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Electric car chargers aren't chargers at all – EVSE Explained

Technology Connections

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  • Recommended by 4 people: 4 on Hacker News.
  • A classic. People kept recommending it from 2021 to 2024.
  • Presented by Alec Watson, creator of Technology Connections

Beginner. No background in the topic needed.

2.2M views6 years ago4 recommendations

HardwareSystems programmingElectronicsEmbedded systems

Alec Watson explains that home EV chargers are actually smart safety switches called EVSEs, detailing the signaling and safety mechanisms they use.

THERE HAS BEEN SOME NEWS - There's a pinned comment you might want to read. But there's some links down here, too. Firstly and of supreme importance, the video on the Bolt's Bits from Weber Auto - Prof. John Kelly is amazing and you really ought to give that channel a look if you're interested at all in hybrid and EV tech; youtube.com/watch?v=5gDILvW5yMg Then my usual ones; Technology Connextras (the second channel that stuff goes on sometimes): youtube.com/channel/UClRwC5Vc8HrB6vGx6Ti-lhA This channel is supported through viewer contribution on Patreon. Thanks to the generous support of people like you, Technology Connections has remained independent and possible. It's how I can make fun of products like these! If you'd like to join the amazing people who've pledged their support, check out the link below. Thank you for your consideration! patreon.com/technologyconnections And a big heartfelt thanks to the following Patrons! David Gauthier, Jonathan Paz, Ruben Schade, Tyler James, Jason Stielow, Julia Rose, SJ , Cory Durham, Christopher Rebert, Glen Parker, Edward Drozd, Sam Barber, Austin Whaley, Rohan Patil, Nicholas Hubbard, Ryan Bateman, Larry Wheeler, Rob Coleman, Aaron Murray, Liam , Andira Muttakim, Jesus Villafranca, huitz, NextMan , Jace Fuse, Denis Phillips, Jon Adams, Eric Noriega, lastsecondsave , Marcus Congdon, Loni Nix, Bernardo , Damnable Nook, Elijah Gould, Tyler Warren, Kevin Ingersoll, C. A. Patrick Voigt, Andrew Hangsleben, Alex , Mike Jacob, Prashant Sinha, reavisrk ., coudy , Matthew Stoldal, Nathan Lawrence, Charles Gillanders, Danielle Duarte, sheepish.alpaca , Juhani Saarinen, Ashley Hakker, M10360 , Salvatore Nuzzo, Jake Austin, Thibault Martin-Lagardette, Eric Hoppe, Rob Lion, Nikolaus , Ohad Lutzky, Marek Standio, John Julian, Edward Harris, Jean-Baptiste Dubois, Michael Young, Mirror, Rebecca Valentine, Justin Howell, wingee , Cmdr MadMax, Chris Miller, David Cawthon, Brian Taylor, Arnas , Jacob Kubacki, Steven West, Bob Meyers, BEAVIS, Michael, Ross George, Kael, Merton Hale, Nodar Rocko Davituri, Dawn Swain, JCRail , Bill Holland, James , Micah Catlin, AZbytes , Sebastian Schagerer, cody thompson, John Goldhamer, Bob Holt, John-Paul Holt, Alex Nelson, Ruleryak, Andrei Blinov, Andrew Rogers, wholegroanoats , Michael Pecorini, Torte Hanrahan, Jamie Mastro, Shivan , Ethan Pierce, Danila Alpatov, XPEric , NQR , Kelvin Hall, Two Fabulous Lesbians who just bought a house!, Jeff Powell, Anthon Hintzen, Devin Luxner, CJ Mariani, Stefan Kaczmarek, Timm B, Stefano, Harrison Wright, Wolf Tolbert, DeepestBlue , Nhan L, Sebastien De Groof, Robert T Kirton, Alex Ferriroli, Juha Kuikka, Maggie Danger, Jay 'Unionize Everything Except Cops' Logan, Conduit of Queerness, Mage of Life, Matthew Lowe, An Ho, Steven Byrum-Bratsen, Sean Callinan, Scott Schreiber, Mitch Buchan, Anicra , Sarah Collie, Maxime André, Chaos215bar2 , Michael Grados, Daniel Nefzger, Matias Mariani, Christopher Barback, yet

Why it's here

4 people recommend this

What people say. Recommended as an excellent, clear explanation of EVSE technology and how electric vehicle charging safety works.

Moto7451on Hacker News • Recommends

On “Creating a low-cost EV charging station with Arduino”

In case you don't watch Technology Connections... 1. You probably should, Alec is great. 2. Here's a longer broader video about what goes on in an EVSE: link to this video There are too many comments to go sling context left and right, but generally an EVSE is a controller board (what this is implementing), a contactor (this board uses relays), and a GFCI (in North American parlance), which his RCBO provides along with being a current limiting circuit breaker. Contactors are generally better for these use cases for reliability and current handling reasons but it wouldn't surprise me if SCRs and Relays are in use in low cost 16A EVSEs on Amazon.

alexgartrellon Hacker News • Recommends

On “Oil companies buying up EV charging networks: Shell acquires Ubitricity”

I'm not an electrical engineer, but from watching this video 0, there seem to be about a million and a half different mechanisms to prevent sparks from chargers. 0 link to this video

rusanuon Hacker News • Recommends

On “Bosch gives go-ahead for volume production of silicon carbide chips”

A quick intro into EVSE and why there is no power 'charger' in them, and the space they take is just empty air link to this video

stetrainon Hacker News • Recommends

On “EV Chargers Should Be Dumber”

A helpful video about what's inside an AC EV "charger": link to this video Really the only difference with the fancier ones is they have a screen and payment terminal or NFC terminal for activating and paying. Like a gas pump, although most want you to use their app and membership to save (them) on credit card processing fees. DC fast chargers are a whole different story, where the AC to DC conversion happens external to the car.

abeppuon Hacker News • Mentions

On “Electric vehicles close to ‘tipping point’ of mass adoption”

I'm curious how many EV purchasers live in single family homes, or other places where they can provide their own ability to charge at home. I wonder if a new scale of adoption will require a change where most (or a lot) of street parking is by cheap charging. link to this video