What's your car charging experience been like? MIT Designers

[MIT]

Hey everyone,

Let me introduce myself, or ourselves, we're a team of MIT, Sloan Business school and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) students. We're broadly looking at improving the car charging experience as it still appears to us that not enough design thought has been put in to the area.

So really I just wanted to start up a dialogue with you guys. As some of the first owners of the Leaf you're most likely struck by some of its teething problems. So I'm going to start by asking what sort of charging station you have at home? Do you take the 'portable' charger around in the car with you? Have you ever used this outside your own home? And have you ever used a publicly available charging station and what was your experience?

So yeah, anything you can tell us will be helpful. This product area was initially suggested to us by GM but we're under no obligation to limit it to the Volt and we've expanded the concept to be looking in particular at some of the untouched issues of public charge stations. Also as we're in communication with GM about this, don't feel your voice wil get ignored. Some of the good ideas out of this have a good chance of being implemented!

Cheers
Jordan

 

[fooljoe]

Also as we're in communication with GM about this, don't feel your voice wil get ignored. Some of the good ideas out of this have a good chance of being implemented!

lol

Seriously, though, that's a lot of questions that are very broad, all of which have already been discussed at length in here. If you just spend a little time reading through some existing threads you'll find all your answers.

 

[Boomer23]

I'll go first.

I've had the Leaf for over 11 months and have driven it about 10,500 miles.

I have the Aeroviroment Level 2 EVSE hard wired in my garage. That is by far the EVSE that I use the most. My experience with using this EVSE has been uneventful and the unit has been completely reliable, with never an error or a failure to charge in more than 11 months of use. The J1772 charging plug fits well with the charging port on the Leaf and insertion and removal of the connector is a simple, one hand process. The charging cable is heavy duty, so it is a bit of a chore to re-coil when I am finished with it, and I often leave the cord loosely coiled on the ground out of the way of driving or walking areas in the garage. This has caused no problems.


I carry the Level 1 EVSE that came standard with the car at all times. Though many Leaf owners have had their standard Level 1 EVSE upgraded to be able to charge at Level 2 and 16 amps, I have left mine standard. I have only used it once, and that was away from home at a 110 volt outlet. This Level 1 EVSE is also easy to use and fits well with the Leaf's charge port. It is a bit of a pain to re-coil the cable to pack the cable back up to store in the car's trunk. In addition, many of us are concerned that this expensive accessory can be easily stolen while the car is being charged. Some have resorted to putting a small padlock on the charging handle to lock it in place at that end, though the small gauge of the padlock hasp can be easily cut with a tool, if a thief so chose. Also, the cable could be easily cut so that the thief could steal the copper, though he would risk electric shock if the car was charging. Other methods of securing the EVSE have been tried, such as driving one front wheel over the cable to make it difficult to steal, or routing the cable through two slightly open front windows and then locking the doors.

I have used public charging stations many times. Most of these have been Level 2 stations in the ChargePoint network, though I have used public Blink stations as well. These are easy to use, though proprietary RF ID cards are needed to activate the EVSEs. I prefer the ChargePoint stations because they include a locking holster that protects and controls the J connector and because the Chargepoint system is reliable in posting power usage data on my account on their site. The Blink stations are less impressive to use, with no real holster for the J handle and I haven't been able to see a power usage report on the Blink site yet. Both types of stations have been reliable and useful, however.

I have also used a DC quick charger twice. This charger is located at the Mitsubishi headquarters in Cypress, California, though it can't strictly be called a public charger since it is on Mitsubishi's property. Mitsubishi management has been extremely kind and forward thinking by allowing the use of this ChaDeMo charger by Nissan Leaf owners as well as by owners of their own Mitsubishi i. I have found the ChaDeMo charging sequence to be usable and reliable, though there has been quite some discussion of its ergonomics on this site, which I recommend that you search and read. Obviously, the great thing about DC quick charging is that it is very fast, and able to charge a Leaf to 80% within about 30 minutes.

 

[smkettner]

We're broadly looking at improving the car charging experience as it still appears to us that not enough design thought has been put in to the area.

Generally the L2 chargers work fine when they are working. We just need more of them.
And throw in a few L3 and all is good to go. Although that will not help Volt.
A big bunch of regular 120v outlets at the airport long term parking would be far better than two 30 amp L2 with 100+ EVs looking to charge and lots of time. (example is LAX)
There really is not much to it.

PS. we don't need more design, we need less design and lower cost.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Many folks wouldn't consider any interaction with "GM" as a positive. Why don't you ask your GM buddies why they've adopted the future big, clunky SAE format for DC fast charging (hint: Nissan already has about 20 thousand ChaDeMo DC charging port cars delivered, and the industry is already deploying compatible chargers).

Of course, GM doesn't even have an electric car, nor do they offer quick charging.

 

[DougMarker]

I charge at home only at night. There is only one public charging station near my house and I have never used it. I would hate to depend on it because it takes up to 6 hours, and if it were being used that would be a long wait.
My 220 volt level 2 charger is mounted on my garage wall. It is very convenient to plug in as soon as I get home, and if I forget my LEAF sends me an email reminder.
The best configuration would be a floor mounted monument style so you could pull up to it and walk behind it to eliminate a tripping hazard.
For a public charge station, I would like to see it a little distance from the most convenient parking places, both to minimize the spaces being "Iced", and to discourage electric car resentment.

 

[ElectricVehicle]

Hey everyone,
So yeah, anything you can tell us will be helpful. This product area was initially suggested to us by GM but we're under no obligation to limit it to the Volt and we've expanded the concept to be looking in particular at some of the untouched issues of public charge stations. Also as we're in communication with GM about this, don't feel your voice wil get ignored. Some of the good ideas out of this have a good chance of being implemented!

Cheers
Jordan

GM has heard our voice loud and clear and actively fought us on AB 475, which REQUIRES EVs to be plugged into the charging station or they will be cited. This means if a curious passer by unplugs your car, you the EV driver get a ticket!!!

It also outlaws charger sharing where a charger is installed so that it can reach two or more spaces. Then when one EV is done charging, another driver can unplug it and plug the charger into their EV without requiring the first EV to move. There are a few etiquette issues with charger sharing, but there are also lots of etiquette issues with a Plug In Prius and it's 11 mile electric range parking in an EV charging space for 8 hours when the Prius charger in an hour or so, and then AB475 forbids sharing the charger. There's potential billing issues of you move the plug from one vehicle to another, but that's solved by having the charger end the billing session when the charger is unplugged. Plugging in another car would require that driver to activate the charger with their card.

We're already seeing all the EV chargers occupied at places like LAX airport, and now several other facilities. One Employer I know of has 4 LEAFs that need to charge but only two chargers, so charger sharing by moving the plug is a lot more practical at the moment than getting 4 drivers to come out and move 4 cars at lunchtime, or spending another $20,000+ to install two more level 2 chargers at $10,000+ each. (The networked EVSE hardware is around $6,000 and the trenching etc, will run another $4,000+/charger). GM treats this as a non-issue, just install more chargers... Well, GM isn't paying for the charger installs, so why shouldn't they insist an employer spend $20,000 more because of AB 475....

http://www.pluginamerica.org/drivers-seat/why-were-asking-governor-veto-ab-475" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

GM listened alright and then lobbied intensely to do the OPPOSITE of what EV drivers asked. Even a Volt driver would probably want to share the charger from an EV there that was already fully charged.

There are issues yet to work out as EVs and public charging expands, but leaving the Plug In vehicle owner to get a ticket when someone else unplugs their car is absurd. Yet, thanks to GM, it's now LAW. They could have tweaked AB 475 to fix some of the issues, but they didn't.

 

[thankyouOB]

you should read through the many many EVSE posts here.
if you create a serious survey, I think some here would complete it.
I would.
and do tell GM that its lobbying screwed up EV public charging with the law that is discussed above.
they should correct that sin as an indication that they are serious about advancing EVs. I would say that is a threshhold for GM before asking for help.

 

[camasleaf]

I have a Blink at home, never failed to charge in 9 months. But in the last few months usage data has been corrupted.
The L1 charger I used once or twice at home, to make sure it still works.
Public L2 are kind of useless to me, as I do not spend more than 30 minutes in a store. On the other hand DC charging was very helpful. I drove over 150 miles on a few days with only short stops at DC chargers. We need a LOT more of those.

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

I've done 13,000 Leaf miles in about 10 months and charged at several different charging stations, L1, L2 and L3.

-the L1 charger that came with the car is just fine for use in a pinch but with some remarkably simple modifications could have come with L1 and L2 capabilities. check out http://evseupgrade.com/. This is how the EVSE should have been designed in the first place with the kit that allows for near universal L1/L2 adapter options. I have not done the upgrade, but many here have and love it!

As far as ergonomics, the J1772 is good enough. it would be nice if it had an LED guide light near it's nose for use in low light situations, but it's decent the way it is.

-the L2 charging station I use at home is the Blink charger that came with participation in the EV project. Even though I have had zero problems with my Blink, so many people have had repeated issues with them both at home and publicly that I have little faith in the company and simply can not recommend the blink until they get their act together. I am glad there is an effort to study charging habits and for that reason I'm still enthusiastic to be part of the project, but as for reliability, it's just way too complicated for what it needs to be: an extension cord. There are simpler more reliable designs out there. I'd probably just go with the simple Aerovironment EVSE if I were starting from scratch, it does the job reliably and there are others like it. As for public charging stations, I've been most impressed with Chargepoint. I've never had one break down and they seem very well thought out. using a Fob to both start and finish charging helps to assure that one's account doesn't continue getting charged by successive users after one has left the stall. Having the J1772 plug secured in a sheltered holster between charges is very nice in this wet climate, helping to assure a good clean connection.

-the L3 charging stations I've used have impressed me most of all. My initial inclination was to assume that slower charging was better for the battery, but after some experience with this vehicle and seeing how little even fast charging heats up the battery, fast charging is now my preferred method of charging. the CHAdeMO Charging plug seems well designed and I have no reason to doubt that it is ready for prime time. I absolutely do not understand why the CHAdeMO standard has not been embraced by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and officially adopted into use within the US. It is my belief that the delay in developing a standard for fast charging may very well be intentional and that the SAE may very well have a conflict of interest, knowing that fast charging is the final barrier to mass adoption of electric vehicles. I have had the opportunity to use the Eaton DC Fast Charger. it is very easy to use and very straightforward. The ergonomics of the fastener on the handle of the CHAdeMO EVSE could be improved to be easier to click in place but once you get the hang of it, it works fine. The cord of a fast charger is a bit unwieldy but that is simply the result of having such a heavy gauge cable.

About the only thing I can think of to improve the fast charging experience is that we need hundreds of them in each state. To reach the kind of saturation to make slow charging adequate we would need tens of thousands of L2 chargers in each state and even then, they just aren't fast enough for even intermediate continuous driving. DC QC's are much more expensive to purchase and install than L2 charging stations but are vastly more useful, particularly in the winter time when many folks have found themselves in a tug of war between staying warm and getting home. Just a few minutes on a DC fast charger can make a world of difference in terms of comfort, relaxation and flexibility during cold whether driving. Quick chargers are the key to unleashing BEV's into the mainstream.

 

[Nubo]

I've had the car 10 weeks, so far I have charged away from home twice. The first time just to see if it worked. The second time just because it was available (didn't need it for range). This was a Chargepoint station and it was simple to use. I may make a trip this weekend that would depend on a public charge. Otherwise all charging has been at home on the provided Nissan unit, 120V L1. I am in the process of getting a L2 Leviton charger installed for convenience, for the higher efficiency, and to keep most of my charging off-peak.

What kind of "design" improvements are you considering?

 

[ElectricVehicle]

>> What sort of charging station you have at home?
Blink via EV Project (free charger and installation in exchange for our charging usage data.)

>> Do you take the 'portable' charger around in the car with you?
Yes. I have the http://evseupgrade.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; that modifies the Nissan EVSE for dual 120V 12A (4 mphc) / 240V 16A (12 mphc)operation. MPHC - Miles of range Per Hour of Charging. On longer trips of over 120 miles at 60 mph, the 120V isn't fast enough for destinations I spend less than 10 hours at, So the 240V portable charging at a a friends dryer outlet, where my friend won't be installing an EV charger is REALLY valuable to extend the utility of the LEAF. I also have a L6-20 inline 240V 20A GFCI I can use at the dryer outlet for extra safety. People plug in welders, tables saws and over 240V equipment all the time, as does most of Europe, With a little care it can be done very safely. When we have a forest of LEAFs, and there are more LEAFs that need to charge than charger, I use a J1772 splitter that allows two LEAFs to charge from one J1772 charger as a special setup for events,since the J1772 supplies 6.6 kW but the LEAF charges at 3.3 kW maximum. (Yes, they put a small charger in the, car, they know it was a mistake and the mext model year will have the larger 6.6 kW charger. They should at least have the option for 10 or 20 kW onboard charger, since there are over a dozen high power J1772 stations that supply 240V at 70A and the J1772 standard goes up to 240V 80A, which allows charging at 60 mphc closer to the DC Fast Charger rate of 160 MPHC, but at a much, much lower cost. The Tesla Model s comes stock with 10 kW onboard charger and a $1500option to upgrade to 20 a kW onboard charger "Twin Chargers".)

>> Have you ever used this outside your own home?
Yes.

>> And have you ever used a publicly available charging station and what was your experience?
Yes. The public charging stations work great. The level 2 charges at 12 miles per hour of charge (mphc) in a LEAF. When we get Level 3 DC Fast Charger (Quick Chargers), which charge 80 miles of range in 30 minutes (160 mphc) that will nicely complement the level 2 chargers.

I currently carry two cards to access the public infrastructure, I expect that soon to be three cards. I've got enough silly cards in my wallet already, so we need to get to the point of one card, or better yet, let the vehicle identify itself to the charging netowrk and allow roaming between networks - just like cell phones have done for years.

Most of my charging is at home, at super off peak times from around 2am - 5am. I charge in public around once a week. If my commute exceeds 30 miles one way, I'll do some charging at work.

The pricing models for charging are all over the map. In order to meet the policy goals of reducing gasoline consumption, the cost of public electricity needs to be less than the cost of gasoline for the equivalent range. Using electricity at 50% of the cost of gasoline says that for the 3.3kW charge rate of the LEAF, Volt or Plug In Prius, charging should cost no more than about $0.40/hour. Some charging stations are charging $3/hour or have monthly subscriptions of $70/month which is many times MORE expensive than gasoline for many EV drivers that drive less than 40 miles / day. At one point my commute was 2 miles, roundtrip, so if I had to pay $70/month to use public charging, I wouldn't use it. I'd leave the LEAF at home and take my 2002 Toyota Prius that's paid for and burns only gasoline at real world 40 MPG. So you can see that to achieve the gasoline reductions with EVs and Plug In Hybrids, we have to make sure the pricing for EV public charging send the right signals to drivers and they save money using elctricity. Otherwise you send the wrong signals and they will use more gas.

Note in the case of the Plug In Hybrids - the Volt and Plug In Prius, this is a real time decision.

Plug In Prius 11 mile electric range, 50 MPG
Chevy Volt 40 mile electric range, 37 MPG

Using $4/gallon gas, 3 miles/kWh:
Prius break even is $0.20/kWh of electricity, 50% incentive is $0.10/kWh
Volt break even is $0.25/kWh of electricity, 50% incentive is $0.12/kWh

Using electricity at 50% of the gasoline costs for the same range gives the driver the incentive to take the 6 seconds to plug in and later unplug his Plug In Car. At breakeven pricing, many people wouldn't bother to plug in as we get to large scale mass adoption that's more sensitive to costs and convenience compared to elary adopters.

The numbers here are slightly rounded, but however you do the math, you come close to these numbers.

The other issue is that with the wrong pricing for public charging, people who would need to use it frequently, including condo and apoartment dwellers that may not have a charging option at home, could see higher energy costs for an EV than a gasoline car and they might decide not to purchase an EV. So it's critical that we get the price points of public charging right or we undermine the policy goals of getting EVs on the road!

 

[coqui]

I have the ChargePoint L2 station at home, it has always worked well for me. Yes, I have used the standard unmodified L1 that comes with the car and I carry it with me, however, 99% of the time I use the home L2.

In Charlotte there are no L3's. Would love to see them put in at all the rest stops between the main North Carolina cities (Charlotte & the Triangle area), although, it may be a while before that happens. There's political talk about it, but the trouble is, political talk is just that, 99.9% jibberish and 0.1% real fact :roll:

Acceptance of these cars (EV's) will depend largely on whether or not more infrastructure is developed. Until then people will just stay glued to ICE cars.

 

[BRBarian]

Hey everyone,

Let me introduce myself, or ourselves, we're a team of MIT, Sloan Business school and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) students. ... Jordan

Well.. Welcome (I've got a brass rat too).

I've been a LEAF driver for only 3 months. Here on the East Coast (DC area), the charging infrastructure is still pretty thin.
What infrastructure there is seems to have been very poorly planned (or not planned at all).

1. L2 chargers are often not at places where one would want to wait for 2-4 hours. How about putting them where there are nice restaurants? Or nice places to shop for things other than drugs and cosmetics? Why don't the major malls have them?

2. Chargers aren't available at all times. The Nissan dealerships seems to have them in areas that are locked up after hours.

3. Airport chargers are inefficient. Instead of a few L2 chargers, a plethora of inexpensive 120VAC outlets available as an integral part of long term parking would make a lot more sense. The car could be charging when I'm flying, instead of being something I need to deal with after a long day of flying.

4. Charging stations need to be integrated into the interstate system. I should be able to go to Philadelphia or New York.

5. A few well placed chargers could open up whole areas very quickly. For example, the Washington DC to Ocean City run is about 140 miles. A single charging station in Denton, MD (halfway point) would make the run possible. But there's nothing near Denton, and no one seems to be thinking about this, even though it could help revitalize the historic town.

6. No L3 chargers anywhere. When they come, will they be well placed? I doubt it.

Oh. And ElectricVehicle is correct about the laws relating to the use of public EVSEs as being not very good. There needs to be good laws enacted at the national level, or at least have national standards (like right turn on red).

Finally, if competition between BEV and PHEV cars becomes fierce, there should be spots reserved for BEV usage. The need is greater.

The bottom line... Someone needs to design the EVSE network the way that the interstate system was designed. What we have now is really second rate.

 

[Pipcecil]

I have had my leaf for about 9 months, 14,000 miles

I have an Aerovironment EVSE at home through the eVgo company (makes it a smart charger connecting to the internet, similar to blink). I do the majority of my charging at home (obviously) and did have some problems, at the beginning with the EVSE, but it was due to faulty equipment, once replaced with a working unit, I haven't had any problems.

I always keep the portable charger in the car, but only occasionally use it. When my wife takes the Leaf to her work (a very long commute), she uses it to plug into an outlet in her company's parking garage. I have used it on occasion when I visit a friend or family member and will be there an extended period of time (multiple hours), but usually try to avoid it since there could always be the misconception that I am costing them huge amounts of electricty and money (plus it always feels weird asking...akin to asking for gas even though its much cheaper, there isn't a social norm to this yet).

I have used public charging quite extensively, both Level 2 and DC QC (never have done a public Level 1). I will actually go a bit out of my way to places that have chargers to support their business (and to try new places!). My experience with Level 2 Chargers have been mixed. It has nothing to do with the chargers themselves, but the implementation. They are very commonly "iced" (regular gas/diesel car parking in the spot). Blink is the most notoriously ones iced. Their setups are usually very close to the business fronts and only have an EV sign on them, nothing else, which does nothing to deter other drivers for those front parking spots. ChargePoint is way better (there are only a few in DFW though) and their placements are usually one the side or farther in the parking lots (I really don't mind walking if I can charge). In addition they strip off their charging areas with green and post signs "EV Parking Only." This deters any normal vehicles and I have yet to see one iced. eVgo's system is probably the best, but it should be since you pay more for it (montly fee). Their systems are ususally installed in the back of the parking lots with a separate canopy system and marked off parking. The parking has sensors underneath that if you are parked and not charging (or charge too long if its a QC charge - 1 hour max), an alarm goes off and calls a tow truck. This completely assures no icing of the charging spots.

I have been in some hairy conditions where I needed a charge and all spots were iced. Luckly those instances I was able to either charge at another spot nearby or the owner of one of the vehicles was a store employee whom moved their vehicle. Public charging spots should be marked off similar to how chargepoint handles it: Plug-In Only and, probably a way to back it up with the storefront towing those non-plugins that park there.

As for the systems themselves, the J1772 plugs are not all identical, some are easier to slide in and connect while others are more difficult. Here is how I rate the EVSE companies from easiest to worst (for public chargers): Aerovironment (nissan/evgo) > Coloumb (ChargePoint) > GE (independent stations) > Blink (Ecotality). I have used all these types. Aerovironment is by far the best, easy to slip in and out. Coloumb and GE are quite close, but Coloumbs is more similar to the portable Leaf charger so its slightly easier. Blink is at the bottom, their plugs are the most difficult to use.

The CHAdeMO chargers have a slight learning curve to them, but thats the nature of the chargers themselves and I have only used Aerovironment's ones so I can't compare to other companies. I use the DC QC quite a bit since I live in southern DFW and most things are in northern DFW, were the charger is. So its been quite convienent. The only one is located at a Walgreens and ususaly we stop off and get ice cream, a soda, or some candy. By the time we finish, the car is ready to go. If you think about it in terms of ice cream consumption - it takes as long as it takes for you to eat your ice cream, which is pretty fast. Honestly Level 3s should be on freeways. Line a major freeway (like IH 35 from Dallas to San Antonio or IH 45 from Houston to Dallas) in Texas would do WONDERS. It would make it possible to take the leaf on longer trips.

 

[redLEAF]

>> How long have you had your LEAF?
will be 3 months next week, 1,900 gas free miles

>> What sort of charging station do you have at home?
Schneider Electric EVLink; unfortunately no subsidy as we only qualified for the EV Fed Tax Credit and not the one for a home installed EVSE but buying the Schneider versus the AV unit through the marketing deal with Nissan saved us close to $1,000 even with a professional electrician wiring it.

>> Do you take the 'portable' charger around in the car with you?
Yes

>> Have you ever used this outside your own home?
No, have never had to use it.

>> And have you ever used a publicly available charging station and what was your experience?
No. One fundamental aspect for us anyway in buying this car is we knew it had limited range and as we are a multiple car family (3 drivers; 4 cars) we always have something else to drive for longer trips so having public chargers is not a real issue for us; that being said and with gas prices on the rise, having access to more L3 chargers (they are just starting to show up around Chicago) would be a bonus in those cases when we need to travel more than a R/T charge will take us now. We did sign-up and get a ChargePoint card for L2 charging 'just in case' but have not ever needed it -- as the spring/summer months approach, we typically will travel a bit more so we'll check that out.

One area of concern on the 'design' aspect for public chargers that, especially my wife is concerned about is the whole security of it that's already been mentioned. Here in Chicago, we've even had an instance were thieves stole copper from rooftop A/C units on a building by totally destroying them so what's to prevent them from going after the copper in the wiring connectors, etc. ? Having things on CCTV may help a bit but if you were 'counting' on a recharge to get you home while they stole the wiring (and/or vandalized your car if you put some kind of device to lock it) that's bad enough to deter you from using it. Perhaps not as much an issue in lower crime areas but something that makes it difficult to steal the components as well as keep the connection to the car 'safe' should be something to consider. It should also be pointed out though that the security issue is really for only SLOW charging as you need to leave the car unattended for long periods of time versus the quick charge units where the owner (not unlike a refill at a regular gas station) will be nearby for the 20 to 30 minutes it takes to finish. I like the 'future state' were you could get inductive charging by simply pulling your car over a charger underneath the vehicle (in the ground) and simply swiping a card (or do it wireless while in the car!) so that nothing is exposed to tempt a thief -- then all you need to do is make sure that ICE's don't take these spots! One last design consideration is where these chargers get placed -- IMO I agree with NOT giving them the prime spots next to handicapped parking so we don't get ICE raged people cursing out the EV driver or simply parking there themselves; unless running the electricity to more remote spots is costly (and it shouldn't be as most lots have light posts that the wiring could be tapped into) that's where I'd put these --- again, well lit spots but far enough away to not draw negative attention to them.

The beauty aspect of getting chargers up is that you don't have the limitations of gas/diesel filling stations (EPA reg's. large storage tanks, room for tanker trucks to refill, spillage, etc.) and I think we can get creative as to where people would find them convenient as well as cost effective versus charging at home --- on that last point as others have already pointed out; most of us (unless it's free!) can charge at home for far less than what some of the firms feel is necessary to charge per/hour so use would be minimal, my kWh cost is only 6.6 cents. At what point is the convenience to use a public charger worth it -- that's the $64K question -- everyone uses convenience stores and are willing to pay substantially more for a cold soda, etc. than buying a case from a grocery store and keeping a cooler in a car all the time but paying a $2 for a soda occasionally is much different than paying $12 for a 4 hour public charge that cost you only 87 cents at home (again using the 3.3 kWh LEAF charging rate as an example and $3/hr for L2 charger), plus you aren't worried about your car in your own garage.

 

[PatricioEV]

2012 Leaf SL - 4,800 miles Purchased 11/19/11

We have a Schneider Electric charging station hardwired in our garage at 240volts. We do carry the trickle charger in the hatch storage compartment, but have only used it once at a destination and probably could have done without that extra bit of charge. We have never used a public charging station.

Personally, I think the focus on public stations should be quick chargers almost exclusively. If I were to need/use one while out, I'd want it to be a quick charger!

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

This is my charging experience: Zzzzzzzz... zzzzzzzz... zzzzzzzzz

Seriously, there is one area I see that could be greatly improved from a user interface standpoint. Switching between 80 and 100% is cumbersome. The car should have a "home arrival dialog" with the user when returning to the home location. I suggested this on another thread, something like:

ask q1: "Are you home for the night?";

If (answer to q1 is NO) 
{
   ask q2: "Do you plan to drive more than X miles this evening?" (where X is based on SOC);

   if (answer to q2 is YES)
   {
      automatically disable the timer;
      remind the user to connect;
   }
}
else
{
   ask q3: "Do you need maximum range tomorrow?"   

   if (answer to q3 is YES)
      set next timer to 100%;
   else
      set next timer to 80%;

   remind the user to connect;
}

You can think of other "smart dialog" variations, e.g. if it is cold, recommend the user connect anyway.

 

[BRBarian]

Personally, I think the focus on public stations should be quick chargers almost exclusively. If I were to need/use one while out, I'd want it to be a quick charger!

Why would you need a quick charger if you're going to park at the airport, or at a hotel, or a theater, or at a marina, or at a park-and-ride, or at an Amtrak station, or at a football game,...?

If every hotel had a few overnight L2 spaces, that's all that would be needed there.

 

[EdmondLeaf]

So I'm going to start by asking what sort of charging station you have at home?

AV Nissan L2 -simple and works great. I do not feel like I want complicated design with flashy screen, just smart power cord and that is all. If I want to see how much power I used I have smart meter. If I want to program when I want to charge I have timers or simply walk to my garage and plug the car

Do you take the 'portable' charger around in the car with you? Have you ever used this outside your own home?

Yes to use at work if I really need to

And have you ever used a publicly available charging station and what was your experience?

Yes, public L2, parking spot was unmarked so other person happily move to let me use charger. As for L2 public charging this is painful slow in sparsely populated area. What is needed as public charging here is DC quick chargers. As someone already mentioned you need L2 to get to DC QC station and that what we need here. L2 maybe good in densely populated big city but not in sparsely populated like OKC
Recommendation design cheap DC QC we already have many over design L2 evse so no need for that.