

This is entirely based on random reading of US highway charging station planning with the infrastructure bill that passed so I'm not 100% sure what I'm talking about, just that it was mentioned as required and not available everywhere.

Common misconception but good question. It can be single phase or 3 phase depending on the supply voltage. That is achieved through a transformer.

These types of applications involve an inverter that will convert ac to DC.

I don't know much about DC but this application screams DC

Yeah, cold urban areas are going to be a bigger challenge. Someone in my old neighbor did drilled geothermal. It doesn’t take much space but you need a ground scan to make sure there isn’t anything problematic in the way.

For cities there is talk of effectively reviving steam heat loop systems except this time built around heat pumps. Basically using the existing natural gas right of ways to provide room temperature recirculating water from a centralized source. Denmark is experimenting doing this with waste heat from data centers and other industrial processes.

Detroit steam works still heats numerous buildings downtown, I doubt it's effective as Denmark.

You arent running a heat pump below 35 degrees Fahrenheit reliably dude lmao. You're going to be cooling your house via defrost for 70% of its operation. If you're using the heat pump as the auxiliary to a gas furnace maybe, but that's useless in 90% of climates.

It's done via reversing valve for all heat pumps.

That is a dc fast charger and almost certainly has 3 phase ac coming into. Output is likely 150 or 350kw dc

I just put in a 50A circuit (takes up two breaker slots) and had a NEMA outlet installed for my 2019 Kona, with a 40A Juicepack charger. About 1k USD all in. These things require about as much as an electric dryer. The nice thing is, this charger can get my car from 0 miles to 250 over night, or about 8 hours. I think that's about what normal people will have installed. I got away with a portable 110v charger for a loooong time though.

I think people who worry about the range forget the fact that it's like leaving your house every morning with a full tank of gas, if you really wanted.

At home you don’t need to super charge in 20-30 minutes. Average at home service is 50 amps. I have 200amp service run to my house.

Almost certainly? So in your expert opinion: is is 120/208, 120/240, 277/480¿

One of these answers makes it a trick question...

>Question: what's the insulation on the bus bar? Never seen that

Looks like heat shrink to me.

Actually none of those answers makes it a trick question. All three of you choices can be three phase. Maybe you’re not the expert you think you are on AC. (120/240 can be 3 phase with a high b leg, very uncommon but still exists in Chicago area).

This. Using a standard 120v outlet my hybrid vehicle can get 50 miles in a 12 hour charge overnight.

Most people don't drive over 50 miles a day.

And this is just with a standard wall outlet. Using a 220 outlet like a dryer or RV uses I could be getting that same charge in ~4 hours.

And my car charges slow AF because it's a chevy Volt hybrid. Most electric vehicles charge at double or more the speeds as mine.

Range anxiety isn't even a concern once you realize you can top off your vehicle literally every night if you wanted to. And your daily driving isn't really all that far.

A small up front cost of installing a proper charging setup at home, and you'll be saving money within a year from all the gas you don't need to be buying each week!

[deleted]

I knew it! They run on Gatorade!

Who has 50 amp service? That sounds terrible. Doesn't a typical 2 Ton ac need 30amps?

Meant the average EV charger service is 50amps. Not household service. Code in out area you need to provide 200amps of service to a house.

My house was built in 55. I just got 100 amps. I thought I was fancy putting in a 50 amp sub panel on my garage in the spring