GeorgeParrott said:
Anyway, according to Brian, the charge station is active and open, and there is some chance that we will be going to Vacaville this weekend or next, and IF so, I will directly check it out (again). Further Brian did note, that THIS was the first L3 station on the West Coast and maybe is still the ONLY L3 station up and running....
Hi George --
That's funny, I talked to Brian myself today (Friday, the 18th) and got similar information... except that my interpretation of what he said was that he confirmed the station is NOT open to the public. He confirmed what Ed Huestis (the last transit manager at Vacaville) told me in an e-mail after he talked with people at PG&E (Brian cannot get a call back from PG&E!). Ed said that PG&E does not consider this station open to the public, as it is a demo project open only to CARB staff and a few others (see the posted e-mail from Ed below).
I would really like to use this charger, so I hope you can go by in person and check it out, but any use of it might be, ah, less than legal according to PG&E. Then again, if they've forgotten about it, that's their problem! Thanks for keeping on top of this and going to check it out. I have re-posted what I wrote below in another thread about charging with an L3 (with Ed's e-mail).
From the "Can you 'top off' after a DC quick charge" thread:
Hello --
It looks like my Leaf and I will not be visiting Vacaville and its L3 charger anytime soon. Now I have it from two solid sources in Vacaville that the L3 charger at the Bella Vista Road Park and Ride is definitely NOT for public use. I have an e-mail from Ed Huestis, former transit manager at Vacaville who talked to his contacts at PG&E, and a phone call from Brian McLean, the current transit manager there. Here is Ed's e-mail in full:
"I checked with my contact at PG&E. The EV Quick Charger at the Bella Vista Road Park and Ride Lot here in Vacaville is only available to OEM's and to CARB staff as part of a demonstration program for the time being. We have no chargers with J1772 connectors here in Vacaville yet.
We don't charge for using any of the electric vehicle public charging stations in Vacaville (45), and they are available 24/7. We just don't have any with the J1772 connectors yet.
I haven't heard if you can effectively "top off" with Level 2 charging immediately following the use of the EV Quick Charger."
Ed Huestis
Brian's call conveyed mostly the same information. I also learned some disappointing news from him... the grants, including Ecotality's EV Project to install more public chargers, all require some kind of local matching funds. Brian told me that it was very unlikely that Vacaville will put up any general fund money to upgrade to J1772's or to get the DC L3 charger online for the public. Given the recession, this is an unlikely scenario for most small to mid-sized cities in California. I am guessing that it will take 10 years before we have any significant number of public chargers on our highways. That's a reality I didn't want to face, but given the cost of installation, the lack of awareness, and the low numbers of EVs on the road at this time, that's my guess.
I'd like to know how George managed to charge at this station on Feb. 18 given that PG&E does not want the public charging from it. Could it have been left on by mistake? Is it actually online and usable even though PG&E doesn't want it to be?
Does anyone know of any other working DC L3 chargers in the Bay Area?
Thanks,
Josh