San Diego - Current List of Public Charging Stations

[gmuzhik]

ICEd Again! I went to Torrey Pines Lodge in La Jolla yesterday to try out the Blink chargers and found both units occupied by non EVs. There were plenty of other spaces available so I don't understand why ICEs have to park in the Blink spots. Luckly the space next to one was empty, so I parked there and charged. Also, I selected this site in the navigation by listing "charging stations near me" and it led me on a wild goose chase. I had to use my google maps on my iPhone to find it. Lesson learned: Don't trust the charging stations from carwings!

 

[Randy]

A couple of photos this morning of new public charging installations...

First up we have 3 curbside Blink Charging Stations in the Civitas Development (Friars Rd & Mission Center Rd). They are near the Circa 37 apartment community, and the address is 7800 West Side Drive (very new and probably not in the GPS yet). Go North on Mission Center and turn right into the community on West Side Drive (East of the Ralph's store and Burger King), go down about 1 1/2 blocks and these units are on the left...The units are not powered on yet, but should be soon...

 

[Randy]

Another photo from this morning's drive...

These 2 Blink charging stations are in the Ralph's shopping Center on Mission Center Road and Friars Road just to the east of the Subway sandwich shop...The address of the Subway is 5608 Mission Center Road...These units are powered on and I was able to connect for a few minutes...No signage just yet..

 

[Randy]

Updated list, including 2 Port of San Diego sites (Hilton Bayfront and National City)

 

[TonyWilliams]

Pearson Fuels now has 4 L2's operational, with a fifth on the way.

 

[Randy]

Stopped by Pearson Fuels today at 4067 El Cajon Blvd (by Interstate 15) to check out the new Blink charging stations. As Tony said, there are 4 Level 2 Blink units with the 5th location ready to install soon. These units face El Cajon Blvd and are located where the old legacy charging stations were at...Easy to find and freeway-close...They have a wide selection of various fuels for your other cars and a snack store you can take advantage of when you stop to charge up...

 

[Randy]

Today I also stopped by the National City Port of San Diego charging station location at 1400 Tidelands that was recently installed. There is a single Blink Level 2 charging station there. Unfortunately, it is in a gated parking lot and seems to be only open Monday - Friday during business hours. But at least I was able to take a photo of the unit through the fence. It looks like it was installed at the far left end of the front row of parking places and there is no signage in place yet (although there is a pole that they might be using later)...

 

[gaswalla]

Chargepoint Level 2 at the VA Medical Center in La Jolla.

 

[goohan]

There are two Blink stations at North County Fair in Escondido outside the Macy's entrance on the west side of the mall. One is in front of the handicap spot, and the other is next to it with 'EV only' signage. Unfortunately, their prime location means that the nearby parking spaces will always be full, so only the signed unit is really usable, even though the cord for the second unit could reach 2-3 spaces. There was a silver Leaf plugged in while I was there, so it appears that the signage deterred any 'ICEing'.

 

[gmuzhik]

Just discovered two Blinks on Shelter Island near the center of the island! They do not show up on my Blink app on my iPhone so I called them and they said they are too new and have not been registered or something like that. They were in use, charging two Car2gos. I did not try them myself but they seemed operational.

 

[davewill]

There are two Blink stations at North County Fair in Escondido outside the Macy's entrance on the west side of the mall. ...

Damn! I was just there two nights ago and could have used the charge, too. Why doesn't Blink update their dang app! I checked, too.

 

[walterbays]

Unfortunately, it is in a gated parking lot and seems to be only open Monday - Friday during business hours.

It is unfortunate that so much of the "public infrastructure" is private, and even more unfortunate that charger directories do a poor job of distinguishing between public and private sites. It's not clear whether some sites are public or private, like Urban Corps which is listed as a public site but whose charging stations are behind a fence marked "authorized vehicles only." Listings for the Grand Del Mar fail to note that it's a gated community with no public access.

Usually when Carwings says "updating stations" nothing of substance changes, even when it claims to have updated some number of stations. Recently I was cheered when the car's Nav system for the first time appeared to have actually found a new charging station before I saw it here, on Blink, or on plugshare. So I drove to Century Park Court just to take a look. It turned out to be the SDG&E building whose lot was - you guessed it - clearly marked employees only.

 

[davewill]

... Listings for the Grand Del Mar fail to note that it's a gated community with no public access.

Actually, all you have to do is tell the guard booth you're visiting the Grand Del Mar.

 

[ENIAC]

There are two Blink stations at North County Fair in Escondido outside the Macy's entrance on the west side of the mall. ...

Damn! I was just there two nights ago and could have used the charge, too. Why doesn't Blink update their dang app! I checked, too.

Yep, we used it today. Thanks goohan! So if you aren't handicapped, are you allowed to use the charger located in the handicap parking space? The cord is long enough to reach a couple of the non-handicapped parking places.

 

[davewill]

Yep, we used it today. Thanks goohan! So if you aren't handicapped, are you allowed to use the charger located in the handicap parking space? The cord is long enough to reach a couple of the non-handicapped parking places.

I would say go for it. At some of the other locations, the handicapped station is positioned between the spaces with that use in mind. I'd make sure to leave my plug sharing placard so that if someone handicapped does show up, they can call me and get permission to unplug me.

 

[SanDust]

Actually, all you have to do is tell the guard booth you're visiting the Grand Del Mar.

It's still off-putting and not exactly inviting. You turn and see gates with a guard house, which doesn't make it clear that the chargers are "public". His point is that the lack of distinction between public and private chargers and I have to agree with him. I've been there and I'm still unsure what the deal is.

It's a hard choice. To keep the chargers up and running it works better if you're on private property, but when you're on private property it's not clear if the chargers are public. For example, you could have chargers at Torrey Pines State Park rather than the Inn at Torrey Pines. That would make clear the chargers are public. However, but you'd still have to pay to get into the Park, the Park isn't open at night, and there isn't anyone available to reset the chargers if they went off-line.

The chargers at Balboa Park probably work the best, but a lot of that has to do with Cars2Go which involves a whole different set of issues.

 

[davewill]

Actually, all you have to do is tell the guard booth you're visiting the Grand Del Mar.

It's still off-putting and not exactly inviting. You turn and see gates with a guard house, which doesn't make it clear that the chargers are "public". ...

Then it's a problem for the entire hotel and golf course which are also public. :lol: The fact is that no one would want to use them unless they are patronizing the hotel. Besides this bad example, Blink DOES have a problem with keeping their maps correctly.

 

[goohan]

Yep, we used it today. Thanks goohan! So if you aren't handicapped, are you allowed to use the charger located in the handicap parking space? The cord is long enough to reach a couple of the non-handicapped parking places.

I would say go for it. At some of the other locations, the handicapped station is positioned between the spaces with that use in mind. I'd make sure to leave my plug sharing placard so that if someone handicapped does show up, they can call me and get permission to unplug me.

I agree that you should be allowed to use the charger if parked in the non-handicapped parking spots that are within reach. I noticed that the back (facing the non-handicapped spaces) of the Blink station had a sticker stating something about EV charging, so I assumed it was meant to imply that these other spots could use the charger. Someone in an ICE had just pulled into one of these spots and I saw them reading the sticker and discussing if this meant they couldn't park there. In the end they took the parking space (which based on the lack of signage was correct), but at least they paused to think about it first.

 

[Randy]

Back with another update....Today in my travels I visited two new charging sites. The first site was Spanish Landing, at 3900 N Harbor Drive by the Airport. Unfortunately, there was a large event going on and the whole place was entirely blocked off. So, that was a no-go. I'll return later.

After that, I went to Shelter Island at 1776 Shelter Island Drive, and visited the two new Blink Charging Stations. This site is just down the street to the west from Humphrey's by the bay (and across the street), so it would be a great place to recharge while seeing a concert, having dinner, or just taking a nice walk.

I "took one for the team" from the pigeons on my car while plugged in and charging, but it's all in a days work, right?

Our Car2Go friends were there, and I was able to get a short charge from the second unit...The ADA charging station cord will reach the adjacent non-ADA space, so that's good. These charging stations are open for business....

 

[Randy]

More travels today...I revisited the Civita development in Mission Valley at Friars and Mission Center Road to catch a photo of additional charging stations...Three more stations in a different location from the original three...They're not energized yet, but will be shortly...These will be great resources for the residents of the Civita development...