How fast is the public charging network being built-out ?

[TEG]

ChargePoint has recently updated their station map, here are some of the stats:

SF Bay: +119 (Googleplex mostly)
NYC: +51
Seattle: +29
DC: +21
SoCal: +14
Portland: +7

Anyone know if Google paid for all the Chargepoints there?
Were public funds used to pay for part of them?

 

[TEG]

Need some L3's on the highways!

+1 +1 +1

If they looked for places next to intersections of major freeways it would help more people make a "pit stop" to make it to their distant destination.

 

[TangoKilo]

I've been following Chargepoint in Socal very carefully, along with other companies like Blink and I haven't seen any significant expansion for quite a while. It's clear that expansion of the EVSE infrastructure is much slower than hoped for...

 

[linkim]

Here is an update on the status of the public L2 charging docks in Cupertino, CA.
http://www.mercurynews.com/cupertino/ci_18760110?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"The city council on Aug. 16 once again gave city staff the go-ahead to work on a plan that will add two stations on the street. The council had originally made the unanimous decision in April, but revisited the issue last week in an attempt to address higher than expected costs for the project.

In April, the council voted to place two stations on Rodrigues Avenue. After the vote, the city received a revised cost installation estimation, indicating it would cost approximately $24,700 for the two stations. Had the charging station been put in the parking lot, its cost would have been covered by a federal grant. On June 21, during a council budget discussion, the council discussed possibly changing the project to save money and plan for a future parking space project on the street."

The charging docks are from Coulomb Tech. My discussion recently with city staff about cost suggests it will be reasonable, not like the $5/hr or so mentioned in MNL. I mentioned to the staff that usage at $5/hr was very low, and not likely to serve the purpose intended by the city. It could be as low a the cost of electricity (pennies/kWh), but we will wait and see.

 

[tps]

According to the latest map, downtown Philly now has 9 Chargepoints! In addition to the one at a filling station in South Philly, there are now apparently 8 in a parking garage across from the Convention Center. I would have gone an checked it out today, but everything'a all screwed up by the Hurricane.

Maybe I was a bit hasty in saying the the cars seem to be coming before the infrastructure, because it will likely be 40 more weeks before LEAF deliveries start in this area.

 

[redLEAF]

Now that we're expecting LEAF's within 3 months, paying more attention on the news of chargers; this article says ~ 150 ! but not all recognized by charge point map so assume some could be private ones or those eclusive to utilities or municipalities (some of which have had small EV fleets for years). Many located downtown but agree with others that would be great to get some more on major roads -- we have several Walgreen's in the 'burbs so we should see some there as well. At least at the start plan to charge at home but the occasional trip to say Milwaukee or Madison would be great to have something at the halfway point so we could actually take the LEAF and not an ICE (Milwaukee is ~ 90 miles; Madison is ~120)! Hopefully more specific location news about the buildout to 240 by year end (also mentioned ) will encourage more use.

http://www.suntimes.com/business/7279269-420/nissan-leaf-blows-into-town-this-fall.html

 

[TomT]

This lower-cost, smaller QC that also allows a lesser electrical hookup might prove interesting...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20097906-1/nichicon-claims-smallest-quickest-ev-charger/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[tps]

I made a trip to central Philly today to check out the Convention Center parking garage. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. Right after going through the ticket gate, there was a wall with 8 (that's EIGHT) Coulumb Chargepoints, each with both J1772 and 5-20R, all powered up and waiting for the EVs that Nissan won't be delivering here for 9 months or so... They spaced them out so multiple vehicles could share each unit, and simply marked all the spaces "Reserved". I asked the parking attendant; he said they were reserved for EVs and you didn't have to do anything special to park there if you were an EV. By the looks of the transformer, the J1772s will be 208V.

This parking garage is in the ideal spot, convenient to I95, Tourist areas, to the Convention Center, the train station, the Hilton Hotel, the Reading Terminal Market, etc. A great place to leave the car for a few hours while you do something else

I wish I could run a long extension cord from all you guys on the west coast who really need this now...

 

[ht2]

Here is an update on the status of the public L2 charging docks in Cupertino, CA.
http://www.mercurynews.com/cupertino/ci_18760110?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"The city council on Aug. 16 once again gave city staff the go-ahead to work on a plan that will add two stations on the street. The council had originally made the unanimous decision in April, but revisited the issue last week in an attempt to address higher than expected costs for the project.

In April, the council voted to place two stations on Rodrigues Avenue. After the vote, the city received a revised cost installation estimation, indicating it would cost approximately $24,700 for the two stations. Had the charging station been put in the parking lot, its cost would have been covered by a federal grant. On June 21, during a council budget discussion, the council discussed possibly changing the project to save money and plan for a future parking space project on the street."

The charging docks are from Coulomb Tech. My discussion recently with city staff about cost suggests it will be reasonable, not like the $5/hr or so mentioned in MNL. I mentioned to the staff that usage at $5/hr was very low, and not likely to serve the purpose intended by the city. It could be as low a the cost of electricity (pennies/kWh), but we will wait and see.

Any update on those charge stations?

 

[LEAFfan]

That's the entire point.

Without DC charging, BEV's will remain "niche" vehicles.

With DC charging, BEV's will likely soon replace ICEV's as the dominant passenger vehicles in the nation's fleet.

+1!

 

[LEAFfan]

I agree. I think only home and work make sense for L2 chargers.

For travel you need DC fast charge. That is what the port was designed to do.

+1!

 

[TangoKilo]

The public EVSE infrastructure is woefully inadequate. In my opinion, the EV Project has been a disappointment. Having used the Mitsubishi HQ DC quick charger in Cypress, I agree we need them everywhere...

 

[JJnHAWAII]

I am very dissappointed that the charging infrastructure has taken so long. Almost as dissappointed as how long it took to actually get an EV !! Electric cars will become mainstream faster once people see a charging infrastructure is in place. Every now and then you may want to go visit friends/family 80+ miles away. Having the charging infrastructure allows you to take the leaf for these trips instead of being forced to take the ice vehicle because of the range. I want to sell my ice vehicle because it sits in the driveway 99% of the time, but I still need this vehicle to take longer trips. The EV has gone from a dream to a reality, now build the public charging network !!

 

[LEAFfan]

Every now and then you may want to go visit friends/family 80+ miles away.

You can't go 80+ miles? I have absolutely no problem going 100 miles on an 80% charge. You should be able to go 80+ on 100%. Try using ECO and stay off the interstates/freeways.

 

[TangoKilo]

I just read this thread. It somehow slipped under my radar

In my opinion, the public charging network in SoCal sucks. It is still mostly made up of old legacy sites, of which half are broken and out of service. Allthough Chargepoint and Ecotality are building their networks, it is a very slow and painful process. I am very disappointed with the EV Project. Wasted money so far... I am fortunate to have an AVCON receptacle attached to a spare J plug, allowing me to tap into some of the legacy EVSEs still working...

P.S. I have an extra receptacle for sale. PM me if interested. I'll send pics...

 

[surfingslovak]

I just read this thread. It somehow slipped under my radar

Indeed, perhaps it's time to revisit this topic. I didn't look at other geographic regions, but if the SF Bay Area is any indicator, the ChargePoint network tripled in size in eight months. Hey, that's not bad. Not bad at all!


Click to open

 

[JPVLeaf]

Interesting snap shot. I wonder how long it will take for these numbers to double, to triple ....

Here is a snap shot of the Chargepoint units in So Calif as of 4/28/12:

and for LA-metro area:

 

[surfingslovak]

Interesting snap shot. I wonder how long it will take for these numbers to double, to triple ....

Here is what the ChargePoint network looked like in August 2011:


Click to open

and in April 2012:

Click to open

 

[dgpcolorado]

Indeed, perhaps it's time to revisit this topic. I didn't look at other geographic regions, but if the SF Bay Area is any indicator, the ChargePoint network tripled in size in eight months. Hey, that's not bad. Not bad at all!

Depends on where one lives. The map has a lot of blank areas and, believe it or not, people live in them.

Not that I have any cause to complain since I knew that there weren't going to be any public charge stations where I live for the foreseeable future. But a couple of well-placed L2 stations would sure help expand my range.

 

[TEG]

Interesting snap shot. I wonder how long it will take for these numbers to double, to triple ....

Looks like SF-CA, LA-CA, Austin-TX, and Central-FL have all trippled...