Thursday, March 12, 2009

Charging at work

When starting this project, one of the design criteria was determining the required range of the vehicle. It was decided that it had to be able to get me back and forth to work without charging -- in case I had to turn back when I got to work for some reason (sick kids at daycare, etc.).
But most of the time, I would drive to work, charge, and drive home. This ensures that the batteries are not over discharged and should greatly extend their life (and reduce the overall cost per km traveled). That is why I made sure to get approval to charge at work before choosing a car, batteries, etc.

I approached the manager of building services / facilities last summer. He readily agreed to provide a solution when the time came. I contacted his office this week, and with approval from security, we've found a convenient parking space where a plug is already in place. Building services will simply ensure that it has two independent 20A circuits.

Meanwhile, I can park there and use one of the two plugs (switching from the charging the batteries at the front, to those at the back, at lunch time). So I'm taking the car to work tomorrow:


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