Encouraging Development of Charging Infrastructure - What Works?

[bonnie1194]

A number of forum members have been instrumental in encouraging local municipalities, hotels, restaurants to install charging stations for EVs. What works?

On a personal note, I always ask hotels when making reservations (and when checking in) about charging for EVs. I take an extra moment to tell someone about why they should consider accommodating EV guests. I have also joined in with a few other forum members on a couple of occasions to fund the purchase of a Tesla HPC for installation in places convenient to us.

Ideas? Or what have you found works? How do we influence the installation of the right charging systems in the right places?

[smoothoperator]

A number of forum members have been instrumental in encouraging local municipalities, hotels, restaurants to install charging stations for EVs. What works?

On a personal note, I always ask hotels when making reservations (and when checking in) about charging for EVs. I take an extra moment to tell someone about why they should consider accommodating EV guests. I have also joined in with a few other forum members on a couple of occasions to fund the purchase of a Tesla HPC for installation in places convenient to us.

Ideas? Or what have you found works? How do we influence the installation of the right charging systems in the right places?

Offer to pay for the cost for the installation of a NEMA 14-50 outlet. This tends to get the attention of the business almost immediately.

[TEG]

None of the Roadster EVSEs require an access card to activate.
Not so for many of the different types of new J1772s being deployed recently.
I have a Chargepoint card, Blink card, and considering a SEMAconnect card too.
It is a hassle to need to carry multiple different access cards. Also, it seems many of them plan to go to a monthly subscription fee based service.
That idea seems destined to fail if there are multiple competing systems all wanting you to pay a different monthly subscriber fee.

Telling a place to consider installing an EVSE is good, and letting them know that there could be some grant programs to help pay for it is good too, but having them get locked into a specific vendor's 'solution' may not be so good. So, with appoliges to Chargepoint/Blink/SEMAconnect, etc., I think we should encorage locations to offer "always on" EVSEs, and if they hope for $ do it through sales of goods near the EVSEs or their own parking fees.

Clipper Creek seem like the way to go for those that you can convince to install those.

[doug]

I have a Chargepoint card, Blink card, and considering a SEMAconnect card too.
It is a hassle to need to carry multiple different access cards.

I was at a Stanford symposium a couple years ago where Coulomb/Chargepoint founder and CTO Richard Lowenthal promised that they'd make the system work with the RFID tag in your key fob, so that you wouldn't have to carry around a card if you didn't want to. I guess that never panned out?

[dpeilow]

In the UK we are already well down this road. Someone recons you need 10 subscriptions and cards for national coverage, however the networks are finally getting it and realising pay-as-you-go is what we need. Not after learning the hard way and a lot of pressure from EV drivers.

[dadaleus]

I was at a Stanford symposium a couple years ago where Coulomb/Chargepoint founder and CTO Richard Lowenthal promised that they'd make the system work with the RFID tag in your key fob, so that you wouldn't have to carry around a card if you didn't want to. I guess that never panned out?

Not as far as I know, but of the "smart" EVSE's I find ChargePoint most convenient because you don't have to have your card. If you just setup an account and install the iphone (don't know if they have access from other phones) app you can use your app to do it. Or you can just call their 800 number and they'll turn it on for you. No such luck with Blink. So in spirit ChargePoint is closest to meeting that claim.

I agree that in most cases a dumb EVSE or NEMA 14-50 is plenty. The only time I do find the Chargepoint and Blink smart features useful is seeing if it's already in use or not. That saves me from having to run down to the parking lot over and over to find out when an EVSE has freed up at one of our company locations: GE has an office there as well, and their salesreps always have the EVSEs taken with their Volts.

[doug]

Not as far as I know, but of the "smart" EVSE's I find ChargePoint most convenient because you don't have to have your card. If you just setup an account and install the iphone (don't know if they have access from other phones) app you can use your app to do it. Or you can just call their 800 number and they'll turn it on for you. No such luck with Blink. So in spirit ChargePoint is closest to meeting that claim.

Oh, well that's not bad, then. Probably wasn't practical to make it compatible with various manufacturers' key fobs, anyhow. Also the key fob is likely to go the way of the dodo, eventually be replaced by the cell phone.

[Larry Chanin]

I have also joined in with a few other forum members on a couple of occasions to fund the purchase of a Tesla HPC for installation in places convenient to us.

Hi Bonnie,

Can you elaborate on how this worked? How did you convince the host of the usefullness of a proprietary "charger"? Were there any legalities involved, liabilities, insurance, maintenance, etc?

Thanks.

Larry

[bonnie1194]

Hi Bonnie,

Can you elaborate on how this worked? How did you convince the host of the usefullness of a proprietary "charger"? Were there any legalities involved, liabilities, insurance, maintenance, etc?

Thanks.

Larry

I can speak to one - but there are others on the forum who can talk about the charger at Harris Ranch or convincing Malibu City Hall to install, etc. Specifically, six of us chipped in to purchase an HPC for Pioneer RV Park in Quincy, CA. The owners of the park paid for the installation (no convincing necessary when they realized we were donating a charger). No legalities, liabilities, insurance, etc. And they were kind enough to give the six of us 'free charging at the park for life' and put a plaque on the front of the charger as a thank-you.

[Norbert]

I can speak to one - but there are others on the forum who can talk about the charger at Harris Ranch or convincing Malibu City Hall to install, etc. Specifically, six of us chipped in to purchase an HPC for Pioneer RV Park in Quincy, CA. The owners of the park paid for the installation (no convincing necessary when they realized we were donating a charger). No legalities, liabilities, insurance, etc. And they were kind enough to give the six of us 'free charging at the park for life' and put a plaque on the front of the charger as a thank-you.

Wow! I hope they later considered it a success!