AAA To Offer Mobile EV Charging
AAA is ready to start assisting electric car owners who run out of juice on the road, according to the motor club. It showed off a fully functioning electric-vehicle mobile charging unit at a conference for electric vehicles held last week.
The mobile charging unit will come with a Level 2 charger and a faster Level 3 charger, which can be used on the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi i MiEV. The fast charger is designed to work with quick-charging systems compatible with the CHAdeMO protocol, and on the Leaf, it can charge the electric car to about 80% capacity in as little as 30 minutes.
AAA hasn’t released any additional information on service prices or charging time; we can’t imagine they’ll have a service person wait eight hours as you charge your Leaf on Level 2 charger.
Nissan provides complimentary towing for Leaf owners who run out of battery power, but not a quick-charge service.
More information on the mobile charging unit will be released next month, and the motor club plans on putting the unit into service later this summer. Five more units will come to California, Florida, Washington and other states by August, according to Fast Company.
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Good move.
EV chargers (Level 2 & 3) should also be installed in all Vending Machines, Libraries, Post Offices, Malls, Gas stations, etc.
They won't actually sit there for 30 minutes and fill your battery to 80% capacity (or 8 hours if only using a level 2), just as if you run out of gas they won't come and fill your tank with gasoline.
They'll charge you just long enough to get you to the next charging station. Probably take 10 minutes for a level 3 or 2 hours for a level 2.
Dan's correct. Presumably they'd give you enough to get home or to a fixed charging station. Chances are you'll be almost there when you run dry, having just overestimated range. Level 2 gives the Cars.com Leaf roughly 10 miles for every hour of charging. With its higher-capacity onboard electronics (6.6 kW), the Ford Focus Electric should charge twice as fast. A few minutes of juice should get you that extra mile or so to your home or another option.