Volta Charging Stations in OC, CA

congrats and welcome!

if two worked, i'd say your car is fine. never heard of volta, is it a private enterprise?

found 5 in boston, but can't find locations.

 

It might be a charging station thing. The Volta charging station worked for me in Fontana. If you check Plugshare, sometimes there are user-submitted reports when a station is down.

 

I'm pretty sure it's a problem work the charging stations. I've tried to use Volta before and they didn't work nearly as well as Chargepoint or any others.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I've been using Volta charging station at the mall and so far the ones that I use are all working.

 

What are charging speeds like?

 

it is an L2 charging station. So far the longest time I charge my car there is 40 mins to fully charged my battery from 65%.

 

I hadn't heard of the Volta charge stations before. Where in Huntington Beach are they located. How did you locate them yourself.
I've noticed quite a bit of charging problems with Chargepoint chargers in the Orange County Costa Mesa area. Several of the chargers I've used at CCC which are accessible to the public, will give you 3.27 or 3.06 kwh initially, then they drop down to 1.5 or 2.05 or some other low value, which makes the charging experience miserable. Yet Chargepoint chargers a few miles away will give me 3.26 continuously. I always file a report with ChargePoint, so far to no avail. Apparently the charger owners don't care, or don't have the budget to fix them.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
AChoiredTaste.com

 

They aren't owned by ChargePoint. ChargePoint simply sells them to the owner. Are you sure the drop down in power isn't the stepping down when it is somewhat close to getting full?

 

Positive; the defective chargers start out with over 3 kWh and then in about 10 minutes or less, drop down substantially. The car is usually less than 1/3 charged. Nearby chargers work perfectly; it's got to be a configuration problem.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
AChoiredTaste.com

 

To be fair I notice it sometimes as well on my PiP, but never on my Leaf. Potentially a Toyota problem.

 

It's possible, but why only particular ChargePoint locations (and not every time), and never at others. Maybe some stations aren't "communicating" with the Prime as well as others. I've never had a problem with the Broadcom ChargePoint location, for example.
I always sit in the car while I do my charging top off, so I check charge progress periodically.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
AChoiredTaste.com

 

Is this only with Advanced model where you can check your charging progress using your phone?

 

I guess; mine is an Advanced, and I use both the Entune App, and the ChargePoint App to monitor the charging. Every so often I start the car to compare charge level attained. I also periodically go to the meter to see the energy flow rate. I make business calls and read. I don't leave the car.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
AChoiredTaste.com

 

With ChargePoint the app has most details you'd need to know, except total percent charge and range.

 

This morning I calculated that the Volta charging station is giving 2.12 kwh. From 64% it fully charged in 1 hr and 10 mins.
Edit: Actually its only 1.98 kwh.

 

In my PIP the display shows 1.9 KWH until about 95% charged. After that it tapers to .5KWH. You can hold the brake and power on the car to see the charging info.

I have used Volta stations in OC and most work. Sometimes the plug is damaged, but you can get them to work by jiggling the charger handle to get a good contact. That is if there is not a Volt camping there.

If you car charges fine with the stock charger its not your PIP problem.

 

Please don't forget that kWh is a unit of energy whereas kW is a unit of power. I believe you meant to use kW regarding 1.9 and .5.