Have you requested an establishment install an EV Charger

[sfosri]

I was just curious of people's experiences in requesting a place of Business consider installing an EV charger.

I live in Sacramento and Amador County area where there are a lot of vineyards does not seem to have any EV chargers around. I go to a couple of wineries Villa Toscana and Bella Piazza both owned by the same people.

I wrote an email to them saying it would be something they may want to consider since it will encourage those with EV vehicles to take the trip up to their Winery and spend time there since the grounds are nice. I got a one line reply as follows:

Please see if Obama will fund this for me, he is loaded.

My question is why this hostility towards EV vehicles or is this person just an a##?

Has anyone had any positive response from requests such as these?

 

[davewill]

... My question is why this hostility towards EV vehicles or is this person just an a##? ...

I'd say a stupid A$$ since he's addressing a customer. If he doesn't want to do it, at least he could be polite.

 

[sfosri]

... My question is why this hostility towards EV vehicles or is this person just an a##? ...

I'd say a stupid A$$ since he's addressing a customer. If he doesn't want to do it, at least he could be polite.

I simply presented it as a potential business enhancing opportunity for him and as politely as I could and then I get that one line response.

 

[walterbays]

I live in Sacramento and Amador County area where there are a lot of vineyards does not seem to have any EV chargers around. I go to a couple of wineries Villa Toscana and Bella Piazza both owned by the same people. ... My question is why this hostility towards EV vehicles or is this person just an a##?

Who answered your note? David Weyrich from California, or Aegon N.V. from the Netherlands? It's just possible that the person who answered your note invested wildly in the property bubble and lost everything, or is soon to be laid off by the mortgage holder which took possession of the winery, and in either case is angry at the world in general - not just angry at EV's.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2010/02/01/1012287/weyrich-loses-villa-toscana-wineries.html

 

[adric22]

I have requested 2 establishments add chargers. I even explained to them that they could get it installed for free. Both sounded really interested, but 6 months as passed and neither business has taken the leap. Both of them cited similar problems. For example, the movie theater I approached, which is privately owned, said that since they were part of a large shopping center, they didn't own the parking lot. As such, they would have to get permission from the owners of the parking lot to install something like that.

 

[sfosri]

I live in Sacramento and Amador County area where there are a lot of vineyards does not seem to have any EV chargers around. I go to a couple of wineries Villa Toscana and Bella Piazza both owned by the same people. ... My question is why this hostility towards EV vehicles or is this person just an a##?

Who answered your note? David Weyrich from California, or Aegon N.V. from the Netherlands? It's just possible that the person who answered your note invested wildly in the property bubble and lost everything, or is soon to be laid off by the mortgage holder which took possession of the winery, and in either case is angry at the world in general - not just angry at EV's.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2010/02/01/1012287/weyrich-loses-villa-toscana-wineries.html

Oh wow..how interesting ...I got an email from some person called Jerry. That explains a lot. I emailed the email address [email protected] and that's the response I got from there.

 

[lpickup]

I got a one line reply as follows:

Please see if Obama will fund this for me, he is loaded.

My question is why this hostility towards EV vehicles or is this person just an a##?

Has anyone had any positive response from requests such as these?

WOW! That is unbelievable. Like others have said I can't believe that is the response they gave to a customer. Even if they have an agenda and hate EVs you still never say that to a customer.

I would write them a polite response indicating that you understand if they have financial constraints that prohibit them from investing in a charging station at this time, but that their hostile attitude toward a customer is not appreciated and in the future you will take your money to businesses that value their customers. Furthermore you will let the online EV community know that they are not interested in providing this service to EV owners and that they should take their business elsewhere as well.

 

[lenny]

Perhaps the person replying thought that you're running a business that installs EV chargers? Even so, he's still not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to public relations.

 

[sfosri]

Perhaps the person replying thought that you're running a business that installs EV chargers? Even so, he's still not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to public relations.

I appreciate all the comments so far. I am a wine club member with them (or rather was), and I did state that I am their customer and have visited their wineries in the past. So there was no mistaking I was trying to sell them anything. I mentioned I have a Nissan Leaf and so do some of my friends and we would love it if they had a charger so we could visit that area (since its a bit too far to drive there and back due to the range).

 

[Jagular]

Maybe a bit different but we're having issues with our condo building. We told our HOA that we'd be leasing a Leaf when we put the deposit on it and we wanted to install a 220 at our deeded spots. No, we could not. How about the 110 outlets? They have no way to monitor usage. Okay, we'll pay a monthly fee. The HOA doesn't know how to account for the income.

We've plugged in a few times, during a long vacation when we couldn't charge at work. Twice we've had the charger pulled. I ran into a condo owner who found out we had charged our car (off-peak) and he was furious. "You're freeloading on the rest of us." Not from the lack of trying not to.

There's an HOA meeting tonight and we're on the agenda to discuss options.

 

[Randy]

Jagular, are you in California? If so, then Senate Bill 209 that was passed and signed last year may be of interest.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/sen/sb_0201-0250/sb_209_bill_20110208_introduced.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's not perfect, and is in the process of being revised, but essentially your HOA can't prohibit you from installing a charging station. There are other requirements that would fall on your shoulders, such as insurance. Check it out....

Randy

 

[lpickup]

There's an HOA meeting tonight and we're on the agenda to discuss options.

Good luck with that and let us know how it goes. I hope that the HOA board are reasonable people with open minds. Unfortunately it sounds like some of the residents are the exact opposite. While that's a shame, I guess it's not surprising. It's simply amazing how much irrational anger there is out there directed against EVs.

 

[davewill]

Maybe a bit different but we're having issues with our condo building. We told our HOA that we'd be leasing a Leaf when we put the deposit on it and we wanted to install a 220 at our deeded spots. No, we could not. How about the 110 outlets? They have no way to monitor usage. Okay, we'll pay a monthly fee. The HOA doesn't know how to account for the income.

We've plugged in a few times, during a long vacation when we couldn't charge at work. Twice we've had the charger pulled. I ran into a condo owner who found out we had charged our car (off-peak) and he was furious. "You're freeloading on the rest of us." Not from the lack of trying not to.

There's an HOA meeting tonight and we're on the agenda to discuss options.

So essentially, you asked, they said, "no" and you charged anyway. Hopefully they won't get too hostile, and you can work this out...maybe get to install an EVSE.

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

I dropped a note in the Edmonds PCC (natural food store) suggestion box for a charging station for EV's about 6 months ago and last month, out of the blue, the a manager called me up and said they were fulfilling my request and since I requested it, they wanted me to be there for a press shot as the first person to use the charger. They went for a chargepoint charging station. It felt great to see something like that happen because I asked. I have also asked a local coffee shop to install an charging station and he has been very interested. He even gave me a free cup of Joe the first time a pulled up last summer. the issue with the location is that they only have 4 parking spots dedicated to their store.

so far, my experiences have been positive.

 

[garygid]

Coach them to position the EVSE in the middle of the 4 spaces,
so the e-hose will reach the front of a car in ALL 4 of their spaces?

Don't mark any space for EV-Only.

Then, if ANY of their 4 spaces are empty, one EV customer can park and charge.

 

[davewill]

... I have also asked a local coffee shop to install an charging station and he has been very interested. He even gave me a free cup of Joe the first time a pulled up last summer. the issue with the location is that they only have 4 parking spots dedicated to their store. ...

Perhaps it would be possible to install an EVSE that could reach all four spots? Then so long as one of the spots is open, charging would be possible.

 

[sfosri]

Jagular, are you in California? If so, then Senate Bill 209 that was passed and signed last year may be of interest.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/sen/sb_0201-0250/sb_209_bill_20110208_introduced.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's not perfect, and is in the process of being revised, but essentially your HOA can't prohibit you from installing a charging station. There are other requirements that would fall on your shoulders, such as insurance. Check it out....

Randy

Hi Randy
That's great info. I live in a Condo and wanted to install a charger in my garage. Now I have additional information to present to the board.