Blink charges for time plugged in

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thankyouOB

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 21, 2011
Messages
3,583
Location
Coastal LA
i noticed something awful at the blink i used at work today.
it charges for every hour I am plugged in even when there is no charging taking place.
for instance, I plug in at 10 am, and set the timers to charge for two hours, or only need four bars. I leave work at 6 pm, going down to my Leaf and unplugging it.
the charge is for 8 hours of usage though I only charged for two hours.

what is the explanation for that, blink?
 
So you want to occupy the charging spot for 8 hours and pay for 2 hours? Doesn't seem financially viable to me from the provider's perspective..
 
Randy said:
So you want to occupy the charging spot for 8 hours and pay for 2 hours? Doesn't seem financially viable to me from the provider's perspective..

you dont sound very friendly.
I said it was my workplace. it is not a commercial venture like Ikea. there are 15 chargers and three EVs.
I could just as easily occupy the spot by coming down and unplugging. would that be better?

and
what they do makes it impossible to end charge, as well.

dont forget that these are Blinks, and the purpose of putting them in so cheaply and subsidizing them is BECAUSE they are collecting information, not trying to profit off of them.
 
thankyouOB said:
i noticed something awful at the blink i used at work today.
it charges for every hour I am plugged in even when there is no charging taking place.
for instance, I plug in at 10 am, and set the timers to charge for two hours, or only need four bars. I leave work at 6 pm, going down to my Leaf and unplugging it.
the charge is for 8 hours of usage though I only charged for two hours.

what is the explanation for that, blink?

Sounds like the BLINK unit is working as designed. They essentially charge you for parking with your car plugged in - they specifically do not charge you for the electricity consumed. Maybe you could come down and plug in your car at 4pm?

--d
 
i guess I am used to the fact that the Blink at home counts plugged in time and power running time AND kWH consumed.

commercial blinks could count time plugged in WHILE charging and charge by the hour for that, not for kWh.
 
Gee, seems to me you need to take this up with your boss. it would appear they have the option to tailor the charge as they see fit. since all our chargers are still free, just curious; what is the charge for 8 hours?
 
thankyouOB said:
i noticed something awful at the blink i used at work today.
it charges for every hour I am plugged in even when there is no charging taking place.
for instance, I plug in at 10 am, and set the timers to charge for two hours, or only need four bars. I leave work at 6 pm, going down to my Leaf and unplugging it.
the charge is for 8 hours of usage though I only charged for two hours.

what is the explanation for that, blink?
Correct, just like Chargepoint, billing is based on the "Charging Session." As long as your vehicle is occupying the charging station, they will bill you for the time plugged in, whether or not your drawing any current.
 
The site host gets revenue or the needy get access. Sounds like good utilization of a resource.

Was planning a trip to Mojave. Costco Avcons are gone, the 14 Coulomb Chargers at AVUSD sites are locked down, no response about chargers at Kia Motors test track, RV park wants a day rate ($35+ $15) to charge for three hours. I’d sure like to see a Blink/Coulomb/eVgo/350green/SemaConnect/CarCharging unit at Avenue L and the 14. Even at $5/hour it would be competitive. Meanwhile the whole Antelope Valley is virtually off limits for EVs. Ditto for King City. This will never change unless it pays to host a site.
 
thankyouOB said:
... I said it was my workplace. it is not a commercial venture like Ikea. there are 15 chargers and three EVs.
I could just as easily occupy the spot by coming down and unplugging. would that be better? ...
It would be better to come down and move your car so that someone else could use the EVSE. It's not supposed to premium parking for you, but a charging opportunity. Does your office ever intend to actually charge employees for charging? You may wish to ask.
 
thankyouOB said:
i noticed something awful at the blink i used at work today.
it charges for every hour I am plugged in even when there is no charging taking place.
for instance, I plug in at 10 am, and set the timers to charge for two hours, or only need four bars. I leave work at 6 pm, going down to my Leaf and unplugging it.
the charge is for 8 hours of usage though I only charged for two hours.

what is the explanation for that, blink?
Hi thankyouOB,

Thanks for the question! Our software was designed to charge per hour based on how long your EV is actually plugged into a Blink unit, therefore setting your Leaf’s charging timer won’t stop your session with Blink. We designed it this way so charging is quick and efficient for all EV drivers.
 
hey Blink,
why do you charge for plugged-in time, instead of charging time?
Having a residential blink, i know you can differentiate.
owner
 
I am by no means an ecotality supporter.

However, I like that they charge people for sitting in a EV spot with the car plugged in. This gives an incentive to get your car unplugged when you're done. 240V charging is really quite slow, and they can't build enough chargers for all the Volts, Plug in Prius, and Leafs if folks are gonna leave their car plugged in, not charging. I view it as a system to discourage getting ICE'd by EV's.
 
i noticed last week another oddity:
I set my car to end charge at 5 pm, plugging in at 10 am.
when I got to my car at 5 pm, it showed elapsed charge time was 3 hours, about what i needed to reach 80% from 4 bars or so.

so did it create two charging sessions, one that began at 2 pm when it was actually charging,
and one that ran from plug in at 10 am to start of charging at 2 pm?

this is still free at work, so there was no history to refer to on the charge card.
 
gaswalla said:
I am by no means an ecotality supporter.

However, I like that they charge people for sitting in a EV spot with the car plugged in. This gives an incentive to get your car unplugged when you're done. 240V charging is really quite slow, and they can't build enough chargers for all the Volts, Plug in Prius, and Leafs if folks are gonna leave their car plugged in, not charging. I view it as a system to discourage getting ICE'd by EV's.

i agree with you. but there is no warning that this is what will happen.
of course, now that I have tested it once, I know.
it can also create a system where folks park there, and plug in later.
that would be very ugly. i would not do that.
I suppose end-timing charging is the same thing, however.
at least, where I work it doesnt matter yet, as there are 3-4 Evs and more than dozen blinks.
 
So what is the per hour charge for a public charging station? I know some are free, but I thought at least Blink was supposed to start charging January, 2012.

I live in TN & there are Blink stations all over the place, most of the DCs stay offline, but the Level 2s seem to stay up. I won't get my Leaf until the 2013 comes out this December so I've been mapping my routes...

Philip
 
I just had this happen at a hotel. Knew from hotel management that I was the only EV at the hotel and there are 3 Blink units there. Came in late - plugged in - charged for 3 hours. When I unplugged in the morning, it said I was charged for 10 hours because I was plugged in for 9+ hours. I was surprised since I didn't recall reading this in the Blink card sign-up (although it was over a year ago so who knows what it said) and it's not how it works at home. I called Blink and they gave me a one-time credit for time I was plugged in but not charging.

I get the rule - it makes total sense - I just didn't know that's how they are charging now. It would help if the Blink units said they charge for time plugged in whether you are charging or not.

Re: the cost -- depends on what program you signed up for with Blink - I get charged $1.00/hr for every hour or part hour plugged in, whether charging or not. :eek: :eek:
 
JCBNJB said:
I just had this happen at a hotel. Knew from hotel management that I was the only EV at the hotel and there are 3 Blink units there. Came in late - plugged in - charged for 3 hours. When I unplugged in the morning, it said I was charged for 10 hours because I was plugged in for 9+ hours. I was surprised since I didn't recall reading this in the Blink card sign-up (although it was over a year ago so who knows what it said) and it's not how it works at home. I called Blink and they gave me a one-time credit for time I was plugged in but not charging.

This goes to show that 'one size does NOT fit all'

Sure at busy locations there needs to be an incentive for EV'ers to unplug and move on and not hog EVSE's.

However the Hotel scenario shows the flaws in this approach. I see that the Blinks can charge different rates by time of day, although currently it's the same regardless of time. For Hotels the charging should be free say after midnight and before 9am. This would allow hotel guests to stay plugged in all night when other EV drivers could not reasonably expect a car owner to move the vehicle after completion of charge.

I can see it now. A hotel with 3-4 L2 EVSE's nicely lined up and totally vacant with EV's parked a few spaces over charging using an extension cord into their rooms creating security and fire hazard. Brilliant, simply brilliant.

Blink need to adjust how they charge per location and time of day.

It's early days. They'll learn, the hard way, like the rest of us.
 
From what I've understood about Blink chargers, the owners of the charging stations decide what the charges are.
At least that's what I gathered from a nice Blink customer support lady I spoke with a couple of weeks ago...

Philip
 
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