ICEless in Seattle : Official Pacific NorthWest thread

[SeattleBlueLeaf]

On a different subject. Anyone have plans for a get together of owners/wanna be owners this Spring?

 

[UhClem]

Question - anyone in Bellingham that can update us on the new QC. Seems like it must have been installed for a while now. Is it operating?

I wandered by this afternoon as the electricians were leaving. They installed the L2 charger today.

It looks like the QC will be mounted on the same pad next to the L2 charger. One of the electricians said they'll be installing a transformer on the other empty pad, maybe later this week. Unfortunately, he didn't know when it would be operational.

Photo Album

 

[ebill3]

I am planning to attend a couple of events at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe, WA next month. Anyone used the fairground RV spaces to charge? I have tried contacting folks at the fairgrounds, but not getting any return calls. If the RV deal fails, I can always spend a few hours at the Duvall fire station.

A person from Snohomish County returned my call concerning using an RV space for EV charging.

No need to use an RV space, as they have very recently installed two charge points at the fairgrounds main building. The caller did not know if ChargePoint, or Blink, or what, but stated they were 240 volts and free to use.

They don't appear on any of the maps that I have access to. If anyone happens to be by there, appreciate a report on the set-up.

I would like to supply details of the charging stations at the Evergreen Fairgrounds in Monre, but, alas, I can not. I could not fined the darn things, and there was no one that I coulkd find that knew anything about them. I guess my bad in not pnning down the earlier caller on the exact location of the charge points.

It is 61 miles from home to the fairgrounds, amost all freeway. I figured with carefull driving, I ought to be OK. But, being a bit cautious and not having any reports of the charge points, I stopped in Krkland for a nice lunch and browsed the magazines in the lbrary while getting enogh charge to ensure a return to Kirkland. Good thing I did. Spent some more time in the Kirkland library on the way home.

So, again, if anyone is from that area, a report would be nice. Be a good point for topping off before the pass.

Bill

 

[saywatt]

Sounds like a frustrating trip. I put it on my list of sites to visit and will try next week. I think I can make it to and from Issaquah even if I too can't find it. I'll go through Duvall incase I'm wrong.

I would like to supply details of the charging stations at the Evergreen Fairgrounds in Monre, but, alas, I can not. I could not fined the darn things, and there was no one that I coulkd find that knew anything about them. I guess my bad in not pnning down the earlier caller on the exact location of the charge points.

It is 61 miles from home to the fairgrounds, amost all freeway. I figured with carefull driving, I ought to be OK. But, being a bit cautious and not having any reports of the charge points, I stopped in Krkland for a nice lunch and browsed the magazines in the lbrary while getting enogh charge to ensure a return to Kirkland. Good thing I did. Spent some more time in the Kirkland library on the way home.

So, again, if anyone is from that area, a report would be nice. Be a good point for topping off before the pass.

Bill

 

[sirfergy]

Does anyone have advice getting their LEAF tinted locally? I originally didn't get tint, but I've reconsidered.

 

[saywatt]

Going to check out the Monroe fairground chargers today and will report back later, hopefully with images on the EVSE apps. Had to greatly revise CW route ( adding waypoints) to reduce the number of large hills it was going to take me over. Backup charging on the return will be the Duvall fire station incase I, like ebill3, can't find them.

I am planning to attend a couple of events at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe, WA next month. Anyone used the fairground RV spaces to charge? I have tried contacting folks at the fairgrounds, but not getting any return calls. If the RV deal fails, I can always spend a few hours at the Duvall fire station.

A person from Snohomish County returned my call concerning using an RV space for EV charging.

No need to use an RV space, as they have very recently installed two charge points at the fairgrounds main building. The caller did not know if ChargePoint, or Blink, or what, but stated they were 240 volts and free to use.

They don't appear on any of the maps that I have access to. If anyone happens to be by there, appreciate a report on the set-up.

I would like to supply details of the charging stations at the Evergreen Fairgrounds in Monre, but, alas, I can not. I could not fined the darn things, and there was no one that I coulkd find that knew anything about them. I guess my bad in not pnning down the earlier caller on the exact location of the charge points.

It is 61 miles from home to the fairgrounds, amost all freeway. I figured with carefull driving, I ought to be OK. But, being a bit cautious and not having any reports of the charge points, I stopped in Krkland for a nice lunch and browsed the magazines in the lbrary while getting enogh charge to ensure a return to Kirkland. Good thing I did. Spent some more time in the Kirkland library on the way home.

So, again, if anyone is from that area, a report would be nice. Be a good point for topping off before the pass.

Bill

 

[SeattleBlueLeaf]

If Snohomish county installed they will likely be Shorepiwer chargers just like their garage in downtown Everett. See Recargo for pics I took at the Sno County garage if you want to know what to look for.

 

[saywatt]

GTK, Thanks!

If Snohomish county installed they will likely be Shorepiwer chargers just like their garage in downtown Everett. See Recargo for pics I took at the Sno County garage if you want to know what to look for.

 

[saywatt]

Evergreen State Fairgrounds, Monroe - I found the 2 Eaton EVSEs to the West of the Admin bldg. along the fence line. There was no EV signage so both spots were ICED. I could have double parked, and there was room to do so, and I think the cords would have reached the Leaf. I posted pics on Recargo and PlugShare.

Monroe DC QC coming soon? Stopped at the Chevron station shown on PlugShare on SR2 & Main St. in Monroe and talked with the QuickMart employee. She said they are still debating over the location of the QC but it will be either along the East property line or the curb side (along hwy2), both away from the gas islands. I don't expect the location to up and running by 3/1/12 as the PlugShare app states. She alo said they are putting a QC in Gold Bar.

 

[ebill3]

Evergreen State Fairgrounds, Monroe - I found the 2 Eaton EVSEs to the West of the Admin bldg. along the fence line. There was no EV signage so both spots were ICED. I could have double parked, and there was room to do so, and I think the cords would have reached the Leaf. I posted pics on Recargo and PlugShare.

Monroe DC QC coming soon? Stopped at the Chevron station shown on PlugShare on SR2 & Main St. in Monroe and talked with the QuickMart employee. She said they are still debating over the location of the QC but it will be either along the East property line or the curb side (along hwy2), both away from the gas islands. I don't expect the location to up and running by 3/1/12 as the PlugShare app states. She alo said they are putting a QC in Gold Bar.

Thanks for the fairgrounds report and for posting them on Rechargo and PlugShare. Bummer that there is no sinage, as that makes depending on them rather iffy.

Bill

 

[saywatt]

At this particular location, I would not hesitate to double park in order to charge. I would also leave my cell phone number on the offending cars winshield or on my dash. The admin office is not open on weekends otherwise I would have suggested EV signage to them.

Evergreen State Fairgrounds, Monroe - I found the 2 Eaton EVSEs to the West of the Admin bldg. along the fence line. There was no EV signage so both spots were ICED. I could have double parked, and there was room to do so, and I think the cords would have reached the Leaf. I posted pics on Recargo and PlugShare.

Monroe DC QC coming soon? Stopped at the Chevron station shown on PlugShare on SR2 & Main St. in Monroe and talked with the QuickMart employee. She said they are still debating over the location of the QC but it will be either along the East property line or the curb side (along hwy2), both away from the gas islands. I don't expect the location to up and running by 3/1/12 as the PlugShare app states. She alo said they are putting a QC in Gold Bar.

Thanks for the fairgrounds report and for posting them on Rechargo and PlugShare. Bummer that there is no sinage, as that makes depending on them rather iffy.

Bill

 

[IBELEAF]

$100 tax passes..

http://green.autoblog.com/2012/02/15/washington-state-senate-passes-100-annual-fee-for-electric-vehi/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[saywatt]

If the tax on EV's stop there, we're getting off easy.

If, however, if talks continue on a per mile tax, I'll start complaining. Road taxes should be based on vehicle weight and nothing more......except for a penalty for those who use studded tires!

$100 tax passes..

http://green.autoblog.com/2012/02/15/washington-state-senate-passes-100-annual-fee-for-electric-vehi/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[ebill3]

$100 tax passes..

http://green.autoblog.com/2012/02/15/washington-state-senate-passes-100-annual-fee-for-electric-vehi/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't have a problem with that. No state gas tax, no federal gas tax, no emissions test, and no sales tax on the LEAF.

Bill

 

[sproqitman]

If the tax on EV's stop there, we're getting off easy.
If, however, if talks continue on a per mile tax, I'll start complaining. Road taxes should be based on vehicle weight and nothing more......except for a penalty for those who use studded tires!

$100 tax passes..

I realize the money goes into different budgets, but the sales tax exemption they gave us is equivalent to about 20 years of this use tax.

I'm all for a simple mileage/weight tax. No fancy GPS transponders. Just swing by the emissions test station once a year and have them read your odometer. Personally, I'd be laughing all the way to the bank, since my daily commuter weighs 22 lbs.

 

[DaveEV]

If, however, if talks continue on a per mile tax, I'll start complaining. Road taxes should be based on vehicle weight and nothing more......except for a penalty for those who use studded tires!

You guys are taking this well. Here's the way I look at it.

If I wasn't driving a LEAF, I'd be driving a Prius or other fuel efficient car. Gas tax is 37.5c/gallon. In a 50 mpg Prius that's .75c/mi. In a 35 mpg car that's 1c/mi.

Now I only drive about 10k mi / year - so I'd be paying 25% more in taxes than my first choice of car and about the same as my 2nd choice of car. A lot of EV drivers drive far less - they'd be paying a lot more regardless of the other vehicle they drove.

Now, it's not a lot of money either way - but don't you guys pay no sales tax on EVs? What kind of mixed message are they sending here?

IMO, it's dumb to tax EVs at this stage in the game. There's hardly any out there and especially in the NW you want them as EV driving is about as clean as it gets with all the hydro you have.

If you want to tax EVs, it should be done equitably, and that means a per-mile tax adjusted by vehicle weight. Heavy vehicles do exponentially more wear on the road - heavy vehicles should pay an appropriate amount. Truck and SUV drivers would hate this, but it'd be fair if that's what the goal is.

I'm all for a simple mileage/weight tax. No fancy GPS transponders. Just swing by the emissions test station once a year and have them read your odometer. Personally, I'd be laughing all the way to the bank, since my daily commuter weighs 22 lbs.

+1

 

[FairwoodRed]

If, however, if talks continue on a per mile tax, I'll start complaining. Road taxes should be based on vehicle weight and nothing more......

I'll have to disagree with you there. I have one car that I drive twice a year and another that I drive once a month. Gas taxes on both come to about $5. Are you really suggesting that I should be paying $200?

Not only that, but if every car is paying additional flat rate taxes, isn't that really an inflated car tab fee? And didn't we vote those down just a few years ago?

Finally, I drive my Leaf about 25k miles a year. $100 in road taxes is too little for my fair share. Why should others pay the same amount as me when I clearly use the roads more than they do?

Road use taxes have always been based on use and the easiest way to implement that was a tax on the fuel. Now that we have wide differences in fuel economy, that model is creating some very unfair taxing situations. The only two possibilities that I see are lots more toll roads, or road taxes based on odometer readings.

Toll roads add a lot of overhead to tax collections and I just don't like the idea of paying everytime I have to drive to work. Odometer readings raise questions of how to accurately charge for mileage without intruding on privacy by tracking everywhere I drive. No perfect solutions yet.

I'm curious, why are you against a per mile tax?

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

If the tax on EV's stop there, we're getting off easy.

If, however, if talks continue on a per mile tax, I'll start complaining. Road taxes should be based on vehicle weight and nothing more......except for a penalty for those who use studded tires!

$100 tax passes..

http://green.autoblog.com/2012/02/15/washington-state-senate-passes-100-annual-fee-for-electric-vehi/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

WA State Senate passed a bill yesterday to propose a $100 annual fee for EVs. with WA's 37.5 cent per gallon gas tax that is the same as driving a 45 mpg car 12,000 miles. now, i agree EVs should pay something but i think it should be mileage based. you simply report your odometer reading when you renew your tabs. lie about it if you want because you will be responsible for that odometer reading when you sell the car and your buyer is unlikely to support your lie...

now, i cant be too unhappy simply because WA has been one of the leaders in supporting EVs and they have done with with their pocketbook. this annual fee will never be recouped if it was to offset the tax break i got (tax free purchases of EVs in the state) which is 3rd highest in the country (not sure of that. it is perennially in the top 5 since we dont have state income tax)

but i think its a knee jerk reaction started by some lady who is probably still driving her 14 mpg SUV.

now, i am ok with it if it passes but this penalizes another segment of the EV population and that is NEVs which we probably have more than our fair share since we were the first (with Montana a close 2nd) to allow them to drive 35 mph (national limit was 25) which made them popular. i drove a Zenn for 3+ years but because it was a 2 seater it was pretty much a commuter only with a 3 member household so i only averaged 4271 miles per year which would have effectively charge me a gas tax equivalent of a BUCK!!

at 1200 lbs it would be hard to justify paying for "my fair share of road wear and tear!"

from the thread http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=7920" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

it MUST be based on both weight and miles driven. tab renewal costs takes care of weight in most cases, gas tax covers the mileage driven.

 

[DaveL]

it MUST be based on both weight and miles driven. tab renewal costs takes care of weight in most cases, gas tax covers the mileage driven.

+1

The current funding mechnisim for fixing roads is broken. It was based upon cars getting an average of 14-18 miles to the gallon, which is what cars got back when I first started driving. Now the average is up to 25 (?) and rising so we have more cars on the road each paying less for the roads they drive on.

Given that we drive the Leaf most of the time and the Prius some of the time, my wife and I currently pay a LOT less in road taxes than our fathers did. The Legislature will have to fix this at some point or we'll all be driving around potholes a lot!

 

[Dino]

IMO to be fair they should do it the same way as gas , $/energy unit.

They should get your mileage then divide it by the vehicles average miles/kWh to determine your energy usage and charge you per kWh. Then it would be apples to apples. Bigger vehicles or more miles will use more energy and be taxed more.

A flat $100 seems as ridiculous as implementing it prematurely.