2012 has been touted by the media as the year of the EV. Now, the media is sounding like 2013 will be the year of the plugin hybrids.
The new year also means much of the charging the plugin community that started out 'free' has changed over to pay-to-charge. An example is http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/5/3839442/lax-drops-free-electric-vehicle-parking LAX to drop free airport parking for electric vehicles http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323374504578219730787930190.html?mod=rss_Technology EVSE companies are banking that drivers will join their network and use 'their' card to use/access their EVSE. Depending on the region that may have a multitude of different EVSE brands installed, the driver's wallet could now be chocked full of EVSE network cards like the days of old when people actually carried around with a half-a-dozen credit-cards in their wallet http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-cards-history-1264.php Peri's post was a nice Ampabout adventure. [ref http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/out-for-the-day-in-the-Leaf-td4660347.html ] I sensed Peri is a bit timid about where and what charging is in his area, and is not ready to sign-away his life for a wallet full of EVSE network cards. He is at a great advantage though because: - he has a nice Production EV that allows for level-2 3kW charging (~7 miles back for each hour of charging) http://www.recargo.com/search/?search=Seattle%2C+WA&commit=Search&filters[]=1772 and level-3 CHAdeMO (0-to 80% SOC in 15 minutes) http://www.recargo.com/search/?search=Seattle%2C+WA&commit=Search&filters[]=cha -and he lives in an EVSE rich environment, Seattle WA (its like you have EVSE on each corner!). Since your Production EV has a half-powered on-board charger, I suggest you focus on the L3 EVSE available when going on a trip. I suggest you familiarize yourself with the level-3 (L3) EVSE that near you in Bellevue, WA at Eastside Nissan http://www.recargo.com/sites/8339 There is beau-coup L3 EVSE in WA (you lucky dog), see http://www.motortrend.com/features/consumer/1207_the_electric_vehicle_road_trip_test/ (sounds like moving to WA to enjoy driving a new Production EV should be on my bucket list). (If I were in your EV driver's seat) I would like to explore going north to one of the L3 available free of cost http://goo.gl/maps/180US ~30 miles between Everett > Seattle > Tacoma Looking at the L3 EVSE north of Seattle, near Everett http://www.recargo.com/search/?search=Everett%2C+WA&commit=Search&filters[]=cha This visitor station is just east of Everett which is ~30 miles north of Seattle http://www.recargo.com/sites/6120 http://www.motortrend.com/features/consumer/1207_the_electric_vehicle_road_trip_test/ Seattle, WA And ~30 miles south of Seattle, is Tacoma http://www.recargo.com/search/?search=Tacoma%2C+WA&commit=Search&filters[]=cha So, another free L3 I would want to explore is ~30 miles south of Seattle, near Tacoma http://westcoastgreenhighway.com/WAelectrichighways.htm#tumwater http://www.recargo.com/sites/6122 As I said, all that free EVSE is going to change to pay-to-use, so it would be wise to know how the various EVSE network plans work. * I called the four EVSE network providers in Seattle and found it 'is' possible to charge using only your regular credit-card: 888-758-4389 Chargepoint: call tel# to use a regular credit-card, they also allow a driver to use a rfid credit-card, Chargepoint's iphone or android app to pay for the charge. 888-998-2546 Blink: (5+ min delay, if they are not busy, phone muzak is awful). they would rather you use their code page https://blinkcode.com/ to establish a code to use instead of a card. IF you do not have web acces, you can still call the tel# but they will create the code for you. You would then enter your code on the Blink screen. The only problem with that is while Blink EVSE looks whoosh-y, futuristic-stylish ... it is junk (it dies a lot!). See the check-in comment about a blink screen being wacky on http://www.recargo.com/sites/7208 Even on fairly new installs, I find dead Blink EVSE, or the screen is so whack/messed-up, you can not use it to enter anything. 888-833-2148 AeroVironment All their charging in WA and OR is free. When that changes, driver can call # and enable EVSE via a credit card. 800-663-5633 SemaCharge: $20 deposit via credit-card and have the EVSE's serial-number ready. When you have used up your $20 worth, SemaCharge will automatically pull again from your credit-card. To me not being able to find only the public EVSE of the brand you want sounds messy, and likely confusing to the newbie. I would want to be able to find the EVSE that I want to use and stick with them. I have sent an email to recargo asking that they offer a way to only list by a EVSE network. This would be in the same manner that they now offer a way to select to display only the EVSE you want (see above where I selected only level-3 or only level-2, etc.) Example: I would set up a search for all the level-3 and level-2 at my Tacoma destination that uses the Chargepoint network. If you would like to see that too, use the contact link at the bottom of the recargo.com page to send in your comments/wish-list. Happy charging, {brucedp.150m.com} - http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/out-for-the-day-in-the-Leaf-td4660347.html On Fri, Jan 4, 2013, at 08:37 PM, Peri Hartman wrote: First time I took my Leaf further than its range for a day around. This may not seem like much, but drove from Seattle to Tacoma and back, which is a bit over 35 miles each way plus a few miles toodling around in Tacoma. We got 3.4 miles / kwh == 294 kwh/mile each way on a fairly nice winter day with temps around 50F midday. On the way there, I travelled at 60mph using cruise control. On the way back, about 70mph. Not much difference in kwh/mile. Finding a place to charge was more difficult. We researched this in advance and found a listing of a few locations available to the public, supposedly without being a member of any system. The first place we tried was the Tacoma Court House, but they claimed their stations were only for employees. So with some effort we found another place in a parking garage. The device was supposed to work with any credit card, but it had no reader. Apparently you have to have an RFID card, which I actually had. But that didn't work. Fortunately, there was a phone number on the device; I called it but there was an "out of office" massage. Fortunately, again, there was another toll free number listed. I called that and someone was able to take my card number and enable the device to charge. All worked out fine. What an experience, though. This needs to be a much simpler experience if we expect the general public to accept it. One more comment: I usually make drive longer distances in a Honda Odyssey. I will say the Leaf was much quieter and provided a more pleasant experience. - -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/Times-they-are-a-changing-no-more-free-lunch-tp4660380.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
