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BLINK not planning on upgrading public chargers anytime soon :-/

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I just spent a miserable 12 hours charging at one of their standard 30A chargers (getting my outlet work done today). I emailed BLINK about their charging infastructure and the big potential of Tesla vehicles, but it doesn't look like they have us on their radar. Here is their reply email:


Good Morning xxx,

Thank you for contacting the Blink Network. I have reached out to our engineers to get more information on your request and informed:

No. We are not currently looking at designing and building EVSE units that support the full capabilities of the Tesla Model S. The cost to replace every commercial charger out there to support a single vehicle would not make sense. While there are a large number of Model S vehicles out there , there are more Leafs, Fiskers,Volts, Brammos, Cotu, Mitsibishi, Smart EVs etc.. The only upgrade we are currently looking at is to upgrade some of the Level 3 units to support the new SAE combo connector. We are in the preliminary stages of seeing if this is possible.

Best Regards,

Jason xxxxxxxx
Blink Network Contact Center
e: [email protected] | d: +1.888.998.2546
 
Well, hopefully Tesla accelerates the rollout of the SCs. Perhaps the more we see on the road, the more we'll see high power units rolling out. Also isn't Tesla considering an adapter for the new standard?
 
They said that they will work to support any plug they can so I think they will support the Frankenplug.

Not much to worry about then. I know Tesla's plug is a bit contentious, but I like how simple it is, and as long as Tesla continues to offer adapters for those of us not near superchargers, not much of an issue for me personally.
 
I wish they would have focused some of their installations at hotels or worked with state legislators to create special EV plates and fines for cars parking in those shots that don't have the plate. Most of the charge spots in Texas I see are ICEd.
 
I wish they would have focused some of their installations at hotels or worked with state legislators to create special EV plates and fines for cars parking in those shots that don't have the plate. Most of the charge spots in Texas I see are ICEd.

In Quebec we have special (green lettered instead of blue) licence plates, but AFAIK there are no legislative measures associated with them, yet...
 
I just spent a miserable 12 hours charging at one of their standard 30A chargers (getting my outlet work done today). I emailed BLINK about their charging infastructure and the big potential of Tesla vehicles, but it doesn't look like they have us on their radar. Here is their reply email:


Good Morning xxx,

Thank you for contacting the Blink Network. I have reached out to our engineers to get more information on your request and informed:

No. We are not currently looking at designing and building EVSE units that support the full capabilities of the Tesla Model S. The cost to replace every commercial charger out there to support a single vehicle would not make sense. While there are a large number of Model S vehicles out there , there are more Leafs, Fiskers,Volts, Brammos, Cotu, Mitsibishi, Smart EVs etc.. The only upgrade we are currently looking at is to upgrade some of the Level 3 units to support the new SAE combo connector. We are in the preliminary stages of seeing if this is possible.

Best Regards,

Jason xxxxxxxx
Blink Network Contact Center
e: [email protected] | d: +1.888.998.2546

A typical and not-unexpected response from a company that has its eye set squarely on the past.
 
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The thing is they charge by the hour, the slower the charge the less electricity they pay for.

Maybe that's not why, I don't know.
Im just glad there are plenty of CHAdeMO stations in San Francisco, I don't live there but I visit often
 
I mentioned in another thread that I had asked some of the Chargepoint guys about higher amp charge stations when I met them at CES. They said they had just come out with one. But I don't see it on their website.

But with both of these company's its my understanding that it's up to the property owner to buy (and then get a tax credit for) the station, so they'd have to see the benefit of getting the higher amp station. I always mention the benefit of getting cars in and out faster, futureproofing, and attracting Tesla owners of getting a higher amp station when I push property owners to install stations. The only thing I have to send them for now though is the Clipper Creek: http://www.clippercreek.com/uploads/ClipperCreek%20CS%20Series%20Public%20EVSE(1).pdf
 
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If they start charging by kWh and have a way to free up the charger when done then quicker charging makes sense for them. If they continue to charge by the hour then I understand why in their mind they want the car tied up as long as possible. Clipper Creek does seem the way to go.
 
I mentioned in another thread that I had asked some of the Chargepoint guys about higher amp charge stations when I met them at CES. They said they had just come out with one. But I don't see it on their website.

But with both of these company's its my understanding that it's up to the property owner to buy (and then get a tax credit for) the station, so they'd have to see the benefit of getting the higher amp station. I always mention the benefit of getting cars in and out faster, futureproofing, and attracting Tesla owners of getting a higher amp station when I push property owners to install stations. The only think I have to send them for now though is the Clipper Creek: http://www.clippercreek.com/uploads/ClipperCreek%20CS%20Series%20Public%20EVSE(1).pdf

Don't forget Eaton! Nice 70 amp unit with great Point Of Sale as well.
 
I believe the large majority of these Chargepoint and Blink stations were installed as part of the EV project that was funded by the ARRA (stimulus bill shortly after Obama took office). I recall reading that the funding was for 30 amp J1772 stations specifically. I could be wrong.
 
I'm curious what showed on your screen for volts/amps.... I just installed a chargepoint level 2 at my office and I see 16-18 mph added at 30amps .... Were you that low SOC?


194v 30/30A - it came up as 16mi/hr but from my understanding, that number isn't indicative of anything as it varies between depending on if your on "rated" vs "ideal" setting

All i know is it took over 13 hours to charge! I parked at a mall and picked it up the following morning!
 
Ok, I'll bite. I know we have forum folks that track this stuff. Ignoring the "etc." for the moment, what's the U.S. or North American tally for driven-by-customers-daily for all of these combined?
This is the best source I know of for EV sales numbers in the US and worldwide. A very dedicated LEAF owner updates the numbers monthly. The January 2013 numbers for total sales in the US are: LEAF 20,162; Volt 32,598; Plug-in Prius 13,603, after that the "etc" numbers are pretty small.

Tesla isn't included, presumably because they don't release numbers monthly.
 
SWAG...
So if the trend continues for those vehicles and the Model S 20+k/yr holds, sometime in 2014 S would overtake LEAF and potentially Volt individually. Add in some X and it gets very interesting the following year.
 
I agree it's shortsighted for site hosts and charging station companies to ignore the Tesla vehicles, not because they are big sellers but because they are the only EVs that are close to practical and convenient for road trips, and their owners are in a high-income demographic. I'm sure Nissan will continue to improve the LEAF and a $50-90k vehicle can't outsell a $20-35k vehicle in the long run.

The good news is that we don't need every charge station vendor to support high-amp Level 2 charging in order to get hosts in strategic locations to install appropriate charging. Let Clipper Creek and Eaton get all of that business.