Supercharger congestion problem ideas.

[Mark C]

People do not understand how many apartments and condos there are in urban areas. Many don't even allow 120v charging. Luckily, these folk seldom buy BEVs. But they are your biggest threat, not existing cars that aren't using remote charging to begin with.

It will the falling prices of BEV's that will allow more apartment and condo dwellers to enter the BEV market, and that is your biggest worry.

I agree that this is a huge issue on EV implementation. At some point, I believe it will take regulatory intervention to force apartment and condo operators/owners to make available EVSE connections. It may be that third parties will own the actual EVSE and it would, of course be fee based.

Having been a landlord before, I can attest that they are not all a bunch of fatcats milking the peasants. On the contrary, with laws being the way they are, there are far too many units where the owners struggle to meet their financial obligations when deadbeat tenants are a problem. This makes it difficult to do repairs / maintenance / upgrades.

 

[zenmaster]

I agree that this is a huge issue on EV implementation. At some point, I believe it will take regulatory intervention to force apartment and condo operators/owners to make available EVSE connections.

Why do you need to force condo owners? They own the property. I don't think there is a single condo in my city that doesn't offer an EV connection for your parking space. You just pay to have it installed and pay the association a fixed fee.

 

[SpiceWare]

At some point, I believe it will take regulatory intervention to force apartment and condo operators/owners to make available EVSE connections.

No regulations are needed, it's already happening. A quick search for Houston turned up these:

Alexan Heights

Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

Alexan Midtown

Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

AMLI Uptown

2 Electric car charging stations and bike racks on each level of the garage

Pearl Greenway

eVgo© Electric car charging stations

San Antigua

eVgo Car Charging Stations

 

[Mark C]

Why do you need to force condo owners? They own the property. I don't think there is a single condo in my city that doesn't offer an EV connection for your parking space. You just pay to have it installed and pay the association a fixed fee.

Very poorly worded, indeed. Having lived in a condo, I was introduced to some of the dumbest reasons on the planet to prevent people from doing things that were visible when driving through the neighborhood. I do not live in an EV friendly state. My local utility told me they would have to charge me extra because of the excess consumption I would require if I installed an EVSE. They are very resistant to change.

 

[dsvick]

I agree that this is a huge issue on EV implementation. At some point, I believe it will take regulatory intervention to force apartment and condo operators/owners to make available EVSE connections. It may be that third parties will own the actual EVSE and it would, of course be fee based.

I think the market will take care of this as condo operators lose rentors because of this, they'll be increasingly pressured to add the convenience or be left behind.

 

[zenmaster]

Very poorly worded, indeed. Having lived in a condo, I was introduced to some of the dumbest reasons on the planet to prevent people from doing things that were visible when driving through the neighborhood. I do not live in an EV friendly state. My local utility told me they would have to charge me extra because of the excess consumption I would require if I installed an EVSE. They are very resistant to change.

Who was your local utility and how much extra were they charging?

 

[MiamiNole]

Very poorly worded, indeed. Having lived in a condo, I was introduced to some of the dumbest reasons on the planet to prevent people from doing things that were visible when driving through the neighborhood. I do not live in an EV friendly state. My local utility told me they would have to charge me extra because of the excess consumption I would require if I installed an EVSE. They are very resistant to change.

Is that even legal? Can they discriminate on WHAT you use your energy for? Unless there's a specific charge for excess consumption above a specified amount, I would think that wouldn't be allowed. But then again, I can never put it past some local and state governments....

 

[JeffK]

My local utility told me they would have to charge me extra because of the excess consumption I would require if I installed an EVSE. They are very resistant to change.

I think you might have been misunderstanding this unless Alabama is that backwards... In general, if you use more energy you are charged more money. That's simple enough.
You can get an electrician to install your EVSE.

Utility companies are heavily regulated, they aren't going to charge you extra because you have an EVSE or a special toaster. They will charge you normal rates for your usage based on local laws and regulations.

 

[mhan00]

Generation 2 Volt (2016-2020)

That's a link to a Volt message board where they argue over similar things regarding Level 2 chargers. That's the future of Tesla Superchargers if the Model 3 knocks it out of the park like we all hope in a couple of years. It's good to see Tesla at least planning on some steps to keep congestion issues to a minimum in the future.

 

[aesculus]

I would like to see some form of 'Open Table' like reservation for non local travelers. Tesla could see where you were heading based on the navigation and insure you had a charger waiting for you upon arrival unless everyone else was long distance too.

Locals would only get what's left over or perhaps reserve one charger for locals only, unless others are unoccupied. If you pull into a charger that is reserved it would either not charge or let you know you only have x minutes before you have to exit the charger. I can just see people ignoring that message and leaving their car taking the slot and coming back to an angry crowd while at the same time their car was not charged either. After doing that one time though, I think the message would be clear.

 

[Garlan Garner]

I would like to see some form of 'Open Table' like reservation for non local travelers. Tesla could see where you were heading based on the navigation and insure you had a charger waiting for you upon arrival unless everyone else was long distance too.

Locals would only get what's left over or perhaps reserve one charger for locals only, unless others are unoccupied. If you pull into a charger that is reserved it would either not charge or let you know you only have x minutes before you have to exit the charger. I can just see people ignoring that message and leaving their car taking the slot and coming back to an angry crowd while at the same time their car was not charged either. After doing that one time though, I think the message would be clear.

I think that your idea is very good.

The only problem that I have with this entire thread though....is that congestion is SUCH a non-issue 99.9% of the time across the US.

 

[No2DinosaurFuel]

I think that your idea is very good.

The only problem that I have with this entire thread though....is that congestion is SUCH a non-issue 99.9% of the time across the US.

Obviously you have not been to California supercharging stations.

 

[mhan00]

Obviously you have not been to California supercharging stations.

And only for now, unless Tesla completely flops on their current accelerated manufacturing plans and/or sustained demand for the Model 3 is far less than we would like to believe, which no one wants. If Tesla succeeds as we all hope they do on the timeline they've set, then congestion will become an issue at more locations, and current locations that experience congestion will get much worse.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

My sister-in-law has a real good friend. Her friend and her husband put down a deposit on a Model 3. I was talking to them recently about the Model 3, and they were intrigued by the Atascadero Supercharger, because they travel from Fresno to the Central Coast frequently. The Atascadero Supercharger was one of the compelling reasons that they are taking the plunge.

Recently, one of them remarked that it was cool that the Atascadero Supercharger was close to the movies, so that they could catch a movie while plugged in on their trip to or from the Coast. I nicely informed them that the Superchargers were for charging, not parking, and that it was courteous to leave promptly upon attaining the desired state of charge.

They understood, and they agreed. But they said that they had driven past them on a few occasions, and that they were either unoccupied or only had two or three stalls in use.

I'm actually hoping that monetizing supercharger services is successful. It would be pretty cool to simply valet your car when you arrived, and then do whatever you want for awhile before coming back. Where you just pay some fee for the valet/parking, and they take care of it. Maybe they wash it as well.

The new 60D owners will barely be able to eat before their cars get done charging. There isn't a whole lot of charge taper on those. With my 70D I spend my charge taper waiting for the waiter to bring me my check.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Obviously you have not been to California supercharging stations.

Nope. I haven't.

 

[Garlan Garner]

And only for now, unless Tesla completely flops on their current accelerated manufacturing plans and/or sustained demand for the Model 3 is far less than we would like to believe, which no one wants. If Tesla succeeds as we all hope they do on the timeline they've set, then congestion will become an issue at more locations, and current locations that experience congestion will get much worse.

I would hope that the increase in battery technology / storage (150kwh battery) would cause SC congestion to taper down a lot.

 

[Mark C]

Utility companies are heavily regulated, they aren't going to charge you extra because you have an EVSE or a special toaster. They will charge you normal rates for your usage based on local laws and regulations.

The rationale the utility gave was the added demand required for an EV, forcing them to install a larger transformer to carry the heavy load of an EV. Of course, this was an off the cuff threat, not a well thought out response. But it only takes one person to put a kink in a plan, if it is the person who holds the most sway.

It's very, very unlikely that I will actually tell them I have an EV, because they have rejected TVA's tiered usage program, so there won't be a lower rate for night time usage or for charging an EV. I live in a small city of ~ 8300 people.

 

[KJD]

I think that your idea is very good.
The only problem that I have with this entire thread though....is that congestion is SUCH a non-issue 99.9% of the time across the US.

If you were a Tesla owner today you would know that statement is not true.

 

[MiamiNole]

If you were a Tesla owner today you would know that statement is not true.

I'm pretty sure he IS a Tesla owner. I've seen that thrown out a lot of times on this forum who are indeed Tesla owners. The US is a large country. Not everyone's SC experience is the same.

 

[Garlan Garner]

If you were a Tesla owner today you would know that statement is not true.

I am, however as I have stated a million times. I have never ever seen any congestion anywhere here in the Chicagoland area.