Sarasota is now supposed to have free charging stations installed in several locations; anyone who can confirm the stations are in fact there, please confirm on this thread. The list should be: Palm Avenue parking garage - 2 stations CONFIRMED Bayfront Park Marina - 2 stations CONFIRMED City Hall parking lot - 1 station CONFIRMED St. Armands Circle south parking lot - 2 Stations CONFIRMED Whole Foods parking garage (2nd floor) - 1 station NOT YET SEEN
This is pretty clearly addressed to local people as we're trying to ascertain whether some stations are really there. I'll cross post it anyway.
Hi Nigel, Is this thread for confirmed chargers in Sarasota county, or confirmed free chargers? Here's one that is confirmed: EcoTechnologies 2101 47th Street Sarasota, Florida 34234 Larry
Actually, I was just trying to ascertain if the promised free public stations had been implemented. BTW, that one is probably not there anymore. I heard EcoTechnologies has closed down.
Nigel, here's the other free stations that I know of in Sarasota County: * Hampton Inn SRQ - 2 stations * EcoTechnologies - 1 station (still showing as active on the ChargePoint network) * Longwood Park - 1 station * Lakewood Ranch - 1 at the Visitor's Center, 1 on Main Street * Ken Thompson Park - 1 station * Selby Library - 1 station * Sarasota County Admin Building - 1 station * Sarasota County Property Appraiser's Office - 1 station * Sarasota County Parking Garage (Ringling Blvd) - 1 station * Sarasota County Construction Office - 1 station * Sarasota Center - 2 stations And lastly, a few oddball stations: * Publix @ Bee Ridge & Beneva - 1 station, $2.49 an hour * Sarasota Mitsubishi - 1 station * Venice Centennial Park - 2 stations, awaiting City decision on pricing Not sure if either Gettel Nissan or Sunset Chevy in Sarasota have charging stations available yet. In my talks with a few EV drivers, generally the car dealers say they're open to allowing all EV's to charge but when push comes to shove they generally brands other than the one they're representing.
Some of the charge stations that were promised by FPL last year are finally being installed! :smile: http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20120816/ARTICLE/120819714/2416/NEWS?Title=Sarasota-gets-free-electric-car-charging-stations I'll update the first post as they are confirmed. Interesting that the St Armand's Key ones are so close to me that I could charge for free every night and walk home.
Hi Nigel, Thanks. Yes, FPL funded these chargers. It is unlikely they were the cause of the delay. Don't you find it rather coincidental that after the protracted delay the free chargers just happened to get installed a month before the EV event at St. Armands Circle? :wink: Larry
There were other stories previously that it was all hanging on FPL, I'm sure Tom Harriman (good guy!) wouldn't have waited if he'd gotten the go-ahead; and yes, the coincidence regarding plug-in day had also occurred to my cynical mind. :wink: P.S. I'll check out the chargers at St Armands and at Bayfront today before I update the OP. Seeing as the SHT showed a photo of the City Hall charger we can take it that one exists.
Hi Nigel, Exactly, despite the other stories, its not FPL that provides the go-ahead. :biggrin: Larry
So, our local newspaper wasn't quite right with their "installed Wednesday" statement: I met Tom Harriman at Bayfront Park today and his guys were just now "roughing-in" the cement bases for the chargers. He expects them to be in-service maybe the end of next week pending insoections. The St Armand's ones haven't started work yet so my guess would be that September is more likely. P.S. For anyone visiting Sarasota, Bayfront Park is an ideal location to park for visiting Main Street and the downtown area. (Cross over U.S.41 and it's basically only two short blocks to Main Street)
I'm happy to announce that Mote Marine Aquarium now has a chargepoint installed for visitors. It's to the right of the main entrance door and will cover the last two spaces at the end of the row. Signage isn't finished yet. Big thanks to fellow member Ken Stokes who helped me get this kicked off. I also promised a Model S HPWC there when they are eventually available. Mod Note: I updated the OP as chargers are now confirmed and in service.
I had an opportunity to check whether my J1772 adapter works last week at this Publix location. My wife initially said she wouldn't drive my car until I put the first ding in it, but she exercised the feminine perrogative and changed her mind. :wink: So she drove on her maiden voyage to the Publix. We hooked up the charger and went into Publix to shop. The charger is free, but as is the case with 30 amp chargers it is rather slow. In my opinion the location is good in the sense that its not in a prime location next to handicap parking, but rather away in the center of the parking lot. Larry - - - Updated - - - Thanks guys! Larry
Larry, Robin first drove the car during the Ben Bird delivery process - why wait? She has not been out solo however :scared: We are tentatively planning our first Model S road trip for this weekend - possibly Orlando area or even to a friend's on the east coast north of Daytona in Flagler Beach. I signed up for Charge Point and have downloaded a few iPhone location apps. I don't have the charge point card yet, but I believe I can use my account credentials - is this correct? Have you settled on your favorite and most useful charger location apps or websites. Is there a good one to set the browser in the Model S to? I have not used any charging locations outside of our garage yet, but I hope to break the ice soon. (350 miles on Model S) Thanks for the post! Steve.
Mary Ellen is a good driver, but the prospect of a solo mission, or moreso one with her girl friends, sends a shudder up my spine. I have heard you can charge at a ChargePoint charger without their card, but I haven't done it myself. I believe you also may be able to use a regular credit card with an RFID chip. I have three EV charger application on my SmartPhone. Recargo.com, ChargePoint.com and PlugShare.com. I would put them on your display favorites as well. The SmartPhone apps have the advantage it that they know your GPS position. Before you take a long trip I recommend that you test out your adapter at a nearby local charger. If you have difficulty unhooking even when charging is terminated, make sure that you go back into the Tesla display an select "open chargeport". Larry
Bayside Park Marina Mary Ellen and I decided to have lunch at Marina Jacks today and thought we would check out the Bayside Park Marina chargers. I already have a guilty pleasure just driving around in the Model S and, now I have a guilty pleasure having these last two EV charging sites paying for my local travel. :redface: New sign that limits parking to 3 hours. I think its a good idea, but Allison needs to also arrange to have the parking lines and spaces prominently painted with EV markings. Bollards protect the chargers, but make it a little more challenging to squeeze in a wide, long car in the tight parking. (Not really a problem, but I'm still getting used to the Model S's width.) Larry
Larry, if you're going to be anywhere near Mote tomorrow and want some more free electrons give me a call; we need a car plugged in to the Chargepoint station there for a photo to go out with the press release. (I'm in Ft Myers tomorrow)