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EMW kick-starts JuiceBox, a $99 Level 2 DIY charging station

Electric vehicle charging stations aren't cheap: one of the most affordable Level 2 (240V) units sells for $450 and only supplies 16A. Electric Motor Works (EMW) -- which is best known for its electric conversion kits -- wants to change this with JuiceBox, a 15kW Level 2 EV charger that costs just $99 in kit form (plus $10 shipping). The device, which is launching on Kickstarter today, supplies up to 62A and operates on both 120V and 240V. It's built around an Arduino microcontroller and EMW is making both the hardware and software open source.

But wait, there's more! The company is also crowdfunding a Premium Edition of JuiceBox ($199 in kit form) which adds time-of-day charging, a color LCD, ground-fault plus output protection (for outdoor use) and a unique enclosure (hopefully as funky as the one in the picture above). While the DIY kits only require basic assembly and soldering skills, you'll be able to buy fully assembled versions for $100 more. At $329 (shipped), a ready-to-use JuiceBox Premium Edition undercuts other similar charging stations by several hundred dollars. The catch? You'll have to supply your own cables (or buy them separately from EMW), including one with a standard J1772 EV connector. Hit the source link below to check out the campaign, and take a look at the PR after the break.

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Emw Kickstarter Fundraising Campaign Goes Live on June 24, 2013

Palo Alto, CA, June 24, 2013 --(PR.com)-- Electric Motor Werks announced its 30-day fundraising campaign going live on http://www.KickStarter.com , the world's leading crowdfunding site, on June 24, 2013, at 1.00 pm Pacific Time.

This crowd funding campaign aims to raise $25.000 to set up mass production of the 7.2kW charging station (EVSE) - EMW JuiceBox.

EMW Juicebox is a new product from the EV Conversion company Electric Motor Werks, Inc. This is the first time the company is expanding beyond the EV Conversion market and aims to introduce the product targeted at all EV owners.

Targeted to be completely open source design, EMW JuiceBox will allow production EV owners to charge their vehicles at home 5 times faster than they could before with the factory-supplied charging adapters. EMW JuiceBox can be connected to either 120V outlet or 240V outlet (such as a dryer outlet). Full power rating will be achieved while connected to a 240V outlet

The company has a number of working prototypes in the field already and is now looking to scale production.

EMW supporters in this crowdfunding campaign will receive handsome rewards: from basic kits to fully assembled charging stations depending on the amount contributed.

The pricing is set to start from $99 plus shipping for the 7.2kW 30A charging station kit. This makes EMW JuiceBox charging solution 8 times cheaper than the lowest-cost currently available charging stations (EVSE).

Visit http://www.KickStarter.com today and search for 'EMW' or 'JuiceBox' to get more details and to support this project.

Stay tuned for upcoming announcements. Sign up for monthly updates by sending an email to julias@emotorwerks.com or follow EMW on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Electric-Motor-Werks-EMW/177632228959506.