Yo:
As I didn’t want to interfere with your frog ID reel thread, I spun of this post concerning the “blink” EV Charger.
It is an interesting topic of the not too distant future. If I understand you right, Andy Hooper is sitting beside you in the office. I hope he doesn’t mind, if I discuss a small aspect of the “Blink” in open public:
What I see here with some concern is the cable storage.
I can’t comment on the software interface on the blink, but the “low mechanical complexity” hardware is not
convincing me. I for one would love the cable to be wound and unwound in a more mannerly way.
It’s true, most garage spaces are a bit of a mess, but as as a designer one shouldn’t plan on that in the first
place.
To save “wear and tear” on the cable, to keep it clean and dry I would prefer it to be winched on a reel like in
most other technical applications.
If you wish to keep “mechanical complexity” down have a look at the solution of the “Vorwerk Kobold” vaccum, that I portrait below:
I think the pictures speak for themselves. In my opinion it is a simple and clever way of cable
storage, but has the downside, that the user is responsible for laying down the cable in a routine
way in order not to damage the cable. Furthermore users tend to overtighten the cable in this
kind of clamp what would break the leads inside the cable.
So it is for good reason, that most electrical devices, that come with cables of certain
length, include solutions that are a little more complex but offer a protective and tidy storage.
Given that the cables in EV Stations will be of fairly high voltage one wouldn’t want to expose the
user to any risks.
As I happen to have a fair amount of experience in the business of wire and cable packaging
I would gladly discuss a more elaborate cable winch for future projects.
Feel free to contact me over this board, if you like.
yours mo-i