Workplace charging policies

[Gladitude]

As I anticipate the arrival of my new LEAF next week, I'm wondering if any of you had to get permission to plug in at your workplace?

Have any of you helped develop policy for this at your place of work?

Since I'm the first in my area to own a LEAF, my employer is looking to me to help draft policy for plugging in at work. I'm a principal at an elementary school and because schools are a government intity, I doubt they can just look the other way when I plug in. I'll have to compensate them somehow for the cost of plugging in, regardless of how small the cost may be.

Anyone done this before?

 

[lpickup]

I telecommute almost 100% of the time so I rarely go into work, but I did ask the facilities people about charging stations. They do have a couple (just 120V I think) but their policy is that I had to join a program they have set up that gives mirror hangers for things like carpoolers and such. Once approved (I had to submit my vehicle Make/Model and tag number) they'll send me a window hanger that gives me permission to park at and use the chargers.

I haven't been there yet but I'm sure the spots are marked off like the carpool spots that say a permit is required to park there. If I didn't have the mirror hanger they would probably tow me or at least "ticket" me.

I don't have to compensate them for the electricity used, but I do understand it would be very different in your case. Just make sure they understand you'll only be using a very small amount of electricity.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

we moved to new building 14 months ago. i was able to plug in at old building (just an outdoor 120 Volt GCFI) but not new one. the old building was old and had parking 6 feet from the building. the new building is "terrorist proof" and nearest parking space to building is reserved and about 30 feet away.

regular employee parking is probably 75 feet away since new building regulations require fire lane access.

 

[nlagnew]

My company has put in two L2 chargers (a mile from my building, but still handy on long days with extra driving to do). They do not charge for their use. They ask us to limit ourselves to 4 hours, and their electricity costs under .08 cents per kWh. They also provide free soft drinks (coke products), coffee (dunkin donuts brand), and tea, plus snack crackers in the break rooms. When folks ask me how come I don't have to pay for the electricity, I say that I am using less than the price of a couple of cups of coffee or soft drink. That was actually the reason they elected not to charge for it - the cost to track charges would have been more than the cost to charge the car, and certainly it was no more of a cost to them than a couple of snacks.

It would be more convenient (esp on cold, rainy, or really hot days), if I could use a 120 socket closer to my building. They would not charge for that, either.

On the other hand, your situation is different. You could propose something along the lines of studying your use at home, keeping track of your hours plugged in at work, and providing them payment at their utility rate. If they wanted to put in the money on a metering device that would track the precise kWh, they could do that (such devices appear to cost around $200 plus installation). Or you could simply explain your estimate and let it go at that.

If they provide perquisites like break room coffee or lunches, though, you could try having it be a comparable benefit.

 

[lpickup]

If they provide perquisites like break room coffee or lunches, though, you could try having it be a comparable benefit.

Nice comment! Even if they don't provide the actual coffee but provide a coffee maker, you could point out that charging your car uses about the same electricity as two coffee makers.

Granted, I'm sure you would be under an intense spotlight from the public insisting that their tax dollars are being "wasted" and the comparison would probably be lost on them.

 

[coqui]

Gladitude: Since you're a school principal, can you spell the word "entity"? :lol:

 

[coqui]

My employer has no plans to install a charger, nor do they care.

 

[ve2maa]

I'm lucky to have 3 L2 charger that will be installed next month in our parking lot.

So it ain't no problem for me.

However, last week I was having an appointment with my doctor. The office is in a small mall ... Behind the mall, there were some parking spaces ... There was also a couple of 120V power outlet that probably belonged to the other businesses in the mall since the doctor office was on second floor.

I wasn't sure if it was "ethicly" ok to use one of those outlet while I was with my doctor... In fact they would have never noticed I was plugged nor I took some energy ... But was telling myself that if every EV owners do it, we wont make lot of friends... Have you ever "steal" some electricity in a public parking lot ?

 

[garygid]

There is another long thread on this subject.
It has many suggestions, even parking layout.
Have you read that?

However, here are some of the questions:

With children around, a major obstacle is likely the liability of having unsupervised live exterior electricity.

Take a survey to find out roughly how many live far enough from the school to require at-work charging to make their commute.

How many stay at the school to make L1 (120v) charging a suitable benefit?

How will you keep ICEs and other cars that do not NEED to charge out of the "charging" area?

Just supplying free "opportunity charging" is probably not your goal.

Will these charging spots be available 24/7?
Will a teacher, arriving early or working late (or on weekends) have a "key" (or card) to access the chargers?

Will there be an Emergency Shutoff, and where?

Figure out how you would handle 4 teachers, the janitor, guests, and some volunteer parents who want to charge at the school.

Consider how to handle more demand for a scarse resource.

Make a plan that would cover every school in the district, and get some folks at the district involved in looking at "planning for the future".

Then, you will be more likely to have a plan that will be suitable for you.

The actual cost of the electricity is a fairly minor part of the problem.

 

[Gladitude]

Gladitude: Since you're a school principal, can you spell the word "entity"? :lol:

We don't use too many of them big words out here in Indiana!
How ambareassing!!

 

[Gladitude]

There is another long thread on this subject.
It has many suggestions, even parking layout.
Have you read that?

However, here are some of the questions:

With children around, a major obstacle is likely the liability of having unsupervised live exterior electricity.

Take a survey to find out roughly how many live far enough from the school to require at-work charging to make their commute.

How many stay at the school to make L1 (120v) charging a suitable benefit?

How will you keep ICEs and other cars that do not NEED to charge out of the "charging" area?

Just supplying free "opportunity charging" is probably not your goal.

Will these charging spots be available 24/7?
Will a teacher, arriving early or working late (or on weekends) have a "key" (or card) to access the chargers?

Will there be an Emergency Shutoff, and where?

Figure out how you would handle 4 teachers, the janitor, guests, and some volunteer parents who want to charge at the school.

Consider how to handle more demand for a scarse resource.

Make a plan that would cover every school in the district, and get some folks at the district involved in looking at "planning for the future".

Then, you will be more likely to have a plan that will be suitable for you.

The actual cost of the electricity is a fairly minor part of the problem.

Many many things I did not think about!
It is easy to be short sided when you're the first one to have a need to plug in.
You so rightly point out that, hopefully, this will be a growing issue.
For me, I just want to plug in so I can pre-heat/pre-cool. Even though the cost is minimal, I will want to make it right with the school system.
Thank you for helping me see a bigger picture!

 

[Nubo]

I'm disinclined to ask for charging privileges since my commute is only about 15 miles each way; well within LEAF radius with plenty to spare for side trips and evening jaunts. Sure, I'd charge up with employer electrons if offered as a perk but I don't feel entitled to ask.

It has occurred to me to do so as an "ambassador", as a way of promoting EV adoption overall, but my motivation is throttled from my previous experience. A few years back my locked bicycle was stolen from the property, and my repeated attempts to open a dialogue about improved bike parking options were met with monumental disinterest and completely stonewalled. The employer and "property manager" are separate entities. It wasn't until some cars were broken into that improved security became a priority. C'est la vie.

Any advances in this regard will be trickle-down based on incentives or perhaps public relations considerations. I'm not going to bang my head against this particular wall.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

i dont need charging either but there are a few who expressed interest in getting a Leaf but live just outside the "Winter comfort" zone for distance. just another soldier in the Anti EV War is all...

 

[FairwoodRed]

I charge at a remote site and a parking garage. The remote site readily gave me permission to L1 charge whenever I am there without cost.

The parking garage was a totally different story. They had been approached by one of the big public charging companies and told “so many thousands of dollars, so many parking spaces needed, and only where they wanted to put them” and was totally against any electric car charging. I talked to him quite a bit about it when I finally got my message across that L1 for just me would have no installation costs and only $.15/hr for the power, he agreed to consider it.

I wrote up a primer on EV charging levels, related equipment costs, types of users that might want each level, and on going costs for each level. After reading that and thinking about it, they gave permission for me to L1 charge off of the existing 120 outlets. That was last July.

Fast forward to last week. They contacted me again and said that property owner has reconsidered EV charging (perhaps based on my primer?) and wants to install some chargers if the cost isn’t too high. And since you were such a good resource last time, can you recommend some charging hardware? Talk about elated…

Back to the original post though, to pay or not to pay can go both ways. Since it is government owned, all users should pay. But since it exists to provide public benefits, a case can be made for free too. I’d write the policy both ways and let your employer pick between them. As for paying, I don’t think you have to rely on metering (if you do, consider a Kill-A-Watt from Home Depot for about $20 http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...3&langId=-1&keyword=kill a watt&storeId=10051) as you can estimate the cost of a full day at ($.06 x 1.5 x 8 = $.75 – man you have cheap power!) Just put up a sign and rely on the honor system. Up to 3 hours, put a quarter in the jar. Up to 6 hours, 2 quarters. Up to 9 hours, 3 quarters.

It’s tempting to extrapolate that into a monthly rate, but I wouldn’t. Not at a public school. Make sure you pay every day and preferably at lunch, or when others will see you paying. Keep the jar highly visible to encourage others to charge and pay for usage, and as a visible reminder that it’s not a freebie for you. At some point, more outlet circuits will have to be installed and the money paid could help offset that cost.

 

[lpickup]

For me, I just want to plug in so I can pre-heat/pre-cool. Even though the cost is minimal, I will want to make it right with the school system.
Thank you for helping me see a bigger picture!

BTW, you don't need to be plugged in to pre-heat/pre-cool. Granted, the climate is a bit milder here, but I routinely pre-heat unplugged. When it's 40 degrees out, 5 minutes seems to be sufficient to get the interior nice and cozy. Maybe if you're below freezing it might take 10 minutes. Unless you're right at the edge of your range, this shouldn't be a cause of concern for your return home.

 

[kevin672]

There is another long thread on this subject.
It has many suggestions, even parking layout.
Have you read that?

However, here are some of the questions:

With children around, a major obstacle is likely the liability of having unsupervised live exterior electricity.

Take a survey to find out roughly how many live far enough from the school to require at-work charging to make their commute.

How many stay at the school to make L1 (120v) charging a suitable benefit?

How will you keep ICEs and other cars that do not NEED to charge out of the "charging" area?

Just supplying free "opportunity charging" is probably not your goal.

Will these charging spots be available 24/7?
Will a teacher, arriving early or working late (or on weekends) have a "key" (or card) to access the chargers?

Will there be an Emergency Shutoff, and where?

Figure out how you would handle 4 teachers, the janitor, guests, and some volunteer parents who want to charge at the school.

Consider how to handle more demand for a scarse resource.

Make a plan that would cover every school in the district, and get some folks at the district involved in looking at "planning for the future".

Then, you will be more likely to have a plan that will be suitable for you.

The actual cost of the electricity is a fairly minor part of the problem.

Many many things I did not think about!
It is easy to be short sided when you're the first one to have a need to plug in.
You so rightly point out that, hopefully, this will be a growing issue.
For me, I just want to plug in so I can pre-heat/pre-cool. Even though the cost is minimal, I will want to make it right with the school system.
Thank you for helping me see a bigger picture!

I think you're all over-thinking the situation. For the OP, it doesn't matter how many people live outside range and need workplace charging because there's nobody in that situation now. Cars will change and so will range. The LEAF isn't the only electric vehicle. Don't worry about all the what if's, focus on the here and now. Because it's a governmental entity, the immediate need is a policy that allows electric vehicles to plug in. Public policy probably requires such electrical use be compensated in some way, so you just need to find a way to cover that. It could be that you allow your vehicle use for classroom instruction in some way (environment, transportation, physics, etc.) and are compensated by being allowed to plug in. It could simply be that you reimburse your employer for electricity based on some basic formula (1.44KW/Hr * 8hr * number of school days * average cost of electricity).

That will start the ball rolling for getting access to charging while ensuring nobody complains of your personal use of a public resource. After that it'll be time to work on the bigger picture things. As to safety, I bet you'll find lots of outlets throughout the school that have no special safety features, I know my son's school does, including exterior outlets. Now if you're installing something new, that's one thing, but just to use an existing outlet to plug in during the day doesn't require any extra safety measures.

 

[Ready2plugin]

Our work just installed a combo L2/L1 ChargePoint unit today and our facilities person is trying to find a company policy or procedures for charging. If anyone has one they can share or point me in the right direction that would be great. Their current thinking is to let employees "top off" for free if they just need a few extra miles. If someone needs to "fill up" it would cost $2-$4 dollars depending on the amount of electricity needed.
Thank you!

 

[SierraQ]

My company's site manager was very open to investigating possibilities. The L2 fell through due to difficulties with the landlords. However they found an exterior outlet for L1 and marked tbe spots next to it as charging spots. They do not expect me to pay for the electricty when they learned it would be less than $1 a day.

I think you should avoid getting entangled in the bureaucratic mess that occurs whenever you start asking too many questions. Use common sense. For example I always route the power cord along the edge of the sidewalk to avoid a tripping hazard. You put this up to a committee and suddenly you need a full time flag waver employed to steer people around the bright orange 1 centimeter tall "obstacle."

To me this is a simple matter of an employer wanting to support their employees needs and also to support green initiatives. It should be presented as such. It is not favoritism anymore than free coffee favors only coffee drinkers.

I think your only real issue is what happens when more EVs appear and now you have to share. Only one Leaf can be plugged into a given circuit typically. So some sort of sharing mechanism will be needed if you are limited in this ways. I would suggest something informal between the users rather than a policy (like first come first serve) which tends to breed compitition.

 

[adric22]

I wasn't sure if it was "ethicly" ok to use one of those outlet while I was with my doctor... In fact they would have never noticed I was plugged nor I took some energy ... But was telling myself that if every EV owners do it, we wont make lot of friends... Have you ever "steal" some electricity in a public parking lot ?

The closest thing I have come to was in a Cabella's parking lot in North Fort Worth. I was running low on power and I knew I was going to be in the store for a while. All of their light posts have 120V outlets on them. I asked the manager if it would be okay to plug in my car. He didn't see a problem. The good thing was that the front of my car was only maybe 3 feet from the outlet and was not anywhere that people might trip over the cable. The bad news is that I discovered the outlets had no power. However, when it got just a bit darker and the lights came on, the outlets were suddenly energized too. So I ended up getting about 45 minutes worth of L1 which equated to about 4 miles of range. Not all that useful, but I suppose if you are running low and have a long trip home, 4 miles is better than nothing.

 

[adric22]

I'm disinclined to ask for charging privileges since my commute is only about 15 miles each way; well within LEAF radius with plenty to spare for side trips and evening jaunts. Sure, I'd charge up with employer electrons if offered as a perk but I don't feel entitled to ask.

I'm in the same situation. I've briefly mentioned the idea of a charging station to the boss, when he was asking for ways the company could be more green. But I never pushed it because I live 4 miles from work and there is really just no need. Even if I forget to charge my car for a week, I can still make it to work and back with no problem. There have been a few times when I did some errands during lunch and came back with 50% charge. It would have been nice to be able to plug in, but still not necessary at all.

But, the way I see it. If I did get them to install a L2 charger then there are some other people at work who might consider going electric if they knew they could charge at work. As it is, all of the people I've talked to who are seriously interested in buying a Leaf are pretty much right at the edge of the comfort zone or worse. If there were an L2 at work, that would make a Leaf much more viable to them.