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Texas Hill Country high-amp destination charging

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TexasEV

Well-Known Member
Jun 5, 2013
7,656
8,941
Austin, TX
A non-profit organization in Fredericksburg, TX is partnering with the city to install two Clipper Creek CS-60 charging stations in the center of the historic district, on San Antonio St. behind the courthouse. Their original plan was to install the usual 30A Chargepoints, but after Tesla owners staged an intervention they agreed to the higher amp units to better accommodate Teslas. I think this will be only the second public high-amp level 2 charging in the state, after the one installed in Iraan by a Roadster owner. (Please correct me if I'm wrong).

If anyone is unfamiliar with this historic town and the surrounding Hill Country, here is their tourism web site:
Fredericksburg TX | Texas Hill Country

The EV charging project is being funded by businesses and organizations in Fredericksburg, the city, and individual Tesla owners in the Austin/San Antonio group. Almost all of the needed funding has already been received but they are still about $200 short of the goal.

Texans, please help make high-amp charging in the Hill Country a reality before the spring tourist season starts. Please send your tax-deductible contribution to:
Fredericksburg Shines
Memorial Presbyterian Church Office-Alix House Annex
601 N. Milam, Fredericksburg TX 78624

Note "EV charging-Fbg" on your check.

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The attachment in your post is showing up as invalid. We went through F-burg the weekend after Xmas and saw a black Model S going the other direction down Main St. Unfortunately, we were passing through on our way to Kerrville. That would be a great place for a high-amp L2 charger! If you have any influence on the implementation of these two chargers, PLEASE make sure there is an "EV CHARGING ONLY, ALL OTHERS WILL BE TOWED" sign for them, or they'll constantly be ICEd.

These would be great! Electric Vehicle Reserved Parking Sign - Electrical Car Sign, SKU: K-8559
Electric-Vehicle-Parking-Sign-K-8559.gif
 
I love Fredericksburg. My girlfriend and I did a motorcycle trip to Marble Falls and F-Burg last spring and found it to be a great day destination from Austin.

Question whether the EV charger happened. I'd love to make the repeat trip in the next weekend or two (with the bluebonnets out) in my new P85+ and charge up!

Adam
 
I love Fredericksburg. My girlfriend and I did a motorcycle trip to Marble Falls and F-Burg last spring and found it to be a great day destination from Austin.

Question whether the EV charger happened. I'd love to make the repeat trip in the next weekend or two (with the bluebonnets out) in my new P85+ and charge up!

Adam
It should be ready any day now. I was told the charging stations are installed but the city is installing lighting and security camera before turning the power on. I'll post when it's operational. This was a collaborative effort between a non-profit org in the Hill Country, the city of Fredericksburg, and many Tesla owners in the Austin area.
 
The charging stations were moved to 206 W. Austin St. because of some issues with the courthouse location before they became operational. They're not online yet, waiting on the payment mechanism to be set up. I'll post details as soon as they're final.
 
'Fredericksburg Shines' Facebook Page
May 13 ·
"Our new public EV charger on 206 W. Austin street (slightly west of Marktplatz) in Fredericksburg is almost operational! We did a test run of charging this week with 2 Teslas. Take a look. The charger should be available to the public any day now. We'll keep you posted."
 
Just curious; how much charging are you expecting? Will the be enough customers to cover the cost of the charger and payment mechanism? How much do you expect the electricity cost to be on a monthly basis?

we got 10 chargers installed in Pflugerville, and all are free. The extra cost and hassle of charging people wasn't worth the price of electricity. Maybe that will change in the future if they get more popular, but, for now, you can charge free in Pflugerville.
 
Hm, Payment Mechanism.
Wondering if it will take the Austin Energy "PlugInEVerywhere" plan. I was considering joining that for $25 / six months.
No, Fredericksburg is outside the Austin Energy service area.

- - - Updated - - -

Just curious; how much charging are you expecting? Will the be enough customers to cover the cost of the charger and payment mechanism? How much do you expect the electricity cost to be on a monthly basis?

we got 10 chargers installed in Pflugerville, and all are free. The extra cost and hassle of charging people wasn't worth the price of electricity. Maybe that will change in the future if they get more popular, but, for now, you can charge free in Pflugerville.
By "you" I hope you don't mean me. I'm just the messenger, one of the Austin area Tesla owners who was advocating for Hill Country charging stations and specifically Tesla-friendly ones. As I reported in an earlier post, Fredericksburg was planning on installing 2 30A Chargepoints until Tesla owners convinced them to go with high amp level 2 Clipper Creek models that are more useful for Teslas. Actually Tesla offered a HPWC but the city turned it down because it didn't want a charging station for only one type of EV (even though other EVs don't have the range to reach Fredericksburg comfortably).

The two units were funded by a combination of grants from non-profits, the city, and donations from Austin area Tesla owners. The city of Fredericksburg is paying to install them but would not agree to pay for electricity even though we explained it would be really cheap marketing for them to attract tourists in EVs. Anyway that is why they chose CS-60 charging stations rather than CS-100, because CS-60 could accommodate the optional keypad payment mechanism but CS-100 can't, I don't know why. They will use MobileNow for payment, you call a number posted on the sign or use their smartphone app and it will generate a code to punch on the keypad and that turns on the charging. It will be $2.00 per hour for 48A output. I think that's high but please don't shoot the messenger.
 
That is high but better than nothing. Maybe high is good to discourage local Leafs or Volts from getting a free charge while they are there.

That actually seems like a pretty reasonable rate. 48 Amps times 208 Volts is 10 kW. At $0.12 per kWh, that is $1.20 per hour for electricity. At $2/hr they are only a little above their electricity costs plus overhead. Nobody is making much money here and EVs have a place to charge. Sounds pretty good to me.

Another way to look at is that at 10 kW, you are getting about 30 rated miles per hour. At $2 per hour, you are paying about 6.7 cents per rated mile; does not seem bad to me.

Of course MS owners without dual chargers will be paying 20% more, and Leaf owners will be paying 60% more per kWh, but that's life.
 
For what it's worth, I installed a Clipper Creek CS-60 for my daughter's Leaf (since it didn't cost that much more than a 30 amp and it makes for a good backup for my Tesla) and I was surprised to see that it actually charges at 50 amps. So your $2 per hour may actually get you an extra 2 amps:

20140506_093548_resized.jpg
 
The City of Fredericksberg expects Tesla owners to pay a visit, plug in to charge, and generate a bunch of tax rev at local business establishments. There's always a motivation ;)

Sounds like a win-win to me.

If I were a local, I would drive out to Fredericksberg, plug in, say thanks, and find a nice place for a lunch. EV owners need more support like this, and the EV owners need to acknowledge and reward that support.