AeroVironment Makes Announcement
3 December 1998
AeroVironment Announces the Listing of PosiCharge Electric Vehicle Fast Charge Station With Underwriters Laboratory
PHOENIX, Ariz.--Dec. 3, 1998--
PosiCharge Level Three Fast Charge Stations
Are Now UL Listed and SAE Standard Compliant
AeroVironment Inc. of Monrovia, Calif., Thursday announced the listing of the PosiCharge Fast Charge Stations with Underwriters Laboratory (UL).
This significant milestone event puts the PosiCharge charging systems in a very exclusive club. This product is now one of very few Level Three Electric Vehicle (EV) charging systems tested and proven to meet the stringent safety requirements of the recently released EV industry specific UL documents.
UL, in cooperation with EV industry participants, has developed three new listing documents created to help ensure safe EV charging products are delivered to the marketplace.
The first document, UL-2202, covers the physical charging station including its design, construction, and materials used. The second document, UL-2251, deals specifically with the cable coupler assembly that connects to the EV. The third document, UL-2231, covers personnel protection systems such as ground fault detection and safety ground verification.
The PosiCharge system has not only been tested to these three standards, but has also passed the tests for another critical UL document, UL-1998, which covers safety critical software.
AeroVironment is committed to ensuring that safety requirements are met before making a widespread introduction of any product into the marketplace.
As Ilker "Ike" Bayraktar, vice president of Sales & New Business Development for AeroVironment, noted at a recent EV conference, "Meeting the industry standards for vehicle and charger physical and electrical compatibility is just not enough; the charging system must be safe for use in the public, by the public."
UL approval signifies that the critical safety requirements have been met and that PosiCharge is safe for public deployment.
AeroVironment's Level III fast charger will significantly advance the usable range of electric vehicles by charging a battery pack in a matter of minutes instead of hours. PosiCharge marks the emergence of a new fast charge market, as public infrastructure was difficult to establish when recharge times were six to eight hours.
With the PosiCharge system, many locations are now viable recharge sites: restaurants, rest stops and shopping malls. The PosiCharge design incorporates an industry-standard connector in compliance with SAE J-1772 for conductive charging equipment.
The system also complies with SAE J-2293, the standard for communication, control, and power transfer. The installation of industry-standard infrastructure ensures that automobiles, trucks and buses can use the same charging stations.
Most automotive companies have embraced the conductive charging standards implemented in the PosiCharge system. These include BMW, Daimler Chrysler, Ford, Honda, Mazda, Peugeot, Renault, Solectria, and Volkswagen.
Ford took delivery of the first production intent PosiCharge unit at its Electric Vehicle Division last November, and Ford has specifically designated the PosiCharge as an approved charger for its Ranger EV truck.
PosiCharge is sold and serviced through a distribution network currently covering the North American Continent and Hawaii. The distributors are the Hawaiian Electric Co. (HECO), Southern Co., Boston Edison, Central and Southwest and Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), in the United States, as well as Hydro Quebec in Canada.
Created in 1971 to meet environmental and energy needs now and in the future, AeroVironment has a long-standing track record of success through creative engineering solutions that emphasize efficiency, performance and alternative energy.
Active in the development of new marketplaces, AeroVironment's products lead the industry in electric vehicles, distributed energy generation and remotely piloted aircraft. Visit the company's Web site at www.aerovironment.com.
NOTE TO EDITORS: PosiCharge is a registered trademark of AeroVironment Inc.