BP/OPConnect charging in Hawaii

[gmtom1]

FYI, Hawaii prince now has the new OpConnect stations on Level E of the self-park garage. There's two chargers, with two ports each. It's $2/hr to charge, but you get the first 5 mins free. The stalls are nice and wide (compared to the narrow stalls elsewhere) so they are a good choice for our MS even if you're not charging.

I thought for a little while that our cars might be able to fool the system, since I noticed while I was unloading my car, the countdown reached zero and re-started back at 5 mins again. Maybe it was because I was still nearby and the car was unlocked the MS was cycling the charge connector on and off when the timer expired, making the charger think it was a different car.

Unfortunately, I think it only works while the key is present, since I only ended up with +6 miles after having been there for 4+ hours plugged in.

 

[dsmith2189]

Just a note: I charged at Ward Center last night (the Volta charger by the valet) and it reduced my Amperage to 24 Amps. the warning on the screen said something about electrical instability or wiring problems. I was hooked up 6 over hours and
never did get a full charge. When I plugged in it showed 32 Amps then dropped.

 

[bogartsdad]

She's with Howard Hughes who handles all the Ward properties. General Growth handles Ala Moana. My contact at Ala Moana left, but i'll try to figure out who the right person is. Has anyone been to the new chargers by the food court yet?

It is angle parking with a short cord and awkward to back into. I pulled in half way, pulled the cord across the stall and then pulled in as close as I could get ( cord under the car), had just enough slack to plug-in. Seems that many of the EV charging stalls are designed for the golf cart wanna bees and not for automobiles.

 

[WeazL]

Seems that many of the EV charging stalls are designed for the golf cart wanna bees and not for automobiles.

Ignorance. . . . .it's disappointing. Thanks for sharing bogartsdad--don't think I'll bother trying to squeeze in. I parked at the lower Ward charger once (by Big City Diner) and actually hugged the wall so close to keep distance from the car next to me that I had to crawl out of the passenger side of the car. Not having a center console makes that easier than most conventional cars, but it's still a challenge. But, I avoided door dings!

 

[dsmith2189]

Just a note: I charged at Ward Center last night (the Volta charger by the valet) and it reduced my Amperage to 24 Amps. the warning on the screen said something about electrical instability or wiring problems. I was hooked up 6 over hours and
never did get a full charge. When I plugged in it showed 32 Amps then dropped.

She's with Howard Hughes who handles all the Ward properties. General Growth handles Ala Moana. My contact at Ala Moana left, but i'll try to figure out who the right person is. Has anyone been to the new chargers by the food court yet?

Stopped at the Ala Moana food court charger (Volta) today. When I first got there a leaf and a volt were charging. by the time I found a regular parking space and had some lunch the Volt had left. with advance warning (from above post) I backed into the space and plugged in. I was disappointed that this charger (like the one near the Valet station at Ward) caused a warning indication on the dash for unstable power and reduced my charge to 185 Volts at 24 Amps. Unfortunately I was on a schedule to pick up my Motorcycle and had to leave it there charging slooowwwlllyyy. Still no response from Volta on my previous complaint about the ward location via their web site. I guess I'll send them another note about this second location.

 

[dsmith2189]

Has anyone else noticed that the two Volta chargers on the Kapiolani side of Ala Moana are gone. I wanted to charge while at the dentist and the chargers are not there any more. (although they did still have the signs up for EV only parking.)

 

[gmtom1]

Has anyone else noticed that the two Volta chargers on the Kapiolani side of Ala Moana are gone. I wanted to charge while at the dentist and the chargers are not there any more. (although they did still have the signs up for EV only parking.)

Bummer! They were Leaf'd or Volt'd 99% of the time I went there anyway. My guess is hopefully it's just a temporary thing until they finish all the construction. I think those two and the Kahala chargers were the flagship chargers that Volta installed here in HI way back when.

 

[WeazL]

They were still there about a week or so ago...

 

[Papafox]

What's the key to getting the OpConnect chargers at Turtle Bay to work? I suspect I need to have some type of OpConnect FOB or something, but I saw no instructions on the chargers.

 

[WeazL]

All OPConnect chargers require an OPConnect card to activate them. You can order cards on their website. OPConnect chargers are a fee-based service. You provide a credit card on file and load a balance onto the account. The chargers I've tried at Valkenburgh are $2/hr.

 

[dsmith2189]

What's the key to getting the OpConnect chargers at Turtle Bay to work? I suspect I need to have some type of OpConnect FOB or something, but I saw no instructions on the chargers.

All OPConnect chargers require an OPConnect card to activate them. You can order cards on their website. OPConnect chargers are a fee-based service. You provide a credit card on file and load a balance onto the account. The chargers I've tried at Valkenburgh are $2/hr.

Unless they still haven't changed the chargers from Better Place to OpConnect. Then you would need a Better Place card to activate. The concierge used to have one.

 

[Papafox]

WeazL and dsmith,
Thanks for the suggestions. The chargers said OpConnect on them, and so I imagine the change has occurred. I'll get a card from OpConnect since I could benefit from recharging at Turtle Bay and other locations in the future.

 

[spleen]

WeazL and dsmith,
Thanks for the suggestions. The chargers said OpConnect on them, and so I imagine the change has occurred. I'll get a card from OpConnect since I could benefit from recharging at Turtle Bay and other locations in the future.

Actually I don't think that you need the OpConnect card. I think if you had swiped a regular credit card, it would have worked as well - just charging the credit card directly instead of going through an OpConnect account.

 

[Papafox]

Spleen,
Maybe I didn't look hard enough, but I wasn't aware of a credit card swipe slot. I'll have to take a closer look next time around.

 

[spleen]

Spleen,
Maybe I didn't look hard enough, but I wasn't aware of a credit card swipe slot. I'll have to take a closer look next time around.

There's a couple of different front ends for the OpConnect chargers, some of them have pretty obvious card swipe slots on front (like the ones at the Stan Sheriff) and others have a more smooth front end like the one at Ala Moana. But they must have a swipe slot since the actual OpConnect card is a magnetic stripe.

 

[drtko147]

Has anyone else noticed that the two Volta chargers on the Kapiolani side of Ala Moana are gone. I wanted to charge while at the dentist and the chargers are not there any more. (although they did still have the signs up for EV only parking.)

I noticed the same thing yesterday. It doesn't look like it is a temporary change. I guess we are down to the the two charging stations by the food court and the two on the bottom floor near Nordstrom.