SAE International recently approved a new technical standard that will dramatically reduce charging times for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and electric vehicles (EV). Developed in a consensus environment by more than 190 global experts representing automotive, charging equipment, utilities industries and national labs, J1772™: SAE Electric Vehicle and Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicle Conductive Charge Couple enables charging time to be reduced from as long as eight hours to as short as 20 minutes.
The earlier versions of J1772™ defined AC Level 1 and AC Level 2 charge levels and specified a conductive charge coupler and electrical interfaces for AC Level 1 and AC Level 2 charging. This newly approved version defines DC charging with DC Level 1 and DC Level 2 charge levels and DC interfaces. The objective is to accommodate currents as high as 500 volts distributed from public charging stations to enable automakers to achieve their desired charging goal of less than 10 minutes with direct DC charging, or roughly the time it takes to fill a tank with gasoline.
The addition of DC charging to the new SAE J1772 rapid charge standard is now the third rapid charging technology being marketed in the U.S., alongside the Japanese-designed Chademo and Tesla-only Supercharger systems. The SAE and US automakers did not like the two separate connector Chademo approach found in the LEAF. They believed a single charging connector would allow for cleaner car design. Fortunately, the new standard allows for backward compatibility with existing level 2 chargers.
One of the first DC charging facilities in this area will be in the Auerbach Farms Shopping Center at the intersection of Highways 78 and 79 A Blink DC Fast Charger is expected to charge a Nissan Leaf battery up to 80 percent capacity in about 30 minutes
Click here to see the J1772™ SAE Charging Configurations and Ratings Terminology.