The Magne Charge inductive charger was developed by General Motors subsidiary Delco Electronics, based on SAE recommended practice J1773[3] for electric passenger vehicles, primarily GM products such as the EV1 and the Chevy S10 EV, however, the Nissan Altra and the first generation Toyota RAV4 EValso used the charger.[4] J1773 was issued in 1995, revised in 1999, reaffirmed in 2009, and stabilized in 2014,[5] indicating the recommended practice was frozen at the 1999 revision.[6]
Magne Charge support was withdrawn by General Motors in 2002,[7] after the California Air Resources Board selected the competing AVCON conductive charging interface for electric vehicles in California in June 2001.[8][9] Magne Charge has become obsolete as the last vehicles using it (S10 EV) were produced in 2003. In addition, all EV1s and nearly all S10 EVs were lease-only; after the lease period expired, General Motors recalled and destroyed nearly all of these early BEVs.[10][11][12]
The AVCON interface was integrated into the corresponding conductive SAE J1772 charging standard in 2001. AVCON itself was superseded in 2009 as the preferred interface in J1772 by the round Type 1 (Yazaki) connector, found on later BEVs such as the 2012 Gen 2 RAV4 EV, Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt.[13]: 10
Technical details
The charge coupler or paddle and vehicle inlet are inductively coupled to form two halves of an electrical transformer; in this case, the paddle is the primary winding and the inlet is the secondary winding. Power at utility line frequency (60 Hz) is transformed to high frequency alternating current (130 to 360 kHz) to minimize the size of the vehicle inlet portion of the transformer. The vehicle has on-board electronics to rectify the applied AC power to DC for battery charging. An infrared link is provided between the vehicle and paddle to communicate how much power is being drawn, according to feedback from the vehicle's on-board charge controller.[3]: 3
The Level 2 charger which supplied 6.6 kW was the most common version. A higher-power (Level 3) "fast charge" version which supplied 50 kW was demonstrated in 1998.[14]
There were two inductive charge paddle sizes, an original large paddle and later small paddle, which were 5+1⁄2 and 4+1⁄4 in (140 and 110 mm) wide, respectively.[15] These were often referred on electric vehicle charging station maps as SPI and LPI stations for Small Paddle Inductive and Large Paddle Inductive stations. The inductive coupling system was designed to be safe when used in the rain, and was demonstrated in operation fully submerged in water.[4]
In 2011 the California Energy Commission created the Reconnect California Program, a grant program to upgrade and expand existing publicly available EV charging infrastructure to the latest version of the SAE J1772 charging standard. ClipperCreek managed the program and installed 799 charging ports at 313 legacy sites by 2020.[16]
^"EV1 Club Home Page". EV1 Club. Retrieved 2007-08-23. GM Pulls the Plug on Inductive Charging: Letter from General Motors Advanced Technology Vehicles (Letter dated 2002-03-15)
^Sabatini, Jeff (November 7, 2002). "Pulling The Plug: GM's Decision To End Electric Vehicle Leases Comes As A Shock To EV1 Enthusiasts". Autoweek. Retrieved 22 May 2024. In February [2002], GM notified EV1 lessees that it wouldn't be extending their leases when they begin expiring this winter. Instead, GM will take the cars back; because of special terms in the lease agreements, none of the approximately 300 lessees has the option of buying the car.
^Truett, Richard (September 21, 2016). "Why GM Should Remember The Fate Of The EV1". Autoweek. Automotive News. Retrieved 22 May 2024. And the EV1, available for lease in just two states, California and Arizona, ended production in 1999, after slightly more than 1,100 units were built. The last time I saw more than one EV1 in one place at the same time was in an Arizona desert about a decade ago. I was at GM's old proving grounds in Mesa test driving some new model. The dusty EV1s were crushed and stacked on each other like trash.
^Kinton, Will (October 31, 2016). "The S-10 EV: Chevy's Rare Electric Pickup Truck". Autotrader. Retrieved 22 May 2024. Chevy made 492 electric S-10s, and the majority of these were leased to fleet customers — and like the EV-1, the leased S-10 electric vehicles were crushed at the end of their lease. However, unlike the EV-1, Chevy actually sold around 60 electric-powered S-10s to fleet customers. This means that there are still S-10 electric vehicles out there, and some reportedly remain in use today.
^Pettigrew, Samantha (January 2023). Strategies for setting a national electric vehicle charging standard(PDF) (Report). International Council on Clean Transportation. Retrieved 22 May 2024. In the early 1990s, the United States (principally the California Air Resources Board) led charger development with two AC models, the Magne Charge (under the SAE 1773 standard) and the AVCON charger (under a preliminary version of SAE J1772). In 2001, AVCON became the default charger in the United States, effectively phasing out SAE J1773 and paving the way for the newer technology of the current J1772 standard published in 2009.
^"EV1 Club 10/17/98 Club Meeting". EV1 Club. Retrieved 2011-05-31. George Bellino, GMATV Magne Charge Program Assistant Manager, 50 KW Inductive Fast Charge Fleet Demo program status
^"EB-EAA Meeting History (May)". Electric Auto Association East (SF) Bay Chapter. 2001-05-19. Archived from the original on 2005-07-09. Retrieved 2010-05-21. Inductive - old large & new small
