Blink charges for time plugged in

[JPWhite]

From what I've understood about Blink chargers, the owners of the charging stations decide what the charges are.
At least that's what I gathered from a nice Blink customer support lady I spoke with a couple of weeks ago...

Philip

If that's the case all charge owners around Nasville must have called each other, all chargers charge identical rates that I've checked.

There may exist an opt out option for property owners.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

sounds like the "owner" is still Blink. i think the lessee probably has some say in the charging infrastructure but what if the lessee did nothing but provide the land to put the charging station on and no money?

they get the benefit of drawing EV traffic to them and the green cred

 

[TEG]

Who pays for the power?

Does blink get their own utility account and own meter?
Or does the site host have to pay the power bill?

 

[philipscoggins]

That was my impression, the owner of the location paid for the electricity, so they picked how much to charge.

Maybe it's just if the property owner wanted to be paid back for the electricity then the charge would be tacked on to what Blink charges?

Philip

 

[jspearman]

I know it's not a problem yet in most places, but my wife has work-related meetings at ASU's Tempe campus at least once a week, and the two Blinks at the Fulton parking garage are often taken by a lovely variety of EV's. Yes, so many electric cars (Volts, Leafs, and PIP's) that there aren't enough chargers! It's a great problem to see it happening. Before they started charging for time plugged in, the chargers would often be taken for hours at a time. Now that they cost money for time plugged in, my wife isn't having as much trouble getting in for some juice to make it home (sadly, she could make it all the way home before our significant degradation). So while it's inconvenient, I understand and appreciate why it needs to be that way. Just my two cents.

 

[philipscoggins]

Agree it should cut down on people sitting in the spots, but when I was at the Tennessee Titans game last week I checked out the EV parking spots across from the stadium. 8 Parking spaces, 1 Volt & 1 LEAF. The LEAF wasn't plugged in...

Philip

 

[JPWhite]

Agree it should cut down on people sitting in the spots, but when I was at the Tennessee Titans game last week I checked out the EV parking spots across from the stadium. 8 Parking spaces, 1 Volt & 1 LEAF. The LEAF wasn't plugged in...

Philip

It would be easy to fake a plug in. simply plug in and don`t use your rfid card. Premium parking spot for titans game.

 

[DarkStar]

From what I've understood about Blink chargers, the owners of the charging stations decide what the charges are.
At least that's what I gathered from a nice Blink customer support lady I spoke with a couple of weeks ago...

If the Blink was installed as part of The EV Project and is part of the membership Blink Network, the site host has no say on the fee being charged to users. This is the #1 reason why I tell all potential site owners to go talk with Coulomb Technologies.

 

[philipscoggins]

I spoke to an ECOtality lady about what is involved in getting a commercial charging station installed (get all the information before taking it up with the boss), she said the site owner pays for the electricity and that ECOtality reimburses them $0.50/hr.

Also, as of right now you can get a free charging station, but there is no longer a reimbursement for installation.

In Tennessee at least.

Philip

 

[EricBayArea]

It would be easy to fake a plug in. simply plug in and don`t use your rfid card. Premium parking spot for titans game.

That's one of the advantages of the ChargePoint units- you cannot remove the nozzle from the EVSE until your swipe your card.

 

[JPWhite]

It would be easy to fake a plug in. simply plug in and don`t use your rfid card. Premium parking spot for titans game.

That's one of the advantages of the ChargePoint units- you cannot remove the nozzle from the EVSE until your swipe your card.

Indeed, its a great anti vandalism measure as well. Often the blink plug will be lying in mud since the recepticle doesn't make it easy to stow.

Both Chargepoint and GE units are better designed in that respect.

 

[srl99]

If you end the session with the Chargepoint app - billing stops. They very nicely described this to me when I filed a "question" on their support line. I only wish they would provide the 30A (x 208 or 240 V) they promise. The 6.6 kW+ charger cars notice the difference.

I saw a guy park his Volt in the EV charging stall and not plug in (that Chargepoint is $2/hour) ... the sign said "EV Parking" and I guess that's what he did.

i noticed something awful at the blink i used at work today.
it charges for every hour I am plugged in even when there is no charging taking place.
for instance, I plug in at 10 am, and set the timers to charge for two hours, or only need four bars. I leave work at 6 pm, going down to my Leaf and unplugging it.
the charge is for 8 hours of usage though I only charged for two hours.

what is the explanation for that, blink?

Correct, just like Chargepoint, billing is based on the "Charging Session." As long as your vehicle is occupying the charging station, they will bill you for the time plugged in, whether or not your drawing any current.

 

[smkettner]

I find the $1.50 per hour misleading also when the charge is $1.50 minimum even for a few minutes.
I plan to never use Blink again unless I can charge for close to a full hour.


Location
IKEA- Costa Mesa 1475 S. Coast Drive,
Costa Mesa, CA, US, 92626
.
Charge Time
2012-09-06 15:43:58 EDT
.
Charge Length
16 minutes 39 seconds
.
Rate
$1.50/1 hour
.
Total Cost
$1.50

 

[walterbays]

I find the $1.50 per hour misleading also when the charge is $1.50 minimum even for a few minutes.
I plan to never use Blink again unless I can charge for close to a full hour.

One explanation I heard for Blink's coarse time granularity is the high per transaction credit card processing fees. On my credit card bill I have two or three separate $1 charges from Blink for usage last month. I don't understand why Blink doesn't use the same pre-paid model used by Chargepoint and Semacharge, not to mention Skype and Google Play. You'd put a balance on your Blink card with a single credit card payment of $20 or more and then spend from that balance, with automatic recharge when the balance hit zero.

That, together with pricing granularity by the minute, would give Blink lower credit card merchant fees, give customers a true price rather than one artificially inflated by "lost" fractions of hours, and would encourage rather than discourage plug sharing resulting in higher charging availability for drivers and higher revenue for Blink.

 

[JPWhite]

On my credit card bill I have two or three separate $1 charges from Blink for usage last month.

They bill My CC monthly in arrears. Maybe because I'm a plus member?

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I find the $1.50 per hour misleading also when the charge is $1.50 minimum even for a few minutes.
I plan to never use Blink again unless I can charge for close to a full hour.

One explanation I heard for Blink's coarse time granularity is the high per transaction credit card processing fees. On my credit card bill I have two or three separate $1 charges from Blink for usage last month. I don't understand why Blink doesn't use the same pre-paid model used by Chargepoint and Semacharge, not to mention Skype and Google Play. You'd put a balance on your Blink card with a single credit card payment of $20 or more and then spend from that balance, with automatic recharge when the balance hit zero.

That, together with pricing granularity by the minute, would give Blink lower credit card merchant fees, give customers a true price rather than one artificially inflated by "lost" fractions of hours, and would encourage rather than discourage plug sharing resulting in higher charging availability for drivers and higher revenue for Blink.

Walter, you might have hit on something but at the same time, Blink is charging the same rate everywhere including Western WA where the daytime peak rates for most businesses run 6-10 cents per kwh. (there is no TOU here) so what would probably be a good deal at 2 in the afternoon on the San Francisco Peninsula, is a rip off in parts of Central OR or Central WA where their rates can be less than half of Western WA.

although I have not used L2 Blink in 6+ months since DCFCs came to town, I still paid for a plus membership (i would MUCH rather waste $30 than to see them quit from their perceived lack of interest) and when AV starts charging i might start using Blink occasionally because they are becoming more and more convenient every day.

 

[Ingineer]

I only wish they would provide the 30A (x 208 or 240 V) they promise. The 6.6 kW+ charger cars notice the difference.

Unfortunately most commercial units I've used are on 208v (wye connection), and thus if your car obeys the pilot, you are limited to 6.24kW input. If they do happen to be on 240v, then you'll be able to get a maximum of 7.2kW. I've had no trouble pulling 6.6kW on the 208v units and 7.7kW on the 240v ones by "fudging" the pilot. (Which I can do with my setup) Both the Blinks and ChargePoints will allow 32A even with a 30A pilot, but the Eaton and AV stations immediately fault.

For me to charge at my full 6.7kW into the batteries, I need to be able to pull 7.2kW.

-Phil

 

[ericsf]

I went to Ikea in Emeryville CA last weekend. I used their Blink at $1.5 per hour and I felt it was a total rip-off.

Not only the rate is high (compared to recharging at home) but they also charged me the full hour for the 30 minutes I spent there. Really? Do you know of any gas station that charges by whole gallons?

Ikea : Get out of whatever deal you've got with those thieves.

 

[thankyouOB]

I went to Ikea in Emeryville CA last weekend. I used their Blink at $1.5 per hour and I felt it was a total rip-off.

Not only the rate is high (compared to recharging at home) but they also charged me the full hour for the 30 minutes I spent there. Really? Do you know of any gas station that charges by whole gallons?

Ikea : Get out of whatever deal you've got with those thieves.

i assume you needed the charge to get home or for range-peace of mind.
wasnt that worth the cost of a cup of coffee or half a cup?
a third of a glass of beer?

you complainers about the cost remind me of the folks who go to ERs because they think they are going to die, then complain that the charges were too high.
yes, i started this string with a complaint about being charged for ALL the time plugged in not just the charging time.
That is a particular problem for folks such as me who would plug in at work, but dont want to have to go out to the car -- where the blinks are a 10-minute walk away and 10 minutes back --- after a couple of hours to unplug it.
my solution at work is to ONLY use the Blink when I need a full charge. Otherwise, I charge on L1 in the basement.

EVSE commercial charging only makes sense to me when you have to use it. otherwise, of course you would charge at home for pennies.

 

[JPWhite]

you complainers about the cost remind me of the folks who go to ERs because they think they are going to die, then complain that the charges were too high.

I agree that complaining doesn't resolve anything. However let's be honest, most EV drivers stopped 'opportunity charging' as soon as Blink/ECotality introduced the fees.

I believe L2 charging is a dead business model, folks won't be willing to pay the price unless they are desperate.

Focusing on L3 public charging is the way to go IMHO, charges then can be higher thanks to the utility of quick charging you can't get anywhere else. In most cases it will be worth it, allowing EV drivers the ability to go beyond the return mileage of their vehicles.

L2, I have that in my garage. L3 I don't.