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Seeking info about SEMA J1772 chargers at Monterey Community Hospital

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ecarfan

Well-Known Member
Moderator
I occasionally work at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. It's 104 mile drive, one way, from my home inSan Mateo. That's easy to do in my Roadster but of course I will need to charge up to get back.

At that hospital there are four SEMA J1772 chargers, and I have the Tesla J1772 adaptor cable for my Roadster, though I have never used it.

Has anyone here used the SEMA chargers at Monterey Community hospital? I would like to know how many amps they are. I called the hospital and spoke to someone who claimed to know about them but he had no idea of the amperage available. He said they were not heavily used and there was normally at least one or two available. He said you pay by credit card. I don't know if that is correct (there is also a Nissan CHADEMO charger there which I think takes credit cards but of course I can't use that). The Plugshare app on my iPhone claims to be able to make payments at SEMA chargers but it is unclear to me how I use it to do that. The help video in the app is remarkably short on details.

I'll be getting there at 0630 and am sure there will be some chargers available at that hour. I'll be leaving my Roadster plugged in while I'm working and will probably be at the hospital for at least four hours. The question is how many miles of range will I be able to get?

Thanks for any advice offered.
 
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I've used SemaCharge stations quite a bit - they are headquartered near where I live. They have been among the most reliable stations, in my experience.

AFAIK, all SemaCharge stations are 30 Amp. Many are free, but the ones at Monterey Community Hospital are not.

Also, I have had mixed results paying via the Plugshare app. I would recommend signing up for a SemaCharge card instead.
 
Thanks Curt. I have a SemaCharge account, but have never used it. Sure hope it works.

I'm concerned that at only 30A I won't be able to do a full Standard Charge in 4 hours, after I have driven 92 miles to get there. My Ideal Range on a Standard Charge is only about 170 miles. I hate to Range Charge.
 
Made my Roadster trip yesterday to Monterey Community Hospital and back successfully, but had some drama with getting the car to charge.

The previous day I had set up an account with Sema, and $10 had been charged to my credit card so I knew my account was active. The following description of events is from memory 24 hours later so I cannot tell you exactly what the charging station display indicated or the app on my iPhone showed, but here goes:

I arrived at 0630 at the SemaCharge station at the hospital. I connected the Sema cable to my J1772-to-Roadster adaptor and plugged it into my car. I then used the Sema app on my iPhone to tell Sema the number of the charge station I was at. It accepted the number and indicated that I could proceed to charge. But the screen in the car said that I needed to connect the charging cable. But I had already done so, and I verified that the cable connections were good. I unplugged the adaptor from the car, closed the charge port door to reset it, opened it and plugged in again. The car was acting like no cable was connected. It wasn't "seeing" the cable.

Either my
J1772-to-Roadster adaptor was not working or the Sema station was not working or the iPhone app wasn't doing its job. At this point a man walked by, I guessed he worked at the hospital, and without saying "Good morning" or any kind of greeting immediately said "You know those Teslas can be hacked!" At that point the last thing I wanted to do was engage in a lengthy conversation with him, I had to focus on getting my car to charge so I could get back home after I was finished with my work at the hospital that day (or go find another charging location in Monterey and wait 5 hours to charge!). So all I said was "It's not as significant as you make it sound, and what I'm trying to do right now is figure out how to use this charging station for the first time." He replied "No it's true someone did it and they honked the horn and flashed the lights." I ignored him, and he walked off. What is it with some people who, when they see an EV, their first impulse is to blurt out the most negative thing they can think of to say about it? It was 0630, dark, very wet from recent rain, I was standing there trying to solve a problem, and all he wants to do is tell me about some imagined problem with Teslas?

I unplugged the cable and moved the car to the other Sema charging spot, plugged in again, went through the process with the iPhone app to enter the new station number, still wouldn't charge. (Note: I forgot to try using the Plugshare app to pay)

I looked on the Sema station LCD display and noticed it showed an 800 number to call. I called it, went through the process to enter the charge station number and my credit card info, and within 5 seconds of completing that the car indicated that the cable was connected and it was preparing to charge, it then started charging at 30A. Relieved, I went into the hospital to do my case for that day. When I came back at 1300 the car had a standard charge and all was well. The car took 39kW which cost me $18.40. Not exactly a bargain at $0.49/kW but Sema has to make a profit and I get paid mileage when traveling so I am not complaining.

A few hours later I checked the Sema app and it showed only one other car charging there. The two stations can handle up to 4 cars. I do not know if 4 cars charging at the same time can each get the full 30A, but I would certainly hope so! There is also a single Nissan CHADEMO charger there. It was unoccupied when I was there.

I need to try a Sema station nearer my house to see if I can get the iPhone app to work properly, as it would be much more convenient to use than making a call to the Sema 800 number.
 
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I just noticed this charger in downtown Monterey. It's only a block from the bus depot, perhaps you could park and charge for free while working.

Charger back.JPG
Charger close.JPG



Address is 528 Abrego St on the corner of Pearl Street.
 
I had terrible experience with SemaCharge. They installed 4 (or so) stations in a new shopping center (pike & rose) that REI moved into in Rockville, MD. No free charging. The app has almost all 1-star reviews, so I paid through their website without creating an account. For 45 minutes on a 30-amp charger ($1 of electricity at retail rates), they charged my credit card $20. Still can't find any terms of service on the website. It didn't say there would be a minimum charge, nor did it say anything else about the cost.

Clearly I was really foolish to think it would be something reasonable.

It's a holiday weekend. On Tuesday I will try to get them to reverse it or contest the charge with my CC.