Oh E-MINI ! English Version: public charging station

Showing posts with label public charging station. Show all posts

Sunday, 29 May 2011

Another public charging station (Irschenberg)

Deutsche Version
Last weekend I made a trip to the area south of Munich. As I passed a gas station near the autobahn exit of Irschenberg, I noticed a sign advertising a charging station for electric cars. I turned round and drove to the gas station to make a test charge.
There was a charging station from the power suplier e.on similar to the one I used in Starnberg. But it was a newer version with the new standard power plugs that I need for 32A charging.

Charging station at a OMV gas station at Wendling/Irschenberg.

At the cash desk I got an identification card to get access to the charging station. I spent 20 Euros deposit for the card, but electricity was free.
After identification via the card the flaps unlocked, I plugged in and the car started to charge.

MINI E #014 charging.

I took a coffee at the shop to give the car a couple of minutes to get some energy. Suddenly I remembered that there was a sticker on the charging stations power plug that said: max. 16A. And I reminded that the charging selector of the MINI E was set to 32A!

So, as I returned to the car the charging had stopped. Even worse, as I tried to end the charging operation by using the identification card once again the charging station aborted the ending procedure.It looked like the system software crashed. No reaction. This really means trouble because the Mennekes plug on the one side of the car's charging cord was still mechanically locked to the charging station and so the charging cord could not be removed. I remembered a former incident at a different charging station where I had to leave the cord at the station.

Locked charging cord plug. The symbol above on the flap illustrates an IEC 62196-2 Type II plug.

Fortunately an employee and the owner of the gas station came by to have a look on the MINI E. I explained the situation (and the MINI E) and after some more failed attempts with the card the owner opened the station with his key.
The circuit breaker of the power plug I connected the car was turned off. After the circuit breaker was turned on again the system still didn't release the charging cord. So the charging station needed a complete shut down via the main switch to restart the system software. Finally the locking mechanism released the plug.
In the meantime I set the charging rate of the MINI to 13A to make another try. The system software still was so confused that it did not recognize the identification card properly. So we tried a different card from the shop and then all worked well.

The problem was that the charging station was converted to the new IEC 62196-2 Type II plugs, but an additional module to detect the power connectors pilot contact was not installed immediately and planned to be done later. IEC 62196-1 regulates that a plug without pilot contact is limited to 16A. So with the missing module to detect the pilot contact there was a gap of #014's demand on 32A and the allowed 16A. As a result the circuit breaker got in action and the system software could not handle this incident.
At the gas station manned 24h a day this is not a big problem, but at a charging station located anywhere an unreleaseable charging cord would cause serious trouble.

In summary it was an informative experience. I had a pleasant conversation with the owner of the gas station. A few electric cars already had used the station (once a Tesla Roadster spent an overnight charge). With the station located at a distance of 50km from Munich at an Autobahn exit it is an opportunity when going to the south by an EV.

Friday, 6 May 2011

Charging at TÜV Starnberg public station

Deutsche Version
Yesterday we made a short trip to Lake Starnberg near Munich. I found out, that at the TÜV-office (technical inspection agency) in Starnberg the power supplier e.on operates a public charging station.
I tried out my charging station identifaction card which we were told that this card is planned to be accepted by e.on-powered charging stations. But it failed.

I walked inside the TÜV-office and asked the friendly employee how to deal with the charging station. It seemed clear to be a very unusual request. After consulting his boss he gave me their own card for free.

Unfortunately the charging station was an older model with two 32A CEE plugs and two 13A common Schuko plugs. There were no 32A IEC 62196 Type-II plugs.
So I had to charge via the adapter at 230V/13A.

Charging via the adapter due to the lack of a new standard power plug

We had lunch at a near restaurant for about 1.5 hours. In the meantime #014 draw about 4.5kWh of sun generated energy provided by the solar roof panels installed at the top of the TÜV-building.

MINI E charging at TÜV Starnberg

Friday, 28 January 2011

Charging at public station of Stadtwerke München

Deutsche Version
In the urban area of Munich the Stadtwerke München (local supplier) operate charging stations of different manufacturers. At sunday I tried out charging at a differnt type of charging station.
I was driving to the Landshuter Allee and spotted the charging station after a short search.
The Map of charging stations did not show the exact position.

Position of the charging station

Nevertheless I reached the charging station. Manufacturer seems to be a company called ESG.

SWM charging station at Landshuter Allee

The charging station has both at the left and right side two shut ports for the plugs and a small but sufficient display (indicating ready for use and a telephone number).

The activation of the charging process proved to be a challenge for an electromobile pioneer.

To use this type of station I got an identification card. Due to the card seems to operate with RFID-technology, I put it against the station underneath the diplay. No reaction. Next try left of the diplay, then right of the display, above the display, underneath again, on the SWM-letters, at the side underneath the closed ports... no reaction.
Maybe there might be a flap which has to be opened first? Going around the station several times, investigating every cavity for use as a handle or a card slot. Some soft-touch areas to open a flap? Negative!

Once more "scanning" the front of the device with the card and finally: as I positioned the card at a distinctive place which I just missed before between the display and the SWM-letters, the display says:
- proving authorisation

approximate position of the card activating the station

The lack of an adequate marking may be due to the recent installation of the charger.
After positive identification the ports are opened motor driven.

Schuko-plug and IEC 62196-2 Typ 2 -plug

Please plug in

After plugging in the charging cord the three unused ports close one after another, combined with an importunate beeping. So the beeping occurs every time one of the ports is closing, the inexperienced user presumes a problem and panics, but in the end the charging station starts charging the car.
Anyhow, the sound of the beeping and the loudness seems not to be suitable for sensitive residental neighborhood.

Charging cord plugged in.

To end the charging the card has to be positioned at the descripted area once again, the charging operation is aborted and the plug is released to be disconnected.
Concluding the amount of kWh is displayed and the port is shut.

#014 charging at the Landshuter Allee

UPDATE 31.05.2011:
As I had again the chance to use this public station, there was a new sticker on the front side. This sticker marks the position for the identification card. In this case the login works perfectly if you know the meaning of the marked point. A detailed instruction for a first-time-user like "Please apply your identifikation card here" would have been a little better.