Voltage Spikes - Lighting Protection

[foypat]

Does anyone know if the Volts on-board charger has inherent protection for voltage spikes or lightning strikes? I assume that there are fuses, but does it have the smarts to regulate or disconnect through varying voltages or surges?
My employer is looking into installing charging stations in our parking garage, but they want to know if the car has it's own protection from spikes. I guess this question is from a liability perspective. They want to know if they are liable for any damages if something goes wrong with the power following Brown-Outs or surges from lightning storms.

Pat # 271

[larry4pyro]

Here's a copy of the SAE 1772 specification published on the CARB website.

http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/zevprog...alsaej1772.doc

Figure 4 is an illustration of the Level 1 AC charge system. Note that the electric vehicle provides rectification of the AC input voltage to the DC required by the battery. It appears that the rectifer is controlled by a control module that monitors the input current. I believe Table 4 gives the allowable varations. If I am correct, then the control module shuts the rectifer down if the voltage exceeds +/- 12 volts from nominal.

[PatsVolt]

If they are concerned about Lightning protection, it needs to be installed at the power supply side. It is hard to protect the car itself because the only earth ground that is available is at the electrical source. Only protection is for the user is GFI protection on the cord set and this does nothing to protect from Lightning surges or strikes. In order to determine if there is any sort of protection in the Volts Charging and Charge control system I would need a schematic. I would not assume that there is any specific system to protect the car while attached to a power system. That is why it is important to apply protection well before the Charging system of the car. Cars are isolated when not connected from ground due to the rubber tires. I plan to put surge protection on my sub panel as well as the main panel in the basement. Both those panels have proper access to earth ground. If you live in an area that is prone to lightning storms I would consider the installation of at minimum, whole house surge protection. In Places like Florida I would even put Lightning rods which is the most effective protection there is. When you think of lightning protection you have to think in layers starting with the air around the building (Lightning Rods) then the inner layer with surge protection and even another layer with individual surge protectors. If protection is not available as I have described, make sure to unplug your Volt during lightning storms. This could save you lots of money in case of a strike or even a close one.

P