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Unless you live right next door to a public charging station, or are one of the lucky 4400 Chevrolet Volt owners who got a free charger from GM, powering-up your battery car is an issue.
Home charging stations, reports Gizmag, aren't included in the purchase price of the growing numbers of electric vehicles from major automakers, so you’ll be forced to shell out some extra cash if you want a faster charging option than is possible with the included 120V cable.
At least Ford’s home charging station for its new Focus Electric is shaping-up to be little cheaper, Gizmag tells us, and more flexible than some competitor offerings.
Instead of being hard-wired into the electrical breaker box, the home charging station for the Ford Focus Electric, which was jointly developed with Leviton, plugs into a 240V outlet. This means removing and replacing the charger, when moving house, for example, is as simple as unplugging and plugging it back in.
AMERICAN SOLUTION
The station is manufactured in the US and its exterior housing is made up of up to 60% post consumer recycled material. It will recharge the 2012 Ford Focus EV’s 23kWh battery pack in around three and a half hours and Ford says it will be compatible will all the company’s future electric vehicles.
With a standard installation, Ford’s home charging station is expected to retail for the equivalent of about R10 300, which doesn’t stack up too badly with its competitors - but none of the US prices include SA import duties.
The Chevy Volt’s 240V (level 2) Voltec home charging station will recharge the vehicle in around four hours and will set you back the equivalent of R3400, plus an estimated R10 000 for (permanent) installation.
Meanwhile the Nissan LEAF’s 240V home charging station, built and installed by AeroVironment, takes around seven hours to recharge the LEAF’s 24kWh battery pack and costs around R15 000 including (again, permanent) installation.
There is also a 500V level 3 quick-charging option available in Japan for the LEAF that will charge the vehicle’s 24kWh battery pack to 80% of full charge in less than 30 minutes but - and expensive but - it will require an costly three-phase connection in addition to the R122 000 purchase price for the charger.
Home charging stations, reports Gizmag, aren't included in the purchase price of the growing numbers of electric vehicles from major automakers, so you’ll be forced to shell out some extra cash if you want a faster charging option than is possible with the included 120V cable.
At least Ford’s home charging station for its new Focus Electric is shaping-up to be little cheaper, Gizmag tells us, and more flexible than some competitor offerings.
Instead of being hard-wired into the electrical breaker box, the home charging station for the Ford Focus Electric, which was jointly developed with Leviton, plugs into a 240V outlet. This means removing and replacing the charger, when moving house, for example, is as simple as unplugging and plugging it back in.
AMERICAN SOLUTION
The station is manufactured in the US and its exterior housing is made up of up to 60% post consumer recycled material. It will recharge the 2012 Ford Focus EV’s 23kWh battery pack in around three and a half hours and Ford says it will be compatible will all the company’s future electric vehicles.
With a standard installation, Ford’s home charging station is expected to retail for the equivalent of about R10 300, which doesn’t stack up too badly with its competitors - but none of the US prices include SA import duties.
The Chevy Volt’s 240V (level 2) Voltec home charging station will recharge the vehicle in around four hours and will set you back the equivalent of R3400, plus an estimated R10 000 for (permanent) installation.
Meanwhile the Nissan LEAF’s 240V home charging station, built and installed by AeroVironment, takes around seven hours to recharge the LEAF’s 24kWh battery pack and costs around R15 000 including (again, permanent) installation.
There is also a 500V level 3 quick-charging option available in Japan for the LEAF that will charge the vehicle’s 24kWh battery pack to 80% of full charge in less than 30 minutes but - and expensive but - it will require an costly three-phase connection in addition to the R122 000 purchase price for the charger.
