Guidance to Facilities Manager at work

[foobert]

My work is making talk about installing several EVSEs in our parking garage. I'm seeking feedback from other EV drivers on my suggestions that I'm going to send them.

Facilities Management:

I applaud your efforts to install EV charging equipment in the parking garage. As we already have at least 5 EV vehicles on campus, I believe this effort will be well received.

As one of those EV drivers, I wanted to offer some suggestions on how to ensure the investment will be most readily utilized as the EV fleet continues to grow.

1) Throughout a work day, a single charger can easily service 2-3 vehicles if the stations are placed in a non-blocking arrangement. The worst method would be to install 4 chargers in 4 adjacent stalls requiring that a completed vehicle vacate the stall to enable another vehicle to gain access. The attached picture demonstrates a placement allowing a person to unplug a completed vehicle and quickly plug in another awaiting vehicle.

2) The number of parking stalls a charger services depends on the length of the cord. As illustrated, a 10' cord can reasonably cover 2 stalls, while a 15' cord can cover 3 stalls.

3) The J1772 plug standard is the most widely adopted format for current production vehicles. Because J1772 is so ubiquitous, many non-J1772 drivers (namely Tesla) carry an adapter to utilize these charging facilities. Thus, there is little reason to consider other formats.

4) That said, a standard NEMA 5-15 wall socket works well, too. While it may not provide a full charge within a work day, it also does not require any additional equipment to be installed if the cost of the power is of no concern. Such provisions should use dedicated breakers per plug as two vehicles charging simultaneously will exceed 20 Amps demand.

5) The cost of the power does not need to be gratis; a nominal price to cover the company's expense is understandable. Subsidized pricing will obviously encourage greater adoption of green transportation. Pricing that is significantly greater than the cost of charging at home will stifle most usage.

6) The placement of the EV charging area need not be "at the front door" to the building. A convenient spot for power access should decide the location, even if it's the back of the garage, on an upper level.

7) Each of the EV charging stalls should be clearly placarded for plug-in charging usage only to prevent non plug-in vehicles from blocking access.

I'd be happy to discuss any of these details and provide feedback on the various public charging systems I have experience with.

Thank you for your consideration.

No comment from the peanut gallery on using a prius. Someone really needs to build a nice looking Sketchup model of the Leaf

[Updated based on feedback -- thank you all for your comments]

 

[RegGuheert]

My work is making talk about installing several EVSEs in our parking garage. I'm seeking feedback from other EV drivers on my suggestions that I'm going to send them.

That looks very nice! Here are my comments:

4) That said, the 20 Amp, 110V wall socket works quite well, too. While it may not provide a full charge within a work day, it also does not require any additional equipment to be installed if the cost of the power is of no concern.

I don't think this goes far enough to help someone uninitiated with EV charging come up with a working solution. Here is a suggested wording:
"4) That said, standard 15-A NEMA wall sockets can work quite well, too, but there are special considerations that must be made for EV usage:
- Each outlet should be on a dedicated 15- or 20-A circuit.
- Duplex outlets should not be used since this will undoubted result in two users trying to use the same circuit, which will blow the circuit breaker and will become a nuisance to both the users and facilities.
- Only the highest quality outlets should be used.
- Outlets should be checked frequently as they will get extensive use. Worn or loose outlets should be replaced immediately.
- Portable EVSE units are required to have a short power cord. As such, it is important to have a shelf near the outlet to support the unit while plugged in. Perhaps it would be best to borrow a couple of different types of EVSE units to determine what kind of shelf works best to keep the EVSEs from falling.

Please note that dedicated L2 wall chargers are preferable, as they are more convenient to EV owners, are more rugged, are more secure and will provide a tidier environment."

5) The cost of the power need not be free and a nominal to pricing to cover the company's expenses is understandable. Pricing that is significantly greater than the cost of charging at home will stifle most usage.

There seems to be a wording issue in that first sentence...

6) The placement of the EV charging area need not be "at the front door" to the building. A convenient spot for power access should decide the location, even if it's the back of the garage, on an upper level.

I would change the second sentence to read:"However, to enhance battery life it is important that EVs be charged in the shade if at all possible. Perhaps the best location would combine shade with ease of wiring."

7) Each of the EV charging stalls should be clearly placarded for plug-in charging usage only to prevent non plug-in vehicles from blocking access.

Also: "Policies for parking in these spots should be created, communicated and periodically reviewed for relevance."

No comment from the peanut gallery on using a prius. Someone really needs to build a nice sketchup model of the Leaf

I'm sorry, but I simply cannot resist! If you MUST use a Prius, then you need to back it into the spot. For whatever reason, Toyota put the plug on the rear quarter panel!

 

[cwerdna]

I'm sorry, but I simply cannot resist! If you MUST use a Prius, then you need to back it into the spot. For whatever reason, Toyota put the plug on the rear quarter panel!

LOL! Yeah, a lot of Priuschatters were unhappy about that and felt it was a mistake to put it there. The prototypes/demonstrators didn't have it back there.

From http://priuschat.com/forums/toyota-prius-plug-in/94868-prius-phv-plug-in-updates-45.html#post1389540" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In the end it was moved to save weight by removing extra length of wiring. It also consolidated all the related equipment into the rear of the car where they now had room since the production battery is SO much smaller than the demo units battery. It also now avoids all that heat buildup which used to occur on the demo car when the onboard charger was under the passenger seat

There were other posts to this effect in some other threads.

 

[thankyouOB]

from my experience with them at work, i would say these are key things to make them useful and used:
dont put them next to each other
dont put them in a desirable location
dont charge to charge
make them EV only spots--that means it is especially important to put them at the back of the lot or in the sub=basement

when there are enough EVs, you can work out a rotation program with your co-workers

 

[foobert]

Thank you RegGuheert for the awesome feedback. I've fixed my wording and incorporated many of your suggestions.

Fortunately, there is little chance that the charging location will be exposed to the sun, so, I'm omitting for brevity.

 

[Electric4Me]

foobert,
thanks for posting this. I would appreciate it if you could make the updated version available, including the picture. I'd love to plagiarize it. :lol:
I do think that you should resist using the standard prius in the picture as we have enough issues with folks misunderstanding the "hybrid" vs. "EV" issues. You could simply obscure the Toyota and Prius logos and put "EV" on the license plate, or use a generic car model.

In regards to #5, I agree that pricing need not be free, but the company should be encouraged to make it free for a set time period to encourage adoption. The overhead costs for them to recover the electricity costs will likely not be worthwhile until there are a large number of chargers.

 

[smkettner]

4) That said, a standard 15 Amp NEMA wall socket works well, too. While it may not provide a full charge within a work day, it also does not require any additional equipment to be installed if the cost of the power is of no concern. Such provisions should use simplex outlets with dedicated breakers (two vehicles charging simultaneously will exceed 20 Amp demand).

A duplex 5-15 can be wired with split phase and save a neutral wire lowering the cost. Your home laundry is often wired in this manner.

 

[foobert]

A duplex 5-15 can be wired with split phase and save a neutral wire lowering the cost.

Quite true. The point is dedicated breakers per plug. How it's wired is beyond the scope of my suggestions :|

 

[EricBayArea]

I think that looks good. If they do adopt L2s ever other spot, make sure that they mark BOTH spots for EV-only.

As far as the use of a Prius, I found it amusing considering the model you depict is not the PiP. Additionally, if your work charges for charges, I would presume that most PiPs will not pay unless it is very, VERY inexpensive.

Lastly, one small grammar item:

As one of those EV drivers, I wanted to offer some suggestions on how to ensure the investment will be most readily utilized as the EV fleet continues to grow.

 

[foobert]

Like I said, find me a good looking model of an EV for Google Sketchup, and I'll update the picture. Otherwise, I'll doctor out the badging so you purists will get over it :lol:


Spelling mistake fixed. Thanks!

 

[baronvonshush]

This looks very nice. I don't have many specific comments on what you've written, but my employer installed charging stations a few months before I got my LEAF (and that was a big motivating factor in the purchase), so I have a few thoughts on this type of situation. Unfortunately it's probably too late to change a few of the things they did wrong (several charging stations are adjacent, etc), but I'm still thinking of contacting them sometime about at least setting up informal guidelines for charging etiquette.

Handicap/disabled parking
One thing that I can't quite understand is that they made one of the (ten) charging spaces also a handicap space. This parking space is against a wall on one side, and there is another charging station on the other side, so it can't be used from an adjacent space. It's not the closest handicap space, nor is it even the closest EV space to the front gate. Therefore the only benefit I see is the extra room on either side for getting a wheelchair in and out. Since there is no EV that I know of on the market or on the horizon that can accommodate a wheelchair (other than a custom conversion), this effectively means that charging station will never be used. While I'm all for providing easy access for the disabled, this particular configuration seems misguided at best, and useless or wasteful at worst.

I don't know if there was any legal requirement to make one of the EV spaces also handicap. If so, and if your employer would also have to comply with such a requirement, you might make sure they do it a little smarter than mine did. If they follow your point #1, it should work fine, with access from spaces on either side of the handicap spot - as long as those aren't also disabled parking.

Angled parking
The majority of our EV spaces are in a lot with angled parking spaces. One of our EV drivers has a long custom conversion pickup with the charging port in the back, so he has difficulty using the stations in that lot because he can't really back in. Therefore he's asked the rest of us to leave one of the two spaces (would be three except for the handicap spot) in the other lot for him. This isn't a problem now, but I wonder how it will work when we start seeing the waves of PiPs coming in...

If your parking is 90 degrees like your diagram, then no worries here.

Etiquette
We currently have 4 LEAFs plus the converted pickup vying for 6 charging stations (10 minus 1 handicap, minus 3 that haven't been powered up yet). Obviously everyone can park all day, regardless of how long they're actually charging. But I'm thinking ahead to the days when we start to see Plug-in Priuses, Volts, and more LEAFs show up. My goal is to avoid having vehicles tie up stations all day after only using a couple hours charge. This has been discussed in other threads, but my ideas for etiquette are basically just a couple of guidelines:

1. Charging stations are first come, first served, regardless of who "needs" the charge more.

2. Vehicles parked in designated spaces must be actively charging or recently finished. When your vehicle is finished charging, vacate the spot at your earliest convenience. It will be a nice break from your busy workday to get outside for the few minutes it will take to do this. If you only have an hour or two left in your workday, it's probably not necessary to move.

2a. Consider leaving a phone number (work extension, cell) visible on your dash so someone can call if they need to use the charging station when you are finished.

Regarding #2, it's probably not as necessary with the configuration in your diagram. However it opens up a new problem: how to tell when it's ok to unplug someone else and use the charging station from an adjacent spot. Some guidelines for this would be necessary, and may need to be vehicle-specific as far as recognizing state of charge. You might even recommend/require that Volt owners disable the charge-plug-removed alarm so others can use their station when done??

 

[thankyouOB]

my employer installed blinks and did some research on the handicap-parking issue.
the determination was to make sure that at least two of 14 spots were adjacent to disability spots, though with the long cords they could be shared by "more" able drivers in regular spots.

 

[UkrainianKozak]

There's Tesla sketchup, it'll look better than Prius
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=d5b9471bcaaf15d4824c4ee0076cfe45" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[ksnogas2112]

No one mentioned a bulletin board/wipe board/schedule. Since this is intended for employees, a method to communicate to the next person in line when your charging is complete would be a nice addition.

Anyone have suggestions on how to broach this with management in the first place? I'm going at this in a very left handed fashion at my office by taking the vp's kid (intern) out for a drive when I get my Leaf. Hopefully he'll talk to his dad and then work it's way downstream. A more formalized approach from anyone would be nice to see.

 

[Electric4Me]

There's Tesla sketchup, it'll look better than Prius
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=d5b9471bcaaf15d4824c4ee0076cfe45" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But then we'll whine that it doesn't have a J1772 port! :lol:

 

[padamson1]

No one mentioned a bulletin board/wipe board/schedule. Since this is intended for employees, a method to communicate to the next person in line when your charging is complete would be a nice addition.

We use the protocol cards (http://www.evchargernews.com/chargeprotocolcard.pdf) at our workplace. Use a paper clip to tell people if/when they can unplug a car and how to contact the owner. Works great. I'd suggest requiring it.

 

[smkettner]

If all plugs are full I suggest more plugs.

 

[Nekota]

In california there is the GM sponsored law that says you have to be plugged in - no cable sharing!

 

[foobert]

In california there is the GM sponsored law that says you have to be plugged in - no cable sharing!

No one is going to enforce that in a private parking garage (or lot).

 

[Caracalover]

One thought - Most companies ask employees where they live. To enable those with the longest commutes to utilize the charging stations makes sense, and stops frugal employees from using the chargers for the PIP they bought to use the carpool lane for the 5 mile commute, or to not pay for the electricity they could be paying for at home.

A green employee program might be a way to compromise. A membership fee could cover some or all of the electricity cost, and if it is priced right, the long commuter will love paying it to have the guaranteed charge, and the frugal employee will simply pay for the gasoline. Somewhere around a dollar a day should do, if you make it a yearly charge it would be $200 or so, and it might just stop some of those that don't really need the charge to leave the space for those that rely on it.

I get to park in the carpool spaces where I work, simply because I drive an EV. I have to put a placard on my mirror to do so. Same thing could be done with this, and it would allow those that have long commutes to know they can get the charge they need before they shell out the cash for a car that might not work out for them.