Eaton becoming a force in electric vehicle charging stations
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Eaton's Dale Jones hooks up a Mitsubishi all-electric car to the company's Type 3 commercial charging station. -
The operating controls on Eaton's Type 3 commercial electric auto charger are straightforward: Start, stop and a progress indicator.
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After the Mitsubishi subcompact carefully backed up to a tank at a station on Commonwealth Drive in Marshall, the driver jumped out and began to fuel the vehicle.
But he wasn't pumping gas. He was charging the all-electric car's battery before hopping back in for a spin on Route 19 through the busy Cranberry commercial corridor.
The driver, Dale Jones, works for Eaton Corp., which is testing electric car chargers at its Power Systems Experience Center. Eaton's electrical sector for the Americas region, based in Moon, designs and develops the technology for the chargers that are already powering electric vehicles for consumers in South Carolina, California and elsewhere.
Cleveland-based Eaton is among the businesses trying to get a piece of the ever-growing market surrounding electric cars. It has partnered with Mitsubishi Motors to make and demonstrate charging stations for the Japanese automaker's iMiEV (Mitsubishi Innovative Electric Vehicle), which is set to go on sale later this year in some western states; and also has developed demonstration and testing equipment for models including the Chevrolet Volt, an electric hybrid.
Other electrical companies developing the charger technology include industry giants Siemens, General Electric and Schneider Electric, while some automakers such as Toyota, which makes the Prius hybrid, are developing their own chargers.
Despite the competition, Eaton is confident it can win a sizable share of the market. The company projects there will be 400,000 electric vehicles on the roads of North America by 2020.
A major issue involved in getting all those vehicles on the highway, though, is how far they can travel before they power-down.
The Mitsubishi used in Eaton's tests can run for about 80 miles on one "tank" of electricity, said Dan Carnovale, manager of the Power Systems Experience Center at Eaton's Marshall site.
So while it might be an ideal energy saver for short trips around the neighborhood or even commuting to work, "You can't go long without chargers available," he said.
That's why Eaton's strategy includes working with state and municipal governments to come up with plans to integrate electric vehicle power stations into the infrastructure.
In South Carolina, for instance, it won a contract funded by the state's energy office that features Eaton electric vehicle chargers at municipal parking garages and retailers in eight cities.
First Published March 11, 2011 12:00 am
