Featured Plug-In Registrations By State

got it, thanks! i'll look at charge point for comparison.

i get the impression that some ev'ers don't mind plugging into any old 120v outlet, whether it's designated for public use, or not.

 

I have these charger apps:

1. PlugShare - has the largest number of chargers including car dealers who may or may not be open after hours. 'Crowd sourced,' the quality is spotty but the quantity is there. When possible, call to verify facts and data. Yes, they include the 'unguarded' 120 VAC outlets.
   
   1. Whole Foods - reliable during office hours but call first
   2. RV Parks - reliable but call first
2. ChargePoint - limited to their particular installations PROVIDED they maintain them. You will need an account.
   
3. Blink - limited to their particular installations and their mapping of one working, expensive, and one broken charger is poor.

So around Huntsville, I've made it a point to visit each site and make my own observations. I don't like the 'unguarded' outlets after I found they are used by the City for holiday lights. So these are likely to be unavailable October through January. Knowing they are used for Holiday lights ... there may be more available by looking.

LESSONS LEARNED

Based upon my recent Odyssey to Oklahoma, a perfect solution would be for each, 24 hour, truck stop to host high-power, DC chargers with the three, DC standards available. Each station would have two parking spots with a cell phone, SMS based, notification and 'parking fee' based system. There would be a 'parking fee' that could be waived by purchase of say $5-10 of stuff (Alabama does not allow reselling electricity.)

A user or waiting user enters their cell phone number. An access code is SMS sent used to enable charge along with current status: BUSY or FREE. When the user plugs in, they enter the access code and after negotiations, an SMS message sent projecting the charge duration. When the charge current drops to 50% of the initial rate, an SMS message is sent 'FINISHING'.

There are phone 'billing' systems that might handle the parking fee. Alternatively, the truck stop cashier could waive the parking fee. Billing is not an area where I have much expertise but at one time you could donate using a cell phone.

On my trip, truck stops were located about every 40 miles or half the range of a the first generation EVs. So this would be a good start but because I have a plug-in, BMW i3-REx, I would be happy if the installations started around larger cities and expanded over time. So if I could stay in EV range say 40 miles outside of Memphis, Little Rock, Fort Smith, and Tulsa, I would be happy to cover that ~80 mile on electricity ... saving the gas emissions around those Cities.

Bob Wilson

 

definitely a long way to go, but any progress is good.

 

if you put chargers in pay to park commuter lots, are you expecting people to plug in in the morning and leave their car there all day, or are you expecting that some people will gladly pay to park, if there's a free charger?

 

I don't have an answer. If I parked in an building with an attendant, I would have no problem if they offered a surcharge to move a J1772 from car-to-car. If in a non-attended lot, it isn't clear there is a way that make sense, allowing sharing of the J1772. If somehow tied to local business 'token/credit', like a validation sticker, it may make more sense.

I'm more interested in getting the gap around cities expanded. To me a car is more useful when it can handle a larger area. Within the area, I'm interested but not less concerned.

Bob Wilson

 

i would do all of my charging at home, so it matters not to me. but to install all these chargers, and not have more publicity seems like a waste. i do think it would encourage sales, even if people never used them, it's a mental hurdle.

 

They just need tall signs announcing their presence.

 

agreed, very tall, large signs. maybe a little blurb underneath with details.

 

A coroplast sign, like a political one, should be enough for an unattended outlet.

 

sounds good to me. anything that alleviates range concerns for potential buyers is a good thing. the chargers themselves are not so useful, except to persons without the ability to charge at home.

 

Yes that is approximately the number at the end of 2015, up from 4,612 in 2014.

I couldn't find 2015 DOE, perhaps jeff cobb has an advanced copy. Here is the full doe with explanation from 2015 for 2014 with numbers per state.
Fact #876: June 8, 2015 Plug-in Electric Vehicle Penetration by State, 2014 | Department of Energy

 

does the vermont number look right to you? never mind, i was using 1% instead of 1/1000.

 

I don't see why not it has a small population.