[llninja]

For over 3 years none of my work locations were anywhere near charging stations, so I was resigned to the fact that I would hit the Dino juice for part of my 50 mile round trip commute. To make things worse, my daughter now attends a high school on the complete opposite side of town making the round trip 65 miles in my gen 1. But a check of PlugShare reveals 2 chargepoint stations on the far north side of the parking lot, so one big block of walking, plus $2 for 4 hours of charging should be enough to fill my battery. The bummer is walking the extra steps in cold and adverse weather. The other problem is if I am late in moving my car, the chargepoint will penalize me at $8/hour once I hit 4 hours.

Other than that, with $3 per gallon gas and $2 to fill the battery, it seems like a decent savings, and even if it wasn't avoiding fossil fuels is good. Maybe I will see my first EMM ever as a result?

I still need to check out whether there are others who depend on these chargers (Miev or leaf owners). I'm hoping because it isn't free, they are relatively barren. Getting excited about this....

 

[jbakerjonathan]

Your time has finally come. Good on you!

 

[Ladogaboy]

I still need to check out whether there are others who depend on these chargers (Miev or leaf owners). I'm hoping because it isn't free, they are relatively barren. Getting excited about this....

That is my number one motivation for saying "NO!" to free public charging. People will just sit or use it when they don't need it. I'm OK with paying my fair share, and others should be, too.

Right now, my work charges for our EV sessions. They talked about making it free, but I guarantee that the moment they do, those stalls will fill up with PiPs and Energis. And the e-Golf and Leaf drivers will be left begging people to open up space.

 

[llninja]

That is my number one motivation for saying "NO!" to free public charging. People will just sit or use it when they don't need it. I'm OK with paying my fair share, and others should be, too.

Right now, my work charges for our EV sessions. They talked about making it free, but I guarantee that the moment they do, those stalls will fill up with PiPs and Energis. And the e-Golf and Leaf drivers will be left begging people to open up space.

The only trouble I see is that I could end up plugging in my car for a 4 hour charge, some leaf owner texts me that they are desperate for a top-off and I pay $2 for 20 minutes of charge, then return back for another $2 four hour session only to get bumped again. Maybe I shouldn't be so nice and just park and not leave a courtesy number.

 

[Ladogaboy]

Oh, I'm all for the first-come-first-served standard, but what I've noticed is the PHEV owners will jump on any chance they can get for free electricity. When asked to pay for it, they shy away and just use gasoline. At my work, owners of a PiP (pre-Prime) and a Focus Energi pre-paid for a month's worth of charging. When they realized that their cars couldn't capitalize on $3 for four hours of L2 charging, they stopped using the service altogether.

 

[TheSeer]

We have workplace charging and I only charge at home on weekends and when its super could out. I have taken as much as 20 KW of charge in a day, between morning charging, errands, and topping off before I go home. We used to have 3 EVs for 4 chargers, but the lease ran out on the Leaf and she bought a gas burner due to employment uncertainty and not knowing where she'll end up. The other Volt got transferred across town where he is 1 of 4 cars for 4 chargers. Nice that it is all free. But if I had to walk more than 5 or 6 minutes and still had to pay $2 for a charge, I would just forget about it and use gas. $1 a day of savings is not worth it to me.

 

[accelerus]

No work charging here, even though I tried to get them into it. I work for one of the top fortune 500 companies that basically handles all of the US's pharmacy needs, they are notoriously cheap and subborn. This is the same company that thought giving everyone in our department a 5 cent an hour raise was "nice" they couldn't understand it's just a slap in the face.

They could have gone full tilt and gotten a L2 charging station for few grand installed, or gone cheap and run a basic 120V 8 amp circuit to a dedicated parking spot in the back, I'd have been happy with either.

Instead they ignore my idea and spend 5 figures decorating our building for christmas. I'd love to be able to go all electric, but even my Gen2 can't get me through the 75 mile commute that's 90% Texas highway.

The funny part is the company as a whole is hugely into the "Green" initiative and loves anything that will make them look like they are saving the planet. Problem is, they don't want to spend a dime (on any front) to get that sort of cred.

 

[llninja]

We have workplace charging and I only charge at home on weekends and when its super could out. I have taken as much as 20 KW of charge in a day, between morning charging, errands, and topping off before I go home. We used to have 3 EVs for 4 chargers, but the lease ran out on the Leaf and she bought a gas burner due to employment uncertainty and not knowing where she'll end up. The other Volt got transferred across town where he is 1 of 4 cars for 4 chargers. Nice that it is all free. But if I had to walk more than 5 or 6 minutes and still had to pay $2 for a charge, I would just forget about it and use gas. $1 a day of savings is not worth it to me.

For me it's not only the money savings, but the impact I can make to reduce our dependency on a fuel source that is controlled by OPECs price monopoly. Sure 1 person isn't going to make all that much of a difference, but we have to start somewhere.

 

[llninja]

No work charging here, even though I tried to get them into it. I work for one of the top fortune 500 companies that basically handles all of the US's pharmacy needs, they are notoriously cheap and subborn. This is the same company that thought giving everyone in our department a 5 cent an hour raise was "nice" they couldn't understand it's just a slap in the face.

They could have gone full tilt and gotten a L2 charging station for few grand installed, or gone cheap and run a basic 120V 8 amp circuit to a dedicated parking spot in the back, I'd have been happy with either.

Instead they ignore my idea and spend 5 figures decorating our building for christmas. I'd love to be able to go all electric, but even my Gen2 can't get me through the 75 mile commute that's 90% Texas highway.

The funny part is the company as a whole is hugely into the "Green" initiative and loves anything that will make them look like they are saving the planet. Problem is, they don't want to spend a dime (on any front) to get that sort of cred.

I worked for a top 100 tech company that invested millions on charging stations at larger sites that they owned, but refused to invest in smaller sites that were rented. I can understand why, but that policy didn't help our small office. Even the site manager getting a Tesla didn't help th4 cause.

 

[jeff_h]

For me it's not only the money savings, but the impact I can make to reduce our dependency on a fuel source that is controlled by OPECs price monopoly. Sure 1 person isn't going to make all that much of a difference, but we have to start somewhere.

Ding Ding Ding Ding that's my reason too.

I got my Fusion Energi in Dec 2013 and asked my company about installing a charger, and was promptly told NO. So for the past 3 years I've been using a L2 charger located 1½ miles down the road, parking around 6:30am to charge and walking to office and then around 8:30am (then around 10:30am when I switched to the Gen 2 Volt in 2015) walking back to charger to then drive car back to office.

A couple weeks ago I was doing the walk in steady pouring rain with my trusty rain poncho (though legs still get soaked) and temp in the mid 30s, and I decided that I'd had enough. I got to the office and sent email to my wife and said screw this, I am done with walking and want to get the Bolt now as I could drive my 110 mile roundtrip commute on a single charge easily (probably for two days, actually). She agreed and wondered how I had done the walk for so long, but I was determined to try not to use gas if at all possible. It was several years ago that my wife told me "OMG you are such a mileage whore" - and so 'MPG Ho' is what went onto Voltstats. So no more dealing with no charger at the office, will only have to do that at home unless I take trips out of the area.

 

[llninja]

Dang, I'm guessing it was wishful thinking as I misread PlugShare. The rates are $2 per hour for the first 4 hours, not $2 for 4 hours. That pretty much kills my charging at work as $8 per day to drive 25-45 miles is going to be a killer to my monthly fuel budget. So until I pay off the mortgage and don't have a payment in the world except for feeding my face and property taxes, I'm back to not charging at work.

 

[bjrosen]

Or you could trade the Gen 1 in for a Gen 2. The Gen 2 will handle your commute on a single charge.

 

[vawlk]

I still need to check out whether there are others who depend on these chargers (Miev or leaf owners). I'm hoping because it isn't free, they are relatively barren. Getting excited about this....

That is usually why I never use public charging. I wouldn't want to take up a spot for someone that really needs it. Having a pure EV and not being able to charge is bad for everyone. If I did charge in a volt, I would put a sign for someone to text me at my google voice number if they needed me to move.

 

[bro1999]

The only trouble I see is that I could end up plugging in my car for a 4 hour charge, some leaf owner texts me that they are desperate for a top-off and I pay $2 for 20 minutes of charge, then return back for another $2 four hour session only to get bumped again. Maybe I shouldn't be so nice and just park and not leave a courtesy number.

Bleh, first come, first served. As long as you move your Volt when it's finished charging, you're good.

Maybe park in the adjacent spot next to the EV spots so that people who come later can take the plug (hopefully with permission) and plug in if necessary.

 

[jbakerjonathan]

Ding Ding Ding Ding that's my reason too.

I got my Fusion Energi in Dec 2013 and asked my company about installing a charger, and was promptly told NO. So for the past 3 years I've been using a L2 charger located 1½ miles down the road, parking around 6:30am to charge and walking to office and then around 8:30am (then around 10:30am when I switched to the Gen 2 Volt in 2015) walking back to charger to then drive car back to office.

A couple weeks ago I was doing the walk in steady pouring rain with my trusty rain poncho (though legs still get soaked) and temp in the mid 30s, and I decided that I'd had enough. I got to the office and sent email to my wife and said screw this, I am done with walking and want to get the Bolt now as I could drive my 110 mile roundtrip commute on a single charge easily (probably for two days, actually). She agreed and wondered how I had done the walk for so long, but I was determined to try not to use gas if at all possible. It was several years ago that my wife told me "OMG you are such a mileage whore" - and so 'MPG Ho' is what went onto Voltstats. So no more dealing with no charger at the office, will only have to do that at home unless I take trips out of the area.

One un-credited positive is the daily exercise of making that 1.5 mile daily walk. Who knows how many more days on this earth you were getting with that exercise.

Mileage whore... I like that!

 

[llninja]

Bleh, first come, first served. As long as you move your Volt when it's finished charging, you're good.

Maybe park in the adjacent spot next to the EV spots so that people who come later can take the plug (hopefully with permission) and plug in if necessary.

It turns out to not be an issue at all. I found 4 Chargepoint stations in two different lots, but at $8-16 to fill the volt, the stations were completely unused all day long. If they cut their prices in half, they might get some business from me. I don't mind them making a profit to try to recoup the charging station costs, but $2 per hour makes it much more economical for me to run on Dino juice.

 

[alfon]

Here I believe is one of the best deals at least in our area. Unlimited charging and they do have DC quick charge with their regular level two charge unit.
http://www.evsolutions.com/ev-network

How can you go wrong for $19.99 / month??

 

[Digitalflyer]

They just installed chargers at work, 10 110volt sockets. Don't know the rules yet for there use but will find out tomorrow. But what I do know is that they are free. I just wanted them installed to keep the battery conditioned, since I park my volt sometimes up to four days in a row in some pretty extreme weather in the winter and summer...