Heard today that UVA is installing a Level 2 Charger in one of their parking garages: http://www.vacleancities.org/news/vcc-to-join-the-university-of-virginia-in-unveiling-new-electric-vehicle-charging-station/ Interesting to learn also that "As of this month, the commonwealth of Virginia currently has 2,006 registered electric vehicles an increase of around 700 percent from just one year ago."
Great find! Was thinking of driving down there for Mother's Day. Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
I like to see this. I saw it in the local paper today. Wish I had known, would have considered going up to flex some EV muscle!
I may try to swing by this today. Will take pics. From what i understand you pay the regular garage rates, plus a $2 fee.
I got to the charger today. Garage was open (free) and charging is "Pay $2 as you leave" on the honor system (since there was no one there I wouldn't have been able to pay anyway). Not sure if it's free on all Sundays, but it was today. Anyway, I plugged in but my car still had 215 miles of range, so that probably affected the charge rates I was getting. i was seeing 30A and 184V, getting 10-12mph of charge. There are 2 spaces and 1 charger, pretty clearly marked and cones saying the parking is only for EVs. Right next to the elevator on the 2nd level. Pics attached...
Thanks for the info. Go Wahoos! On a similar note, on a recent trip to Richmond I had planned on topping off at the VCU parking garage on Broad/Harrison while we visited a friend nearby. That garage, however, is closed on weekends.
Unfortunately the VAST majority of public Level 2 chargers are limited to 30 amps. There are hundreds of Level 2 chargers in TN and NONE are above 30 amps. The vast majority are 208V and 30 amps so just 6kw. Very slow when road tripping.
In order to progress the installation of higher power Level 2 charging we should describe them also by their amperage. This case would be a 30 amp level 2 EVSE. 'Level 2' alone describes EVSE's powered by 200 to 240 volts, and supplying <80 amps. Most are 30 amps, as indicated above, but 16 amps, and 70 amps are also found. In this case EATON makes models that are 30 and 70 amps. Whoever paid for the installation of this EVSE could have paid a little more and upgraded it to a 70 amp unit making it much more attractive for Tesla owners and just as useful for other 'power challenged' vehicles:tongue:.
I believe that 184V is barely within the acceptable window of tolerable voltage for a 208V 40 A circuit. Perhaps some one should go to the facilities people at UVA and complain. The breakers are set for 80% of the wire rating, but they either used an unusually long run of wire and/or too thin wire gauge. If the feed for this circuit comes from a tapped transformer, have them bump it up so that it produces 212V no load (when a voltmeter is inserted alone). My 'S' has, on more than one occasion, 'scolded me' and posted a message underneath the speedometer "You're either using an extension cord or other poor power source"... so I reduce the current manually and can see the loaded voltage respond with upward movement. The installation is not fully to spec, imo. Ask some questions nicely and they may help the situation! :smile: Ron
I'm heading there next week for an Auto class at The University. Are there other EV plugs in Charlottesville available? I used all apps - Recargo, Blink, Plugshare, Chargepoint and only this parking structure and Blue Moon Fund were available. I called Blue Moon and unfortunately, it is not accessible to the General Public - only Blue Moon Fund Staff. I called Colonial Nissan and they quickly rejected the use of their Charging stations because it's only for LEAF owners and they don't want a Tesla on the lot. Lots of HATE on Teslas because they are far better vehicles than other current EVs. In the near future, once Tesla establishments are in every major city and also if the Supercharging is ubiquitous - will non-Tesla owners be able to access? Because we might as well keep exclusivity.
We're back and fourth between Charlottesville and Leesburg frequently in our 60kWh, about 200 mile round trip and its fairly flat with rte 29 being relatively slow can make down and back without charging. When able, we like to add a few miles somewhere. Have used the UVA garage which is on the central grounds with an easy walk to restaurants and the historic part of the grounds. 2 hrs gets enough cushion to make the ride home worry free. Most recently, stayed overnight at Doubletree and they let us charge off a 110 outlet (better than nothing).