[Prorally]

I am a new (to me) Gen I Volt Owner. I charge at home and work and mostly get along just fine with the 120V charging.
I will be travelling with my new job a lot and leaving out of the local airport Sacramento International. Its a nice airport and has free charging in the parking garage and the Daily lot. Nothing in the Economy Lot.

What I don't understand is why on earth would the airport make all the chargers 220 Level II.
Most that park at the airport leave for at least the full day (10 hours) and normally for more than two days.
Even if I had a Tesla S with a 60kw battery on 120 AC charge is 52 hours from depleted. So what I would be gone anyway.
I understand for some the 220 would be needed. Say the southern California meeting and back the same day.
But for most of us the 120 would work fine.

Also while on plugshare I was looking at the comments about the chargers at Sacramento. Mostly you get a bunch of BEV's needing a charge and they go to the airport to charge on one of the free L2 chargers and pay the parking fee. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me but hey sometimes you have to get home.
They complain about Volts taking an EV spot and charging for "days". Complaining how there aren't enough spots for EV's. What did they expect at the airport anyway. Everyone is gone, did common sense fly out too.

I would have liked to seen 120 VAC 20 amp plugs on the walls in like a lock box. Really simple. The OP uses his EVSE plugs into the plug that's in the box, puts their EVSE in the box then plugs into their car. Locks the box with a lock and off you go. Fully charged car when you return, your EVSE is safe (relatively) for pretty much every car out there.
The costs would be way lower than 220 systems and you could put in tons of them.
I guess really I don't see why this wasn't a consideration from the beginning considering its an airport and most are gone two or more days.

What about your airport? Did any do it right? Also it seems if I charge my Volt anywhere public BEV's look at you like you have committed a sin because you can run on gas.

 

[freshcut]

I certainly see your point in that L2 is kind of overkill for charging in a longer term parking area that isn't used for pickup/drop-off. I'm sure it probably gets into a legal area regarding liability when offering just an outlet and bring your own EVSE. By utilizing their own charging equipment they are liable for any damage to the equipment itself. As a side note, since EV charging is still in it's infancy for the most part, there is no guarantee that L1 is always going to be offered as an option for drivers to use. Kind of like trying to use dial-up for internet now, it just isn't a viable option for all but a select few people. They probably just went with what is standard for nearly all vehicles, which is that all PHEVs/BEVs can all use L2 charging and will likely be for the foreseeable future.

 

[jcanoe]

I have never fully understood the value of having Level 2 EVSE in the airport daily parking garage at the Thurgood Marshall BWI airport near Baltimore. You can't just occupy one of the EVSE parking spaces and depart on a flight returning whenever you decide. I guess I can see the Level II EVSE being used by the owner of a previous generation EV such as the Gen 1 Leaf; when returning from a trip you could charge for a half hour or an hour, add 12 - 24 miles of range to whatever your EV had before charging, so you could be confident you would be able to make it home on the battery. With a Volt you would only gain 10 - 12 miles of EV range after an hour of charging at 208V, not practical.

 

[canehdian]

I believe at YYZ the charging stations are in the valet area.
That way the valets can charge up and cycle the cars around.
In that sense, it makes more sense for L2. For self-serve, not so much, except for short term people waiting 30-90 minutes to pick up a passenger on a delayed flight.

 

[BoogetyBoogety]

My 2 cents: Leave the chargers to those poor, poor EV drivers that NEED to have their vehicles charged, and park your handy-dandy Volt away from the charging stations as a courtesy to others. Because... You don't need it as bad as someone else does.

When My Beloved had her leg surgery a few years ago, she was given a handicapped parking mirror hanger by her doctor... But after a week or two, she could walk (albeit slowly) quite a distance. She'd go shopping and instead of parking in the reserved spaces, as she was entitled to do, as a courtesy to others who might have greater needs, she always parked in regular spots.

Karma, baby... Karma... Do the right thing here...

 

[saltsman]

When in Houston, I use the off-airport lots and the attendants will move you car to/from the charger based on your arrival time. When in Austin, I plug into the 120V outlets and lock up the EVSE. There are numerous posts on how to lock the EVSE to the wheels (http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread...-from-stealing-my-charger&p=728785#post728785).

 

[BoogetyBoogety]

When in Houston, I use the off-airport lots and the attendants will move you car to/from the charger based on your arrival time. When in Austin, I plug into the 120V outlets and lock up the EVSE. There are numerous posts on how to lock the EVSE to the wheels (http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread...-from-stealing-my-charger&p=728785#post728785).

Some of the folks in your link seemed concerned about using extension cords. I ordered this one from Amazon ($45) which is perfect for when we visit My Beloved's folks a ways out of town, and we spend the night... I liked the personalization option (which could be used to advertise or identify if you'd like), and have used it without issue. It stores very handily in the cubby hole on the rear driver's side... Can you spend less on one? Sure. Can you spend more? Yes again. This one works for me...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013RKXAEC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[DonC]

I think you make some very good points, especially with respect to the 120v chargers. However, I do like the 240v ones when I go to pick up friends or family and park in short term parking. For long term parking it makes no sense.

 

[DonC]

When My Beloved had her leg surgery a few years ago, she was given a handicapped parking mirror hanger by her doctor... But after a week or two, she could walk (albeit slowly) quite a distance. She'd go shopping and instead of parking in the reserved spaces, as she was entitled to do, as a courtesy to others who might have greater needs, she always parked in regular spots.

That was thoughtful but unnecessary. Perhaps I'm jaundiced by the Tesla Roadster that occasionally parks in the handicapped space, but it seems that 90% of those with handicapped stickers are marginally handicapped. If you have the misfortune of needing a handicapped sticker, I'd suggest using it.

As far as a BEV "needing" a charge more, that's hard to know a priori. As long as the BEV has enough range to get home, it doesn't need a charge. In fact you could make a good argument that charging the Volt and avoiding the use of the engine would result in less pollution and emissions, hence from a policy standpoint a better use of charging facilities.

 

[Six Cents]

There is a PreFlight garage near O'Hare in Chicago with many (about 16) designated EV only parking spaces with only 120 V outlets. I frequently see Volts plugged in there with their own EVSEs hanging from the outlets. The spaces are across from the office, which makes it a little less likely the units will be stolen.

 

[TSquare]

Also it seems if I charge my Volt anywhere public BEV's look at you like you have committed a sin because you can run on gas.

They are just jealous because you chose your car wisely and they didn't.