Tesla continues its ambitious expansion of their exclusive fast charging network in the greater Washington, DC area. The latest site to begin construction is at a Sheetz convenience store on US Route 29 about seven miles south of Warrenton, VA at the intersection with Route 17. Locals call this area Opal, but the Tesla “Find Us” map refers to a Supercharger planned for Bealeton, VA with a target opening date in Q3, 2021.
The construction is happening behind the Sheetz at 10101 James Madison Hwy, Bealeton, VA 22712 [map link]. There are two V3 (250 kW max) Supercharging cabinets on site and prefabricated bases for eight stalls.
This will be an especially convenient stop for Tesla travelers who are heading north as the Sheetz is on the east side of the highway. Southbound travelers have to contend with a traffic light to cross the north-bound lanes into the Sheetz. This Supercharger location is closer to the direct route than Haymarket for folks heading to and from DC.
EVgo has added Tesla connectors at many EVgo charging sites in DC, Maryland and Virginia.
Based on CHAdeMO Adapter Principle
Tesla drivers enjoy access to a vast network of Superchargers that enable them to travel long distances. Superchargers in urban areas also serve drivers that do not have access to charging at home or work. According to data from supercharge.info, there are more than 1,000 Supercharger stations currently open in the United States.
About six years ago, Tesla developed a CHAdeMO adapter and offered it for sale. The adapter, which now costs $450, was very useful in the earlier days of long distance EV travel before the Supercharger network filled out in all areas of the country. The maximum charging speed using the adapter is no more than 50 kW.
In the past six years, we’ve used the CHAdeMO adapter in parts of New England, Tidewater Virginia, Nebraska, “the Loneliest Road in America” in Nevada and elsewhere.
A very small percentage of Tesla drivers have the CHAdeMO adapter. Certainly less than 5%. This means that the thousands of DC Fast Chargers are not normally accessible to Tesla drivers. This is unfortunate because an overwhelming majority of all-electric cars sold to date are made by Tesla. This has created a situation where Tesla Superchargers have high utilization while CCS/CHAdeMO fast chargers in the same area — often built with public funding — get relatively little use. [See: Tesla vs Electrify America Usage]
Tesla Superchargers are being installed at service plazas on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Vera and I just completed a 2½-week, 8,735-mile electric road trip through 26 states, stopping at dozens of EV charging stations along the way. The latter part of our trip included two sections of the PA Turnpike. New Superchargers have just opened at several Turnpike Service Plazas and they’re a real convenience for folks traveling the Turnpike in a Tesla.
The Somerset, PA – North Service Plaza Supercharger opened on May 24, 2021. It has eight stalls that can deliver up to 250 kW (V3). The Supercharger station is located in a section of the car parking area that’s relatively far from the service plaza building. Signs on half the stalls reserved the spots for Tesla vehicle charging only, the other four spaces are designated to allow 30 minutes general parking.
On May 28, 2021, Governor Hogan announced that he would allow a number of bills to become law without his signature. One of the bills on the list was HB 44, The Clean Cars Act of 2021, which authorizes the state’s EV tax credit funding.
PlugInSites followed the progress of electric vehicle legislation in the Maryland General Assembly this year. About half of the EV-related bills passed. In order to become law, they have to be approved by the Governor. The Governor can either sign the bill or let the bill become law without a signature, simply by not vetoing it.
The Maryland Electric Vehicle Tax Credit
The Clean Cars Act of 2021, as introduced, was to extend the state excise tax credit for Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) for two more years. It also was to fund the backlog of applications from EV purchasers who are on the waitlist from the prior EV tax credit program.
The part of the bill that was to extend the EV excise tax credit was removed because of concern over a provision in the federal COVID-19 relief act that prohibits states from using any of the $195 billion of federal aid “to either directly or indirectly offset a reduction” in net tax revenue.
The bill passed with funding to satisfy the backlog of applicants. This is welcome news for the thousands of Maryland residents who have been waiting on their checks of up to $3,000. Some have been waiting for several years.
The law will extend the EV charging equipment rebate as well as increase the annual funding for that program. The Electric Vehicle Recharging Equipment Rebate Program will be extended for two more years and the funding will increase from $1.2M to $1.8M annually.
For official information about the Maryland Excise Tax Credit for Plug-in Electric Vehicles, visit the MVA Website.
Headed to a busy Supercharger on this busy Memorial Day travel weekend? Now you can see the estimated length of time you can expect to wait at a full Supercharger station on the Tesla Navigation screen.
Tesla has been showing the number of stalls currently available on the Nav screen for a few years. Now, if a Supercharger is full, drivers are shown a grey clock icon on the pin. When you touch the pin it will display short, medium or long wait for that location.
I first observed this today at the original Somerset, PA Supercharger. First it was a “Short wait” then a little while later it was a “Medium wait” and within a half hour, stalls were available again.
Keep an eye out for this helpful new feature. Happy and safe travels.
The City of Annapolis has an “anti-ICEing” ordinance that requires special signs and green pavement markings in order to be enforced. There continues to be complaints of gas vehicles blocking EV charging stations in the city especially at Pip Moyer Recreation Center where BGE installed a Level 2 station in 2019. The signs there do not comply with the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) nor with the requirements of the city code.
Could Punish Innocent EV Drivers
The Annapolis anti-ICEing ordinance could potentially punish EV drivers who are not “actively charging” through no fault of their own. If the equipment fails mid charge or someone unplugs your car or you just misjudge the length of time your car needs to charge, Annapolis seems to apply the same $100 penalty for an electric vehicle that may unintentionally not be charging as for a gas guzzling SUV driver that ignores the sign. I am attempting to have the City Council reconsider this and clarify the code and fine schedule. I spoke to the Mayor and City Council at the May 24, 2021 meeting and submitted the written comments below.
Talking to Annapolis City Council via Skype
Formal Written Comments Delivered to Annapolis City Council on May 24, 2021
Last year the Annapolis City Council passed an ordinance (Code: 12.20.090.B) meant to keep people from blocking electric vehicle charging stations.
In order to be enforced, the EV charging spaces must be designated with signs and pavement markings with the following requirements:
1. Be at least eighteen inches high and twelve inches wide;
2. Be clearly visible to the driver of a motor vehicle entering the plug-in electric drive vehicle charging space;
3. State the maximum fine that may be incurred for a violation; and
4.Meet any applicable state and federal requirements for parking signs. A plug-in electric drive vehicle charging space shall also be indicated by green pavement markings.
I would like to bring to the council’s attention that EV charging stations on City-owned property, including the Pip Moyer Rec. Center, do not have signs that meet these requirements. This consequently means that the ordinance is unenforceable. I’ve seen gas pickup trucks and other non-electric vehicles blocking the charging station at Pip Moyer recently.
But more importantly, the Annapolis ordinance and penalty provisions could unintentionally punish EV drivers who may not be “actively charging” through no fault of their own.
The penalties in the FY 2021 Fines Schedule by Authority: R-27-20 is listed as follows:
Code Reference: 12.20.090.B. Description: Parking reserved for plug-in electric drive vehicles actively charging. Fine for Initial Offense: $100.00. Fine for Repeat or Continuous Violations: $100.00
I respectfully ask the Council to consider refining the language to focus this legislation exclusively on penalizing cars that run on gasoline or diesel that have no reason to be parking in an electric vehicle charging spot.
The wording, “electric drive vehicles actively charging” does not appear in the ordinance itself and there are occasions that an electric vehicle may have just finished charging or the equipment fails or someone unplugs a car that could lead to an electric car driver getting unfairly punished for trying to do the right thing by driving electric.
Sometimes a public EV charging station will have power but it is not communicating with the service provider’s network. This could prevent you from being able to initiate a charge using the mobile app associated with that network. If the station is offline, then the signal to authorize a session may not be able to reach the unit from the charging service provider.
For example, the screen image above is a message on the Greenlots app that displayed when I tapped the “Start Charge” button for a Pepco owned and operated station that was showing as “offline” in the Greenlots app.
When this happens, you can call call customer support and see if they can help. Sometimes they are able to reach the station and either reset it or help you initiate a charge from their end.
When all else fails, it is worth trying to use an RFID card instead of the app. Sometimes the card will be successful in starting the charging session even if the unit appears to be offline.
You may need to order an RFID card from the various charging networks in order to be prepared for this contingency. In some cases, there may be a small fee for the card.
Hope this tip is useful. Enjoy your travels and happy charging!
Tesla is building a long-awaited King of Prussia, PA Supercharger. It will have 16 stalls with up to 250 kW. The site is in the parking lot of Henderson Square Shopping Center at 314 S. Henderson Rd. Map Link.
May 2, 2021 KOP Tesla Supercharger
King of Prussia Supercharger Construction Site
Here’s a video that pans the site where the King of Prussia, PA Supercharger is being built. The 16 stalls will be on the north and west edges of this parking area. There are four V3 (250 kW) Supercharger cabinets on site that will distribute power to four stalls each.
DC Fast Chargers are under construction in the Pike and Rose Garage in North Bethesda, Maryland.
These photos were sent in by “An Appreciative Reader” who spotted the installation going in where the SemaConnect Level 2 charging stations used to be in the garage. There are also Tesla Superchargers up on the 6th floor. It’s hard to tell which charging network these will be on. These chargers are a brand name that we haven’t seen yet, Delta.
There is an EVgo charging station across the street from the garage that’s been around a while. No indication that these will be a replacement for those or if these are for Pepco’s utility-operated network or something else altogether.
Thanks to “An Appreciative Reader” for sharing these photos with the PlugInSites community.
This was a good year for Maryland electric vehicle legislation. A number of bills that are of interest to EV drivers passed the legislature and have been sent to Governor Hogan to sign.
PlugInSites followed the progress of over a dozen electric vehicle related bills in the Maryland General Assembly in 2021. About half of the EV bills passed. In general, only about one in three bills pass in Annapolis in any given year, so we did pretty good.
Here is a brief rundown of what passed, what didn’t and what changes were made along the way.
The Maryland Electric Vehicle Tax Credit
The Clean Cars Act of 2021 (HB 44), as introduced, had several goals. First was to fund the backlog of applications from EV purchasers who are on the waitlist from the prior EV tax credit program. Then to extend the tax credit for two more years. And finally it was to extend the EV charging equipment rebate and increase annual funding. The good news is that the funding for the backlog stayed in the bill. That is welcome news for EV drivers who have been waiting for their checks of up to $3,000. In addition, the Electric Vehicle Recharging Equipment Rebate Program will be extended for two more years and the funding will increase from $1.2M to $1.8M annually.
Unfortunately, the part of the original bill to extend the EV excise tax credit was removed. This came about because of concern over a provision in the federal COVID-19 relief act that prohibits states from using any of the $195 billion of federal aid “to either directly or indirectly offset a reduction” in net tax revenue. For official information about the Maryland Excise Tax Credit for Plug-in Electric Vehicles, visit the MVA Website.
Pre-Wiring for EV Charging
House Bill HB 784 to encourage buyers of new residential housing units to pre-wire their homes for EV charging passed in the final hours of the session. This bill was sponsored by my representative, Delegate Jen Terrasa. I testified in support of this bill in the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee along with EV advocate Paul Verchinski who is a big proponent of this legislation. This will ensure that home builders inform buyers that they have the option to include a Level 2 charging station or a dedicated electric line in their garage, carport or driveway. The builder must also provide information about EVSE rebate programs and other incentives.
