[ref
http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVangel-about-retrofit-CT-2100-EVSE-to-have-L2-6kW-3kW-access-tp4671320.html
EVangel-about: retrofit CT-2100 EVSE to have L2 6kW 3kW access
]
I recently took a few images of a few EVSE sites and threw them up on a web
site for you all to see
http://brucedp14.altervista.org/evse14/
Take a look at the 3rd image where it shows a ccg/ECOtality Blink L3 EVSE
with covers over the two displays. The covers are blue plastic static mats
that the company's drivers decided to use as a way to protect the displays
from the intense sun and heat wave we are having in CA. The display on a
Blink EVSE is a major failure item.
Installer's decision to install all their EVSE facing the sun was really
quite dumb. If the L2 EVSE had been Coulomb's Chargepoint EVSE which has a
bright gas display, it would not have mattered. But the sun is so bright,
the driver wanting a charge has a difficult time viewing Blink's LCD display
even when they are working. It would have been wiser to reverse the position
of the EVSE when it was installed so it faced away from the sun. These are
one of many points that EVSE companies and their contract installers do not
care about, but the drivers that use the EVSE do.
Note the fourth image showing a j1772 splitter / Y box
http://brucedp14.altervista.org/evse14/evse-ca-rwc-silverspringnetworks-20140821-002am.jpg
one of the drivers put together that allows two plugins with 3kW on-board
chargers charge off one 6kW Blink L2 EVSE. This is a better utilization of
their company's EVSE (it saves them money in the long run by not having to
install more EVSE).
And that brings me to a point that although the amount of EVSE in the SF Bay
Area is quite good when compared to other parts of N. America, the amount of
plugin vehicles has grown to already max-out that EV charging capacity (all
the EVSE are being fully utilized).
Next look at the EVSE that was installed at a Jr. College. After talking to
several people on-site, it turns out that the EVSE in the staff parking lot
is only for them, and the EVSE in the student/public lot is for everyone
else. Note these are the lower purchase cost Schneider L2 6kW EVSE that are
using Coulomb's Chargepoint EVSE network (you need one of their rfid cards
to activate them). Their parking signs say a 4 hour limit.
In both lots, all the EV spaces were being used by plugins that only had a
L2 3kW charger on-board. It is too bad there are no public EVSE for sale
that have two J1772 couplers, designed to charge two plugins that only need
3kW each like the way that splitter Y box allows, or to allow a 6kW charge
if there is only one EV using that EVSE (that approach is similar to what
Tesla EVSE do: adjust and spread the charging power load out across the EVs
that are plugged-in). That would be better than what the Blink L3 EVSE does:
only charge one EV at a time.
Next, I was able to find where a Nissan dealership relocated their L3 EVSE.
The Leaf sales rep gave me incorrect instructions (typical of a sale rep),
and when I came back to inform him of where it really was he said Yea, that
is where I told you it was (no he didn't).
You can also see that same Nissan branded L3 EVSE has been installed at both
a library and a parking garage. But both of those have blue-taped paper
signs on them saying they are not operational pending approval. So, what all
the money was spend to buy them, install them, and they can not be used?!?
Leaving EVSE out in the public unused is asking for trouble. In this case
the brand new L3 EVSE at the library had already been vandalized (they
smashed the screen so that EVSE is now unusable even when it does get
approval).
The images below that are not recent and on my to do list to get more recent
images. But I can tell you that those older images showing the EVSE as under
used, are an example of how much the need for EVSE has grown, as those EV
spaces today are now much more used from so many more plugin drivers.
The second from the last image shows the aforementioned combo Coulomb
CT-2100 EVSE that have both a L2 6kW j1772 coupler and a L1 1.3kW 5-20
outlet (behind a metal cover-door). At that site, those EV spaces are now
packed full / well used. Especially now that the city sold a parking lot
that you can see in the last image. The new owner of the land is building a
huge multi-story apt/condo complex on it.
I am hoping to contact the city's fleet manager to request that the EVSE
they must have yanked and saved, should be relocated to another site that
will better serve the citizens that is farther away and nearer to another
major highway (280).
While I make these efforts, I have been told by the powers that be, that I
am only a hobbyist (an amateur, someone not to be listened to). Sadly, who
those powers do listen to are not the people who use the EVSE (like
drivers/us), but those so called EVSE professionals that installed the EVSE
completely wrong (see above). Yet, I
