Automotive Engineering - March 2024 - 4

TECHNOLOGY
REPORT
EV CHARGING
Putting a new 'charge' in EV recharging
In late 2023, Mercedes-Benz opened the
brand's first Charging Hub in North America
at a location near Atlanta, Georgia. The
hubs are meant to provide a " premium "
charging experience for drivers of
any EV brand.
SAE INTERNATIONAL
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Carla Bailo
President
Robert Ireland
2025 President
Todd Zarfos
2023 President
Christopher Payne
Vice President - Aerospace
Daniel Nicholson
Vice President - Automotive
Audley Brown
Vice President -
Commercial Vehicle
David Andrea
Treasurer
David L. Schutt, Ph.D
Chief Executive Officer
Gregory L. Bradley, Esq.
Secretary
Automakers and EV charging services know
time is running out on reversing widespread
cynicism regarding the state of EV publiccharging
infrastructure. Despite billions of dollars
of already dedicated and planned investment,
the spottiness of the nation's charging
ecosystem consistently is cited as the chief
reason for flagging EV sales and consumer
consideration.
Although there is contentious debate about
whether sales of light-duty EVs are declining
rather than just growing more slowly, there a
few who will argue that the current state of the
EV charging network is far from ideal.
According to J.D. Power data from the third
quarter of 2023, nearly 20% of public-charging
attempts failed. " What we've learned is that
the infrastructure is at the top of reasons for
rejection of EVs, " Steve Kosowski, manager of
strategy at Kia America, told the Los Angeles
Times in a story about California's EV infrastructure
issues.
The infrastructure's macro problems largely
are now understood and acknowledged, said
panelists speaking in the " Enhancing the LightDuty
EV Charging Experience " session at SAE
International's 2024 Government/Industry
Meeting in Washington, DC in January 2024 -
and there's an emergent blueprint centered on
closer industry collaborations and other initia4
March 2024
tives to hasten improvement. Almost all the
session's speakers agreed that EV charging
access - and equally important, reliability -
has to improve.
Niels Bohn, head of powertrain and electromobility
at BMW of North America, said the
company has been assessing the " end-to-end "
charging experience with cross-country test
drives. It also uses data gleaned from vehicle
onboard systems to monitor charging sessions
and quality, among other analyses. As with
other speakers, he said BMW recognizes an
immediate need for the infrastructure is ubiquitous
" plug-and-charge " functionality to
eliminate the chaos - and related chargingsession
failures - common in today's complex
payment environment. Some automakers and
charging providers are underway with plugand-charge
arrangements and Bohn said
BMW has initiated plug-and-charge starting
with its new i5 EV.
Erika Myers, executive director, Charging
Interface Initiative North America for the
CharIN consortium, said there is an " evolution
in the sophistication of communications between
EVs and chargers. Nonetheless, she said
that only about 30% of current EVs support
plug-and-charge capability. She did not provide
a figure for plug-and-charge compliant
charging networks.
Judy Curran
Mary Lee Gambone
Joan Wills
Susan Ying, Ph.D
SAE International Sections
SAE International Sections are local
units comprised of 100 or more SAE
International Members in a defined
technical or geographic area. The purpose
of local Sections is to meet the technical,
developmental, and personal needs of the
SAE Members in a given area. For more
information, please visit sae.org/sections
or contact SAE Member Relations Specialist
Abby Hartman at abby.hartman@sae.org.
SAE International
Collegiate Chapters
Collegiate Chapters are a way for SAE
International Student Members to get
together on their campus and develop
skills in a student-run and -elected
environment. Student Members are vital
to the continued success and future of
SAE. While your course work teaches
you the engineering knowledge you
need, participation in your SAE Collegiate
Chapter can develop or enhance other
important skills, including leadership,
time management, project management,
communications, organization, planning,
delegation, budgeting, and finance. For
more information, please visit students.
sae.org/chapters/collegiate/ or contact
SAE Member Relations Specialist Abby
Hartman at abby.hartman@sae.org.
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
MERCEDES-BENZ
http://www.sae.org/sections http://www.sae.org/chapters/collegiate/
Automotive Engineering - March 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive Engineering - March 2024
