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Development of the Chevrolet Volt Portable EVSE 2011-01-0878

Published
04/12/2011

Tony Argote and Gery Kissel

General Motors Company

Copyright © 2011 SAE International

doi:10.4271/2011-01-0878

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION
One of the main aspects of the Chevrolet Volt is that the
The plug-in vehicles developed in the 1990's ushered in the
vehicle can be charged from any common AC receptacle in
first standards for electrified vehicles. These standards
less than 10 hours. For this concept to be realized, it was
included requirements for Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment
decided that a portable EVSE would not only be included
or EVSEs. EVSE is a general term for all the non vehicle
with the Chevrolet Volt, but a storage area under the rear
components needed to charge a plug-in vehicle. These
cargo floor would be provided.
components include cabling, connectors and shock safety
equipment. EVSEs are used to charge vehicles at home, work
Storing the portable EVSE on the vehicle presented many
and in commercial settings.
challenges. The two obvious are fundamental to any vehicle
component, physical size and mass. As the portable EVSE
Many people identify EVSEs with public charge stations.
specification developed however, other challenges surfaced.
While public charge stations are iconic with plug-in vehicles,
these are just one type of EVSE. Until public EVSEs become
With the portable EVSE possibly stored on the vehicle the
readily available, plug-in vehicle drivers will need to partially
device would need to tolerate the vehicle environment.
rely on portable versions of EVSE.
Factors including temperature and vibration needed to be
comprehended. While standards such as SAE J1772™
Portable EVSEs are required to provide the identical function
Electric Vehicle Conductive Charge Coupler and industry
and safety protection as their stationary cousins but their
safety documents from Underwriters Laboratory (UL)
portability brings unique challenges and design
provide guidance on temperature and vibration requirements
considerations.
these were considered insufficient to tolerate the vehicle
environment. In order to provide the Chevrolet Volt customer
Thermal, vibration, ergonomic and vehicle storage are just a
with a robust and reliable portable EVSE, it was decided to
few of the challenges facing design of portable EVSEs that
impose stricter requirements on the Volt's portable EVSE that
stationary EVSEs are completely or partially immune to.
were similar to other passenger compartment electronic
modules.
This paper will explore the development of the portable
EVSE for the Chevrolet Volt. Aspects of the portable EVSE
The challenge of developing a portable EVSE robust enough
design that will be explored include:
to survive a vehicle passenger compartment is the focus of
• Design requirements driven by portability this paper.
• Validation requirements and testing
• Ergonomics
• Supply base limitations
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Figure 1. Typical Vehicle Sun Soak Profile
THERMAL
AMBIENT TEMPERATURE
SAE J1772™ requires the charge coupler to operate in an
ambient temperature between −30 and +50 degrees Celsius.
SAE J1772™ does not currently identify an operating
ambient temperature range for the rest of the portable cordset
including the control electronics. Temperature requirements
referenced in safety standards documents such as UL2202
Electric Vehicle Charging System Equipment are intended to
establish limits related to product safety and not for vehicle
durability. For our operating ambient temperature
requirements vehicle cold soak and sun soak data was
referenced. An example of vehicle sun soak data appears in
Figure 1.
Use cases for the portable EVSE were also considered. It was
considered likely that a customer would consider charging
their vehicle during extremes of vehicle cold or hot soak
using the portable EVSE that was stored in the vehicle. After
review of the vehicle data, the ambient operating temperature
requirement of −40 to +80 degrees Celsius for the portable
cordset was established. In addition to ambient operating
temperature range, a non-operating storage temperature
excursion requirement of +85 degrees Celsius was
established to comprehend events such a paint baking during
repairs after a collision.
HIGH TEMPERATURE DURABILITY
The Chevrolet Volt portable EVSE was subjected to
sustained high temperature to evaluate material degradation
and diffusion based failure mechanisms. These high
temperature tests were conducted with the portable EVSE
operating. All functional requirements had to be met during
and after the test with all inputs/outputs operating normally.
To complement the ambient temperature testing noted above,
the portable cordset was tested operating at 60 degrees
Celsius for 1000 hours.
THERMAL SHOCK
The portability of the EVSE allows for use cases where the
EVSE may be subjected to sudden changes in ambient
temperature. The test severities of Chevrolet Volt portable
EVSE are based on the mounting location, internal use
location, external use location, and in vehicle during storage.
The use locations drive the minimum electrical, mechanical,
thermal, and climatic requirements. Understanding the usage
cases that would be characteristic of the portable EVSE,
performance criteria was set to allow for cyclical indoor to
outdoor temperature changes within the operating
temperature requirement of the EVSE. Cyclical thermal
testing of the unit within the operating temperature
requirement extremes, or Thermal Shock testing, is a method
of validating the robustness of the EVSE design against
thermal fatigue.
At the molecular level, temperature changes produce stress
between two bonding materials when those materials have
different coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE). In thermal
shock testing, the accelerated cyclical thermal exposure of the
EVSE produces cyclical stress, which over time may lead to
fatigue. By design, material selection for bonding material
interfaces must comprehend CTE to avoid thermal fatigue.
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Understanding failure modes driven by mismatches in
subcomponent interface CTEs is essential in assuring long
term durability of the EVSE.
For the development of the Chevrolet Volt portable EVSE, a
thermal shock profile was developed, which specified
temperature ranges within the units operating temperature
specification, dwell times, and number of cycles, all
correlated to the projected representative unit lifetime and
usage.
As with ambient temperature, the Thermal Shock profile
developed for the Chevrolet Volt portable EVSE exceeds the
minimum temperature ranges required in SAE J1772™.
POWER TEMPERATURE CYCLING
Power Temperature Cycling (PTC) of the EVSE is the second
step in quantifying the design's susceptibility to thermal
fatigue, immediately following Thermal Shock testing. In
contrast to Thermal Shock testing, in PTC the EVSE is
powered and constantly monitored. Under these conditions,
while the EVSE is subjected to the power and temperature
cycling stresses, failure modes related to integrated circuit
dies, solder creep, and mechanical attachments may all be
observed.
Active monitoring of the EVSE electrical outputs during PTC
allows for detection of variations in the unit's performance.
The pilot signal is an example of one EVSE output that is
held to a tolerance by specification. Shifts in component
values during PTC may essentially stack up and impact the
pilot signal output, which as a downstream affect changes the
communicated current availability to the EV, and in some
cases may interrupt charge. Attention to CTE values in the
design of the EVSE control the variation and susceptibility of
the impact of thermal cycling; PTC testing is used as a
validation method against the EVSE specification.
VIBRATION
A portable cordset's control electronics will be comprised of a
variety of electronic components. These electronic
components will include many leaded components such as
relays, capacitors, transformers, fuses, etc. In any electronic
module located on a vehicle, leaded components require
special attention to ensure they do not fail due to vibration
fatigue.
The vibration requirements in SAE J1772™ are specified for
the vehicle charge inlet, not for the portable cordset's control
electronics. Vibration requirements referenced in safety
standards documents such as UL2202 Electric Vehicle
Charging System Equipment are intended to establish limits
related to product safety and not for vehicle durability.
For the development of the Chevrolet Volt portable EVSE a
vibration and thermal soak profile was developed, as well as
6 axes shock loads to represent pothole impacts and minor
collisions.
SOLAR ULTRAVIOLET EXPOSURE
As EVs are expected to be charged using portable EVSEs in
both garage (indoor) locations as well as outdoor locations,
solar ultraviolet exposure is a factor taken into consideration
in establishing design and performance specifications for the
portable EVSE. When subjected to solar ultraviolet exposure,
the portable EVSE must maintain performance requirements,
safety requirements, and appearance requirements; the latter
of which is a considerable challenge.
Ultraviolet impact on material performance has been studied
sufficiently to provide material related specifications for
safety and long term durability. As an example, within
UL2251 Plugs, Receptacles and Couplers for Electric
Vehicles, the vehicle plug is required to pass an ultraviolet
light exposure test as referenced in UL746C Polymeric
Materials Use in Electrical Equipment Evaluations, section
28. This particular specification is a standard for safety of
polymeric materials used in electrical equipment. In this
regard, the portable EVSE is tested to meet mechanical,
thermal, and electrical performance requirements after
accelerated solar ultraviolet exposure.
The portable EVSE may also have appearance requirements,
as is the case for the Chevrolet Volt portable EVSE, which
are impacted by ultraviolet exposure. While industry
requirements for unattended household equipment are
understood for common electrical equipment and materials,
appearance properties, such as colorfast, are still an area
under development. This difference between readily available
materials with rated safety performance and materials with
appearance durability is a challenge which often results in
tradeoffs. For the portable EVSE, safety is an overriding
priority, thus the selection of readily available compounds for
materials are often limited in terms of long term appearance
performance. Colorfast development, as an example, will
undoubtedly be an area of development that will enable
competitive portable EVSE offerings that meet automotive
OEM appearance requirements.
ERGONOMICS
A portable EVSE must be designed for ergonomic ease of
use. The portable EVSE vehicle plug is estimated to be the
component most used by the consumer, and thus required
development of ergonomic design criteria. Pictured below,
the Chevrolet Volt portable EVSE vehicle plug incorporated
criteria for a range of hand profiles, as well as gloved and
ungloved hand criteria for users in any ambient. The vehicle
plug also incorporates an ultra-bright LED flashlight feature,
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which maximizes outdoor use in dark or unlit locations when
trying to plug in the EVSE while consuming minimal power.
Figure 2. Chevrolet Volt Portable EVSE Vehicle Plug
In addition to the vehicle plug, the portable EVSE main
enclosure for the Chevrolet Volt, pictured bellow in Figure 2,
included ergonomic design criteria. The key considerations in
the development of human interface and usage requirements
for the EVSE included portability, storage and simplicity. To
support portability, the EVSE was designed to with a soft-
touch carry handle and a cord reel styled main enclosure. The
soft-touch carry handle was designed with the same design
criteria used for the vehicle plug. The cord reel design of the
EVSE was developed to allow the customer to wrap the 6.1
Meters of EV cable from the main enclosure to the vehicle
plug, which aids in managing the EV cable as well as the
storage of the EVSE into the rear compartment within the
vehicle. In this respect, the human factors criteria driving the
reel design assisted in integrating the EVSE design into the
vehicle design. Undoubtedly portable EVSEs will offer a
variety of features and methods of execution to integrate
portability with storage, and functionality with ease of use.
With time and feedback from the consumer, the design of
portable EVSEs will evolve with ergonomics and human
factors playing a key role.
Figure 3. Chevrolet Volt Portable EVSE
SUPPLY BASE LIMITATION
With the requirements for the Chevrolet Volt portable cordset
complete, the sourcing process began. It became apparent
almost immediately that the supply base yielded its own set
of challenges.
A couple of equipment suppliers that manufactured portable
EVSE's in the 1990's and early 2000's were still in business.
In fact, some of the public EVSEs installed by these
companies in the 1990's were still in place and functional.
However none had portable EVSEs designed to meet our
requirements. Also none of these companies had ever been a
full Tier 1 supplier to an automotive OEM and did not have
the resources or experience to support a full production
program.
Conversely, traditional automotive OEM electronic module
Tier 1 suppliers had no experience with the challenges of
designing a product to conform to consumer product safety
standards.
General Motors solution to the supply base limitation was to
encourage an automotive OEM electronic module Tier 1
supplier to develop a portable cordset with a partner company
that already provided electrical distribution equipment and
safety electronics to the consumer market. The rationale for
this approach was that the automotive Tier 1 supplier
comprehends the challenges of developing electronics for the
automotive environment and can provide all the logistical
support to launch a production program. The Tier 1's partner
would provide the experience needed in safety electronics
and certification of the portable EVSE..
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SUMMARY/CONCLUSIONS DEFINITIONS/ABBREVIATIONS
Storing the Chevrolet Volt portable EVSE on the vehicle
presented many challenges. With the portable EVSE possibly CTE
stored on the vehicle the EVSE would need to tolerate the Coefficient of Thermal Expansion
vehicle environment. The Chevrolet Volt portable EVSE was
designed to requirements similar to other passenger EVSE
compartment electronic modules. Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment

Thermal and vibration performance requirements for the

portable EVSE were developed. These performance TS
requirements are more rigorous than the safety based Thermal Shock
performance requirements outlined in SAE J1772™ and other
safety standards from Underwriters Laboratory. PTC
Power Temperature Cycling
Innovation from a broadening supply base should result in
portable EVSEs with continued improvement in robustness,
durability and ergonomics. UL
Underwriters Laboratory
REFERENCES
1. SAE International Surface Vehicle Recommended
Practice, “SAE Electric Vehicle and PLug in Hybrid Electric
Vehicle Conductive Charge Coupler,” SAE Standard
J1772™, Rev. January 2010.
2. Underwriters Laboratory Standard, “Electric Vehicle
Charging System Equipment,” UL2202
3. Underwriters Laboratory Standard, “Plugs, Receptacles
and Couplers for Electric Vehicles,” UL2251
4. Underwriters Laboratory Standard, “Polymeric Materials
Use in Electrical Equipment Evaluations,” UL746C

CONTACT INFORMATION
Gery J. Kissel
gery.j.kissel@gm.com

Tony Argote Jr.

tony.argote@gm.com

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