Free Charging

[rkarl89203]

I have the EVGo Flex plan. We use it so little that it's a real treat on the rare occasions we use it. If one of their
Chargers is broke their customer service to help you out is awesome. We are planning to use EVgo in the LA/Santa Monica area at the end of our Route 66 trip in March. Their billing is relatively painless too, linked to our Visa account. Without EVgo, a trip to Chicago from here in Rockford is much slower. I wish there were a free
Chademo here. The only free Chademo was in Madison, but it is broke. Fortunately there are 2 EVgos in Madison and 3 totally free ones in Milwaukee. Free L2 seems to be everywhere here, although even the Chargepoint L2s are starting to charge (pun intended) for a charge hereabouts.

 

[ed5000]

I was pleased to find a free double evse in Pleasanton, California today near Valley Ave and Stanley Blvd. The thing that was strange was the signage or lack thereof. The right spot had no signage and thus was naturally iced :roll: . The left spot was a handicap spot! Which is great if your wheelchair can take L2 charging :lol: . I was lucky because it was next to Starbucks and eventually someone came running out and freed up the right spot for me. A chargepoint card was required.

This worked out great for me because I had dropped off my son at a birthday party 3 blocks away and I was able to leave it charging for a couple hours and picked up about 5.6 kwh.

 

[JoeS]

ChargePoint provides the hardware and handles the administrative stuff, but the owner at that location dictates the fee structure. For example, SFO has over 100 free charging spots (but charges $2/15minutes parking).

ed5000 - pre-planning almost always allows one to 'opportunity charge' almost anywhere around the SF Bay Area.

Last I heard, in California it is permissible to park and charge an EV in a dual-purpose charging spot also identified as disabled parking. South San Francisco parking garage also has that situation. In any case, I always leave my name and cellphone number prominently displayed on the windshield allowing as I'd be happy to move if there was a problem.

As far as being ICEd, here's the little red card I leave under the windshield wiper of the miscreant, appropriately checked:

 

[wmcbrine]

You can't embed PDFs as images.

 

[JoeS]

You can't embed PDFs as images.

Veddy interesting, as the image shows up on my Mac using Safari, but not using Google Chrome or Firefox. Thanks, and lesson learned for the future.
Here's the un-imaged link.

 

[PV1]

It shows up on my iPhone, but not on my laptop (Firefox).

Nice card.

Another note, my charge at Dunkin Donuts on September 18 turned out to be free :mrgreen: . Even though I didn't have a card, I have one on the way, and that must have been good enough to get the NDEW discount.

 

[Phximiev]

Update on post above re: Volta; free charging at Arrowhead Crossings courtesy of Volta:

https://api.plugshare.com/view/location/38384

They seem to be expanding: http://www.voltacharging.com

And have their own app.

Anybody using them outside of Phoenix (where they are quite popular)?

 

[jennrod12]

I've tried 3 Volta stations, but none of them work with my I-Miev, has anyone used them successfully? An electric VW pulled up to one after I'd tried it and had no trouble.

Jenn

 

[JoeS]

Hi Jenn, nice hearing from you. Where are the Volta stations located, as I might drive there and try them myself?

 

[justoneman]

I have a ChargePoint account. I have it filtered for free stations. I have three along my commute to work. One two miles away from my house. One exactly in the middle of my 29 mile trip and one 5 miles away from my work. I have hit all three station to make sure they are working. The one close to my house is a hospital and the station is in the staff parking lot. Could be a problem but I did charge there for 25 mins once and the security car drove by me looked but said nothing. I have gone to the one close to my work 4 times. It is in a Wendy's parking lot. I went at lunch time once for 30 mins and bought lunch there and three times I stopped in the morning and got breakfast at the Burger King next door. Very convenient. The middle location is at a Hooter!! I have not gone inside but I did charge there once. So if I have an emergency on the commute I may be forced to spend and extended charging period there.

 

[jennrod12]

Hi Joe,

The Volta stations are at Sunnyvale's Loehmann's plaza (Homestead & Hollenbeck) near the new OSH store (2 stations), and in Santa Clara in the strip mall at Homestead & Keily near the Safeway east entrance (2 stations).

Let me know what you find!

Jenn

 

[JoeS]

The Volta stations are at Sunnyvale's Loehmann's plaza (Homestead & Hollenbeck) near the new OSH store (2 stations), and in Santa Clara in the strip mall at Homestead & Keily near the Safeway east entrance (2 stations).

Since I was already sorta in the area this morning, I took a drive down Homestead to the two Volta Locations. Each had two charging stations.

The Loehmann's Plaza EVSE's are located close to OSH and both had Leafs charging, each with third light blinking. https://api.plugshare.com/view/location/111165

The Mariposa Shopping Center had one free EVSE (the other was taken by a plugged-in Leaf) which worked fine with my i-MiEV. Nice shady spot, located right by US Bank. https://api.plugshare.com/view/location/111536

Funny, I had forgotten about PlugShare's capability of filtering to find only free charging stations, as I had assumed everybody around here now charges for charging.

 

[jennrod12]

Thanks for checking those out, Joe,

I wonder why they don't work with my car? I only have the 3.3 kw charging on my car. When I plug in to the Volta station, I get a red plug icon on my dashboard.

Jenn

 

[JoeS]

When I plug in to the Volta station, I get a red plug icon on my dashboard.

:?: The only red plug icon (with cord) I recall is the regular charging indicator which stays lit while the car is charging.

 

[jennrod12]

Now I feel like a dork. I don't really check the charging status from inside my car very often, because my EVSE gives me very good feedback when I plug it in (green is good, red is bad). So the red plug on the dash is good, you say!?! Ha ha, I assumed it was bad.

Thanks for clearing that up for me!

Jenn