ChargePoint ChargePass

[mxp]

Have had the card 20 months. Used it in Santa Monica, San Francisco, Costa Mesa, Irwindale, Torrance, and LAX. No charges yet.

Kei, How on earth did you manage to use your card in both San Francisco and LAX??

You didn't drive the distance right??? ;-)

 

[mwalsh]

Kei, How on earth did you manage to use your card in both San Francisco and LAX??

You didn't drive the distance right??? ;-)

Oh, yes he did! :shock: He's a Mini E lessee and has a bag full of cords and adapters that will let him plug into just about anything, including RV Parks with 50a 240v circuits.

 

[TRONZ]

ChargePoint added the stations right after I eMailed their tech support about them missing from their maps. These stations are actually the perfect parking spots for a SCP visit. Now people will be able to see if they are in use before showing up. On a side note, be careful relying on ChargePoint to activate the units over the web. Two of the five times I called them they failed to start a charge session remotely. I think the card swipe process will work better but am still waiting on mine to arrive.

 

[mxp]

Kei, How on earth did you manage to use your card in both San Francisco and LAX??

You didn't drive the distance right??? ;-)

Oh, yes he did! :shock: He's a Mini E lessee and has a bag full of cords and adapters that will let him plug into just about anything, including RV Parks with 50a 240v circuits.

Oh boy! :shock: Now that is amazing! Great idea to be armed with the set of different cords and adapters!

 

[KeiJidosha]

Kei, How on earth did you manage to use your card in both San Francisco and LAX??

You didn't drive the distance right??? ;-)

Oh, yes he did! :shock: He's a Mini E lessee and has a bag full of cords and adapters that will let him plug into just about anything, including RV Parks with 50a 240v circuits.

Oh boy! :shock: Now that is amazing! Great idea to be armed with the set of different cords and adapters!

One of the reasons I’m a proponent of the 6.6kW charger is I understand the value of opportunity charging. It maximizes the utility of an EV, and is the enemy of range anxiety. Opportunity charging is the guarantor of EV success.

 

[josh]

I plugged in today at LAX terminal 1, first time using Chargepoint. He said they are giving out cards, for a limited time. He offered a wallet or key ring card - I took the key ring.

 

[DeaneG]

One good thing about Chargepoint: its online maps contain current data, unlike Nissan's.

 

[TRONZ]

Got to use our new ChargePass card last night. Free fuel doesn't get any better. Drive up, tap your card on the units face, it authorizes/unlocks and you plug in. Shopped for about three hours and came back to a fully charged LEAF. Too cool!

BTW- I learned right away that you are supposed to tap the card on it again to stop the charge. My little girl unplugging the car which triggered an immediate text to my iPhone that our LEAF had stopped charging. Also very cool!

 

[TRONZ]

Did our first road trip up to Santa Monica. We decided to look for the ChargePoint unit on the map for Santa Monica Place. Found it right away and they are actually the first SIX stalls on the right after taking your ticket. They really have four J1772 units and two old paddle style units not that you could tell from their map. ChargePoint was very good updating their Site when I emailed them about the missing SCP units. I emailed them again about adding the five SMP units not showing up on the web. It is very helpful to see what units are actually in use if your driving 56 miles one way on a day trip. These are very choice parking spots for the 3rd St Mall and cost $9 for the whole day. Interestingly, being a Sat evening, it got very busy and all the other EV spaces were filled with Prius's... and not the Plug-In types :roll: . The parking signs say Electric Vehicles Only. Looks like they all need to say Plug-In Electric somewhere!

 

[TRONZ]

Charge point must have read my eMail. They have updated the Santa Monica Place stations to show all four of the available J1772 units. They do not seem to care about the two old paddle units as they still do not show up on the map/app. From what I can tell those units only support the old Rav EV's. It would be great if SM would get the new Rav EV so we can all get on the same J1772 page.

 

[derekjsmith]

So what is the edicate for dealing with non-ev's using our charge parking spots?

We now have many new charging stations at Bellevue Square mall that just opend last week so I decide to go have park/charge and eat a bit of dinner. When I arrived all but 1 of the 10 spots that have 5 chargers had non-ev's in them. Luckly one was open and I was able to charge up the Leaf.

So what do we do when this happens and really need to charge? Have them towed? Park behind them and hope the cord reaches? Key all of them just for the fun of it?

I do plan on having some 3x5 cards made up that I can leave on them just to let the drivers know what they have done.

 

[DarkStar]

So what do we do when this happens and really need to charge? Have them towed? Park behind them and hope the cord reaches? Key all of them just for the fun of it?

I do plan on having some 3x5 cards made up that I can leave on them just to let the drivers know what they have done.

I would first contact the property owner to notify them of the situation. If the parking stalls are explicitly marked for EVs only, they'll probably attempt to contact the owner to move their vehicle, and then tow if necessary (same with handicap spots). I wouldn't do the windshield note as most property owners get upset when they see those and we need their support as much as possible!

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

i think the reminder is a good idea but will not solve the issue if a charge is needed. i have the same issue all the time and its been going on for years.

the only place i can guarantee a charge is the Lacey City Hall area because it has 4 different plugs scattered thru out the City Hall/police station/Library area. this covers about a block in area. so no matter which one i park at and what my destination is, its not a big deal.

but have been to Costco many times and only plugged in twice with my Zenn and both times because i had to plug in, so ended up sitting there until the culprit left. and yes, i did my best to glare at them while they were loading their groceries.

i think we really need legislation and an information campaign to get the word out

 

[EVDRIVER]

i think the reminder is a good idea but will not solve the issue if a charge is needed. i have the same issue all the time and its been going on for years.

the only place i can guarantee a charge is the Lacey City Hall area because it has 4 different plugs scattered thru out the City Hall/police station/Library area. this covers about a block in area. so no matter which one i park at and what my destination is, its not a big deal.

but have been to Costco many times and only plugged in twice with my Zenn and both times because i had to plug in, so ended up sitting there until the culprit left. and yes, i did my best to glare at them while they were loading their groceries.

i think we really need legislation and an information campaign to get the word out

There is a simple solution, signs that say EV parking only and tow away. They do this for other types of parking and it works well. If you are stupid enough to mark in a spot that is clearly marked you should be towed, same for a handicap ticket. It's that simple and it will work most of the time.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

anyway back to the card. i checked out the website and its $9.95 to get a card but must put down a minimum of $25 on an account or i can select free stations only and not have to put down any money. if i select free now, can i just put money on the books at a later date to purchase electricity?

its obvious that free stations are on their way out and probably within the next two years?

 

[Spies]

if i select free now, can i just put money on the books at a later date to purchase electricity?

Sure can and that is exactly what I did.

 

[TRONZ]

I went ahead and got the card with $25 on it. I figure it's good to have it set up in advance for when they switch to a pay model.

Regarding the cars parking in EV stalls. At Santa Monica place, I called parking enforcement to ask if they were cool with it. Sounds like they were NOT and eagerly started sending tow trucks over. If you frequent EV stalls being abused, put their parking enforcement/tow company on speed dial on your cell phone. Heck, if you even just drive by and see someone abusing the stalls, call it in if your bored. The tow company will love you and start sending you Christmas cards each year. :shock:

 

[TomT]

Yep, that you can. You can get a free-only one and then "fill it up" at any time in the future if you want.

anyway back to the card. i checked out the website and its $9.95 to get a card but must put down a minimum of $25 on an account or i can select free stations only and not have to put down any money. if i select free now, can i just put money on the books at a later date to purchase electricity?

its obvious that free stations are on their way out and probably within the next two years?

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

ok cool. card is on its way. i hesitate to put money on it although $25 is really not much (less than a weeks worth of gas!!! LOL!!! absolutely could NOT resist!) as i probably will not use it much but always nice to have the option.

i do see that you must maintain a $15 balance. now everyone here seems to have not paid for any charging yet. i also see Bellevue Mall is installing some charging stations at $2 an hour. i am sure they will make sure regular cars dont park there!!

 

[Spies]

Regarding the cars parking in EV stalls.

I believe California Vehicle Code 22511 allows for towing of non EV in EV parking spaces: http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc22511.htm

No idea about other states.