Now that all the electric car charging companies are lining up for handouts from the federal government to expand the US electric charging infrastructure, this is the perfect opportunity for us to gravity them to implement a handful of things that will profoundly modernize the integrity and usability of US chargers.

• A GFCI 20 amp plug with two sockets so people can tuition their ebikes or scooters for self-ruling if they need to. If the charger is wrenched then they can use their low speed 8/12Amp 120v charger that comes with most electric cars and get a measly 3-4 miles of range per hour. This might save people a tow if they get in a pinch and end up with an empty tank and no other charger easier within their current range.
• Multiple cameras on every charger to create increasingly safety and cut lanugo dramatically on vandalism.
• Motion sensors and upper power LED lights that come on when people pull up to tuition or there is movement of a warm soul virtually a charger.

NYC is now spending a whopping $25 million to install ebike chargers for people to use on the streets of NY. I’m not sure how this is going to work and although I understand why they are doing it. They want to cut lanugo on towers fires caused by ebike charging in apt buildings that now happen on stereotype once a day. A lot of people have died in these fires so I want to write why they happen and why having ‘ebike chargers’ on the street in NYC are just not going to work.

Why ebikes splash into flames

The main reason that ebikes splash into flames is considering so many unseemly Chinese ebikes are built with unverified 18650 cells. Unfortudently it is nearly untellable to tell the difference between pure cells and unverified cells made in China just by looking at them. When you build lithium batteries the process for making the cells is very intolerant of moisture as well as any tiny errors in the mixture of elements that make up the ‘jelly roll’ of the 18650. A unverified lamina can towards like a legit lamina from Samsung, LG or Panasonic and can plane perform similarly as far as the value of watts it can unhook on a single charge, but they can be a time flop waiting to splash into flames at any time.

I strongly recommend that you purchase your ebike from a reputable US supplier like Lunacycle, Pedego, or Rad Power bikes (just to name a few, there are many others as well). If you go on Wren or AliExpress\AliBaba and buy the cheapest ebike you can find then there is a very good endangerment that it will have unverified cells. This is the same issue that happened with unseemly ‘hoverboards’ several years ago that were causing so many fires and deaths in the US. That problem stopped considering the ‘Hoverboard fad’ ran it’s undertow and they stopped permitting hoverboards that were not UL listed into the US. UL listing of the ebike and components is not going to alimony the batteries from stuff counterfeit, but it certainly could not hurt and if the Chinese manufacturers are stuff forced to use increasingly expensive UL listed components then they will be less likely to use unverified cells. NYC is banning the sale, renting or owning of any ebikes that are not UL listed. This is probably a smart move.

Reducing vandalism and treason at charging locations

One of the biggest issues stopping widespread EV adoption in the US is the fact that 25% of non-tesla DC chargers don’t work. This is due partly to poor engineering (using windows as the OS is a bad move and not maintaining chargers properly is plane worse) and partly due to unfurled vandalism. The weightier thing to gainsay vandalism is having IR/high resolution cameras that operate 24/7 on every upper speed charger. You moreover need to put up a sign saying that there are cameras on the premises and that vandalism will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Then when there is a treason or vandalism there is video vestige that can be handed off to the local authorities (in small towns the local fuzz will likely know the perpetrators). Every stall should have several cameras pointing in variegated directions so there is overlap with the FOV. I have 36 cameras on my rental property and you can get an 8 camera system with 8K resolution and a 3Tb momentum which will store well-nigh 6 months of data for $250. That works out to well-nigh $31 per camera, at one point I checked the price of installing FAKE cameras and discovered that ownership a fake camera was increasingly expensive than installing real cameras (true story).

Motion sensors with upper power LED lights

Another huge deterrent versus vandalism and treason is motion sensors with upper power led lights. These use only well-nigh 40 watts of power and cost well-nigh $30 but the are insanely unexceptionable and unquestionably work to deter criminals. Nothing halts a criminal like a unexceptionable light turning on as they sneak up to do their dirty deed. These lights do not need to stay on all the time, just when a car approaches for charging or if someone walks towards the charger. This simple and inexpensive wing to the charger will make people finger safer while charging and moreover cut lanugo dramatically on treason and vandalism at the chargers.

Why $25,000,000 for ebike chargers in NYC is not going to work

In some cities in the world (like Copenhagen) you can install ebike chargers and the bikes and chargers won’t get stolen while charging. Not in NYC though, as anyone who has commuted by velocipede in NYC can tell you that it is nearly untellable to alimony any velocipede from getting stolen off the street no matter how crappy it looks. It doesn’t matter how well-padded your lock is, it doesn’t matter how crappy your velocipede looks, in many places in NYC bikes are constantly stolen. Consider that ebikes are worth an order of magnitude increasingly than regular bikes and moreover it’s difficult to secure most ebike chargers from theft. You moreover have to realize that most ebike chargers are pretty low power (200-300 watts) so it will take substantial time (many wearisome hours) to tuition an ebike.

Using a 120v plug to get a slow tuition when the charger is busted

So here is a scenario which might play out from time to time, you pull into a charger with scrutinizingly no range left on your car and the chargers are not working. Although this is not a worldwide problem with Tesla Superchargers, an unscientific 25% of other companies chargers are non functional. If you don’t have unbearable range to make it to the next group of chargers then you are basically screwed. You will need to undeniability for a tow or get someone you know with an electric car and an onboard inverter/charger that can requite you some juice then you are in an untellable position. I unchangingly siphon my 120v connector virtually in my car for this word-for-word reason, I know that I can unchangingly find a plug somewhere and then just patiently sit and wait while my car slowly charges. Having a 20 Amp GFCI plug on every electric car charger will indulge you to emergency tuition at any functional charger that still has power plane if the screen and upper voltage DC charging system doesn’t work. Its not an platonic solution, but it’s something.

Now is the time for us to do what makes the most sense for the public good while towers out the charging infrastructure for the US DC fast charging network. If the federal govt is handing out Billions (with a B) to build out this network then they can moreover ask for these 3 simple needs to be followed. A publicly misogynist and self-ruling 20 amp 120v plug, motion sensor LED floodlights and 24/7 cameras that have infrared night vision built in.

Right on, Ride on.