Exactly. One charger anywhere is all but useless as you can never depend on it. I basically ignore them in my trip planning.
Moof wrote:
Light usage at best. A single charger cannot be relied on to be available, so is of limited use anywhere except at home or if there is a reservation system. A half hour or an hour of charging during lunch is pretty useless for most folks as well. A better option is to put in a bank of chargers in a central location of a shopping/dining area so that you can attract EV owners to come by and be able to reliably charge.
My thinking is "you have to start somewhere". You folks in California, where there's lots of electric cars, can opine about what we out here in flyover country 'should' have, but that isn't the way it is. To give you an idea of the desert situation we're in, this map: http://www.chademo.com/wp/usmap/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; shows the nearest DCQC station for me is Chicago, about 250 miles away. There are none shown in either Michigan or Ohio. I owned my Leaf for 9 months before seeing my first one in the wild, and the local dealers don't seem to be much interested in stocking them. The single exception is the Ann Arbor, MI dealer, he's the only one within 40 miles with any in stock at the moment. My dealer in Toledo has had 3 or 4 on the lot in the past 10 months, and those have been gone for several months.
I do know what you mean about being unable to depend on public chargers: this past Summer, I was going to Bowling Green, OH, which is about the limit of my range (round trip). So, I thought that I'd stop at Thayer Nissan, just north of B.G. and pick up a few kilowatts. Called ahead to verify its operation and availability and was assured that I'd be good to go. When I arrived, the circuit breaker was turned off, inside the building. The first saleswoman who came out told me, "Well, we can't let just anybody charge here!" I felt like I was being accused of thievery. Another sales lady came out, happened to be the one I spoke to on the phone the day before, she explained to the first that, yes, I should be allowed to charge, and they got the breaker turned on. The 2 of them discussed things, and agreed that they couldn't remember the last time the store had a Leaf in stock or sold one. This is in a university town, populated by the type of people who are most likely to buy EVs, in fact the saleslady told me that their Toyota store a quarter-mile down the road was extremely successful with the Prius.
FWIW: My dealer, Yark Nissan in Toledo has 2 L2 EVSEs outside, and one is operational and always accessible.
Anyway, I'm willing to pay 100% of the cost; I think it should be doable for $2000.00 or less if their electrical service is suitable. The meter is immediately adjacent to where the thing should be mounted, IE: hung on the wall, so if a circuit is available, it should be very easy.