Philadelphia Offering Chargers in Front of Your House

[gavine]

I just learned that Philadelphia will put a charger right in front of an EV owner's house with an EV-only parking sign. There is a $150 set-up fee and $75/year renewal fee. Pretty amazing:

» Electric Vehicle Charging Stations: Everything you Need to Know

I wonder if this program will survive the Trump administration.

 

[wesley888]

That is very nice!

 

[kort677]

I just learned that Philadelphia will put a charger right in front of an EV owner's house with an EV-only parking sign. There is a $150 set-up fee and $75/year renewal fee. Pretty amazing:

» Electric Vehicle Charging Stations: Everything you Need to Know

I wonder if this program will survive the Trump administration.

if this is a philadelphia program how would trump enter into the equation?
the sky is not falling

 

[jbcarioca]

This sounds like a pretty nice deal in a congested urban area. Not cheap, but vastly better than nothing, and appears to be appropriately worded fro public parking spaces.
The only downside is that the space can be used by any EV, so you may pay for it yourself and then be "BEVed". Philadelphia not only might have ICEing, but not BEVing.

Were I to live there I'd be very pleased with this deal.

 

[gavine]

Sorry for the Trump comment. That was uncalled for. I just feel like he's going to cut all green incentives. I'm sure it's just paranoia on my part.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

In case anybody ever asks, "What about all the people who park in the street?" Well, that's your answer. There needs to be a strucutred approach in which municipalities help install chargers, and EV owners pay fees for maintenance.

 

[gavine]

This sounds like a pretty nice deal in a congested urban area. Not cheap, but vastly better than nothing, and appears to be appropriately worded fro public parking spaces.
The only downside is that the space can be used by any EV, so you may pay for it yourself and then be "BEVed". Philadelphia not only might have ICEing, but not BEVing.

Were I to live there I'd be very pleased with this deal.

They aren't clear about who pays for the electricity though. If it is connected to your house and other EVs use it, then are you paying for them to charge-up? Maybe it'll be a ChargePoint that requires payment to use, with the account controlled by the city.

 

[jbcarioca]

Sorry for the Trump comment. That was uncalled for. I just feel like he's going to cut all green incentives. I'm sure it's just paranoia on my part.

"Just because you're paranoid does not mean they're not out to get you." I choose to credit Yossarian in Joseph Heller's Catch 22 with the statement whether he did it or not because he certainly was devious enough to have said it.

 

[swaltner]

They aren't clear about who pays for the electricity though. If it is connected to your house and other EVs use it, then are you paying for them to charge-up? Maybe it'll be a ChargePoint that requires payment to use, with the account controlled by the city.

Agreed. That was the one thing I was thinking reading through the policy linked in the first post. This policy covers the parking spot and the signage for that parking spot, making it reserved for *ANY* EV, not *YOUR* EV. I don't believe this covers the installation costs for the curbside outlet or the ongoing electricity costs. I guess the thing to do would be to monitor the usage and if it's a problem flip the "shut-off switch for the receptacle (that) must be installed inside the building at the exit" per the requirements in the form.

 

[dhcp]

It sounds like it would be awesome until that neighbor buys a Bolt and gets home from work 10 minutes before you every day.

If you have to kick down for the electricity I'd put in a Chargepoint and charge other people enough to make it worth not having your spot occasionally. Ideally, the city would pay for the electrical and a nominal charge cost per usage. That would keep people from using it as a parking spot.

They should also put a sign that says "Please call xxx-xxxx if a non-EV car is parked here so they can be towed."

 

[gavine]

It sounds like it would be awesome until that neighbor buys a Bolt and gets home from work 10 minutes before you every day.

Tell the neighbor to get his own free charger installed. Now you both have a spot in front of your house. Before you know it, the whole block will have chargers and so on and so on......

 

[MP3Mike]

It sounds like you have to pay to put your own outlet in. Which has to be in a lockable box.

 

[gavine]

The more I look at this, the more it looks like they just give you the signage and parking spot but not an EVSE.

 

[brkaus]

The more I look at this, the more it looks like they just give you the signage and parking spot but not an EVSE.

For $150 setup and $75 future years, that sounds reasonable.

 

[Toasty]

who pays for power? since the rules say "anyone can use it" and its NOT your personal space

 

[gavine]

who pays for power? since the rules say "anyone can use it" and its NOT your personal space

Exactly. It's somewhat vague in that respect. It almost seems as though you get a sign designating the spot as reserved for EV's and you just install an outlet for your own portable EVSE so it sounds like the homeowner pays the electricity. If you get a Chargepoint EVSE, then you can require others who use it to have an account and pay for use. I reckon you can make money off of it if that's the case.