Public EV Charging Stations at the SCAQMD in Diamond Bar, CA

[JPVLeaf]

Three bollard-type ChargePoint EVSE's were installed in the charging area this afternoon near the front of the SCAQMD building in Diamond Bar, CA. Each bollard has both L1 receptacle and L2 J1772 connector. They are currently available for public use at no charge, for the forseeable future, and can be activated with a ChargePoint ChargePass card, or RFID-type credit card.

http://tinyurl.com/68llblh

Though this not your typical destination-type area with nearby attractions, it does make for a convenient charging spot as it is freeway convenient near the junction of the 55 and 60 Fwys near the borders of LA, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. There is a Target and some eateries within walking distance .... in a pinch, and if you don't mind walking slightly uphill.

These units are now showing up on the ChargePoint site.

http://www.mychargepoint.net/find-stations.php

 

[z0ner]

VERY cool, JPVLeaf. Like you said, it's nicely centered in the midst of a very busy freeway artery. Do you know if they are under the PV canopy or the front center island?

 

[JPVLeaf]

The three new ChargePoints are on the front center island, near the visitor parking. Some/all of the legacy units and some/all of the 120v/240v receptacles under the PV canopy area will be replaced soon thereafter.

 

[akb48]

Is there any chance to be upgraded to a DC Quick Charger?

 

[JPVLeaf]

Is there any chance to be upgraded to a DC Quick Charger?

No, no such upgrade. There have been very, very low level discussions regarding a DC QC. But, that's about it. A 480v line is available onsite, so the possibility always exists. There is internal interest. But, until specific funding presents itself ... one can only hope.

 

[KeiJidosha]

Per Lisa Mirisola at AQMD, they have looked at DC Quick Charge, but their 480 volt, 3-phase is on the far side of the building and is cost prohibitive to plumb to the front lot area (public parking). May be able to get to the Solar charging area, but issues there as well.

The AQMD is a big supporter of Electric Vehicles, and facilitator of EV infrastructure. They are planning to add 2 Aerovironment and 2 Blink J1772 chargers in addition to the 3 new ChargePoint units in the next few months. They are on the leading edge of support for EV adoption.

 

[z0ner]

AQMD is a class act. I cruised by this afternoon to show my wife in case she finds herself low on electrons. When they do add the other J1772s they will be competing with Irwindale for the most EVSE's, that's for sure. The big problem with both places however, is that they aren't even close to civilization. Well, maybe if your whole family is into hiking

 

[lettcco]

...Well, maybe if your whole family is into hiking

I LOLed. Google map indicate that a target and starbuck are within a mile walk...not un-doable but not great for "opportunity charging."

 

[JPVLeaf]

The SCAQMD has just added six additional Chargepoint J1772 units. There are
now a total of nine. All new units are the J1772-L2 type only (no add'l L1 receptacle).

Few will probably notice this, but two of the original 3 Chargepoint J1772-L2 units
from the front parking area that also had the L1 receptacles, were moved to under
the solar panels charging area. So, while there are still 3 Chargepoint J1772-L2 units
upfront, only one has the L1 receptacle.

Note: As of 3/15, the icon locations still show reversed on http://www.mychargepoint.net,
but they are installed and open for public use.

 

[JPVLeaf]

Six Blink J1772/L2 units are now online at the AQMD in Diamond Bar. All are located under the solar panels, and free of charge. As of today, they are all (still) functional! :roll:

The number of J1772 units here is up to 15, while older/outdated units are being replaced. Two more Blink L2 units will be installed by the front EV/visitors parking area in the next week or so. The number of BEVs and PHEVs regulars here is increasing ... already a handful of Leafs and Volts, and soon-to-arrive BMW ActiveE's.

EDIT (Update, 4/4/12): The two additional Blink L2 units in the front parking lot are now online.

 

[JPVLeaf]

This is the latest list of public L1 and L2 EV charging stations at the SCAQMD.
All stations are currently available at no cost to visitors.

Near front visitors parking area:
1 – Chargepoint J1772/L2 with one NEMA 5-20r receptacle
2 – Chargepoint J1772/L2
2 – Blink J1772/L2
2 – Clipper Creek J1772/L2

Under the solar carport at far east end of the parking lot:
2 – Chargepoint J1772/L2 with one NEMA 5-20r
4 – Chargepoint J1772/L2
6 – Blink J1772/L2
2 – Magne Charge SPI
1 – ClipperCreek J1772/L2
1 – NEMA 14-50r / NEMA 5-20r (combo post)
7 – NEMA 5-20r (low and to the side of each Blink station and the one ClipperCreek station)

carstations.com/1037

Note: There are other private EVSEs onsite. Please stick to the public ones. Thx.

 

[NYLEAF]

The BlinkMap also shows a Level 3 DC Quick Charger located here. Not that I could make it out there with my Leaf, but I was just curious about the details.

 

[JPVLeaf]

In addition, there is now a Blink DC quick charger available at the
Diamond Bar location. The charger is located in the rear lot used by
District fleet and carpool vehicles, behind the CNG fueling stations. The
configuration requires that Leaf owners park backwards into one of two
side stalls. But if you have the QC port, you also have the rear camera,
which will come in handy in this case. Little odd install, but I believe
the District was constrained by space issues in the back lot.

The QC is currently available to the public. During non-business hours
(Tu-Fri), use the intercom to request a security guard to open the gate.

[EDIT: Outside of regular business hrs when/if the gate is closed, use the
intercom to request that a security guard open the gate.]

For those that have not used this type of unit before, these are two
good primer videos:

Blink DC QC:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBoE7utFy1s[/youtube]

How to use the Yakazi Chademo connector:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=317VrBDkBjg[/youtube]

carstations.com/1037

 

[JPVLeaf]

The BlinkMap also shows a Level 3 DC Quick Charger located here. Not that
I could make it out there with my Leaf, but I was just curious about the details.

Yes. ... I was typing.

 

[Boomer23]

May I make a quite comment as follows?:

WAHOOYAYAWESOME!!! That makes four CHAdeMO quick chargers in the LA/OC/Inland Empire now? Cool!

We now return you to your usual programming.

 

[JPVLeaf]

FYI, this Blink is also operating the same as the other Blink QC's, as
discussed on other threads, with respect to differences between the
Blink-indicated SOC and LEAF-indicated bars/SOC/Gid %, what have you.

'Indicated SOCs ... Blink QC vs LEAF ... 80% vs 67%'

Ingineer discusses some of the 'why' of it here.

 

[Kataphn]

WAHOOYAYAWESOME!!! That makes four CHAdeMO quick chargers in the LA/OC/Inland Empire now? Cool!
.

Great news! And just to review where they are: 7/11 in San Bernardino, downtown LA on Mateo St., Mitsubishi in Cypress, and now AQMD out the 60 in Diamond Bar!

 

[soareyes]

The QC is currently available to the public. During non-business hours
(Tu-Fri), use the intercom to request a security guard to open the gate

Does this mean that the quick charger is not available on weekends?

 

[JPVLeaf]

The QC is currently available to the public. During non-business hours
(Tu-Fri), use the intercom to request a security guard open the gate

Does this mean that the quick charger is not available on weekends?

No, it doesn't mean that.

Reg. business hrs are Tu-Fri, 0700-1800-ish. Outside of those times, or any other times
if/when the gate is closed, i.e., holidays, etc., ... use the intercom to request that a
security guard open the gate.

Also, the Yakazi Chademo connector is really easy to use, once you know how to use it.
Given the history of the connector at the Mitsubishi HQ QC, please watch the video above
showing how to use the Yakazi connector correctly. I don't know what the District's
current warranty plan is with Ecotality.

 

[walterbays]

This is GREAT news; thanks for posting and for including the video link.

Now that there are 3 (or 3 1/2) QC stations in Southern California I'm starting to think it might finally be practical to drive outside the San Diego area (where our QC score is still ZERO). But before I drive past Oceanside I'd want to know for sure that the QC station was operational, not closed because the owner got his electric bill, not closed for a broken connector or broken Blink software, not closed on Mondays, etc.

Right now the best source of information I know is this forum, with a dedicated thread for each QC station where people post timestamped reports: it's down again, it's up now, etc. If any of them had a phone contact of a host business who actually knew what was going on with the QC and was willing to tell would-be customers, that would clearly be better. Plugshare could be okay and would be more scalable than threads on this forum if Socal finally gets a substantial number of QC stations Any other ideas?