I want to build a charging network. Please help.

[medved]

I am from one of those small countries in central Europe. And there isn't any network of charging stations. I just ordered Model S and want to make sure i will have places where to charge it other than at home.

Since there isn't any charging network I would like to build it myself. But i don't know how. There are so many questions i don't know how to answer.

- What kind of chargers there are?

- Are they compatible for all cars or you need for each car company different charging station.

- How can people pay for using the charging station? Does it work like a vending machine?

- Where can i buy those charging stations?

So if you live in a country where these charging stations already are, or you have any experience with it please let me know. How would you build a charging network?

Thank you for your help.

[JOEV1]

I dont know which country You are in, but in central Europe (Germany, Austria, Switzerland etc.) are several companies already providing charging for EV´s. (Park&Charge, ElektroDrive and others) But hardly provide more than 16 or 32 Amps.

Now, the story changes a little when You talk about quick charging a Tesla.
For a 70A HPC it might get a little tricky to find the infra structure to pull such currents.
In the average European one-family home the main fuse is a 35 A or 50 A. But mostly 3-phase!!

The recommended idea, for any country, would be to promote / convince Hotels and Restaurants to install HPC-charging outlets, as those places might have a sufficient enough grid-connectivity.
And sure, they will understand that the time for a charge or top-up, requires to consume a good meal (unless the Tesla customer intend to stay overnight anyway).

[Talkredius]

in addition to JOEV1 : There is a closed community network called Drehstromnetz.de - Willkommen!. They have many 400@32A sockets, but you'll only get the addresses if you are a member and most of them are in Germany. They offer a cheap charging station (300 EUR + installation).
Many like me make their charging station via lemnet available for the public.

More information about my charging station : New Charging Point in Germany, Hueckelhoven

or here (German only, forum of German Tesla drivers ) :

Tesla-Fahrer und -Freunde Forum Thema anzeigen - Drehstromnetz
(scroll down and you'll find more detailed pictures of my "Drehstromkiste"

If this is interesting for you but you are not familiar with the German language just send me a PM and I'll assist you.

Some more answers to your questions :

- What kind of chargers there are?

As many as companies which are building charging stations, every company builds its own type of charging station, some of them are unusable even if you have the right connector, e.g. some EON charging stations have a Schuko socket. To get power you have to close a door, with the Tesla Schuko connector you have to push a button on the RFI to charge the car after the power is on, that's impossible because you can't reach it through the closed door....


- Are they compatible for all cars or you need for each car company different charging station.

Many car companies will use a Mennekes socket / connector for their cars but again Tesla Model S will have its own type of connector, to be compatible you need adaptors, but for fast charging theirs is the chademo standard which is supported by Nissan Leaf and iMiev and will be supported by Model S.
Chademo charging stations are quite expensive at the moment ( 20.000 EUR and above)

- How can people pay for using the charging station? Does it work like a vending machine?

with the park and charge system you have to pay a deposit for the key and 35.-EUR a year (in Germany) Schuko or CEE blue or red sockets

with the Drehstromnetzwerk you have to install your own charging station or pay a donation of 150 EUR ( for installing "Drehstromkisten" at other places)
+ a fair donation for the used power

[jcstp]

Plug-in america made a nice video about fleet and public charging infrastructure!



Zero Carbon World
Is a UK ngo also deploying a lowcost chargingnetwork!
I thought their chargingstations where around 250 pounds
They could give you info!

And for making your network all over the world, you could use OpenChargeMap.org : The open charging point database