NC Leaf Owners

[lpickup]

Got an e-mail from North Hills today saying that the charging stations are now operational. Let's hope they don't get ICEd too badly.

 

[lspooz]

Just a heads-up on yesterday's (front page! positive slant!) Sunday article from the Greensboro News+Record:
http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/NRCOM/default.aspx
BTW the article included photos of a LEAF [OK, just the charging door), Think, Tesla Roadster, Volt, and a Chargepoint station

N.C. PLUGGING INTO FUTURE
• Advocates for electric vehicles say the technology will revolutionize commuter travel in the Triad. BY TAFT WIREBACK
Staff Writer
Jamestown resident Bruce McKillican put 1,350 miles on his new Chevy Volt in the last few months, mainly commuting to work and running errands around town.
But he’s yet to refill the electric car’s auxiliary gas motor. In fact, he’s only used a tad over a half-gallon of gas.
“I really like not having to stop at the gas station,” said McKillican, a Syngenta scientist. “Miles don’t mean anything. When the battery goes to zero, that’s when the (gas) motor comes on.”
Super low gasoline use, zero air pollution and enough oomph for a daily commute on the interstate. Any wonder the state Department of Transportation opened its first Electric Vehicle Charging Stations last week at rest stops on the Guilford-Alamance County line?
“Obviously, new technologies moving away from fossil fuels are important. We need to support them,” said Mike Fox, state Board of Transportation representative for Guilford, Alamance and other Triad counties. “We’re really doing this as a pilot (program). We’re doing it to give a jump-start to this technology.”
EV advocates say the United States hunkers at the edge of a revolution in its main way of getting around — the family car — after years of innovation in battery-powered travel.
“You drive around thinking, ‘OK, this is the way all cars ought to be,’” said Greensboro resident Bill Bucklen, owner of a Tesla Motors EV sports car.
The eastbound rest stop drew a substantial audience of EV owners to the formal dedication ceremony for the new charging stations Wednesday.
Jim McLaughlin of Greensboro brought his sporty compact manufactured by Think, a former Ford subsidiary that got its start in Norway. A Durham dealership displayed two of its all-electric Nissan Leafs. Nearby sat a Volt with race-car styling.
And they’ll have company in the near future as manufacturers from Ford to Kia, Hyundai and Volkswagen ready new EVs of their own.
The technology is pretty pricey in the current market; McKillican, for example, paid about $43,000 for his Volt at Terry Labonte Chevrolet.
But he’s saving an estimated $100 a month on gas, and Labonte general manager Dave Hansing points out that EVs also qualify for a $7,500 federal tax credit.
Some are leery of EVs for fear they will run out of power on the road, said Jack Martin, president of the Triad Electric Vehicle Association. The DOT’s new stations should help allay that worry, joining several dozen similar sites around the region, Martin said.
Most EV owners charge their cars at their home or office and have plenty of “juice” for a full day’s driving, Martin said. “Your kidneys can’t hold out as long as your batteries will,” he added.
But as popular as EVs could become, a reality check is in order: The large majority of North Carolinians will drive gas-powered vehicles for years to come. Experts project statewide EV sales of 12,000 in the next four years, compared with more than 8.5 million motor vehicles registered in North Carolina.
And the agency’s foray into rest-stop services for EVs didn’t arrive without controversy.
During a question-and-answer session after Wednesday’s dedication, skeptics in the audience asked why the DOT singled out electric cars for special treatment, not owners of cars using other alternative fuels. Critics also questioned the DOT’s decision against billing users of the new charging stations.
Transportation officials simply want to support a promising technology that could benefit both the state economy and the environment, said Skip Kurz, president of Praxis Technologies, the Raleigh company that gave the DOT four charging stations. Praxis distributed 20 across the eastern half of North Carolina in both public and private settings, using a $247,000 federal grant aimed at encouraging “green” businesses.
The DOT put two stations at the rest stops on either side of I-40/85 near Gibsonville, the others at a similar site near Benson.
Fox, a Greensboro lawyer, said the state isn’t asking payment from charging-station users because the program is experimental and because state law only lets the DOT take money from rest-stop users for vending-machine purchases.
Kurz said that as a promising technology trying to get its foot in the door, EV is “a whipping boy” for public criticism linked to the belief that government should not play favorites among competing technologies.
Kurz said EVs are no different from any other innovation going up against such an established competitor as the internal combustion engine. It needs a little government nurturing.
“It’s a Catch-22, a chicken-or-the-egg situation,” Kurz said. “You can’t have the charging stations without the cars. And you can’t have the cars without the charging stations.”

 

[lpickup]

Would've liked to see the rebuttal that the EVs are only drawing about 40 cents worth of electricity an hour, but other than that, a fair article. Thanks!

 

[jbowman3]

Thank you for sharing... I saw the ribbon cutting on News 14 (TWC) and ABC 11 late last week for the I-40 charging stations. The anchors at ABC 11 chuckled after the story when they reported it would take an EV 4-6 to fully charge and made a couple of negative comments about having to stay at the rest stops for 6 hours. These guys don't get that I wouldn't stay there for 6 hours, just long enough to get me the charge I needed to get to GBO. No such negative commentary on News 14, just the facts as reported...

 

[muleferg]

Most EV owners charge their cars at their home or office and have plenty of “juice” for a full day’s driving, Martin said. “Your kidneys can’t hold out as long as your batteries will,” he added.

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: Hey I'm 79 and only need enough charge to go another hour charge to get to the next P stop. The only thing I dislike is the eastern part of the state gets the only chargers. But thats nothing new we always never get the pork. We have a new welcome center that is energy designed. They do have parking for Hybrids, but no Chargers.
Mule :lol:

 

[lpickup]

Thank you for sharing... I saw the ribbon cutting on News 14 (TWC) and ABC 11 late last week for the I-40 charging stations. The anchors at ABC 11 chuckled after the story when they reported it would take an EV 4-6 to fully charge and made a couple of negative comments about having to stay at the rest stops for 6 hours. These guys don't get that I wouldn't stay there for 6 hours, just long enough to get me the charge I needed to get to GBO. No such negative commentary on News 14, just the facts as reported...

Still, those are the wrong kinds of charging stations to put at rest stops. They really should've been L3 "pay for a charge" stations. That would significantly alleviate (but not eliminate) time concerns and eliminate criticism of taxpayers having to pay for the electricity (as silly an argument as that is). And at $247,000 for only 19 stations, I have to say that this money was not well spent. $13,000 each for L2 stations? C'mon! I think that anti-EV crowd (as well as the EV-crowd) has a right to be at least a little upset at this. Plus some of the stations directly benefit private entities (the 3 stations at the Durham ATC for example) so really the cost of those should have been mostly paid for by the commercial entities that benefit.

I know that the placement of that charging station allowed Harry to make the trip to Winston-Salem with "only" an hour layover, but that was for very specific trip parameters that would only realistically allow Triangle<->Triad travel. For Triangle<->Charlotte, an L3 charger in the High Point area would work well (about 80 miles from Triangle->High Point and 80 miles from High Point->Charlotte).

Other distances:

Alamance charging station<->Benson charging station: ~75 miles, practically a perfect distance for an L3 recharge, but not practical at all for L2 as you'd show up almost empty

Triangle<->Wilmington: ~150 miles, so you'd ideally want to locate an L3 at the Warsaw rest stop (has the added benefit that Warsaw is a shared rest area with both directions of travel so you don't have to duplicate the charging stations for northbound and southbound)

Granted, those distances are still a tiny bit tight (especially considering highway speeds and potentially cold weather), so the Benson & Alamance L2 chargers are actually ideally situated and could actually serve the purpose of providing just the right amount of topping off in 30-60 minutes to comfortably make that trip.

Sorry if the discussion here appears Triangle centric as opposed to Triad centric, but Triad<->Charlotte is possibly doable today on a single charge, Triad<->Triangle as well, Triad<->Wilmington is obviously impractical without perhaps 2 L3 stops (it's about 200 miles)

Then you have the issue of what to do when you reached any of the "hubs" if you were pulling up nearly empty. An L3 in each major area may be needed in addition to just at rest stops, but hopefully there will be a compelling business case to install them there commercially.

What other corridors would be important to establish and how feasible are they?

Triad<->Boone (~120 miles)
Triad<->Asheville (~170 miles--probably need 2 L3 stops)
Charlotte<->Asheville (~120 miles)
Triangle<->Fayetteville (~75 miles--possibly doable without a recharge, but if Benson had L3 it would be a gimme)

As I've said before, I'm not really all that concerned about long distance trips in a car like the LEAF. IMO it wasn't really meant for it. However, it does seem that distances between metro areas in NC are almost ideal for being able to enable trips along these corridors with just a few strategically located L3's (maybe 5 or 6?) it could be done. I really wonder if anyone has really thought this through, or if the entities involved simply applied for grant money and are haphazardly installing charging stations without (a) thinking it through and (b) actually trying to secure some competitive bids (which granted is probably difficult at this time because there are probably VERY few companies involved in this at this time)

I think I may poke around and see if there is some kind of comprehensive plan at the state level. I've gathered up a few state official's names from the various press releases surrounding the charging station installs. I'll ask them about any plans for a state-wide "EV-only" parking ordinance as well.

 

[muleferg]

Still, those are the wrong kinds of charging stations to put at rest stops. They really should've been L3 "pay for a charge" stations.

I agree Lance. If There was an L3 in Winston I could make it to Cary. Spend a couple of days at the Umstead. Go to a Leaf Pile and visit with you fellow Leafers.
Maybe Lowe's, Home Depot, Wally Boy, ETC. will come to the rescue.
Mule

 

[lpickup]

Still, those are the wrong kinds of charging stations to put at rest stops. They really should've been L3 "pay for a charge" stations.

I agree Lance. If There was an L3 in Winston I could make it to Cary. Spend a couple of days at the Umstead. Go to a Leaf Pile and visit with you fellow Leafers.
Maybe Lowe's, Home Depot, Wally Boy, ETC. will come to the rescue.
Mule

Any Cracker Barrels in the Triad? We need to get them to follow TN's lead in outfitting them with L3's (and giving us something great to do while waiting!)

 

[muleferg]

(336) 712-9880 Cracker Barrel


There is in Clemmons. I talked to the mgr and she said no. I told here about the TN locations. she was really interested, and friendly. I told her about the 40 + in the next few days and, present owners. I did say 15-20 Leaf owners.
So give her a ring on the tele We gonna have to promote ourselfs. I love country ham and hog jawls. :lol:

Mule

 

[coqui]

I'd go for Triangle>Charlotte AND Charlotte>the beach

I know that the placement of that charging station allowed Harry to make the trip to Winston-Salem with "only" an hour layover, but that was for very specific trip parameters that would only realistically allow Triangle<->Triad travel. For Triangle<->Charlotte, an L3 charger in the High Point area would work well (about 80 miles from Triangle->High Point and 80 miles from High Point->Charlotte).

What other corridors would be important to establish and how feasible are they?

Triad<->Boone (~120 miles)
Triad<->Asheville (~170 miles--probably need 2 L3 stops)
Charlotte<->Asheville (~120 miles)
Triangle<->Fayetteville (~75 miles--possibly doable without a recharge, but if Benson had L3 it would be a gimme)

[/quote]

 

[lpickup]

I'd go for Triangle>Charlotte

This is probably a big one. Ideally either put an L3 halfway between (High Point) or upgrade Alamance charging station to L3 and put another one about 40 miles outside Charlotte

AND Charlotte>the beach

This could mean any number of routes! OBX? Brunswick County beaches? Something in between? It would be cool to take the LEAF to the beach, but I think Wrightsville Beach is going to have the advantage for awhile if charging infrastructure gets put in on I-40.

 

[jbowman3]

I agree Lance -- Level 3 chargers would have been a better use of the grant. Let me know if you get anywhere with the state guys you contact on both this and the parking law.

 

[jbowman3]

Also -- EVgo has a Facebook page. They are a company in the Houston, TX area that have been putting in level 3 chargers in Walgreens parking lots. Although they don't have immediate plans to expand to NC yet, may be helpful if more comment on some of their posts that we desperately need them here!

 

[muleferg]

http://ralphmc.wordpress.com/2011/10/24/picture-for-cb/#comment-145" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Please post a request here.
Mule :mrgreen:

 

[muleferg]

http://www.sheetz.com/main/news/release_details.cfm?rid=421" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can tell I am between Film Productions with some extra time. Sheetz is expanding in NC I thank there is one close to the rest stop close to Burlington.
:roll: Mule

 

[rnkepler]

So is that a pay to use station? Do I need to get a ChargePoint card? I haven't done anything about getting a card, because I had not run into that type of charging station yet. Any information that you would like to share would be great.

That station and the L2 across from it are free to charge. The chargepoint network leaves it up to the owners (in this case McDonalds) to decide whether or not to charge for access. I think these stations have a phone number you can call to activate them but the card is only $5.00 and easier to use.

 

[lpickup]

http://www.sheetz.com/main/news/release_details.cfm?rid=421

You can tell I am between Film Productions with some extra time. Sheetz is expanding in NC I thank there is one close to the rest stop close to Burlington.
:roll: Mule

I read the press release and didn't see any mentions of QC stations in NC. Are you just talking about Sheetz the company expanding in NC or did you read somewhere that they are putting in QC's in NC?

 

[muleferg]

Sorry. My bad. I should have said in the future and I mean in the next 6, 9 months they will be installing charging stations. BP charging here. Coming to a station near you and me.
http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2010/10/bp-to-install-ev-charging-ports.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
And old song. "The Times They are a Changing"
Mule

 

[lspooz]

I agree Lance -- Level 3 chargers would have been a better use of the grant. Let me know if you get anywhere with the state guys you contact on both this and the parking law.

Anyone have any green-minded contacts at the NC Zoo (perhaps better for L2 chargers since most folks would stay a while)??
It certainly ties in with educational themes re global warming and the renovated polar bear habitat; dunno if there are any photovoltaic panels at the zoo.

Asheboro might also be a decent L3 waystation on the Triangle===Charlotte trip, and only a little out of the way for Triad====Charlotte.

 

[lpickup]

I agree Lance -- Level 3 chargers would have been a better use of the grant. Let me know if you get anywhere with the state guys you contact on both this and the parking law.

Anyone have any green-minded contacts at the NC Zoo (perhaps better for L2 chargers since most folks would stay a while)??
It certainly ties in with educational themes re global warming and the renovated polar bear habitat; dunno if there are any photovoltaic panels at the zoo.

Asheboro might also be a decent L3 waystation on the Triangle===Charlotte trip, and only a little out of the way for Triad====Charlotte.

Yeah, that's a great idea! And yes, I'm in the northern part of the Triangle so my route to Charlotte goes through the Triad, but most people would take the southerly route so you're right on there with an Asheboro L3 as well. Let's make it happen!