New (DC fast?) charger in Lincoln Mall in Rhode Island?

[srs5694]

I was at the Lincoln Mall in Lincoln, RI today, and I noticed what looks like some new electrical infrastructure going into the ground. (See attached photos.) This is a few hundred feet from an existing ChargePoint Level 2 station, near the Stop & Shop gas pumps. I asked the cashier at the pumps what this was, but he didn't know. It's clearly too small to be a Supercharger, or probably even an Electrify America station. Maybe an EVgo or ChargePoint DC fast charger, or perhaps even a Volta Level 2 station? (Volta's added stations to some supermarkets in the area recently.) Maybe it's not even an EV charging station at all. Those blue bollards look a little taller than I recall seeing at EVgo and ChargePoint stations. I don't see anything on the EVgo, ChargePoint, or EA apps at this location except for the existing ChargePoint Level 2 station. Any ideas about who might be building this, or if it's even an EV charging station at all?

I frequently shop at this location, so I'll be sure to keep my eyes on it.

 

[Dan_A]

My guess is a Volta charger. Probably L2. They recently announced a partnership with Stop & Shop. Typically 2 L2 chargers with ad display. Although they are typically towards to entrance of the store, not in the rear of the parking lot.

 

[bjrosen]

Are they idiots? What's the point of putting in a Level 2 at a supermarket, level 2's belong at home, work or hotels, places where you are parked for many hours. A 6.6KW can only add 10-12 miles of range in the time it takes you to do grocery shopping, that's useless.

 

[kayak1]

Are they idiots? What's the point of putting in a Level 2 at a supermarket, level 2's belong at home, work or hotels, places where you are parked for many hours. A 6.6KW can only add 10-12 miles of range in the time it takes you to do grocery shopping, that's useless.

If you are a slow shopper that can provide ~25 miles in an hour. That's not useless, it may get you home or to a supercharger. Around me, that's ~$1.05 of electricity for $0.

 

[srs5694]

Are they idiots? What's the point of putting in a Level 2 at a supermarket, level 2's belong at home, work or hotels, places where you are parked for many hours. A 6.6KW can only add 10-12 miles of range in the time it takes you to do grocery shopping, that's useless.

An L2 EVSE at a supermarket is probably more useful to drivers of plug-in hybrids, especially if the owner can't charge at home. (Yes, I know, that's not a good combination. I do know somebody in that situation, though.) Such a person might do opportunity charging at supermarkets, libraries, parks, etc., so as to reduce use of gasoline, albeit not as much as if they could charge at home.

I think that going forward, DC fast chargers at supermarkets could help make BEVs more appealing to apartment-dwellers. Charging during a single half-hour grocery run could provide most of a driver's range needs per week. Better, of course, would be L2 charging at apartment complexes or workplaces. Right now, I think those deploying public and semi-public charging are basically throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks.

 

[bjrosen]

An L2 EVSE at a supermarket is probably more useful to drivers of plug-in hybrids, especially if the owner can't charge at home. (Yes, I know, that's not a good combination. I do know somebody in that situation, though.) Such a person might do opportunity charging at supermarkets, libraries, parks, etc., so as to reduce use of gasoline, albeit not as much as if they could charge at home.

I think that going forward, DC fast chargers at supermarkets could help make BEVs more appealing to apartment-dwellers. Charging during a single half-hour grocery run could provide most of a driver's range needs per week. Better, of course, would be L2 charging at apartment complexes or workplaces. Right now, I think those deploying public and semi-public charging are basically throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks.

A plugin hybrid without home charging is just a hybrid. I had a Volt, it took 6 hours to fully charge, at a supermarket that would be 5 miles in a typical 30 minute shopping trip. 125KW DC chargers make sense, in 30 minutes you should be able to charge a BEV to 80 or 90%.

 

[srs5694]

An update: It turns out that this was a drive-through ATM going in. Such ATMs are pretty rare around here, but I guess somebody thought one was needed here. Oh, well.