Design By Many, a challenge-based design community, recently announced the winners of its Electric Vehicle Charging Station competition. First prize was awarded to the HMMY team for its Plug + Play concept. The smart-looking electric vehicle charging station attempts to stimulate awareness of the gap between production and consumption of energy. The design "generates a renewed consciousness of energy use in our modern lives," according to HMMY.
The exterior surface of the Plug + Play concept features a series of LED lights that act like a battery reader. The lights illuminate in a range of different colors to indicate when the station is ready for use or when the car battery is fully charged. Fitted with photovoltaic cells, the station is at full charging capacity after 8 hours of sunlight and it takes 30 minutes to charge an electric vehicle. Any excess or unused solar energy is then redirected back to the local power grid. The model's curves are designed to optimize absorption of the sun's rays whilst remaining compact enough to fit neatly into two standard parking bays.
The Plug + Play concept also includes the possibility to plug-in and watch a film, with a screen being mounted at one end of the unit. The concepts also allows the car to charge while the owner completes regular daily activities such as grocery shopping or going to the gym.
Source: Design By Many
First of all, nobody will use these things are they take up far too much valuable ground space.
Secondly, there is no hope in hell that the small surface produces enough power to charge the batteries of a car and most certainly not in 30 minutes with todays technology.
The losses are ridiculous because electricity needs to be stored either in batteries (while there is no car) or by putting the power into the grid (There is your first 15% loss already)
In the latter case, you just have a very expensive solar panel using up expensive parking space feeding the grid and nothing more.
Wishful thinking and utter nonsense. About as bad as an animation I saw where they tear down a coal powered electricity plant and replaced it with 3 wind mills. Yeah right, that is all it takes.
Does anyone study science anymore these days?
It takes 8 hours to charge the battery that charges the car's battery in 30 minutes. ........................................................................................................................
re; The Hoff
The problem is not the 'image' it's that electric cars are overpriced under-preforming pieces of junk.
"Designed to optimize absorption of the sun's rays" my shiny white butt... there's a reason why solar panels are *flat* and pointed in one direction. Or even better, flat and movable so they can track the sun.
A complex shaped cowl like they're proposing here may look pretty (so some; seems more like an eyesore to me), but it will be significantly more expensive to produce, and capture significantly less solar energy than a flat panel at the correct angle. Not to mention taking up a lot more precious space.
re; Paul van Dinther
That 15% loss guarantees you a charge even in a blackout.
With meta-materials the shape has become more or less irrelevant.