ICEless in Seattle : Official Pacific NorthWest thread

[Luft]

I like that idea! and btw they are free for now. I think they figure if they give the service away while they are in the initial "get the bugs out" phase people will be more understanding, but it seems to me that when it comes to Quick Charging, having a charger down is just not tolerable if there is no other QC near by as not being able to charge quickly when your plans depend on it is a huge inconvenience. I hope Ecotality gets this, QC's must be reliable and on the rare occasion they go down, they must get fixed quick, 24/7. getting stranded with family in the car is not going to cut it.

Exactly. It won't take too many times of getting stuck in faraway places to ruin a company's reputation. I already will never take my family to Seattle in my LEAF until there are enough DC QC stations to ensure that this won't happen again.

Even the down time for the AV charger in Tumwater made me nervous. Although I live close enough to that charger that an hour on a L2 charger would get me home. I did check on it while it was down and found a LEAFer stuck there. He was heading up to Federal Way and that means that due to the lack of chargers in Tacoma he was in the same position that I got into on my Seattle trip.

I am very glad to see a QC station in Castle Rock and maybe we can hope for AV chargers in Tacoma?

Personally I think AV should put chargers all along I-5 even though the cities that Blink is suppose to be covering. Maybe we will get redundancy in time but until then I think we'll still have to use caution.

Has Nissan said anything about encouraging their dealerships to put in their $15,000.00 chargers? I read that their $9,000.00 chargers were for indoor use and we definitely need to be able to charge after hours.

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

redundancy really needs to happen. I think the easiest and cheapest way to do it would be to install a capacitor driven QC next to and in tandem with the existing ones, any time the "primary" isn't being used, the "slave" capacitor unit could be able to receive a charge at even a slow rate with no demand charges. It could all be done on existing wiring I would think, no need for another set of transformers or another big dig or the difficulty finding yet another location and contracting. This would allow a couple of things, two people could charge at the same time, at least occasionally, and any time one unit was down, there would be the second, substantially improving one's chances of getting a charge.

I also agree about AV's being added through the metro area. When I was out for the ribbon cutting in Wenatchee, the WADOT rep mentioned to me that Ecotality wanted their chargers included on the WCGH map that DOT has on their web site. the person asked me point blank what I thought of that idea, given the reliability issue with Blinks in general. I told her that until they prove they have a reliable product, I would steer clear of associating with them. It appears that even though Blink QC's have two plugs, they have many common failure points so that extra plug doesn't actually improve reliability as much as I would have hoped.

It is difficult though, on one hand we are more fortunate that the rest of the country in terms of infrastructure, and sometimes I feel sheepish in complaining, on the other hand, it just doesn't feel like there are any good excuses left for Ecotality at this point, they must get their act together or popular opinion is going to bury them deep. Eventually, they will start charging for their services and I for one will boycott them if they prove to be wasting precious tax payer money! I'm pretty sure it wouldn't take to many of us calling into and complaining to the DOE to get their funding yanked, as a last resort.

I like that idea! and btw they are free for now. I think they figure if they give the service away while they are in the initial "get the bugs out" phase people will be more understanding, but it seems to me that when it comes to Quick Charging, having a charger down is just not tolerable if there is no other QC near by as not being able to charge quickly when your plans depend on it is a huge inconvenience. I hope Ecotality gets this, QC's must be reliable and on the rare occasion they go down, they must get fixed quick, 24/7. getting stranded with family in the car is not going to cut it.

Exactly. It won't take too many times of getting stuck in faraway places to ruin a company's reputation. I already will never take my family to Seattle in my LEAF until there are enough DC QC stations to ensure that this won't happen again.

Even the down time for the AV charger in Tumwater made me nervous. Although I live close enough to that charger that an hour on a L2 charger would get me home. I did check on it while it was down and found a LEAFer stuck there. He was heading up to Federal Way and that means that due to the lack of chargers in Tacoma he was in the same position that I got into on my Seattle trip.

I am very glad to see a QC station in Castle Rock and maybe we can hope for AV chargers in Tacoma?

Personally I think AV should put chargers all along I-5 even though the cities that Blink is suppose to be covering. Maybe we will get redundancy in time but until then I think we'll still have to use caution.

Has Nissan said anything about encouraging their dealerships to put in their $15,000.00 chargers? I read that their $9,000.00 chargers were for indoor use and we definitely need to be able to charge after hours.

 

[Luft]

It is difficult though, on one hand we are more fortunate that the rest of the country in terms of infrastructure, and sometimes I feel sheepish in complaining, on the other hand, it just doesn't feel like there are any good excuses left for Ecotality at this point, they must get their act together or popular opinion is going to bury them deep. Eventually, they will start charging for their services and I for one will boycott them if they prove to be wasting precious tax payer money! I'm pretty sure it wouldn't take to many of us calling into and complaining to the DOE to get their funding yanked, as a last resort.

I understand the reluctance to complain about EV infrastructure when many parts of the country have little or no infrastructure. I am not ungrateful for what we have but feel that now is the right time to push to get things right. If not done now it may be a lot harder to get things corrected in the future.

It is very important for Electric Vehicle adoption that we get it right. Chargers should be reliable and affordable. Demand charge barriers need to be addressed and the cost of charging needs to be kept as low as possible while allowing efuel companies to make a reasonable profit. Not an easy task.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

well i sure as hell dont understand it!

its like living in the most expensive part of town paying much higher taxes and then hearing excuses why the school district is no better than the one on the poor side of town!!

like who cares if Bumfukt, Kansas has no QC?? i chose not to live there for THAT reason. we all made choices on where to live. and my area was promised 13 DCFCs from AV (they have delivered 11 and realistically only a few months late. they pass with a B) and 40 from Blink. to date; we have one from Blink, one from the 2nd richest man in the state. (the one from Blink aint even on yet)

posted this in another thread; but what i feel to be the biggest disappointment for this whole EV thing aint Nissan; its a tie between the toxic PUDs, inept governments (if you want a decent example, look at OR!!) and the pathetic non performance of the rest of the companies that were supposed to be supporting Nissan's EV rollout

 

[QueenBee]

After being stranded in Seattle for five or six hours because the Blink DC QC station lost connection with the network I've been doing some thinking about public relations.

That QC station was operational. It simply would not allow me to charge because it couldn't phone home. As a public relations issue it seems to me that the harm done to customer confidence in their network of QC stations is immensely greater that the two bucks it may have cost them to give away a twenty minute charge.

Perhaps they should consider allowing the unit to unlock and give free charges if it looses its ability to talk to their network.

I now consider Blink to be a company that puts out inferior chargers and who is willing to strand me rather than give away two lousy bucks in electricity! :x

You are looking at this the wrong way. They can't possibility implement such a feature because it would against having their "users’ safety in mind". How else would they verify the zip code!?

http://blinkshare.blinknetwork.com/blink/topics/remove_the_zip_code_entry" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Luft]

Has anyone checked out the DCQC in Castle Rock? I'm thinking about going there without charging to 100 % first. I don't want to get stranded if it's not on line yet.

 

[IBELEAF]

After being stranded in Seattle for five or six hours because the Blink DC QC station lost connection with the network I've been doing some thinking about public relations.

That QC station was operational. It simply would not allow me to charge because it couldn't phone home. As a public relations issue it seems to me that the harm done to customer confidence in their network of QC stations is immensely greater that the two bucks it may have cost them to give away a twenty minute charge.

Perhaps they should consider allowing the unit to unlock and give free charges if it looses its ability to talk to their network.

I now consider Blink to be a company that puts out inferior chargers and who is willing to strand me rather than give away two lousy bucks in electricity! :x

This sucks and one of the reasons why I never bothered getting too far from home. I really hope they work out the bugs by the time I ready to take another plunge.

 

[KevinM]

Has anyone checked out the DCQC in Castle Rock? I'm thinking about going there without charging to 100 % first. I don't want to get stranded if it's not on line yet.

Charged there tonight. far corner of the grocery store parking lot.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Has anyone checked out the DCQC in Castle Rock? I'm thinking about going there without charging to 100 % first. I don't want to get stranded if it's not on line yet.

Charged there tonight. far corner of the grocery store parking lot.

welcome to the Forum, Kevin!!

http://www.facebook.com/groups/162442713806531/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[evnow]

posted this in another thread; but what i feel to be the biggest disappointment for this whole EV thing aint Nissan; its a tie between the toxic PUDs, inept governments (if you want a decent example, look at OR!!) and the pathetic non performance of the rest of the companies that were supposed to be supporting Nissan's EV rollout

Absolutely. With QC everywhere - noone will care about range anxiety.

 

[Tagbert]

I recently took my first "out of town" trip in my leaf to go to the Scottish Highland games at the King county fairgrounds in Enumclaw. It's only 30 miles away, but it is outside of town and, as far as I can tell, there are no chargers available in Enumclaw.

I made sure to charge to 100% before we took off which the GOM stated was a 105 mile range (we have an average 4.4 MpKW). It was a warm day so we had to turn on the A/C. That made me a little nervous. Starting north of Renton, we took the Maple Valley highway so speeds were between 50 - 60 most of the time. We had to park in a hay field so no opportunity to top up the charge. ;-)

It was even warmer when we drove back, but the A/C worked flawlessly. It's really quiet but at least as effective as the A/C in our ICE vehicle and seems to have a lot less impact on the range than the heater does. i wish that Nissan would use the A/C system to heat the car like a heat pump.

When we finally got home, the GOM said that we had 25 miles left. I don't remember how many bars that is.

So 105 - (30 + 30) - 25remaining = 20 miles either used by the A/C or just inaccuracy from the GOM.

I feel more confident, now, in taking longer trips.

 

[QueenBee]

It's really quiet but at least as effective as the A/C in our ICE vehicle and seems to have a lot less impact on the range than the heater does. i wish that Nissan would use the A/C system to heat the car like a heat pump.

I feel more confident, now, in taking longer trips.

Yeah, at least here in WA the A/C works great. 2013 will get the heat pump heater which will be a good improvement.

Do you have a copy of Tony's range chart? It'll do wonders in helping you push your LEAF to farther distances.

 

[TonyWilliams]

When we finally got home, the GOM said that we had 25 miles left. I don't remember how many bars that is.

So 105 - (30 + 30) - 25remaining = 20 miles either used by the A/C or just inaccuracy from the GOM.

The economy of 4.4 miles/kWh takes into account all energy uses, including air conditioning.

Please spare yourself the frustration of using the GoM. If you actually drove 4.4 miles/kWh (reset at the beginning of your trip), then 4.4 multiplied by 21 useable kWh's for a new battery in 70F or warmer temps equals 92.4 miles range to turtle.

Edit: I see you drove 60 miles, so assuming the same economy (which is pretty consistent with the speed you posted for level terrain), then you had about 32.4 miles remaining at the same economy of 4.4.


Those are "real miles", as measured from the odometer. The GoM, or CarWings are not part of the equation.

 

[LECTRFY]

Has anyone heard any more about the schedule for installing Fast Chargers (or any chargers for that matter) on I-90 across Snoqualmie Pass (and beyond)? I've seen many propaganda flyers stating they should be installed by August 2012 (but now see they have updated their map to say Fall 2012). Yes, I know WASHDOT promises more than they can deliver on a regular basis, but was wondering if anyone had heard any more rumblings about if it will ever happen. Thanks.

http://westcoastgreenhighway.com/WAelectrichighways.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Tagbert]

Yesterday, I think that I saw a new DC fast charger in Seattle. It was in the upper parking lot of the QFC at the intersection of Pike and Broadway in Capitol Hill.

I haven't used one yet, but this looks like the photos I have seen.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nrkl7f8a2e2jdn2/2012-09-01%2019.53.33%20Blink.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is the connector
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yz8bdywkjzuiho5/2012-09-01%2019.53.41%20connector.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't know how useful this location will be unless locals plan to use this as their daily charging option but at least they are putting in more stations.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Yesterday, I think that I saw a new DC fast charger in Seattle. It was in the upper parking lot of the QFC at the intersection of Pike and Broadway in Capitol Hill.

I haven't used one yet, but this looks like the photos I have seen.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nrkl7f8a2e2jdn2/2012-09-01%2019.53.33%20Blink.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is the connector
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yz8bdywkjzuiho5/2012-09-01%2019.53.41%20connector.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't know how useful this location will be unless locals plan to use this as their daily charging option but at least they are putting in more stations.

That is probably the "Harvard Market" Station.

Discovery Center and Lake City Fred Meyer are the other Seattle City locations

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=217366938479529511382.0004bffffd8d6a10ca1c6&msa=0&ll=47.615363,-122.321863&spn=0.016924,0.027595" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; have a map of DCFC's in the area "DCFC Stations"

 

[Tagbert]

Yes, that is the official name of that complex, dominated by the QFC grocery store.

Its great that there are now 3 DCFC locations in Seattle, but the gaps between Seattle and the next DCFC stations along I-5 to the north and south are still to large. We need charging stations near the interstate in Tacoma and Everett. That would connect the links and allow reasonable travel along I-5.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Rich Feldman posted on FB that Puyallup and Fife and...um some where else are next up

 

[Tagbert]

Rich Feldman posted on FB that Puyallup and Fife and...um some where else are next up

Fife would help. I'm never sure where it ends and Tacoma starts. ;-)

Now, if we could get Everett or Marysville hooked up....

 

[PracticingHuman]

We need charging stations near the interstate in Tacoma and Everett. That would connect the links and allow reasonable travel along I-5.

Rich Feldman posted on FB that Puyallup and Fife and...um some where else are next up

I think the entire town of Fife is near the interstate. :lol:

Fife would help. I'm never sure where it ends and Tacoma starts. ;-)

I live in Tacoma and neither are we. Let's say the Puyallup River. Rivers always make for great demarcation.