ELECTRIC CHARGING STANDARD NEEDED

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August 22, 2018 Vol. 15 No. 17

Being an equal-opportunity writer, let me pay some attention to electric trucks after focusing on hydrogen fuel cells last time out. There’s much more to say about hydrogen — in a minute — but let’s start with an important aspect of the fast-growing electric option. Namely, charging standards.

Penske Truck Leasing has joined the Charging Interface Initiative, a group oddly known as ‘CharIn’, focused on promoting the ‘Combined Charging System’ or CCS as a global standard for charging electric vehicles. Penske’s not alone. Giant electric truck and battery maker BYD joined the group last month, other members being companies such as BMW, FCA, Ford, GM, Porsche, and Renault.

Earlier this year the Society of Automotive Engineers published a recommended practice for plug-in charging of heavy-duty electric vehicles. The new standard was designed to offer a single vehicle charging coupler solution for three-phase and single-phase AC and DC charging.

SAE approved a new, three-phase coupler for plug-in charging of electric vehicles, along with the organization’s recommended practice for plug-in charging of such vehicles.

Dubbed the J3068 Electric Vehicle Power Transfer System, the new coupler was developed from existing international standards, which were extended to cover higher North American grid voltages and higher power levels.

According to SAE, J3068 allows vehicles to fully utilize three-phase AC power where it is available and preferred, such as at commercial and industrial locations.

For more information about “J3068: Electric Vehicle Power Transfer System Using a Three-Phase Capable Coupler,” or to purchase the standard, go here.

PENSKE WILL FOCUS its attention on promoting charging standards for commercial vehicles by participating in the group’s High Power Charging for Commercial Vehicles Task Force.

“As a leading services provider to commercial fleets, we feel standardization around electric vehicle charging and charging stations will help accelerate the use of electric vehicles within the transportation industry,” said Brian Hard, president and CEO of Penske Truck Leasing. “The interoperability of vehicle charging stations over the road is essential for commercial fleet uptime, efficiency, maintenance, and general ease of use for the industry.”

Standardizing electric vehicle charging standards could reduce complexity of the technology for fleets and drivers as well as for maintenance providers and vehicle recharging companies.

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Rolf Lockwood is editor emeritus of Today's Trucking and a regular contributor to Trucknews.com.