Avoid Blink Charging Stations

[ggr]

We can't charge at the the Blink charging stations at San Diego Mission Beach anyway, 3 of the 4 stations were taken up by three CAR2GO cars and 2 weren't even plugged in after an hour.
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Yeah, I'm very conflicted about Car2Go. On the one hand they are teaching people that they can drive electric and don't even have to own their own car. On the other hand, they tend to be very inconsiderate about blocking chargers. Fortunately I don't have to go downtown any more, so the continually blocked chargers in the 3rd/4th/A/B parking lot don't bother me any more either.

 

[rsanchez]

Yeah, I'm very conflicted about Car2Go. On the one hand they are teaching people that they can drive electric and don't even have to own their own car. On the other hand, they tend to be very inconsiderate about blocking chargers. Fortunately I don't have to go downtown any more, so the continually blocked chargers in the 3rd/4th/A/B parking lot don't bother me any more either.

There's a special place in hell for this company. They have zero regard for the fact they block chargers that some other people plan to use or rely on. I had to buy their stupid pass just so I could move their dumb cars and charge.

 

[Lloyd]

There's a special place in hell for this company. They have zero regard for the fact they block chargers that some other people plan to use or rely on. I had to buy their stupid pass just so I could move their dumb cars and charge.

They will give you a pass for free for this purpose

 

[Matt M]

They will give you a pass for free for this purpose

Yeah they're really nice about that. I live in San Diego and I was getting fed up with all the cars2go cars blocking charge spots, and a single call to them they more than happily offered me a free card to move cars when I needed to charge.

 

[TexasEV]

Yeah they're really nice about that. I live in San Diego and I was getting fed up with all the cars2go cars blocking charge spots, and a single call to them they more than happily offered me a free card to move cars when I needed to charge.

I understand why people may like this workaround, but the company should be moving their cars or else charge at their own non-public spots. Why should EV drivers have to provide free labor for them?

 

[Matt M]

I understand why people may like this workaround, but the company should be moving their cars or else charge at their own non-public spots. Why should EV drivers have to provide free labor for them?

I've pieced together a lot of things in San Diego, and it seems to be all tied up in some sort of governmental initiative. Cars2Go cars can park in special spots for free such as meters that allow more than 1 hour. Charge stations are often provided to businesses at a reduced or free cost due to a conjunction of the local power company and a statewide green initiative. My guess is that these spots and the cars2go spots are all part of this big circle, hence why they can be plugged into blink spots for extended periods of time without excess charge. If it means more public charging options, then i'm all for it, even if it means occasionally having to move a car.

 

[Chipper]

From the photo it looks to me as though the cord would be long enough to reach without moving a vehicle.

 

[cduncan1302]

Due to no Supercharger in Nashville, had to use Blink at the Loews downtown. It kept disconnecting so I had to lower the amperage. Of course it took forever to charge, but I had no choice. Received the hit to my credit card today, $95 for one charge cycle on my Model S! So let me get this straight, your equipment can't pump out enough amperage to charge me in adequate time, so charge me more due to the charging time. Ripoff, going to write a letter to the Public Utilities Commission for price gouging. Ridiculous!!

 

[GuyHall]

I've driven over 100k EV miles (leaf, volt, MS) and I've charged occasionally at blink stations, and I've never run across one that didn't display the the rate. You knew they were not free, but you charged anyway without knowing the rate. All the fee stations I've run across also post a phone number, which I've had to call from time to time, and you could have called to get the rate. Or, if not posted, look the phone number up on your phone browser or the Tesla browser. Plugshare frequently provides the fees.

Most L2 stations charge at 3.3 or 6.6kw. It's only been in the last year or two that higher amperage L2 became affordable to roll out, and until recently few models could take advantage of them.

Frankly, I don't know how they make any money with charging stations. I can only guess they were able to leverage station assets from bankrupt firms at a highly discounted rate.

I am, however, glad they are there when I need a charge.

I think you're way off base on this one.

 

[TexasEV]

I've driven over 100k EV miles (leaf, volt, MS) and I've charged occasionally at blink stations, and I've never run across one that didn't display the the rate. You knew they were not free, but you charged anyway without knowing the rate. All the fee stations I've run across also post a phone number, which I've had to call from time to time, and you could have called to get the rate. Or, if not posted, look the phone number up on your phone browser or the Tesla browser. Plugshare frequently provides the fees.

Most L2 stations charge at 3.3 or 6.6kw. It's only been in the last year or two that higher amperage L2 became affordable to roll out, and until recently few models could take advantage of them.

Frankly, I don't know how they make any money with charging stations. I can only guess they were able to leverage station assets from bankrupt firms at a highly discounted rate.

I am, however, glad they are there when I need a charge.

I think you're way off base on this one.

No, most level 2 stations charge at 6.2 kW (208V x 30A) or close to it. The OP wasn't expecting a high amp level 2, he was expecting just normal level 2. Even at a rate of $2/hr, the highest rate I've seen, it would take 47.5 hours to reach a bill of $95. That's little more than 120V charging speed, not level 2 charging speed. I would have complained too.