+1. Mine has needed maybe a few simple reboots from the breaker box. A year or more ago a gentleman came out with new FW and installed it via SD card, and it's been virtually stable since. No real complaints, even though I could wish for more features like viewable stats going back more than one month. The display and touch screen sometimes have a mind of their own, but they still work fine once woken up.
But how much did we pay for these and how much did EVSE units cost back when we obtained them? You can't beat free, as long as they work reliably, which mine has.
I did renew my contract, mostly just to throw the company a bone. Good karma. What they were trying to do was laudable, but just not realistic to make it as a standalone business. IMO the whole EV movement needs an Obama stimulus every year for the next 10 years or so. That ought to do it and would be well worth the investment. That's what good government is for. One installment to start Ecotality had no hope. Sure, mistakes were made, but they had to invent a new system. The industry can learn from such mistakes.
Incidentally, maybe their biggest mistake (edit: hardware only) IMO was their overly complicated DC fast chargers. Touch screens are really too unreliable to use there and their big screen TVs are a total and foolish waste.
P.S. I forgot they got the DC fast charge option comped on our cars too. That was worth something, even though I've written off being able to depend on using that feature.
thankyouOB said:
i have never been among the ecotality haters. i got a unit under the federal program (and later so did my employer -- a dozen) and mine was serviced and replaced as needed. the one time it was truly down and wouldnt charge the car, they sent someone out at 6 am the next morning.