Electric car charging company Ecotality could file for bankruptcy

I wonder what would happen to all those Blink chargers that are out in the wild

Maybe Chargepoint will buy them or something

 

Well that really sucks. Blink is practically the only provider down here in the far southwest corner. There are only a few chargepoint outlets. If the bankruptcy happens, regardless of the outcome, it would pretty well put a damper on EV and PHEV sales around here.

 

Some folks, esp. those on mynissanleaf.com would say good riddance for many reasons such as My Nissan Leaf Forum • View topic - Blink / Rav4 Blows Out a Contactor Pin (with gory pics), Honda Fit EV Overheats When Used with Blink Chargers | PluginCars.com (same issue), squandering funds, crappy hardware and unreliable public infrastructure.

One can only hope someone else can scoop up their infrastructure for pennies on the dollar and replace all the faulty Rema J1772 handles, or as a band-aid (as they did to some home users), dial down the max output to ~3.3 kW. I suppose slower charging for those w/6+ kW on-board chargers (e.g. '13 Leaf w/optional 6 kW OBC, FFE, Rav4 EV, Model S, Fit EV, etc.) is better than melting their inlets.

 

I think a SCE study claims over 80% of EV charging in the area takes place at night in owners homes...I suspect that most of the rest is at the workplace.

Mike

 

For an example of more details of what I'm talking about, see Toyota Rav4 EV Forum • View topic - BLINK NETWORK (Ecotality) Possible Bankruptcy.

Their SEC filing even mentions the overheating J1772 handles.

 

Not good for LA. Most all of our chargers are Blink. Santa Monica/Venice/Long Beach, West side, Downtown.. most all are Blink. In Pasadena we get free charging so those are a different vendor.

 

If the substandard equipment gets replaced with more reliable equipment it will ultimately help the EV movement. It may sting a bit in the short term in those areas with heavy Blink presence.

 

The public really doesn't know much about EVs and PHEVs except that they have to be plugged in to juice up. Most people are amazed when I tell them that I plug in to a regular wall socket. So this is more about public perception than reality. If the average car buyer is teetering on the edge of making a decision about buying an EV-PHEV, something like this possible bankruptcy would be perceived as bad for electric vehicles. For EVs it could be the kiss of death. Data (and the economics) makes it clear that few owners of EV and PHEV actually use these chargers regularly.

 

I think that is a bit extreme.
Car makers just need to advertise that you can charge at home.
Car dealers can do something as simple as put a sign up in the showroom that shows a picture of a car charging at home and hang a charger, with a standard 120v plug on the sign.

Mike

 

The bigger issue is- many Toyota dealers are poorly trained when it comes to PIP sales/inquiries. That being said- they'd rather sell regular Prius's and Camry's all day long rather than dealing with PIP issues.
So it's not just educating the public- educate the dealers too....

 

I agree that the dealer's knowledge level is very low. That's why Toyota (and any other car maker's that sell a plug-in) need to be a bit pro-active...make the signs with the 120v cable and send them to the dealers. This is the same reason you see manufacturer's point of sale displays in stores...the manufacturers know that the sales people in the stores are mostly clueless.

This way, everyone who walks into the showroom gets the message that a plug-in car doesn't "require" a special outlet.

Mike

 

"filing for bankruptcy" is not equivalent to "going out of business". There is also the "restructuring" kind of bankruptcy which allows the company to stiff creditors and cancel employee agreements (like union contracts), and stay in business.

 

I get the same amazement reaction when I mentioned all that's needed is an ordinary household outlet.

It's emerging as the biggest misconception. Fortunately, we have the opportunity to change that.

This is much different from the "you have to plug it in" misconception we dealt with when Prius was first rolled out. Once we figured out people didn't actually understand how a hybrid worked, we'd take the initiative to point out what was most important first. In this case, that would be to immediately mention "regular wall socket" when a conversation is struck up about the car.

I'd often get stopped in parking lots by total strangers, since they noticed I was driving a Prius. That was the opportunity back then. Now, it will be that they notice me plugging or unplugging at a public charging-station. Before even answering their first question, I'll interject information to squash the misconception.

Someday when Toyota starts specifically advertising the plug-in model, they'll include that information too. Until then, it's up to us to spread the word.

 

yep ... most have moderate experiences at best with those folks. Don't the the (BKO) door hit you on the way out, Ecotality. Oh well ... thank goodness for the Chinese, they got a lot of our dollars ... it'll be a nice investment for them. The quality will be right up their alley. Well, maybe not even Chinese quality is that sub-par.
.

 

Some backstory (rumors?):

Ecotality (Blink and other brands) obtained a DOE grant for $100M. They used the ChargePoint (initially Coulomb Technologies) chargers (EVSE) for their prototypes since they weren't really an engineering company. Once they got the grant they went to another (cheaper) supplier for their equipment. There have been reports of melting in the J1772 connectors. At first this was thought to be only in some limited production run. Now maybe the issue could be in all their equipment.
Unlikely that ChargePoint would buy all the Blink stations due to the issues between the companies.

Mike