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182 Comments
- one504, on 04/20/2009, -5/+196So glad Sony doesn't make cars.
- andrewkinder, on 04/20/2009, -2/+126i can't wait for the Monster™ version
- Warden72, on 04/20/2009, -3/+122The rest are choosing Sony's plug ;)
- dvsbastard, on 04/20/2009, -2/+109Now let's see the same from mobile phone manufacturers...
/wishful thinking - inactive, on 04/19/2009, -1/+72Good to see this kind of collaboration among the leading automakers. Come on Nissan, Hyundai and Chrysler...
- mattcc42, on 04/20/2009, -0/+66That is surprisingly logical
- Slade605, on 04/20/2009, -3/+53Personally I'd be more worried about Apple.
- muffcakes, on 04/20/2009, -2/+47Yeah- Imagine if instead of changing your tire you had to replace your car. Lame.
- RobbyK, on 04/20/2009, -0/+37It's in the works:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7894763.stm - prisoner24601, on 04/20/2009, -0/+33How dare you mock BetaPlug?! Also, we have a product roadmap to introduce StickPlug and then quickly replace it with StickPlug Duo and then MicroStickPlug over the next decade. You'll be fine as long as you only buy Sony electric cars...
- ihate2regist, on 04/20/2009, -2/+32You can only drive on the roads that Steve allows you to.
- dpknc84, on 04/20/2009, -1/+28It's a special outlet designed for just charging up your vehicle. Several new home builders are installing them in garages and cities are sticking them in special "ev" spots in parking decks. The "ev" spots in decks are metered by the local power company and you are charged by an initial swipe of your credit card before plugging in. The higher voltage decreases charge time which is why I guess the jacked up (no pun intended) the voltage to 400.
- Mike17102, on 04/20/2009, -0/+26It will cost at least as much as the car itself, but it will protect you from "power goblins".
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2002/11/25/ - STBAT25, on 04/20/2009, -0/+24I can't believe they actually all agreed. I guess they're all in the same boat so they might as well not waste time and money on this.
- inactive, on 04/20/2009, -0/+23On behalf of Monster Cable Products Inc. you are ordered to cease and desist unauthorized use of the registered trademark Monster™ name. Compensation for said trademark infringement is $5,000 or 10 ft of Monster™ HDMI cable, and must be made by May 1st 2009.
- YokohamaGaijin, on 04/20/2009, -3/+19120, 240 and 480VAC are North American standard voltages available.
- inactive, on 04/20/2009, -0/+16Yeah, I doubt very seriously that's the actual plug, dude.
- inactive, on 04/20/2009, -0/+15The standard North American home does not have 3 phase power. Commercial yes, residential no. The standard US home has 110 and 220 power available.
- bigbill780, on 04/20/2009, -4/+18400 volts? Where exactly would you get that kind of juice? If im not mistaken the American standard high voltage outlet is 220 volts. EEs please clear this up, im a Civil.
- benologist, on 04/20/2009, -0/+12It doesn't matter what plug they chose.
Wasn't this pretty much inevitable anyway? Gas pumps fit all cars don't they? - Origin415, on 04/20/2009, -0/+12The part they standardized is the part that goes into the car, not the part that goes into the wall.
- DirtyBinLV, on 04/20/2009, -1/+12
Did you miss the part of the article where a bunch of major automakers agreed on a standard plug for their electric cars? That's a pretty big step towards making EVs a mainstream product. Now the charging stations can standardize on this plug and we can move forward with building those en masse. - trdrstv, on 04/20/2009, -2/+13Non-user changeable oil.
- bal00, on 04/20/2009, -0/+11They chose 400 V / 63 A because the standard is primarily intended for Europe, and 400 V three-phase service is common there.
Tankless electric water heaters for example draw ~20.000 watts max, so they use 400 V / 63 A loops. Some homes also have 400 V / 63 A outlets in the garage for stuff like welders, air compressors or construction equipment. - dsmx, on 04/20/2009, -0/+11I define superior in this context as offering better quality.
- johnpaul191, on 04/20/2009, -0/+10I was in LA over 10 years ago and most parking garages had (a few) spots for electric cars to recharge. You swiped your credit card and it billed you. Smart battery chargers know when the battery is topped off, much like your cell phone etc. If i remember right there were two different types of chargers that i saw.
This means you don't need "gas stations". You could charge your car at home, parking garages etc. The idea is that any place with parking lots where you would leave your car for a while can instal charging stations. Even along the highway, a rest stop can put these in. You take a driving break and get something to eat while the car charges. The next generation of electric car batteries do not require anything close to overnight charges. They are much much faster. - bachflomid, on 04/20/2009, -1/+11Everybody that has replied so far is way off base. It does not matter what the input voltage to a charger is, as long as it is designed to accept a specific voltage. A charger would most likely have a step-up transformer in it. There are two big reasons why they would go with 400v: 1. When you increase the voltage, you decrease the current, so a thinner gauge wire would be needed from the charger to the car and they could use lighter duty charging plugs. 2. The battery packs in EV cars are in series, and would most likely be near 400v when fully charged. If they chose a lower voltage for the charging port on the car, the step-up transformer (they usually are a very heavy 200-300lbs.) would now have to be located IN the vehicle somewhere. Hauling around all that extra weight would lower the efficiency of the vehicle.
- LonesomeFighter, on 04/20/2009, -2/+11i wouldn't be so sure about that. i could see companies doing their own way and selling cheap. Then when all their recharging ways are built everywhere, they own the market and sell the rights for others to plug into it.
i'm glad they are all standardized to begin with - dsmx, on 04/20/2009, -0/+9To be fair most of sony's non standard compliant stuff has been a superior format.
- SpeedSteamBoat, on 04/20/2009, -0/+9[citation needed]
- Chirp08, on 04/20/2009, -3/+11Fiat & Chrysler are merged, so if Fiat is in, Chrysler is obviously in.
- inactive, on 04/20/2009, -1/+8They're car companies, not oil companies. As long as people buy their vehicles, they don't care if they're powered by hamster power.
- inactive, on 04/20/2009, -1/+8Your car has received an error. Please contact your cars administrator.
Error in 00x0000x000x000000
Your car is shutting down. - Lazydriver, on 04/20/2009, -1/+8Uhm, these are major manufactures going electric.
Really, they feel they can sell electric cars. It's not about oil, it's about "are people gonna buy our car and is it worth sinking the company for?" - jabberwolffff, on 04/20/2009, -1/+8well thats still alot better than letting Apple decide, they'd want royalties on their choice
- deadasdisco, on 04/20/2009, -0/+7if you're relying on a car to get you pussy, then you're doing it wrong.
- alaaco, on 04/20/2009, -0/+7Who said anything about billions of dollars?
- rif42, on 04/20/2009, -0/+6FTA: “three-point, 400-volt plug”
There is very little information about this plug standard in the article, but I think it is in reality a 3 phase 230V which combined gives the 400V system. This fit into the existing IEC standards of 3Phase + Neutral + Earth (5 pins) plug system. What is not mentioned is if it will be 32A or 16A.
An example of this plug can be seen at first photo here:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60309
Perhaps the car plug will have a different shape, that is OK, as long as they all use the same. - inactive, on 04/20/2009, -0/+6Is the computer you typed that nonsense on hydrogen-powered?
- Marmot, on 04/20/2009, -0/+6By converter, do you mean a AC step-up transformer? I can't quote an efficiency rating for a standard AC transformer, but they're fundamental to our power grid. I think the efficiency is better than you might expect.
- mianos, on 04/20/2009, -1/+7That picture is the 'contribution' of the site that copied the news, with attribution, from http://www.physorg.com/news159365523.html
Please, please, a 'refactor' system for digg is long overdue. Half the stuff here is a blog post to a post, to an article etc etc. - diggimator, on 04/20/2009, -0/+6I heard that Engadget thinks it's awesome.
- matrixbandit, on 04/20/2009, -0/+6lol. It wouldn't be very bright to run 400 volts over a plug that you could very easily come into direct contact with accidentally.
- Jektal, on 04/20/2009, -0/+5Also, can you charge a car from another car, like a jumper cable?
- Rivetgeek, on 04/20/2009, -0/+5Are you drunk? The point is that electricity can be produced cleanly and sustainably, gasoline can not.
Not to mention if we get this country off oil, we can stop sucking OPECs collective *****. - stk198323, on 04/20/2009, -0/+5They didn't merged, fiat acquired some stocks in Chrysler, doesn't mean that they are they will follow fiat like a well trained dog!
Of course Fiat now has a huge decision power for Chrysler, but they can't just decide everything either. - Eyght, on 04/20/2009, -0/+5"Update: The plug depicted above is not the agreed upon standard. At the time of the press release, I could not find a difinitive picture. Sorry for any confusion."
Kind of important. - inactive, on 04/20/2009, -1/+6Apple Fire Drive. (patent number 666-666-666)
- centran, on 04/20/2009, -0/+5So... will you be plugging into the car or is there a cord coming out of the car that you plug into the wall?
- ProtocolDroid, on 04/20/2009, -1/+6Just look at the comments for this story: http://digg.com/apple/Insanely_Great_What_if_Steve ...
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