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PA Turnpike finally getting chargers

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AnOutsider

S532 # XS27
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Apr 3, 2009
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I thought this was the plan a year or two ago, but anywho.... From WFMZ:

Drivers of electric vehicles will soon be able to recharge their batteries at select locations along the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission announced Tuesday that it expects to open electric-vehicle charging stations at four of its service plazas this summer.

The charging stations will be available at the Bowmansville plaza in Lancaster County, the King of Prussia plaza in Montgomery County, the Oakmont plaza in Allegheny County and the New Stanton plaza in Westmoreland County.

The charging stations will be located near the rear of the plaza parking lots, generally behind the service plaza buildings, officials said.

"We're thrilled to offer our customers another energy choice when it comes to fueling up," said Jack Christensen, the turnpike commission's facilities director. "The turnpike has a track record of innovation when it comes to alternative fuels."

The eventual plan, officials said, is to offer electric vehicle charging at all 17 of the turnpike service plazas.

The charging stations are being installed through a partnership between the turnpike and the state's Department of Environmental Protection.

The turnpike commission is supplying $500,000 to help pay for the transformers, electric lines and meters. Miami Beach-based Car Charging Group will match a $1 million grant from the DEP and provide the charging equipment and services.

Customers will pay at the charging station with a credit card, although the cost has not yet been set.

The new charging stations make up a larger effort to reduce the turnpike's carbon footprint, officials said.

"This is part of our continuing plan to 'go green' not only at our service plazas – but at all other facilities and even with our entire fleet of equipment," Christensen said. "All service plazas now feature recycling containers as well as high-efficiency hand dryers in restrooms, courtesy of our partners, HMSHost."

Pa. Rep. Tina Davis, D-Bucks Co., has also introduced a bill that would require the turnpike to recycle.

"More than 510,000 motorists travel on the Pennsylvania Turnpike each day," Davis said. "Many travelers stop at rest areas during their trips, in part, to discard trash and recyclables in an environmentally conscious manner."
 
This is major. Personally, I have family in Pittsburgh and now I can drive my MS there without range anxiety. For the community, it is the beginning of East-West travel, as PA has been a charger wasteland. Now we can only hope that they are 40 AMP.

Would be nice to see a supercharger somewhere on the pike, though!
 
Well breaking this down, that's about 150K per rest stop... The only way I can get to that number is with the installation of a CHAdeMO station, and a number of L2's... I sadly expect them to be 200V 30A stations. Perhaps someone has connections into the group doing this that could push for 80A 1772 stations instead. The incremental cost increase for that would be minor relative to the 150K planned install costs.

Peter


Hopefully the chargers will provide a faster charge than the typical level 2, J-1772 chargers you find at most places. It's hard to kill several hours at an interstate rest stop!
 
This is very good news, and will be even better if and when augmented with Superchargers. Interestingly, I noticed on the most recently renovated rest areas, there is reserved parking close to the building for alternative and hybrid vehicles. But this says the chargers will be further away (which is better in my opinion, as there is lower chance the space will be ICEd).

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I just found this...they say these will be Level 3s...but note this is pretty old:

http://www.pgh-cleancities.org/wordpress/?p=912

Turnpike to Become More Electric-Vehicle Friendly
Published on February 16, 2012 by admin in Uncategorized

The Pennsylvania Turnpike intends to offer electric vehicle charging stations at all 17 service plazas located east of the Harrisburg area by the end of 2013. Each service area plans to incorporate two Level III charging stations that charge up in about 20 minutes. Also, one Level I station will be added, which allows vehicles to charge in up to four hours. Car Charging LLC received a $1 million grant from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to complete the installations. The first three stations will be added east of the Harrisburg exits. By the end of next year, the second phase of installations will occur west of the Harrisburg area. Plans for the third phase are set to be added to the Northeastern Extension in 2013.

For additional information on the PA Turnpike charging station plans, click here.
 
I think they need one SC right at Breezewood on I-76, to allow travel between Pittsburgh-Philly and Pittsburgh-DC.

Did you notice that these chargers will be pay stations, but they haven't set the price yet? Here is the official press release in full:

http://www.paturnpike.com/press/2013/20130423123241.htm

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The worst part will be if these are implemented with ChaDeMo, and we lack an adapter.
 
The worst part will be if these are implemented with ChaDeMo, and we lack an adapter.

I have no doubt when they say "two Level III charging stations that charge up in about 20 minutes" they mean CHAdeMO chargers, that is always the tag line associated with them and charging a Leaf. To then follow that on with a single Level 1 charger means that the entire location is worthless to us. Unfortunately with these types of decisions being made by those that do not drive EV's, it ends up being more of a waste than not.

Peter
 
So I searched the Oakmont and New Stanton Plazas for any sign of EV infrastructure construction today, and there was none. But I asked the girls at Starbucks in New Stanton if they had heard anything, and they said that they had just gotten an email this week saying a guy would be out next week to scout locations for the EV chargers.

Of course this is good news/bad news, as a Level 1 + CHAdeMO Level 3 DC charger will be useless to Tesla owners. But if that comes to pass (why wouldn't they include a 70A Level 2???), it may motivate me to sign up for Twitter just so I can send Elon a pic of the first time I was ever disappointed with my Model S, as I hold a CHAdeMO plug and have nowhere to plug it in.

Hopefully they address this quickly, as it is so easily fixed by retrofitting a CHAdeMO adapter, or installing a handful of Superchargers along these routes. I really don't want to wait two years before I can roam more than 100+ miles from my house with my 85kWh...which turned so many heads today that I lost count!
 
...Did you notice that these chargers will be pay stations, but they haven't set the price yet? Here is the official press release in full:

http://www.paturnpike.com/press/2013/20130423123241.htm

...

From the latest announcement (The Pennsylvania Turnpike - Service Plazas)

"The cost to fully charge a vehicle is $2, and for Blink members it is $1" for the Level II chargers. It sounds like the charge is per charging event and not per-hour. At 7kW, you get more than $1 of electricity (at residential retail rates) per hour, so if the description is accurate, the price is quite reasonable.

We'll see what the CHAdeMO pricing is when it comes on line. Sheetz is charging $12/hour in PA, but the Turnpike might still make it a flat fee per car.
 
From the latest announcement (The Pennsylvania Turnpike - Service Plazas)

"The cost to fully charge a vehicle is $2, and for Blink members it is $1" for the Level II chargers. It sounds like the charge is per charging event and not per-hour. At 7kW, you get more than $1 of electricity (at residential retail rates) per hour, so if the description is accurate, the price is quite reasonable.

We'll see what the CHAdeMO pricing is when it comes on line. Sheetz is charging $12/hour in PA, but the Turnpike might still make it a flat fee per car.

whoa, whoa, sheetz is offering charging? Where?
 
Seriously, a Level 2 charger would be much more useful. Maybe Tesla will either beat them to the punch with a supercharger, or give us a CHAdeMO adapter. I haven't been following that discussion, but I will sure start following it now!

Please note that on Plugshare you will find that Sheetz is deploying Chademo across Pennsylvania.
 
From official Tesla forum:

Greetings all! This is Carl from the PA Turnpike public-relations office. I wanted to clarify that we are installing multiple Level III stations at all 17 service plazas by the end of the calendar year; we started with the Level IIs, but will begin Level III installation this summer. Sorry we did not clarify that detail in the online article! Any questions, please email me, [email protected].
 
These CHAdeMOs are all built by Eaton, right here Cranberry. I took my car up there a year ago, and they were all pleased as punch to see her. "Let us build you an adapter", they said.

Why wouldn't Tesla partner with them to permanently affix an adapter to all of these units? This would be cheap for Tesla, and would exponentially expand fast-charging capabilities. Yes, we might have to pay for the convenience...but wouldn't it be worth it?