San Jose Airport charging

[Lloyd]

I'm planning a trip next month where I will need to park at the airport for about 10 days. Has there been any update to long term parking at SJC? Does anyone have any advise regarding the off site parking alternatives and if they will allow charging? Even 110v plug would be sufficient for the long term parking.

 

[thecloud]

I realize this isn't a direct answer to your question, just some related data points. For the last year or two, the original long-term lot that's out beyond Terminal A is always full, all the time. So I end up parking in the new long-term "economy" lot that's past Terminal B and the short-term lot in the other direction. I counted at least 5 Model S vehicles in that long-term lot as I was walking. There are a small number of L2 chargers near the street in the short-term lot (all were in use, so I certainly wouldn't count on them.)

What I would do is charge up to 80% or so, put your car in Energy Saving mode, and then just not worry about it for the 10 days. When you come back, go charge up at Mountain View or Fremont.

 

[TacC]

Don't bank on being able to charge at SJC. The options are limited and the area is flooded with EVs. Chargers are usually available at OAK, FWIW.

I don't know what your best bet is for off site parking and charging. I'd probably charge to 90% in Gilroy on your way up. Or maybe just charge enough to make the roundtrip to Gilroy after some vampire drain.

 

[flashflood]

I'm planning a trip next month where I will need to park at the airport for about 10 days. Has there been any update to long term parking at SJC? Does anyone have any advise regarding the off site parking alternatives and if they will allow charging? Even 110v plug would be sufficient for the long term parking.

Ten days is no problem at all. I've done it several times. I don't recall the exact numbers, but I think I lost maybe 10 miles range (1 mile/day) while parked, and I didn't even put it in range mode -- I keep it "always connected" for the app.

 

[miimura]

SFO has a couple private long term parking lots that will charge your car if you use their valet service. ParkSFO comes to mind immediately. I can't think of any near San Jose airport. I agree with the comment above. If you're coming from the south, charge enough at Gilroy to make the airport round-trip plus a vampire buffer and don't worry about charging where you park.

 

[Lloyd]

I don't mind leaving the car in parking. It's just that I'm getting back really late and have a 3.5 hour drive when I return, then work the next day. It would be really nice to have my car fully charged so I don't have to stop and charge on the way home.

 

[pdxrajiv]

Are there any charging valet services in the area?

 

[cwerdna]

Don't bank on being able to charge at SJC. The options are limited and the area is flooded with EVs. Chargers are usually available at OAK, FWIW.

I can't speak to charging at SJC even though that's the closest airport for me, but for OAK, I've used Free Charging Station at Oakland Airport - Expresso Parking a few times. However, w/them, you may get different answers or them not following your instructions about when to charge. They may only charge your car the day you drop it off.

I wanted them to charge my Leaf on the day I returned, giving them a certain pretty big window (like 6-12 hours) of when to start charging. They hemmed and hawed then said they could do it. When I got there, they gave different answers and in the end, said they can't retrieve the car on the last day and charge it. So, the car was at 100% for many days. It was leased though...

Another time I went (w/a used Leaf that I own, different car than the above), they did finally obey my directions. I printed out a big sign saying basically "do not charge until mm/dd hh pm" and put it on the back window under the wiper.

For either of the above cases, if I didn't want as much free juice, I guess I could've limited my car to 80%. (My Leaf only lets you limit to 80% or "100%".)

 

[Lloyd]

There is some progress on charging in the economy lot. I received this email from San Jose:

"Dr. _________:


Thank you for your inquiry about electric vehicle parking in the Economy Lot 1. This is something that is being looked into at this time. A pilot program has been proposed and may be put out for bid in the near future. Norman Y Mineta San Jose International Airport and ABM | Aviation, are always appreciative of any suggestions or concerns that our loyal customers present to us.


On behalf of ABM | Aviation we thank you for choosing Norman Y Mineta San Jose International Airport for your travels.



Douglas D Troub

Senior Operations Manager



ABM | Aviation
Mineta San Jose International Airport

1701 Airport Blvd, Suite B1566

San Jose, CA. 95110

408-441-5570 (Direct)

408-441-5574 (Fax)"


I suggest that others write to their airport boards where charging is needed!

 

[ecarfan]

I'm planning a trip next month where I will need to park at the airport for about 10 days... Even 110v plug would be sufficient for the long term parking.

Glad you got a response from the airport and that they are looking into it. Your idea of airport long term parking having dedicated EV spaces with 120V outlets is a good one. It would mean you could monitor your battery while away and through the smartphone app have it reach a full state of charge just before you arrived back home.

 

[Lloyd]

Glad you got a response from the airport and that they are looking into it. Your idea of airport long term parking having dedicated EV spaces with 120V outlets is a good one. It would mean you could monitor your battery while away and through the smartphone app have it reach a full state of charge just before you arrived back home.

I sent that very suggestion to San Jose as a response, and they will look into it. The 120V plugs would enable them to install a larger number of plugs for spaces rather than have a dedicated EVSE for each spot.

 

[FlatSix911]

The EV charging stations at SJC have been removed ... with no plan for replacement at this time

 

[thecloud]

Honestly, that's probably a good sign. The chargers in the photo were in the short-term lot next to Terminal B, and those spots were always occupied (sometimes ICEd) each time I've been there. It might be expensive to leave your car plugged in there and go away on a trip. Hopefully they're moving forward on a plan to seriously upgrade and expand the available options, like the highlighted paragraph says, and which they alluded to in the response to Lloyd's email upthread.