Wall Street Journal article on cities and charging

Charging Ahead
Cities are working with car companies to prepare for the arrival of electric vehicles

Good map of US to click on and enlarge showing some new cities working with Nissan on charging stations


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...2.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird

Nice article. What is really important is that the critical mass seems to be building....

That article states that Houston already has 10 charge points (7 public) ... hell if I can find them. I keep finding articles saying they "will be installed" when I Google for more.

Bicster said:

That article states that Houston already has 10 charge points (7 public) ... hell if I can find them. I keep finding articles saying they "will be installed" when I Google for more.

Click to expand...

Go to http://www.mychargepoint.net/find-stations.php and zoom in on Houston. Most of them are in the downtown area.

Azrich said:

Go to http://www.mychargepoint.net/find-stations.php and zoom in on Houston. Most of them are in the downtown area.

Click to expand...

Oh, thanks!

I'm sad to see these are all Level 1, 120V/16A. Not very useful. I was excited to see one in Galveston, but a 9-10 hour charge won't make day trips to Galveston easy.

It's great that it shows which ones are in use, though.

Bicster said:

Azrich said:

Go to http://www.mychargepoint.net/find-stations.php and zoom in on Houston. Most of them are in the downtown area.

Click to expand...

Oh, thanks!

I'm sad to see these are all Level 1, 120V/16A. Not very useful. I was excited to see one in Galveston, but a 9-10 hour charge won't make day trips to Galveston easy.

It's great that it shows which ones are in use, though.

Click to expand...

Some charge is always better than no charge. ChargePoint doesn't have any Level 2 chargers out yet, as there are really no cars that use them - yet, we can assume some of these wil be changed out to Coulombs dual model with the 120V outlet and the J-1772 Level 2 as well. You can already sign up for ChargePoint and get either the Wallet sized RFID or the keyfob, either one is $9.95 The access points are also "free" until July 2010, then the venue that they are installed at can set the price.

Free until July 2010?

Yes, my bad. I corrected it above.

http://www.chargepointportal.net/index.php/general/uri/faq.html

"How much does it cost to use a ChargePoint Charging Station? (back to top)

Until July 2010, access to all public ChargePoint Charging Stations continues to be free. Stations may be accessed for free by calling the toll-free number located on every charging station or by activating a ChargePass™ RFID-based Smart Card.

Starting in July 2010 owners of ChargePoint Charging stations will have the option to set a fee for accessing their stations.


Who sets the price to access ChargePoint Charging Stations? (back to top)

Starting in July 2010 the owners of ChargePoint Charging Stations (Hosts) will control the fees (if any) to access their stations. Prices will appear on the station display and on the Google maps found at Find Charging Stations."

mitch672 said:

ChargePoint doesn't have any Level 2 chargers out yet, as there are really no cars that use them - yet

Click to expand...

We have ChargePoint Level 2 stations in multiple locations in California. One station at a Edison facility in Irwindale, east of Los Angeles, open to the public 24/7, has 8 free L2/L1 stations. I and others have charged Leafs there at Level 2.

IMHO a better map than the WSJ charging map is the interactive one on the Nissan web site that lists L2 and QC plans:

http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car/chargingMap/index#/leaf-electric-car/chargingMap/index

Too bad it shows zero QC planned for Los Angeles area.

I found ChargePoints in Los Altos, CA expecting $5/hour to charge.