Los Angeles Metro Area Leafers

[garygid]

Section 22511 (near the end) says that dealers can chose to "obtain" them, presumably for the new EV cars they sell.

 

[LEAFer]

Section 22511 (near the end) says that dealers can chose to "obtain" them, presumably for the new EV cars they sell.

Oh wow ! Nice find Gary ! Thanks.
Is that true of the HOV decals too ?
(Hint hint to all dealers reading this forum !)

 

[TomT]

Perhaps our Dealers will obtain these decals for us, if we want them?

Here is a link to the actual form: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/forms/reg/reg4048.pdf

 

[garygid]

You are invited to the SoCal Gathering #2 on Saturday, 16 Oct, at HTB in Santa Ana, just off I-5 on 17th.

 

[KeiJidosha]

I thought this was an interesting twist for California EV owners related to EV parking from the DMV

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc22511.htm

The permit also lets you park and charge at LAX airport for free.

 

[garygid]

Free is good. In what Lot(s) or Parking structures?

Do they need your keys to move your car after it has finished charging?

 

[prberg]

Hi Los Angeles Leafers. I thought I would share info about this upcoming event. I got an email about the EV 101 workshop happening on Oct. 22nd near UCLA. Looks like it is geared more towards utilities and city planners, but Nissan will be there and some EVSE manufactures will be there. Might be a great day to learn more about EV's and the challenges that they face. I am going to try to go (at least for part of the day). Anybody else interested?

http://www.cleanfuelconnection.com/socalev/


-Peter

 

[Kataphn]

Hi Los Angeles Leafers. I thought I would share info about this upcoming event. I got an email about the EV 101 workshop happening on Oct. 22nd near UCLA. Looks like it is geared more towards utilities and city planners, but Nissan will be there and some EVSE manufactures will be there. Might be a great day to learn more about EV's and the challenges that they face. I am going to try to go (at least for part of the day). Anybody else interested?
-Peter

I cannot go, Peter but it would be great, if you do go, that you could post what you learn.

 

[Kataphn]

Hi Los Angeles area folks and maybe OC and San Diego, too....I stopped today at Downtown LA Nissan which is at Washington Blvd. and Figueroa. They have installed two L2 AV chargers in an open parking lot facing Washington Blvd. It is a small lot to the left of the showroom which is surrounded by a very low concrete wall that borders the sidewalk. It is a lot that is open 24 hours a day. They have installed the EVSEs in parking spaces that face an iron fence. The EVSEs are attached to the fence. They have run conduit all along the middle of the fence so they may be putting additional units in other parking spaces along the fence. A very easy in, easy out situation.
So if you are going to Staples Center, Expo Park, USC, etc. this would be a place you could top off. Enjoy! :mrgreen:

 

[garygid]

Kat,
Were the spaces with EVSEs sign posted for EV use only?

 

[Kataphn]

Kat,
Were the spaces with EVSEs sign posted for EV use only?

No, not yet anyway...there were ICE cars parked there. I wondered that, too....how will ICE cars be kept out? When they are there during business hours, I would think one could petition them to get the blocking cars moved if one wanted to charge. Any car parked in that small lot would be doing some kind of business with the dealer, I would imagine and so would be around to move their cars.

 

[garygid]

Unless they were also parking to visit Staples Center.

 

[BudRaymond]

Free is good. In what Lot(s) or Parking structures?

Do they need your keys to move your car after it has finished charging?

Short term parking lots #1 and 6. They do not need your keys. Even though it's "short term", parking is free for electric vehicles INDEFINITELY. I parked my RAV-4 EV once for a month. No charge. They do write your license plate on the ticket as you leave, but that's it.

 

[garygid]

I thought there was a 30-day limit in the EV parking at LAX?

 

[daveowenville]

Finally drove it this morning (loved it as an EV, wouldn't buy it if it wasn't an EV because the interior's a festival of mousefur upholstery that's unlikely to stay clean with my kids in it.)

Finally got the charger installation quote worked out, and with ECOtality picking up $1,200 of it, I'm only out-of-pocket $142. Good thing I cleaned out my garage to make room.

So now all that remains is to order it! Anyone want to buy a 2008 Versa SL?

EDIT: Better question: anyone know how long it takes to get a time-of-use meter from LADWP, and if I should be jumping through hoops beyond filling out the website form with the one giant "GIMME" checkbox? If there's an EV-specific path I need to follow to get it done in a timely fashion, I couldn't find it...

 

[BobTarlau]

Previous post: "Anyone know how long it takes to get a time-of-use meter from LADWP, and if I should be jumping through hoops beyond filling out the website form with the one giant "GIMME" checkbox? If there's an EV-specific path I need to follow to get it done in a timely fashion, I couldn't find it...[/quote]"

If the original writer or someone else has a followup to the LA DWP question asked above... kindly send along an update. We who are DWP customers would certainly like to know.

Thanks, Bob - Northridge

 

[ronnyguru]

I'll be shooting the LADWP an email today - and see what things they are providing for us-

http://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/cms/ladwp002056.jsp

LADWP has identified these 3 steps towards Plug-in Readiness:
1. Understand the different vehicle and charging options.
2. Find out what it will take to install a charger at your home.
3. Research available financial and rate incentives.

Currently, LADWP offers a 2.5 cent per kilo-watt discount while charging your PEV at night or on the weekends. LADWP is reviewing the rate incentive plans and may be announcing a new rate program soon. Click here for information on the current rate.

If you live in Los Angeles and are planning to purchase a PEV in the near future and want to learn more, please contact LADWP’s Electric Vehicle Program at [email protected]. If you’ve already purchased a vehicle and want to apply for the discount rate, fill out the Residential Application.

 

[dlich18]

Here is an e-mail I got from LA DWP back on 10/5/10

We are working closely with ECOtality to coordinate on the installation of the chargers under The EV Project. Glad to hear you’ve already heard from them. Below is some information on the rates. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Residential EV Discount Rate Options

LADWP’s goal is to add electric vehicles to the grid without adding to the peak demand, thus avoiding the construction of new power plants. Therefore, we encourage consumers to charge their vehicles during off-peak hours (when the demand for energy is lower, 8 pm to 10 am weekdays and all weekend) by offering a 2.5 cent per kilowatt-hour discount while charging your PEV at night or on the weekends. If you’re currently on our Standard rate (as most customers are), the rates go up as you use more energy. If you choose one of our time-of-use (TOU) rates, you will pay higher rates during the day and lower rates at night with an additional discount for EV charging at night. The basic Standard and TOU rates are described below:

Your options to take advantage of the EV discount under the TOU service are:

Option 1: EV TOU – Keep your house on the Standard rate and install a separate service for your EV to be on a time-of-use (TOU) rate with the discount on off-peak charging (weekdays 8 pm to 10 am and all weekend). Option 1 requires a qualified electrician to install a second service at your house to exclusively serve the EV charger. You’ll want to consult your electrician to see if the upfront cost is justified based on your expected energy usage and discount. All charging during the off-peak period would have the 2.5 cent discount applied for an average rate of 9.5 cents/kWh.

Option 2: Whole House TOU + Block Discount – Move your whole house to a TOU rate and receive a block of energy at a discount during off-peak periods. Option 2 requires a meter change by LADWP. For the TOU rate, higher rates are charged during peak hours, so if have high energy use during the day, it may not be a good option. At this rate you are given a block of energy at the 2.5 cent/kWh discount. Currently, the block is 500 kWh, though it may be reduced to 300 kWh next year.

A service fee of $8/month applies to both options. Next year the service fee will become a minimum charge and will not impact your bill unless your usage is below $8/month.

 

[TomT]

Currently, LADWP offers a 2.5 cent per kilo-watt discount while charging your PEV at night or on the weekends. LADWP is reviewing the rate incentive plans and may be announcing a new rate program soon. Click here for information on the current rate.

I'm planning to lease my Leaf which means I do not know what will happen vehicle wise after three years. In any event, I plan to be gone from L.A. and California after five.
Thus, having run the numbers, 2.5 cents per KWh is just not an incentive for me to install a TOU meter for the charger. Considering the installation costs for a second meter (DWP only provides the meter), the ROI is not there and I'd be lucky to even break even after three years. Since both and I my wife work at home a good deal of the time, a TOU meter in place of our existing meter (which would require no installation costs) also would not be a good ROI for us. If LADWP raises the discount, I'll go back and re-evalute the ROI.

Tom

 

[dlich18]

I certainly don't think it would be cost effective to install the 2nd meter. But when I ran the numbers on replacing my meter with a whole-house TOU meter (Option 2), I would be saving dollars on the discounted rate, plus saving on general household use provided we did not use power between noon at 5pm on weekdays (which should not be a problem as long as we are conscious of it). The savings covered the $8.00/mo service fee, plus a bit more (not huge, but a savings nevertheless).