San Francisco Bay Area Quick Chargers Getting them sooner

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Interesting, it seems to be an AV DCFC per the picture, that will be a first for this area.

I will definitely use it, getting to Napa currently for me is doable but this makes it much quicker.
 
Per Plugshare, there will soon be a CHAdeMO in Pt. Reyes Station! I've been lobbying Coulomb and Ecotality to put one in the town for a couple of years to enable access to all of Pt. Reyes as well as Tomales Bay and Hwy 1 north, but it appears this one will be by somebody else and will include a CREDIT CARD READER. It won't be cheap, $0.79/kWh, but it's there along with L2 at $0.39/kWh. See

http://sunspeedenterprises.com/our-network/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Someone besides Tesla finally seems to be listening to EV owners.
 
Livermore EVGO DC up and running, as reported on plugshare, which should help give South bay LEAFs a more direct route east.

EVGo's own map also shows a second DC coming to Vacaville soon.

http://www.evgonetwork.com/find-a-station/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We are now seeing the DC network extend beyond the Bay area, of course.

Anyone heard anything about the San Joaquin Valley between (Nissan) Elk Grove and (DC being installed at Nissan) Bakersfield? I'd sure like to see one in the Stockton area, to get me closer to Yosemite.

I expect we'll have to wait for the EVGO stations to finish connecting the Bay area to SoCal.
 
edatoakrun said:
Anyone heard anything about the San Joaquin Valley between (Nissan) Elk Grove and (DC being installed at Nissan) Bakersfield?
When they do, I hope they focus on Ca-99 rather than I-5. Fresno (pop >500,000) is a lot more important than Coalinga (pop <15,000). Ca-152 is also important, as the route to anywhere in the southern two-thirds of the San Joaquin Valley from Silicon Valley.

Ray
 
I completely agree that 99 is preferable to i5... more things to do... serves local populations better... our state should install free dc at all rest stops too. Finish the west coast electric highway!
 
jsongster said:
I completely agree that 99 is preferable to i5... more things to do... serves local populations better... our state should install free dc at all rest stops too. Finish the west coast electric highway!
While I'm in agreement with you and Ray that QCs belong along 99 and not I-5, the range of current (non-Tesla) BEVs is just too short to justify putting them at rest stops. Very few people will choose to drive anywhere in their BEV that requires more than one enroute QC (each way), so realistically that limits a car like the LEAF's practical radius to maybe 125 miles. That makes putting them along Hwy 99 to enable travel to the next city but one valuable, but it doesn't justify trying to drive to Oregon or Reno from the Bay Area, stopping for a QC every 40-50 miles. Almost anyone with a choice will take a car on such routes that doesn't waste so much of their time.
 
GRA said:
jsongster said:
... our state should install free dc at all rest stops too. Finish the west coast electric highway!
... the range of current (non-Tesla) BEVs is just too short to justify putting them at rest stops. Very few people will choose to drive anywhere in their BEV that requires more than one enroute QC (each way), so realistically that limits a car like the LEAF's practical radius to maybe 125 miles. ... it doesn't justify trying to drive to Oregon or Reno from the Bay Area, stopping for a QC every 40-50 miles. Almost anyone with a choice will take a car on such routes that doesn't waste so much of their time.
DaveinOlyWA said:
We have dozens who do exactly that. A 200 - 300 mile trip is not unusual when there are chargers every 25-30 miles
GRA is correct that MOST people's typical use of a LEAF will be less than 125 miles per day. DaveinOlyWA is correct that there are dozens of LEAF owners that have done 200 - 300 mile trips.
But I believe those dozens are a very small percentage of people using LEAFs

But not having DCQC available closely spaced along routes between cities that are only 100 to 200 miles apart is a very bad thing for LEAF range EVs.
The LEAF needs frequently spaced DCQC with at least two DCQC at each location along all major interconnection routes between cities.
To not have that is a huge negative.

Most people want the LEAF to be able to make that trip, although it likely will usually be only once or maybe twice per year. People do not want the only way to make that trip to be hopping between RV parks with a 240V portable EVSE.

The problem with eV Project funded DCQC in TN is that they are too far apart to support the LEAF range at 65 mph with hardly any LEAF battery capacity degradation, and there is only one DCQC at each location. DCQC lengthy time to get a repair done has shown each location needs at least two DCQC.
The Tesla model is correct.
But with the LEAF range, the DCQC spacing needs to be no farther apart than 35 miles, and at least two DCQC at each location.
 
TimLee said:
DaveinOlyWA said:
We have dozens who do exactly that. A 200 - 300 mile trip is not unusual when there are chargers every 25-30 miles
GRA is correct that MOST people's typical use of a LEAF will be less than 125 miles per day. DaveinOlyWA is correct that there are dozens of LEAF owners that have done 200 - 300 mile trips.
But I believe those dozens are a very small percentage of people using LEAFs

But not having DCQC available closely spaced along routes between cities that are only 100 to 200 miles apart is a very bad thing for LEAF range EVs.
The LEAF needs frequently spaced DCQC with at least two DCQC at each location along all major interconnection routes between cities.
To not have that is a huge negative.
+1 everywhere there, Tim. Failing having redundant QCs at a single location, there should be another QC within 5 miles and also multiple J1772 stations available too (for non-QC vehicles, backup and longer term parking).

For example, I will drive from San Diego out past Julian (a popular destination) occasionally which is over 50 miles but uphill so I need to charge. There's one very well placed Blink QC on the route just short of the last climb into Julian (Santa Ysabel for the locals), but it's had reliability issues. The L2 stations there have been down for months. The only other stations nearby is 15 miles earlier up the road in Ramona - 3 Blink L2 stations - but reliability there has been iffy, too.

Ideally there'd be QC stations in both spots along with multiple L2 stations for backup/PHEV charging. But as it is now, I'd be very hesitant to make the trip. Heck - if I could simply know when the last time a station was successfully used, that would give me much greater confidence when traveling out in areas where there may not be much available in the way of backup charging.
 
Email from NRG, with a few new stations updated, and 22 more mentioned as in-process.:

Greetings!


We're happy to announce that our commitment to electric vehicle charging in California is at full speed. At NRG eVgo, our goal is to make EV charging easy - because it really is!


19 Freedom Station® Sites Now Open

or Under Construction

BTW, this is only the beginning!

We have another 22 station permits under evaluation by the responsible permitting jurisdiction, and hope to get these into construction in the near future.



These stations have Level 2 and DC fast chargers and are conveniently located in major retail centers. Here's an update on what we have been working on to make the most of your electric fueling experience.



San Francisco Bay Area



Now Open - Find a Station

Whole Foods - 2001 Market Street, San Francisco, CA, 94114
Westlake Shopping Center - 247 Lake Merced Blvd, Daly City, CA, 94015
Public Market - 5959 Shellmound, Emeryville, CA, 94608
Northgate Mall - 5800 Northgate Mall, San Rafael, CA, 94903
Whole Foods - 3111 Mowry Ave, Freemont, CA, 94538
Vacaville Premium Outlets - 321 Nut Tree Road, Suite 2, Vacaville, CA, 956
Livermore Premium Outlets - 2774 Paragon Outlets Drive, Livermore, CA, 94551
Under Construction

Walgreens - 1175 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA, 94133
Whole Foods- 790 De Long Ave, Novato, CA 94945


San Diego



Now Open - Find a Station

Fashion Valley Mall - 7007 Friars RoadParking Deck D, San Diego, CA, 92108
Las Americas Premium Outlets - 4211 Camino de la Plaza, San Diego, CA, 92173
Flower Hill Promenade - 2730 Via De La Valle, Del Mar, CA, 92014
Carlsbad Premium Outlets - 5620 Paseo Del Norte, Carlsbad, CA, 92008
Broadway Plaza - 1142 Broadway, Chula Vista, CA, 91911
Under Construction

Diane Village Shopping Center - 4760 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA, 92117
Rancho Penasquitos Towne Center- 13255 Black Mountain Rd, San Diego, CA, 92129
Del Norte Plaza - 322 West El Norte Parkway, Escondido, CA 92026
Los Angeles



Now Open - Find a Station

Camarillo Premium Outlets - 990 Camarillo Center Dr., Camarillo, CA, 93010
Under Construction

Walgreens - 18568 Ventura Boulevard, Tarzana, CA, 91356
 
Used the Emeryville Public Market CHAdeMO Charger the other day after a morning trip to OAK turned into a run around the area and thru Moraga for an Saint Mary's Basketball game where they trounced Loyola Marymount. ( Performing Ensemble my daughter sings with sang the anthem)

DCFC worked fine. Nice place too... you can eat and shop at Public Market.
 
edatoakrun said:
The CHADdeMO network finally seems to accelerating its crawl out of the Bay Area.

As reported at plugshare, Monterey and Bakersfield DCs now up and operational 24x7, and Visalia???
Putting it at CHOMP (Community Hospital Of the Monterey Peninsula) is a bit strange, as it's surrounded by a residential area and there's no services around there in walking distance (unless you want to eat hospital cafeteria/vending maching food), but it's a lot better than nothing. It is roughly at the junction between Monterey and Carmel and only a short distance on 68 off 1, so good for people traveling on 1 to/from Big Sur; put one there as well and they can probably make San Simeon. Now if we could only get a QC in Morgan Hill/Gilroy, (non-Tesla) BEV owners in the Bay Area might actually be able to _get_ to Monterey in a reasonable amount of time.

Visalia will be useful for people heading to/from Mineral King and Sequoia/Kings Canyon from the south, as well as N-S travel along 99. Now we just need them to also put them in at Fresno, Merced, Madera-Fairmead and Manteca-Oakdale, with another line parallel along Hwy 49 from Auburn down to Oakhurst, and we'll really be opening things up. We still need BEVs with at least 100 miles of freeway range to make them viable for regional trips, cause at the moment you'd need 3-4 QCs from the Bay Area to Yosemite in a LEAF or similar.
 
strange location?

ya maybe but guessing its more a question of limited options rather than bad choices.

its easy to sit on our perches and judge but thinking the job aint as easy as all that
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
strange location?

ya maybe but guessing its more a question of limited options rather than bad choices.

its easy to sit on our perches and judge but thinking the job aint as easy as all that
There are undoubtedly locations closer to downtown that have the power needed, so I don't think that's the issue. I imagine it's more a question of real estate costs and finding a host who'll take them. I'm sort of surprised they didn't put one in at CSUMB north of the city (CHOMP is south), as there are already some L2s there, and the CSU system, in the Bay Area at least, has been supportive of EVs (as you'd expect): http://news.csumb.edu/news/2013/apr/15/charge-your-ride" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Not that CSUMB is anywhere near downtown, in fact it's located on what used to be Fort Ord in between Marina and Seaside. Unfortunately, while there are quite a few L2s in Salinas and in outlying cities, deployment of L2s in Monterey, Carmel and Pacific Grove has been very slow. Which is odd, because the area has quite a few EVs, and a populace that's supportive.
 
GRA said:
edatoakrun said:
The CHADdeMO network finally seems to accelerating its crawl out of the Bay Area.

As reported at plugshare, Monterey and Bakersfield DCs now up and operational 24x7, and Visalia???
Putting it at CHOMP (Community Hospital Of the Monterey Peninsula) is a bit strange, as it's surrounded by a residential area and there's no services around there in walking distance (unless you want to eat hospital cafeteria/vending maching food), but it's a lot better than nothing. It is roughly at the junction between Monterey and Carmel and only a short distance on 68 off 1, so good for people traveling on 1 to/from Big Sur; put one there as well and they can probably make San Simeon. Now if we could only get a QC in Morgan Hill/Gilroy, (non-Tesla) BEV owners in the Bay Area might actually be able to _get_ to Monterey in a reasonable amount of time.
Very strange. I'd never heard of CHOMP until now. Agreed about wanting a CHAdeMO QC in Morgan Hill or Gilroy. Maybe there should be another at a midpoint between Morgan Hill/Gilroy and CHOMP.

For me, to make it to CHOMP, the fastest route is 1 hour, 9 min drive, 66.9 miles, almost all highway. If I get there and it's down...

In the past, I'd kinda wanted to Leaf to Monterey or Carmel, but there was no CHAdeMO DC FC along the way and even the reasonably priced L2 choices (would take too long) around there weren't plentiful.

Given the CHAdeMO I see on Plugshare, Bakersfield and Visalia are a bit of head scratcher.

Looks like nothing's Leafable (by QC) at highway speeds of Bakersfield. The Visalia and Bakersfield QCs are 84.6 miles apart, almost all highway.
 
cwerdna said:
GRA said:
edatoakrun said:
The CHADdeMO network finally seems to accelerating its crawl out of the Bay Area.

As reported at plugshare, Monterey and Bakersfield DCs now up and operational 24x7, and Visalia???
Putting it at CHOMP (Community Hospital Of the Monterey Peninsula) is a bit strange, as it's surrounded by a residential area and there's no services around there in walking distance (unless you want to eat hospital cafeteria/vending maching food), but it's a lot better than nothing. It is roughly at the junction between Monterey and Carmel and only a short distance on 68 off 1, so good for people traveling on 1 to/from Big Sur; put one there as well and they can probably make San Simeon. Now if we could only get a QC in Morgan Hill/Gilroy, (non-Tesla) BEV owners in the Bay Area might actually be able to _get_ to Monterey in a reasonable amount of time.
Very strange. I'd never heard of CHOMP until now.
Only reason I'm familiar with CHOMP is that I'm a Monterey/Carmel diver, and whenever there's a diving accident that's where people get taken (and are then often sent back down the hills to the recompression chamber run by the Pacific Grove Fire Department). Fortunately, although I've often driven past it on the way south to Carmel dive sites I've never had to take that ambulance ride myself, but know and know of people who have, some of which, unfortunately, have been one-way trips (in most of those cases the ambulance ride is pro forma, because only a doctor can pronounce. Typically those involve a diver who's had a heart attack or similar; only the DCS/embolism incidents tend to be survivable).


cwerdna said:
Agreed about wanting a CHAdeMO QC in Morgan Hill or Gilroy. Maybe there should be another at a midpoint between Morgan Hill/Gilroy and CHOMP.
Not really necessary if it's in Gilroy, as it's only 40 miles to downtown Monterey from there, and maybe another 3 or so to CHOMP if you stay on 1, but might be nice if in Morgan Hill. One in Salinas would be useful, for both people traveling 101 and (after cutting over to Monterey) Hwy 1.


cwerdna said:
For me, to make it to CHOMP, the fastest route is 1 hour, 9 min drive, 66.9 miles, almost all highway. If I get there and it's down...[ /quote]There are starting to be a moderate number of L2s around the area including there, so you're not totally SoL, just inconvenienced. Nice biking along 17-Mile Drive (bikes get in free) while you're waiting! But you don't have to it all via 101 to Prunedale then 156 to 1, or 17 to Santa Cruz to 1. There are some very pretty back roads on the west side of 101 between Aromas and Castroville; I often use them coming back on Sundays if 156 is backed up. My favorite is Castroville Blvd - San Miguel Canyon Rd. - Tarpey Rd. - San Juan Rd., and then either take that to the junction with 101 at the Red Barn (can't miss it), or else hang a left at Carpinteria Rd. through Aromas to Riverside Rd. (Hwy 129) to 101.


cwerdna said:
In the past, I'd kinda wanted to Leaf to Monterey or Carmel, but there was no CHAdeMO DC FC along the way and even the reasonably priced L2 choices (would take too long) around there weren't plentiful.

Given the CHAdeMO I see on Plugshare, Bakersfield and Visalia are a bit of head scratcher.

Looks like nothing's Leafable (by QC) at highway speeds of Bakersfield. The Visalia and Bakersfield QCs are 84.6 miles apart, almost all highway.
Given current BEV ranges they definitely need one in the Delano/Earlimart area. Of course, the best solution is to develop affordable BEVs that can reliably make it 100 miles or more at freeway speeds.
 
GRA said:
edatoakrun said:
The CHADdeMO network finally seems to accelerating its crawl out of the Bay Area.

As reported at plugshare, Monterey and Bakersfield DCs now up and operational 24x7, and Visalia???
Putting it at CHOMP (Community Hospital Of the Monterey Peninsula) is a bit strange, as it's surrounded by a residential area and there's no services around there in walking distance (unless you want to eat hospital cafeteria/vending maching food), but it's a lot better than nothing...
Someone recently posted this article about charging @ CHOMP: http://www.montereyherald.com/news/ci_25573483/community-hospital-plug-station-gives-electric-car-drivers" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.
 
cwerdna said:
GRA said:
edatoakrun said:
The CHADdeMO network finally seems to accelerating its crawl out of the Bay Area.

As reported at plugshare, Monterey and Bakersfield DCs now up and operational 24x7, and Visalia???
Putting it at CHOMP (Community Hospital Of the Monterey Peninsula) is a bit strange, as it's surrounded by a residential area and there's no services around there in walking distance (unless you want to eat hospital cafeteria/vending maching food), but it's a lot better than nothing...
Someone recently posted this article about charging @ CHOMP: http://www.montereyherald.com/news/ci_25573483/community-hospital-plug-station-gives-electric-car-drivers" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Assuming you can get a full 100% charge at a QC from a Nissan dealership in San Jose, its a 75 mile trip down to CHOMP. Factoring in the mountain and hill terrains, will this particular trip to Monterey be suicide?? ;-)
 
mxp said:
Assuming you can get a full 100% charge at a QC from a Nissan dealership in San Jose, its a 75 mile trip down to CHOMP. Factoring in the mountain and hill terrains, will this particular trip to Monterey be suicide?? ;-)
Depends on conditions. Most of the trip is pretty flat. Having a look at it on gpsvisualizer. com, you climb from about 90' up to 400' before dropping back down to 150' south of Gilroy, then climb about 350' and lose it all again before you get to Monterey. Then there's a climb on Hwy 1 (from 7', the low point of the whole route, up to 638', the high point ditto) from the downtown Monterey area up to the CHOMP exit (HWY 68).

There are various side roads you can take, but if you want to keep on 101/156/1 there are quite a few L2s you can charge at on the way, in Gilroy, Castroville, Marina, and Seaside as well as a Monterey exit or two before you get to CHOMP's. Biggest problems are likely to come from wind and/or heater use, not elevation. On 156 between Prunedale and Castroville, if the traffic's even moderate you'll be going slower than freeway speed, if not in stop and go. Time of day is critical on the weekends, as well as whether there's a big event in the Monterey area, which turns 156 into a parking lot. So, it can be done, but it will be close.
 
Back
Top