GaslessInSeattle
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 6, 2011
- Messages
- 1,566
Well put!!!
GRA said:
Letter to Ecotality/Blink concerning Balboa Park Failures
- Thread starter TonyWilliams
- Start date
Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:
TonyWilliams
Well-known member
Here's what Ecotality told the Dept of Energy, and they replied to me. Can somebody go to the park and confirm they work by serial number?
"Your concerns and comments were forwarded to staff at the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Vehicle Technologies Program. They have indicated the failed electric vehicle charging stations you referenced have been repaired. "
"Your concerns and comments were forwarded to staff at the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Vehicle Technologies Program. They have indicated the failed electric vehicle charging stations you referenced have been repaired. "
saintyohann
Well-known member
Repaired is a strong term.
There are two gentlemen here now fixing them as I type this.
- jon
There are two gentlemen here now fixing them as I type this.
- jon
TonyWilliams
Well-known member
saintyohann said:
I guess I got their attention.
LEAFfan
Well-known member
saintyohann said:
Jon, is it the server or the actual station that needs attention?
KMG365
Well-known member
I'll stop by tonight to confirm. Taking the family to The Outback in MV for an early dinner fundraiser for the MDA. We'll park in the EV reserved parking in Mission Valley in the marked stall with the dead EV1 chargers. 
GaslessInSeattle
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 6, 2011
- Messages
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Nice job Tony!!
TonyWilliams said:
Randy
Well-known member
As of 6:40pm, the Blink Network map shows 3 units off network at the Auto Museum and 1 unit off network at the Space Theater.
Anyone there to verify?
Anyone there to verify?
saintyohann
Well-known member
They had the cover off of the unit closest the puppet theater and it looked like they were replacing the RFID reader (or maybe just moved it to get to something else). As I was leaving the cover was coming off the one directly opposite it (these are the two closest the Auto Museum).
I talked with these guys, they were very nice. I don't want to put any words in their mouths, but I think they're doing the best they can. I kind of felt like one was training the other.
I talked with these guys, they were very nice. I don't want to put any words in their mouths, but I think they're doing the best they can. I kind of felt like one was training the other.
KMG365
Well-known member
En route now.Randy said:
As of 20:10 PDT, Blink Map shows:
Fleet: 2 available, 1 off network
Palisades: 1 available, 4 in use, 2 off network
Will advise.
KMG365
Well-known member
Okay, just got back.
Fleet: Could park and charge at one of the three Blink EVSE's. One was blocked by a Car2Go (not connected or charging) and the third was handicapped only and IIRC, was not really set up to serve multiple spaces. All three EVSE's were in service and were able to be activated with my card, though the blink map showed (and still shows) one off network.
Palisades: two of the seven EVSE's were dark (the two closest to the Automotive Museum): Serial #'s: 205222 (P2A-5,7) and 208124 (9-11).
There were a total of eight Car2Go's parked there and one more "idling" in the aisle with a guy sitting in it who drove off as we pulled up. Two of the eight Car2Go's were parked in nearby spaces (probably in the queue to be charged up). Two of the six Car2Go's parked in the charging spots were out of service (message: technician has been notified), one of those was blocking one of the five working EVSE's and the cord could not reach any of the other available parking spots. Out of Service Car2Go's can not be moved by us--charged or not--so if they're blocking an EVSE, even of you have one of the generous Car2Go "EV Community" memberships, you still won't be able to gain access to the EVSE if the cord is not long enough. One of the out of service Car2Go's was blocking one of the five working EVSE's, but the cord was long enough to run to the non-working EVSE space next to it which was occupied by one of the other Car2Go's (charging). Three other Car2Go's were actively charging on the remaining working accessible EVSE's. In summary, the only space available was in front of one of the dead EVSE's and the rest were Car2Go'd. If we had arrived and needed a charge to get back home, we would have been stranded or would have had to go back to the Fleet to charge on the one available spot and walk back to the Palisades area (if that was our destination).
The Gym was hopping tonight and the parking lot was not empty by any means as the buildings nearby are used by various city groups for evening rehearsals/meeting space, etc.
I'm off again Thursday morning and the Park is on my route home. If I have time before my morning meeting, I'll stop by again to check on the progress and post an update.
Fleet: Could park and charge at one of the three Blink EVSE's. One was blocked by a Car2Go (not connected or charging) and the third was handicapped only and IIRC, was not really set up to serve multiple spaces. All three EVSE's were in service and were able to be activated with my card, though the blink map showed (and still shows) one off network.
Palisades: two of the seven EVSE's were dark (the two closest to the Automotive Museum): Serial #'s: 205222 (P2A-5,7) and 208124 (9-11).
There were a total of eight Car2Go's parked there and one more "idling" in the aisle with a guy sitting in it who drove off as we pulled up. Two of the eight Car2Go's were parked in nearby spaces (probably in the queue to be charged up). Two of the six Car2Go's parked in the charging spots were out of service (message: technician has been notified), one of those was blocking one of the five working EVSE's and the cord could not reach any of the other available parking spots. Out of Service Car2Go's can not be moved by us--charged or not--so if they're blocking an EVSE, even of you have one of the generous Car2Go "EV Community" memberships, you still won't be able to gain access to the EVSE if the cord is not long enough. One of the out of service Car2Go's was blocking one of the five working EVSE's, but the cord was long enough to run to the non-working EVSE space next to it which was occupied by one of the other Car2Go's (charging). Three other Car2Go's were actively charging on the remaining working accessible EVSE's. In summary, the only space available was in front of one of the dead EVSE's and the rest were Car2Go'd. If we had arrived and needed a charge to get back home, we would have been stranded or would have had to go back to the Fleet to charge on the one available spot and walk back to the Palisades area (if that was our destination).
The Gym was hopping tonight and the parking lot was not empty by any means as the buildings nearby are used by various city groups for evening rehearsals/meeting space, etc.
I'm off again Thursday morning and the Park is on my route home. If I have time before my morning meeting, I'll stop by again to check on the progress and post an update.
KMG365
Well-known member
I was there around 20:45, but at 21:20, when I got home and checked, the Blink Map for the Palisades area said: 4 Available / 1 In Use / 2 Off Network (which did not jibe with my previous post, the one available EVSE was blocked at the time by an OOS Car2Go).
Now at 21:50 it says 2 Available / 3 In Use / 2 Off Network, so my guess is the guy sitting there earlier was busily jockeying the cars around, charging them up getting ready for tomorrow's business (and hopefully working on repairing the dead ones). ;-)
I took the liberty of giving Mike Cully from the local Car2Go office a jingle to let him know of this campaign and his cars' part in it . . . just in case Tony shows up with the Faux News (sic) crews tomorrow to put Ecotality/Blink in the pillory. ;-)
Now at 21:50 it says 2 Available / 3 In Use / 2 Off Network, so my guess is the guy sitting there earlier was busily jockeying the cars around, charging them up getting ready for tomorrow's business (and hopefully working on repairing the dead ones). ;-)
I took the liberty of giving Mike Cully from the local Car2Go office a jingle to let him know of this campaign and his cars' part in it . . . just in case Tony shows up with the Faux News (sic) crews tomorrow to put Ecotality/Blink in the pillory. ;-)
smkettner
Well-known member
What a joke. Could have twice the Leviton 160s there for less money. And they would all work.
TonyWilliams
Well-known member
KMG365 said:
I have kept Mike up to speed
TonyWilliams
Well-known member
Woo Hoo !!! Progress:
*****************************
Reuben H. FLEET Museum:
1 available, 1 in use, 1 offline <<<<<<-----
******************************
"Palisades" / Auto / Aviation Museum / Pan American Plaza
3 available, 4 in use, 0 offline <<<<<------
*****************************
Reuben H. FLEET Museum:
1 available, 1 in use, 1 offline <<<<<<-----
******************************
"Palisades" / Auto / Aviation Museum / Pan American Plaza
3 available, 4 in use, 0 offline <<<<<------
TonyWilliams
Well-known member
What a mess, but they are trying! We've moved up to 70% operational at Balboa Park.
The Balboa Park EVSE's are as follows:
From south to north at Rueben H. Fleet Science Museum,
in other words, from left to right as facing the units:
Serial number:
102309
103115 (fixed, 3/20/12)
103173 (fixed, 3/20/12)
From east to west at Pan American Plaza / Palisades
in other words, left to right, while facing the Aviation Museum:
Serial number:
205600 (down, 3/21/12, waiting for a new circuit card)
103119
103127 (down, 3/21/12, RFID card doesn't work)
200917 (fixed, 3/20/12)
211133
208124 (down, 3/21/12 completely dead)
205222 (fixed, 3/20/12)
The Balboa Park EVSE's are as follows:
From south to north at Rueben H. Fleet Science Museum,
in other words, from left to right as facing the units:
Serial number:
102309
103115 (fixed, 3/20/12)
103173 (fixed, 3/20/12)
From east to west at Pan American Plaza / Palisades
in other words, left to right, while facing the Aviation Museum:
Serial number:
205600 (down, 3/21/12, waiting for a new circuit card)
103119
103127 (down, 3/21/12, RFID card doesn't work)
200917 (fixed, 3/20/12)
211133
208124 (down, 3/21/12 completely dead)
205222 (fixed, 3/20/12)
I arrived at the fleet center to charge around 1 PM. Two men were working on the chargers. When I asked if the chargers would be available. The two very courteous guys said they would be available shortly and they would plug my car in for me so it would be charged by the time I returned. Sure enough, when i returned to my car it was fully charged. I appreciate how these Ecotality people handled the situation
TonyWilliams
Well-known member
I had a conference call today at 4pm with Tom Jacobson, Ecotality Director of Sales, and Andy Hoskinson, San Diego Area Manager. The call lasted 49 minutes. I was physically parked in front of the 3 Blinks at Reuben H. Fleet, and plugged in to charge on the middle unit. I found that my "free" Blink card did not work that I received in exactly the same spot last June at the mayor's inauguration of these units.
I used the Blink card that was mailed to me, and it now asks for your zip code. A silver LEAF was plugged in the left stall, and a Car2go Smart EV arrived, so I switched to the right handicapped Blink, and plugged in the Smart, activating both with my card (all the while on the phone). All three were now charging, even though only two showed online with the Blink app.
Tom started out by saying, "We're not happy with the product", which I think put us on a good track of discussing the issues, instead of me complaining and they defending their "honor" and product.
Andy discussed the new hardware that they installed at Balboa. They outright replaced four units (but as you can see in the above post, 3 different ones are failed). They installed new RFID card readers, and tomorrow (Thursday) they will install commercial firmware version 1.5 which will work with the new RFID readers.
One advantage of this is that the Blink will now ping "home" more often, so you won't have to call when they go down (that's the theory, at least). I suggested putting simple numbers on the units in plain site, so that they can be easily identified. Perhaps "FLEET 1", "FLEET 2", and "FLEET 3", and "PALISADES 1,2,3,4,5,6,7" at the Auto Museum. Perhaps the Blink Network phone number, too.
I asked how long a unit can be expected to be down after it becomes known to be failed? First, Tom said a 24 hour turn around, and suggested that a big failure, for instance if all 7 at Palisades went Tango Uniform, they'd want to get right on it.
I told them I had called one of their contractors, Baker Electric, to ask what their status was in fixing these, and they said that they didn't have one anymore. So it seemed like they are going backwards on maintenance. Andy said that they had doubled their field service staff (he didn't specify if that meant going from one to two, or something else). Tom mentioned how expensive a contractor like Baker is, and in an area like San Diego, with 1500 units, it made sense to have a dedicated staff for maintenance. But, in an area like Colorado, with 300 units spread out over a larger area, it was probably more wise to have contractors. Tom did mention that, reference the service issue, "We don't know what the best way is. We're still figuring it out." Fair enough.
I mentioned how I had to find out about new charging installations in San Diego by word of mouth. It would be nice if we could be actively notified of new locations (by region, for example, we don't want Phoenix data). They could spare us the "publically traded company" stuff that takes up two thirds of the announcement. Yes, of course they show up passively on their website, which is great.
Andy closed with highlighting an underlying theme; lack of communication. He acknowledged that they need to enhance the Blinks to build confidence in them. Yes, that will take a while.
Edit: Andy stated that the Balboa Park installations were not paid for with City of San Diego tax dollars. Installations are matched dollar for dollar by DOE money. My commentary, somewhat jaded by decades of working for the US government, and a brother who did buying for the US government, is that if I sell you a product for $2 that cost me $1 to produce, did it really cost me anything in a 50/50 price match?Of course, they have to pencil in profit, and I'm confident they do.
I used the Blink card that was mailed to me, and it now asks for your zip code. A silver LEAF was plugged in the left stall, and a Car2go Smart EV arrived, so I switched to the right handicapped Blink, and plugged in the Smart, activating both with my card (all the while on the phone). All three were now charging, even though only two showed online with the Blink app.
Tom started out by saying, "We're not happy with the product", which I think put us on a good track of discussing the issues, instead of me complaining and they defending their "honor" and product.
Andy discussed the new hardware that they installed at Balboa. They outright replaced four units (but as you can see in the above post, 3 different ones are failed). They installed new RFID card readers, and tomorrow (Thursday) they will install commercial firmware version 1.5 which will work with the new RFID readers.
One advantage of this is that the Blink will now ping "home" more often, so you won't have to call when they go down (that's the theory, at least). I suggested putting simple numbers on the units in plain site, so that they can be easily identified. Perhaps "FLEET 1", "FLEET 2", and "FLEET 3", and "PALISADES 1,2,3,4,5,6,7" at the Auto Museum. Perhaps the Blink Network phone number, too.
I asked how long a unit can be expected to be down after it becomes known to be failed? First, Tom said a 24 hour turn around, and suggested that a big failure, for instance if all 7 at Palisades went Tango Uniform, they'd want to get right on it.
I told them I had called one of their contractors, Baker Electric, to ask what their status was in fixing these, and they said that they didn't have one anymore. So it seemed like they are going backwards on maintenance. Andy said that they had doubled their field service staff (he didn't specify if that meant going from one to two, or something else). Tom mentioned how expensive a contractor like Baker is, and in an area like San Diego, with 1500 units, it made sense to have a dedicated staff for maintenance. But, in an area like Colorado, with 300 units spread out over a larger area, it was probably more wise to have contractors. Tom did mention that, reference the service issue, "We don't know what the best way is. We're still figuring it out." Fair enough.
I mentioned how I had to find out about new charging installations in San Diego by word of mouth. It would be nice if we could be actively notified of new locations (by region, for example, we don't want Phoenix data). They could spare us the "publically traded company" stuff that takes up two thirds of the announcement. Yes, of course they show up passively on their website, which is great.
Andy closed with highlighting an underlying theme; lack of communication. He acknowledged that they need to enhance the Blinks to build confidence in them. Yes, that will take a while.
Edit: Andy stated that the Balboa Park installations were not paid for with City of San Diego tax dollars. Installations are matched dollar for dollar by DOE money. My commentary, somewhat jaded by decades of working for the US government, and a brother who did buying for the US government, is that if I sell you a product for $2 that cost me $1 to produce, did it really cost me anything in a 50/50 price match?Of course, they have to pencil in profit, and I'm confident they do.
TonyWilliams
Well-known member
Hi Tony,
I believe you were talking to Ecotality as we picked up our car. I was going to say hello but did not want to interrupt what appeared to be an important conversation. I hope to make the April 7 meeting. Thank you for all your great work on behalf of Leaf owners!
I believe you were talking to Ecotality as we picked up our car. I was going to say hello but did not want to interrupt what appeared to be an important conversation. I hope to make the April 7 meeting. Thank you for all your great work on behalf of Leaf owners!
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