Living off of public charging in Seattle

[goldenbyte]

I'll be between homes for 4 weeks and won't have a garage charger available during this time. When I google for public charging in Seattle there seems to be quite a bit of outdated info and conflicting info about what charging stations are currently working and with what membership programs. I'm a bit overwhelmed. Can anyone in the broad area just list their favorite charge spots?

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"Living OFF public charging" :redface:

 

[TexasEV]

plugshare.com

 

[aja2460]

Where in town? You're welcome to charge at my house... HPWC on Plugshare...

 

[goldenbyte]

Where in town? You're welcome to charge at my house... HPWC on Plugshare...

Thanks for the warm welcome! Renton area. I'm a brand new Tesla owner, so I'm trying to understand -- residential plug shares are basically friendly, generous people in the EV community wanting to contribute? Is there a standard tip per hour?

 

[ww73]

There's a charger at renton city hall next to Sam's.

In issaquah, the Curtis group off if Dogwood St has free chargers.

You can find all of them on plugshare.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

I plan on putting my 80A capable HWPC charger on plugshare, but I'm quite a bit north of Seattle.

When I do put it on plugshare I'm going to have the requested tip as yard work. I figure if they're going to be there for hours they'll be bored so I might as well put them to work.



Of course no one will stop. I'm a bit too close to the supercharger.

 

[cwerdna]

Thanks for the warm welcome! Renton area. I'm a brand new Tesla owner, so I'm trying to understand -- residential plug shares are basically friendly, generous people in the EV community wanting to contribute?

Yeah, basically. Be sure to bring your J1772 adapter, since that's the standard that all currently sold a new highway legal mass market EVs/PHEVs use.

Sometimes interesting people come by, like for this guy: My Nissan Leaf Forum .....

If you'd rather not inconvenience strangers, do use Plugshare (smartphone app and/or web site) to find inexpensive/free J1772 stations that are reliable and not often blocked/ICEd.

(I personally use some public free J1772 and CHAdeMO w/my Leaf in the SF Bay Area, besides charging at my work and a bit at home. Plugshare in the US rocks. I use it on both my iPhone and Android phone.)

 

[goldenbyte]

Browsing PlugShare it appears that I should get a membership to either ChargePoint or Blink, or you can just use your credit card at the port?

 

[ww73]

It's a good idea to get the memberships. Then either leave a small balance on the account or link to a credit card.

It's very rare that I need to pay for charging but its nice to have as a backup.

 

[ibdb]

Are ChargePoint and Blink the dominant ones in this area? It seemed like it to me, but we don't take delivery until tomorrow and I'm still getting things figured out.

 

[cwerdna]

Browsing PlugShare it appears that I should get a membership to either ChargePoint or Blink, or you can just use your credit card at the port?

Chargepoint L1 and L2 stations (Data Sheets & Installation Guides - ChargePoint) don't have magnetic strip credit card readers. They probably can read ones w/a proximity/RFID chip inside (e.g. my Discover card). I've never tried, as I heard that was unreliable anyway and I've never paid a penny for Chargepoint charging.

I've only used their RFID (-style?) cards, of which I have two. 99% of their usage is to charge at my work (free). I've used them a few times on free Chargepoint stations.

When I joined, the min amount you can put on your Chargepoint account is $25. If you put nothing on it, then you'll have to go thru the trouble of adding $ when you need to, possibly getting on the phone. (I've spoken to Chargepoint support a few times to report problem stations.)

I know little about credit card processing fees, but I suspect if they readily accepted cards, they could be hit w/per swipe processing fees, possibly totally blowing any chance of even breaking even on short/cheap charges.

As for Blink, I have a membership, their card and and have $0 on my account. I've used their stations 0 times.

If you have a smartphone, I'd download the apps for all the charging networks (e.g. Chargepoint, Blink, etc.) and login, as well.

 

[100thMonkey]

I'm on plugshare in Shoreline with a 80A/20kW J1772 (you need to bring your adapter). you are welcome to come and charge at my home, during the day the electrons actually go from the panels to the charging station!