San Diego - Current List of Public Charging Stations

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It's now operational...and free, at least for the time being. It has a credit card reader, but never asks for payment. There's still no signage, and is therefore ICEd a bit. I had to ask the landscapers to move their truck this morning before I could use it. One of the guys who works in the kitchen of the Italian restaurant seems to consider it his private parking space, so if you find it ICEd in the evening, the culprit is probably in there. The cord will stretch to the farther non-handicapped spot, but it's tighter than I'd like.

davewill said:
Ran into a new station out of the blue. It's at Torrey Hills Center, which is a small neighborhood mall, and medical building. It's labeled as a "PEP Station" and looks like a simple unit, with a 7" touchscreen and a magstripe reader. Unfortunately, it seemed to be unpowered. It didn't respond to touches, or charge when I plugged in. It's hidden behind an Italian restaurant, in an area most customers would never see it, which makes me wonder whether it's intended for employees.

P.S. Found a link for the hardware: http://www.pepstations.com/PEPPRODUCTS/PS2000ProductFeatures.aspx

Torrey Hills Center
4627 Carmel Mountain Rd, San Diego, CA

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staticmap
 
davewill said:
It's now operational...and free, at least for the time being. It has a credit card reader, but never asks for payment. There's still no signage, and is therefore ICEd a bit. ...
I used this station this morning. There was a Volt using the main space, so I stretched the other cord to reach the other regular space. I can reach with my LEAF, but I suspect other cars with the inlet in a different location might not manage it.

Anyway, on my way to unplug and leave, I ran into the property manager and the Volt driver. The property manager was tickled that someone was using the EVSE, and asked me to plug back in for a minute so he could take a picture. :D

We spoke for a few minutes, and asked him about future fees (yes, but he wasn't sure what the rate was going to be), and noted he chose this unit because the fees (to him) were the lowest he could find (a fixed yearly fee, plus a transaction fee). I suggested he consider billing @ 15 minute intervals or smaller, and explained the issues with hourly billing. It made sense to him. He said he's got signs for the parking and will be putting them in soon. He also said that he plans to put in a second unit if this one's successful.
 
drees said:
Dropped my car off for it's annual service today and see that the Mossy Nissan Oceanside QC is up and operational. Talked to the manager, just went only late last week, it's available 24/7 (no FOB required) and is free of charge.

NICE!

Will test it when I pick up my car this afternoon.

I charged at QC Mossy Nissan Oceanside last night. Never tried QC-DC charger before I and LOVED it, in 20 min I was up 50%! I want one of them things at my house now :DDDD
As good as it is, it requires a FOB and it's not available 24/7 - only during dealership business hours! We pulled up a few min before they closed. They last guy was trying to hurry out of there (understandably) but was kind enough to let me borrow his FOB to start charging. He required me to leave my drivers licence with him while I was out with the FOB. Hmm... even though I bought a Leaf from them less than 4 months ago, they won't trust me with a FOB??? Ohh.... K... But other than that, I loved the QC charging station, it's just great to see how the percentage of charge in going up right in front of your eyes.
 
BestPal said:
I charged at QC Mossy Nissan Oceanside last night.
I'm glad to see Mossy Oceanside has a DC charger; I bought my LEAF from them in 2011. Incidentally, I also got my RAV4 from Mossy Toyota.
 
Sorry that this is slightly mis-categorized, but I'm specifically looking for SD LEAFers help on this:

I start a new teaching job in a week, and being able to charge only about 2 bars at the school will make the difference between using our LEAF and using our ICE. I know very little about electricity, but know that a lot of you guys are experts!

The school has the outlet below, that I guess used to be used for an RV. Considering I'll need to connect from about 30' away, what's the cheapest way to charge my LEAF? Using the LEAF will save a lot of gas money, so I'm pretty determined to find a way for this work. Doesn't matter whether I charge Level 1 or 2, as I said I only need a bar or two, and will be able to plug in for about 4 hours.

In addition to telling me how to do it, if it requires a custom rig, feel free to quote me a price for you to make it for me. (if you prefer to email me, you can use craig at imageworks.tv.)

Thanks everyone!

(If the photo doesn't load correctly, you can see it at http://www.flickr.com/photos/10896757@N08/9531099699/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)
9531099699
(If somebody wants to tell me what I did wrong on the photo, that would be great. I clicked on Img, and pasted the url between the codes.)
 
cbiwww said:
Sorry that this is slightly mis-categorized, but I'm specifically looking for SD LEAFers help on this:

I start a new teaching job in a week, and being able to charge only about 2 bars at the school will make the difference between using our LEAF and using our ICE. I know very little about electricity, but know that a lot of you guys are experts!

The school has the outlet below, that I guess used to be used for an RV. Considering I'll need to connect from about 30' away, what's the cheapest way to charge my LEAF? Using the LEAF will save a lot of gas money, so I'm pretty determined to find a way for this work. Doesn't matter whether I charge Level 1 or 2, as I said I only need a bar or two, and will be able to plug in for about 4 hours.

In addition to telling me how to do it, if it requires a custom rig, feel free to quote me a price for you to make it for me. (if you prefer to email me, you can use craig at imageworks.tv.)

Thanks everyone!

(If the photo doesn't load correctly, you can see it at http://www.flickr.com/photos/10896757@N08/9531099699/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)
9531099699
(If somebody wants to tell me what I did wrong on the photo, that would be great. I clicked on Img, and pasted the url between the codes.)
That's a NEMA 14-50R receptacle, almost certainly putting out 240 Volts at up to 50 amps, and as you guess it's typically used for larger RVs. In order to use this, you'll need to get your portable EVSE (comes with the car) upgraded by these guys:

http://evseupgrade.com/?main_page=index&cPath=1&zenid=3r4bt1e1j399n7malf93p29md7" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

so that it can handle both 120 and 208/240 Volts (only 120 volts stock), and buy the appropriate NEMA 14-50 to L6-30R adapter from them. You should also get a NEMA 5-15 to L6-30 adapter so you can still use it on a standard 120 volt outlet.
[NOTE: this assumes you have a 2013 LEAF. If you have a 2011-2012, then you'll want the model with an L6-20R receptacle, and the appropriate L6-20R adapters instead of L6-30R]. This upgrade will allow you to charge your car at most RV parks at close to the full rate of your on-board charger, and is well worth doing if you think you'll ever want to take your car on shorter road trips.

However, if you want to keep the cost down, I'd look around for a regular 120 volt receptacle that you could use your un-modified portable EVSE with.
 
In order to use this, you'll need to get your portable EVSE (comes with the car) upgraded by these guys:

http://evseupgrade.com/?main_page=index" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... lf93p29md7

so that it can handle both 120 and 208/240 Volts (only 120 volts stock), and buy the appropriate NEMA 14-50 to L6-30R adapter from them. You should also get a NEMA 5-15 to L6-30 adapter so you can still use it on a standard 120 volt outlet.

Thanks, Guy, that does sound like a good solution, although it would cost about $350 and take a while (the company is closing this week for 2 weeks).

Anyone have any cheaper or faster approaches before I go that route?
 
cbiwww said:
Anyone have any cheaper or faster approaches before I go that route?
Not sure, but...

It might be good to check before you spend money on an upgrade to be sure that old outlet is still working, and wasn't turned off a few years ago. As someone else mentioned it would also be worth thoroughly scouting the school to see if there's a 120V outlet you could use, which would be a lot simpler since you only need a few kWh. I'd look around lamp poles, maintenance buildings, landscaping structures, and even inside adjacent windows where a heavy duty extension cord might work fine.

You could also check the plugshare listings. There could be a public charger within easy walking distance of the school; in which case you'd want to be sure you were able to go move your car at lunch time to avoid tying it up needlessly. There could be a public charger within safe and easy bicycling distance of the school, where you could keep a bike chained nearby for the final leg of your commute. Or you might find someone's home nearby who is willing to let EV's charge, and who might really appreciate teachers, and your total semester cost for charging might be a couple of bottles of wine and boxes of chocolate. If the school or PTA newsletter carried an item about the new teacher and his commute, don't you think it's likely that at least one parent who lives nearby would love to help out and to show off to his neighbors the EV parked in his driveway? (I'd offer to pay the electricity cost, whether or not the parent accepted the offer.)

You might even find another route to work off the freeway where you could drive more slowly, that would take you a few minutes longer each day but allow you to make the round trip without charging. If you were cutting it very close it would be better if you also found a quick charger along your route where you could stop on your way home if some circumstance caused you to consume a kWh more than usual. If it's a paid quick charger then you'd have to calculate the cost given the number of times you'd expect to need it. For this plan it would be good to do a dry run to see if you could really make it.
 
Guys, there *is* a 120 volt plug that he took a picture of... the NEMA 14-50. It is 120 volt from each hot to neutral.

So, you need a "Tony Special Adaptor (TSA)" plug that will plug into the 14-50 and output to a normal 120 volt (NEMA 5-15) receptacle.

I think I have one in stock for $25. No need to spend $$$$ to upgrade your current cord for 240 volts.
 
TonyWilliams said:
Guys, there *is* a 120 volt plug that he took a picture of... the NEMA 14-50. It is 120 volt from each hot to neutral.
Sure, but given the OP's lack of familiarity with wiring I wasn't going to mention the cheap, quick and dirty way to make an adapter to him, as if he tried it himself I figured he had a 50% chance of frying his $700 EVSE. But if you've got one to sell, then by all means. I'd still look around the school for a regular 5-15 or 5-20 outlet so he wouldn't even need the adapter, one located where it doesn't require running an extension cord across a walkway to the car.
 
I had my Leaf serviced today (Friday, Aug 23) at the Mossy Nissan dealership in San Diego on Claremont Mesa Blvd (west of and closer to 163, east of 805 fwy)

To my surprise my service person pointed out that a DCQC had just been installed. It was located just outside in the parking lot where you pull in to be serviced. I had passed it coming in but had not noticed it. He indicated they had a fob which was needed to activate it. He offered/asked if I needed a charge, but I declined as I did not really need one to get home.

Once, a year before, on a Sunday I had gotten an L2 charge at their dealership lot next door where they sell cars by calling ahead. Since the Service Center is not opened on Sundays I asked how would I get a DCQC charge if I came by then. He indicated there was an 800 number that could be called to activate the charging. Also that the Car Sales lot next door (that is open on Sunday) has a fob to activate the charger.

I went outside to take a look. It seemed to have power (the fans were blowing for some reason). But hearing the problems that others have mentioned at some locations, I will have to go back and actually test to see how easy it is to find a person with the fob and test the 800 number as well.
 
Just to follow up on my question about charging from the rv outlet: the teaching job fell through due to low enrollment (they were at their minimum and then one of the students dropped out at the last minute).

But thanks to Guy, Walter and Tony for the time you took to reply! There's a chance I'll be teaching there in the future, in which case I'll give Tony a call.
 
The two Blink EVSEs at Claire's on Cedros, 246 North Cedros Avenue, Solana Beach, CA 92075, are "out of order" currently. My wife was unable to charge there today. The people in Claire's told her "the Blink people have not paid the bill." What's up with that? Ecotality going belly up is going to shut down the network when owners don't receive their reimbursements from the Blink network? :evil:

TT
 
ttweed said:
The people in Claire's told her "the Blink people have not paid the bill."
Paid what bill? Blink hasn't paid Claire's their share of the revenue so Claire's shut them off depriving potential customers of a charge (something that might cost Claires a buck or two when breakfast/lunch is going to cost a customer $10-15? and if they brought a friend...) Blink hasn't paid utility bill and SDG&E cut the power? Doesn't make sense...

Either way - make sure you note that they are down on Plugshare/Recargo...
 
Most installations are connected to house power (including this one). A relatively small percentage have a separate electrical service where ECOtality would pay the utility bill directly.
 
drees said:
Paid what bill? Blink hasn't paid Claire's their share of the revenue...?
That's the idea I got from what I was told. When I called Blink support, they couldn't verify whether there was a problem with the reimbursement check to them, but were going to "look into it."

...so Claire's shut them off depriving potential customers of a charge (something that might cost Claires a buck or two when breakfast/lunch is going to cost a customer $10-15? and if they brought a friend...)
Maybe the owner got tired of paying the utility bill with no support from Blink? If he couldn't get a satisfactory answer from their accounting department, maybe he figured some pissed-off Blink users might complain and get some movement out of them? I'm guessing here, but the lack of a charger did not stop my wife and her sister from eating there still--not sure how many customers they will lose. There's another charging station right down the street at the city admin building...

Either way - make sure you note that they are down on Plugshare/Recargo...
Thanks, I forgot about them. I reported it to Blink and they took them off their map, but I don't usually use plugshare and didn't think of that. Placed a comment there yesterday.

TT
 
ttweed said:
drees said:
Paid what bill? Blink hasn't paid Claire's their share of the revenue...?
That's the idea I got from what I was told. When I called Blink support, they couldn't verify whether there was a problem with the reimbursement check to them, but were going to "look into it."
...so Claire's shut them off depriving potential customers of a charge (something that might cost Claires a buck or two when breakfast/lunch is going to cost a customer $10-15? and if they brought a friend...)
Maybe the owner got tired of paying the utility bill with no support from Blink?
I guess I just can't understand that a host would be willing to install charging stations, but wouldn't be willing to keep them available for what must be a piddly amount of money compared to revenue brought in by the stations. I imagine that quite a bit of business has been brought there because of them.

I doubt that they even notice a change in their electricity bill due to the charging stations on their commercial account (restaurants tend to have fairly high utility bills) given the relatively low usage of public charging stations.

Of course - I'm probably biased.
 
Is there any real reason why a retailer wouldn't just install a Level II charging station unrelated to any "Network", make it free or low cost for customers, and to heck with all the various providers who come in, take huge government money and then piss it all down the drain? For all the use the stations get, I wonder if there would be any real outlay except for the initial cost to wire a 240V line outside, put in a unit and install it(almost like a home based unit). Maybe in San Diego and elsewhere in SoCal there is a need for dedicated commercial quality Level II's, but I have my doubts. Certainly would be cheaper than what seems to be going on...$100 million in taxpayers money, lots of promises and then we are left with no viable network(hence inoperable chargers, at least that's what seems to be on the horizon for Blink/Ecotality).
Lou
 
gatedad11 said:
Is there any real reason why a retailer wouldn't just install a Level II charging station unrelated to any "Network", make it free or low cost for customers, and to heck with all the various providers who come in, take huge government money and then piss it all down the drain? For all the use the stations get, I wonder if there would be any real outlay except for the initial cost to wire a 240V line outside, put in a unit and install it(almost like a home based unit). Maybe in San Diego and elsewhere in SoCal there is a need for dedicated commercial quality Level II's, but I have my doubts. Certainly would be cheaper than what seems to be going on...$100 million in taxpayers money, lots of promises and then we are left with no viable network(hence inoperable chargers, at least that's what seems to be on the horizon for Blink/Ecotality).
Lou

Lou, I think it comes down to equipment and installation costs, as well as the loss of parking places (if they are marked EV only).

Depending on the installation, it could cost $10-15K for a couple of L2's. Costs could go higher if anything special has to be done with the ADA parking in the existing lot to be compliant. But in my experience, the parking place loss is actually the biggest deal to many hosts. Especially if you only have 20 or 30 spots. That's like giving up 10% of your parking for the stations and they are not used all that much right now (although we all hope that will increase).

There is a federal tax break available for the installation, and that helps a little bit, but it's still a tough sell right now...The ongoing costs aren't as much, but it's still a few 10's of bucks per month...You have to have a pretty dedicated owner / sponsor who would want to spend their own money to make it happen...
 
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