Good CHAdeMO Chargers on I89 in Vermont

[steilkurve]

Hello all. I'll be traveling from Montreal to Kennebunk in August. Starting to look like West Lebanon won't be open by then, though I hope I'm wrong. If it's not, I'll rely on CHAdeMO chargers until Hooksett. Now, looking at PlugShare, it's pretty grim! Several check ins indicate CHAdeMOs are often offline or presenting error codes when charging a Model S. People with experience on this route, which one has been the most reliable for you? Thanks a bunch. NP

 

[mattmass]

Heh, I'm one of the people that's been posting on PlugShare. It is true that I've had a lot of problems with the CHAdeMO stations along 89. Here's a quick rundown:

Burlington Area (2/5 potentially operational)
Automaster Mini - out of service, and judging from the tone of voice of the person I spoke with, it will not be fixed any time soon.
Freedom Nissan - my personal favorite. Incredibly nice staff, very Tesla-friendly. Unfortunately, the station experienced a temp sensor issue while I was using it about a month ago and still hasn't been repaired. An employee said it has happened before, but should be fixed "soon".
Burlington Electric Dept: contacted them, and they confirmed their unit is still down.

Montpelier Area (2/4 potentially operational)
Ben & Jerry's: another great stop. Sadly, unit is down.
VSECU: used a few times, but now down.

WRJ area (2/2 potentially operational)
Hampton Inn: success 2/3 times I've tried. Not the best place to stop though, there's really nothing around.

So, there are options. But, of the units left, a number are Fuji units which appear to frequently experience the VE122 error. I've hit VE122 errors on a few occasions, but I also have had success with Fuji chargers. Hit or miss. After a really rough trip there and back, I'm now taking my ICE for this route. Sad...

You better be wrong about the Lebanon station not being open in August!

 

[steilkurve]

And I was looking for a pick me up. ;-) Seriously, many thanks for the rundown. Have you ever tried the Winoosky Parking Garage and Marketplace Garage ones? I assume this is where you got the VE122 errors? Fingers crossed for West Lebanon.

 

[mattmass]

I actually haven't tried either of those. I've been a little shy due to the troubles others have had with them. Plus, the parking situations sound complicated. I'd love to hear a first hand experience with them, though.

I have VE122 errors at the VSECU location twice. That was before that spot went out of service completely. I'm telling you, I'm cursed!

 

[RiverBrick]

steilkurve, as a Canadian you will probably also be limited to 25 kW at any of the Nissan brand stations. These include the ones at Freedom Nissan, Ben & Jerry's, and WRJ.

This is an attempt by Tesla to avoid the overheating problems associated with the Nissan stations. However, for an incomprehensible reason they seem to exempt American Model S from this restriction.

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/46269-Nissan-manufactured-CHAdeMO-25kW-limitation

Also, the eVgo network that runs the WRJ stations will not send a card to a Canadian address. This means you may have to call and pay $9.99 each time for a session. And sessions are limited to 30 minutes. With the 25 kW cap, $9.99 for 12.5 kWh isn't cheap.

- - - Updated - - -

Automaster Mini - out of service, and judging from the tone of voice of the person I spoke with, it will not be fixed any time soon.

What a shame. iirc, that location was opened with some fanfare. Sometime afterwards someone went there and found the unit was capped at 20A(!) for about 8 kW.

They may have gotten stung by high demand charges on their electricity bill and decided to pull the plug.

 

[andrewket]

If west Lebanon isn't online next week I'll be using the the Hampton inn location. I'm staying overnight there, so I'll likely just use the 1772.

 

[tga]

If no one posts a West Leb update this week, I'll check on the site this Thurs or Fri.

 

[Robert.Boston]

Have a look at a similar discussion here: Any fast chargers from Concord NH to to Montreal?

 

[steilkurve]

So I just scanned PlugShare for CHAdeMO status on I89.

- Winooski Parking Garage: Online but last Model that visited this morning got the dreaded VE122 error.

- Marketplace Garage: Seems online but again, last reported model S got VE122.

- Burlington Electric: Still offline but apparently a tech was to visit yesterday.

- Freedom Nissan: Offline based on last post, July 6th.

- Automaster Mini: Also offline as of July 6th.

- Ben & Jerry's: In errored state as of July 7th.

- Red Hen: Did not work this morning for a fellow Tesla owner.

- Vermont State Employee Credit Union: Did not work this morning for a fellow Tesla owner.

- Barre Public Parking: Last model S check in from May suggest VE122 there too.

- Hampton Inn WRJ: Worked this morning though unclear if it was for a model S.

Not a pretty picture. Hopefully that picture will better over the coming days / weeks though those Fuji chargers seem hopeless.

So, here's my plan for my mid-August trip to Maine:

- Leave Montreal with a full charge

- Stop at the SunCountry charger in St-Jean to top up.

- Stop in West Lebanon at hopefully the newly opened SC by then or the Hampton Inn.

Topping in St-Jean means I should arrive in West Lebanon at 30% charge.

Other ideas welcome!

 

[tga]

30% charge should barely get you to Hooksett. If West Leb isn't running, you could stop for an hour or two in the Hanover area and pick up a bit of a cushion. There are several options on plugshare (30A chargepoints in the town garage, an 80A HPWC on Plugshare, and hcsharp's house in Thetford, VT (80A).

I will be in Hanover this weekend; I'll check on West Leb while I'm there.

 

[steilkurve]

30% charge should barely get you to Hooksett. If West Leb isn't running, you could stop for an hour or two in the Hanover area and pick up a bit of a cushion. There are several options on plugshare (30A chargepoints in the town garage, an 80A HPWC on Plugshare, and hcsharp's house in Thetford, VT (80A).

I will be in Hanover this weekend; I'll check on West Leb while I'm there.

Thanks. Do let us know what you see.

Never tried other people's home chargers but I guess that would be an option. That being said, my first fallback if West Leb isn't live would be CHAdeMO at the Hampton Inn in White River Junction.

 

[RiverBrick]

Where in Maine are you going? Is MTL-->Drummondville-->Victoriaville CHAdeMO (reliable)-->Bangor feasible? It is 364 km from Victo to Bangor. Should be easy because 90 kph speeds limits mostly.

 

[steilkurve]

Where in Maine are you going? Is MTL-->Drummondville-->Victoriaville CHAdeMO (reliable)-->Bangor feasible? It is 364 km from Victo to Bangor. Should be easy because 90 kph speeds limits mostly.

That might be a bit of a detour. Going to Kennebunk!

 

[RiverBrick]

That might be a bit of a detour. Going to Kennebunk!

In that case, it would be a detour. There may be a CHAdeMO station coming to Magog soon, in case that helps.

 

[steilkurve]

In that case, it would be a detour. There may be a CHAdeMO station coming to Magog soon, in case that helps.

Good to know. Thanks.

 

[Spacebird]

West Lebanon is already open. I tried to post a photo but it's being moderated.

 

[steilkurve]

West Lebanon is already open. I tried to post a photo but it's being moderated.

Awesome news. Thanks.