I travel (a lot) for work and for fun. I've recently started taking advantage of guest satisfaction surveys and guest comment email addresses to pressure businesses into installing chargers. Here are a couple expamples. I'll let you know what results I get. (BTW, I know the roadster isn't J1772 native of course, but I thought it best to focus on that standard, and I do have an adapter.)
My hope would be to get these businesses to install J1772 chargers and then put them into Recargo, EVChargeretc... And that they'll see some business out of it.
Furthermore, my hope in posting these is to encourage others to do the same.
This is my reply to an email I received from the Beverly Hills Hilton in response to my survey complaining about the lack of charging:
"Hi [name withheld],
Thanks for your reply.
Can you please explain what you mean about 'we do have several spots in the first level of the self parking area and valet parking'?
As a Hilton Diamond member, I've stayed at your hotel a number of times. While the valets have been accommodating in finding a standard 110 volt outlet to trickle charge the car, they have always said the hotel has no car charger connections. A 110 volt outlet takes about 30 hours to fully charge a car, whereas a standard 208/240 volt car charge connection takes 4-8 hours, which is whats needed for business travelers like myself.
Standard car chargers used by all modern electric cars (Tesla, Nissan Leaf, GM Volt, Toyota Prius plugin and forthcoming models from Mercedes and Audi) all use standard J1772 connections to 208/240 volt outlets.
Are you saying that you do in fact have 208/240 volt car charging connections at your hotel? If so, you need to let your valets know where to direct people. If not, note there is a 30% tax credit until the end of the year, and grants to install the equipment at ZERO COST if it is made available to the public in Los Angeles county.
I would also note that the Peninsula hotel nearby does offer 208/240 volt EV charging. There are also public lots and Walgreens stores in the area with J1772 charger connectors, but it would be a lot more attractive to me to stay at a hotel that has a charge connector on site. According to the LA times there are now 100,000 electric car owners in California, and we actively use online charge maps to find the hotels and businesses we patronize, so I believe you would be well served to offer this service. Gasoline consumption; California; cars; pump prices - latimes.com "
And here's an email I sent to Disneyland after finding they had no EV parking:
"I was disappointed this weekend to find that Disneyland still has not
setup electric car charging spots for visitors with electric cars. This
is a huge inconvenience and disincentive to drive to Disneyland for the
weekend from my home in San Diego. This is the second time I've had to
go out of my way to charge in order to visit Disneyland. I'll be looking
for alternative weekend activities that do support plug in cars in the
future simply out of convenience, especially before renewing my deluxe
annual pass.
There are now over 100,000 electric cars in California (according to the
LA Times), and I can stop at most major shopping malls and hotels to
charge, but not at Disneyland. All new cars work with the same J1772
standard, including the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt, Tesla, Toyota Plug in
Prius, and soon coming Mercedes, Mitsubishi, and other cars.
I would really hope Disney, which claims to be green friendly, would
offer this basic service to it's paying customers. Disney should also be
aware that the 30% federal tax credit for installing charge equipment
expires at the end of the year, and there are also grants available to
completely cover the cost if the chargers are made available to the
general public."
I basically got a form letter back. I'll update this thread if I hear more:
'We appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts with us about
electric car charging at our Resort. *As you are aware, our goal is to
provide the finest service and accommodations. Please be assured we take
your comments very seriously. Your remarks have been forwarded to the
necessary leadership team so they are aware of your feedback.'
My hope would be to get these businesses to install J1772 chargers and then put them into Recargo, EVChargeretc... And that they'll see some business out of it.
Furthermore, my hope in posting these is to encourage others to do the same.
This is my reply to an email I received from the Beverly Hills Hilton in response to my survey complaining about the lack of charging:
"Hi [name withheld],
Thanks for your reply.
Can you please explain what you mean about 'we do have several spots in the first level of the self parking area and valet parking'?
As a Hilton Diamond member, I've stayed at your hotel a number of times. While the valets have been accommodating in finding a standard 110 volt outlet to trickle charge the car, they have always said the hotel has no car charger connections. A 110 volt outlet takes about 30 hours to fully charge a car, whereas a standard 208/240 volt car charge connection takes 4-8 hours, which is whats needed for business travelers like myself.
Standard car chargers used by all modern electric cars (Tesla, Nissan Leaf, GM Volt, Toyota Prius plugin and forthcoming models from Mercedes and Audi) all use standard J1772 connections to 208/240 volt outlets.
Are you saying that you do in fact have 208/240 volt car charging connections at your hotel? If so, you need to let your valets know where to direct people. If not, note there is a 30% tax credit until the end of the year, and grants to install the equipment at ZERO COST if it is made available to the public in Los Angeles county.
I would also note that the Peninsula hotel nearby does offer 208/240 volt EV charging. There are also public lots and Walgreens stores in the area with J1772 charger connectors, but it would be a lot more attractive to me to stay at a hotel that has a charge connector on site. According to the LA times there are now 100,000 electric car owners in California, and we actively use online charge maps to find the hotels and businesses we patronize, so I believe you would be well served to offer this service. Gasoline consumption; California; cars; pump prices - latimes.com "
And here's an email I sent to Disneyland after finding they had no EV parking:
"I was disappointed this weekend to find that Disneyland still has not
setup electric car charging spots for visitors with electric cars. This
is a huge inconvenience and disincentive to drive to Disneyland for the
weekend from my home in San Diego. This is the second time I've had to
go out of my way to charge in order to visit Disneyland. I'll be looking
for alternative weekend activities that do support plug in cars in the
future simply out of convenience, especially before renewing my deluxe
annual pass.
There are now over 100,000 electric cars in California (according to the
LA Times), and I can stop at most major shopping malls and hotels to
charge, but not at Disneyland. All new cars work with the same J1772
standard, including the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt, Tesla, Toyota Plug in
Prius, and soon coming Mercedes, Mitsubishi, and other cars.
I would really hope Disney, which claims to be green friendly, would
offer this basic service to it's paying customers. Disney should also be
aware that the 30% federal tax credit for installing charge equipment
expires at the end of the year, and there are also grants available to
completely cover the cost if the chargers are made available to the
general public."
I basically got a form letter back. I'll update this thread if I hear more:
'We appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts with us about
electric car charging at our Resort. *As you are aware, our goal is to
provide the finest service and accommodations. Please be assured we take
your comments very seriously. Your remarks have been forwarded to the
necessary leadership team so they are aware of your feedback.'
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