Eaton to develop affordable home refueling station for natural gas vehicles; liquid piston technology

Eaton Corporation will develop an affordable home refueling station for natural gas vehicles, utilizing existing natural gas sources in the home and innovative compressor technology. The effort is funded in part by a $3.4-million grant from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) MOVE project.

The refueling system will use liquid to act as a piston to compress natural gas. (E.g., earlier post.) Innovative heat exchanger technology will improve efficiency and cut cost dramatically. Eaton will collaborate with the University of Minnesota on thermodynamic analysis and modeling to enable the efficient transfer of heat in the compression process.

The goal is to develop a production prototype for refueling stations that will retail for about one-tenth of the cost of currently available systems. The development project will be led by Eaton’s Innovation Center teams in Southfield, Mich., and Milwaukee and the Advanced Hydraulics group in Eden Prairie, Minn. Teams will draw on Eaton’s expertise in hydraulic component and systems design and experience gained through development and installation of thousands of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in public and residential spaces across the country.

Current natural gas refueling systems cost between $5,000 and $10,000. Eaton expects that its prototype will be available before the end of 2015 with a target production price of $500. In the hydraulics industry, Eaton is a leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of a comprehensive line of reliable, high-efficiency hydraulic systems and components for use in mobile and stationary applications, including markets such as agriculture, alternative energy, construction, mining, oil and gas, transportation and more.

Back home, U.S. veterans install EV charging stations with VetCars

America's first line of defense against enemy forces is doing the same against range anxiety.

A U.S. government program that pays military veterans to install Eaton Corp.-produced electric-vehicle charging stations is expanding, Green Car Reports says.

Under the VetCars program, which involves the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Community College of Baltimore County, former soldiers are being trained to install EV chargers across the country, according to the publication. The program also involves the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and the company Autoflex, which installs the stations.

Charging stations have already been installed in the first five test cities: Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Detroit and Washington, D.C. Under the program, which has been in the works since October 2010, more than 60 stations have been installed at various Federal departments and agencies.

Source: Autoblog Green

Plug In Carolina selects Eaton to supply and support EV charging stations in South Carolina

Plug In Carolina has selected Eaton Corporation to supply and support a network of public electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in eight South Carolina cities. The project was previously awarded to Aerovironment (earlier post) but was reassigned to Eaton as it has the ability to meet the immediate needs of the project, according the new partners. The charging network was expected to be operational by 1 December 2010.

The project, which launched 15 June 2010, is funded by two state grants secured through the South Carolina Energy Office. The stations will be deployed in Greenville, Spartanburg, Blythewood, Columbia, Charleston, Rock Hill, Union, and Myrtle Beach, at key re-fueling hubs in each city.

The program will provide publicly accessible EV charging stations at locations such as municipal parking garages, public streets and retailers. Depending on host city requirements, the stations will be enabled for smart communications to facilitate the monitoring and management of the state-wide network of chargers.