ChargePoint cards might be available for free. [Edit: Yes, they are!] I called them to ask about a free but locked charger I'd located through the PlugShare app for my Android. The agent was able to unlock it for me remotely (from India, no less). When I asked if I had to pay for a card, he said there was a promotion for free cards and took my mailing address to send me one. He said if you don't link to a credit card when creating an account, you can still unlock free chargers. There's no promotion on their web page, but I wonder, if you call (888) 758-4389, maybe the nice fellow in India will send you a free ChargePoint card too.
A couple of months ago, the nice person asked me if I wanted a card sent to me, and I said Ok, and they sent me a free card but did not mention it was part of a promotion
Chargepoint had an Earthday promotion that was discussed here: http://priuschat.com/forums/toyota-prius-plug-in/107399-free-earth-day-charge-point-card.html Not sure if that promotion is still happening.
I just called and asked if they had a promotion for free cards, he said yep, took my info and is sending me a card.
The card may be free, but what is the charge per charge? LOL I'm going to bet it's not free in too many places. These guys are speculating that everyone and their monkey's uncle will be charging before long. And the truth is, that while that might happen, I don't think it's widespread right now. The only vehicles I've EVER seen at any of the charge spots in town are these "Cars-2-Go" - cheap little "Smart" EV cars: I don't know who would PAY to drive one of these death traps as a rental. But they're everywhere there's a charger around here. And ALWAYS hogging them. Just left plugged in.
See my original post. I'm only getting the card to unlock free chargers. I've had my PiP for 10 days now and have charged at free ChargePoints in two places so far, on local government properties. The other one had a card wired to it to unlock it, but with my own card I'll get email notifications and may be able to reserve a station. (Not that I would because a pure EV might need it worse than I.) :focus: I'm figuring this is a "hidden" promotion. They don't mind if you go to the web site and buy a card, but if you call and ask, or indicate that the price is an issue, they'll mail one for free.
I would agree with you that basically if you want the card for free, they will give you a free card. For me, I didn't even know there was a cost to the card when I had called in March, but they sent me the free one In these initial 10 days that I have had my plug in prius, I've charged at 4 different Free Charge Point Stations, and have found more Free charging stations that I'll go to this coming weekend - it sure is nice to have so many "Free" Charging stations at this current time. :cheer2:
The city of Garland here in North Texas has 10 Level-2 Blink network charging stations at five locations which are free for the public to use until 01/01/13. I have been using these to charge my PHV every day since I got the car a month ago. I've now gone over 1,000 EV miles.
Yes. You need a Blink RFID card to turn them on. When I got my Blink card, it said it was free until 2013.
No more free cards, must pay $4.95. See the response that I got back from them below: "Our EarthDay promotion ended on Earth Day, April 22nd. Prior to registering your card serial number in your driver account, you will have 10 grace sessions on 'free stations'." I assume the 10 grace session is standard anyway, so thanks for nothing ChargePoint!
I just called them 5 minutes ago and asked if their Earth Day promotion was still going on. She said "yes," took my information, and said I would be getting a card in 7-10 business days.
I just got back from a long vacation, went through my mail, but no Chargepoint card. Did others get theirs? I called India again and hopefully they will send one this time.
The ChargePoint I went to was "free" but had no cord. I wasn't about to use my own given the cost to replace. The Blink stations include connector and cord...
All of the Chargepoint stations around here have a standard 120V outlet which has a door that locks while in use. I think that the EVSE will even fit in the enclosure. When you tag to stop charging, the door unlocks and you can take your EVSE. However, I personally have never used used the 120V outlet. I instead use the 240V J1772 plug which they all have (around here, anyway). Some people use the 120V plug for laptops and the like, even though that is not what they are intended for.
I owe them a (partial) apology. My name has often been misspelled, but the folks in Bangalore mangled it so badly that I assumed that the envelope had been mis-addressed, and put it aside. So I have my free card. And may soon have another.
Update: They sent me a second card. If anyone wants it, PM me your snail mail address. Edit: The card is spoken for. But you can call ChargePoint directly and get a free one. See the first few posts in this thread.
