Tesla Supercharger Overtakes CHAdeMO

As of December 17, there are more Tesla Supercharger charging points in the US than CHAdeMO, saysInsideEVs. While Tesla has only 141 Supercharger locations, each one of them has up to 12 chargers for a total of 884 individual charging points. Each CHAdeMO charging station has only 1. Worldwide, the CHAdeMO network, which is used exclusively by Nissan for recharging its LEAF EVs, is still far ahead, but Tesla is working quickly to bring new Supercharger facilities on line in Asia and Europe.

At present, there are three competing charging systems for EVs – Tesla’s Superchargers, CHAdeMO and the system chosen by most to the world’s major manufacturers that uses the SAE standard. Over the coming years, one of those networks will become dominant.

But which one? Elon Musk has offered to make all the patents Tesla holds for its Supercharger technology available free of charge to any other company that agrees to use his system. So far, Ford, GM, Chrysler, Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Toyota, Honda and Volkswagen have all said, “Thanks, but no thanks.”

 Tesla Supercharger System Map As Of December, 2014

Source: InsideEV's

California To Require All New Homes Be EV Capable

In its continuing efforts to promote electric car ownership, California is considering adopting building codes that require all new homes and apartment buildings be “EV Capable” to allow residents to easily install home charging stations, reports The Long Tailpipe.

Starting in 2015 or 2015, California building codes won’t require builders to install EV charging stations, as even in the Golden State plug-in car sales represent a small fraction of new vehicle sales. Rather, the law requires the running of a wire conduit carrying the high-voltage wires to the house, specifically the garage, and also requires an upgrade to the service panel. This means adding an EV charging station will be much easier and less costly for future owners, should they decide to eventually add a home charger of their own. This follows the recent passage of six other EV-friendly laws aimed at putting 1.5 million plug-in cars on California’s roads by 2025.

Right now many older homes need to be retrofitted in order to support EV charging stations, often at the cost of thousands of dollars to the homeowner. The added cost of installing the conduit and wiring during construction is estimated to be just $50 per home, so the construction companies don’t have much incentive to fight the effort.

But how does this affect say, apartment buildings? In scenarios where there are 17 or more parking spots, just 3% of those spots have to be wired for an EV charger. This realistic approach acknowledges that for years to come, EV sales will likely remain a small slice of total new car sales. As electric cars become more popular though, new home buyers will be spared the expense of re-wiring their homes for EV chargers, which could be the determining factor in their final purchase.

Anything that makes owning an electric car easier can only help speed the adoption of these zero emissions vehicles.

Source: Gas 2.