There has been a flurry of activity in the past couple of months of DC Fast Chargers being installed in Montgomery and Howard Counties in Maryland. The NRG eVgo station at the Enchanted Forest in Ellicott City and another NRG eVgo charger in Olney are just two examples. Add yet another CHAdeMO Fast Charger to the list, Antwerpen Nissan in Clarksville, MD has just installed a unit at their dealership.
This unit appears to be connected to the NRG eVgo network and will charge a Nissan Leaf to about 80% in 30 minutes.
There continues to be problems with Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles blocking charging stations in Howard County despite a new law, but the management of Antwerpen Nissan is using the effective, but not ideal, trick of placing an orange marker in the space to discourage ICEing. There are a number of Level 2 charging stations in Clarksville that I’ve used when taking road trips west on Route 32. This is a welcome addition for CHAdeMO-equipped vehicles.
Category: Featured Plug In Site
EV Charging at Capital Crescent Garage in Bethesda, MD
The Capital Crescent Parking Garage in Bethesda, Maryland opened today with 1,250 parking spaces including spots designated for Electric Vehicle charging. The five-floor underground garage is near Bethesda Row at Woodmont and Bethesda Ave.
The charging stations are located near the Woodmont South entrance of the garage. There appears to be at least two dual-port ChargePoint stations around space number 1106. The spots are marked with green stripes, a rectangular “EV” symbol on the floor and signs indicating “No Parking Except Electric Vehicles.” There are also signs indicating “Four Hour Parking” at the charging spots.
The signs appear to conform to official regulations which would mean that anyone who parks a vehicle that is not a plug-in vehicle in those spots are violating Montgomery County Code §31-26B and may be subject to being fined.
MOM’s in Frederick, MD Gets a Level 2 Charging Station
The MOM’s Organic Market store in Frederick, Maryland installed two CHAdeMO DC Fast Chargers earlier this year. Now they have removed one of them and replaced it with a SemaConnect Chargepro Level 2 charging station.
While it is good to have redundant Fast Chargers in case one of them goes down, it limited the number of electric vehicles that could charge at this location. MOM’s tells me that there are plans to move the displaced CHAdeMO to another store. However, they are awaiting approval from the property manager.
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EV Charging at Beacon Hill Apartments in Alexandria, VA
This post is the first in a series of Featured Plug In Sites to highlight apartments and condos that have installed EV charging stations for their tenants.
One of the advantages of plug-in electric vehicles is that you can “refuel” them at home by plugging in every night. But what if you live in a condo or an apartment building? That was the caveat of a reporter who lived in an apartment in San Francisco and attempted to test drive an all-electric Nissan LEAF for a week. Without a regular place to recharge every night, the results were predictable. The headline on his article in Wired read, “A Two-Day Battle to Charge My Car Convinced Me We’re Not Ready for EVs.”
The Beacon Hill Apartments in the Groveton area of Alexandria, Virginia has two SemaConnect stations in front of their leasing office. The high visibility of these prominently placed stations may convince current tenants to consider a getting a plug-in car.
However, I hope they reconsider their pricing structure. It costs $1.50/hr. for the first four hours and $10.00/hr. after that. This two-tiered pricing is designed to encourage drivers to move their cars once they are finished charging. However, I’m not sure this is the best plan in this particular case. Imagine coming home at 11:00 PM and plugging in your car before heading to sleep. If you don’t wake up at 3:00 AM to unplug, you’ll end up with a $36.00 bill by 6:00 in the morning. I hope they reconsider the pricing. Perhaps a prospective tenant could negotiate a more reasonable price for EV charging with the management as a condition of signing a lease.
Although there may be some adjustments to be made in the pricing model, it is good to see EV charging stations offered at more apartments.
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“Enchanted Forest” Electric Vehicle Charging in Ellicott City
An NRG eVgo Freedom Station with a CHAdeMO Fast Charger and a Level 2 has popped up at the Enchanted Forest Shopping Center on Rt. 40 in Ellicott City, Maryland. This is the third CHAdeMO station in Howard County. The other two are at the Ascend Building in Columbia and the NRG eVgo station in Elkridge.
This charging station was issued a permit in October and online records show that it was inspected on December 5, 2014. As of December 8th, it doesn’t have a meter and is not yet powered on. Signs and green striping for the charging spaces also need to be done.
The area where this is located used to be the site of a popular amusement park called the Enchanted Forest which opened in 1955, the same year that Disneyland opened. It welcomed up to 300,000 visitors a year until it closed in 1988 when the owners sold the land to developers who built the shopping center where the Safeway and the new charging station are today.
The Enchanted Forest had a nursery rhyme theme with Cinderella’s pumpkin coach and the shoe house where the children’s tale says an old woman lived with her many children. The white castle-like building which served as the park’s entrance is still there and is worth the short walk to visit while charging. Many of the fairy tale structures were moved to a nearby petting farm where they are preserved for the current generation of children to enjoy. Clark’s Ellioak Farm is a short drive from the charging station and could be a destination for a family electric road trip.
There are several restaurants in the shopping center including the White Oak Tavern, Ernesto’s Fine Mexican Food, Sakura Japanese Steak and Sushi Bar and Bagel Bin and Deli. If you have any packages to send, there is a Post Office near the Safeway. You can even send a postcard from the Enchanted Forest to tell friends and family that you charged your Nissan Leaf in 30 minutes, just like magic!
Tesla Roadster Charging at the Westin Annapolis
Here’s a little secret, there’s a Tesla Roadster charging station tucked away in the valet parking section In the Westin Annapolis hotel parking garage. I’m not exactly sure how long it’s been there but I first scouted it out in August, 2012 and it looked like it had been there a while even back then.
It’s on Level P1 on the north wall. Look for it on the left soon after entering the garage from the north entrance. When I last checked on August 17, 2014, it was powered on and seemed to be working.
There are a number of hotels and other places that are now offering destination charging for Tesla Model S but this is an early example of an upscale hotel that was forward thinking enough to offer EV charging as an amenity for their guests.
Another interesting feature of the Westin Annapolis that shows their commitment to sustaining the environment is a rooftop beehive. The hotel chef installed a beehive on the hotel’s roof that hosts as many as 35,000 honey bees to help pollinate trees and plants in the downtown area. The chef uses the honey to create signature dishes in the hotel’s Azure Restaurant.
For electric vehicle drivers without a Tesla Roadster, there is the Annapolis Springhill Suites with EV charging (SemaConnect Level 2) which was a previous Featured Plug In Site.
Tesla Expanding Destination Charging in Mid-Atlantic
Want to drive your Tesla Model S to Charlottesville, Dewey Beach or Hershey and charge while you’re there? Now you can!
Each of these towns are between 230 and 260 miles round trip from Washington, DC and there are currently no Superchargers along the way. Even with 265 miles of rated range on the Model S 85 kWh battery, you are probably going to be looking to charge. In the past few months, Tesla has quietly been expanding their “Destination Charging” program by installing High Power Wall Connectors (HPWC) at hotels, restaurants, museums and other places where Tesla drivers are likely to stay long enough to charge for a few hours.
In Charlottesville, VA the Oakhurst Inn has a Tesla HPWC at their boutique hotel and cafe near UVA. They also have installed a 40 Amp Clipper Creek station with a J-1772 connector that will fit other electric cars. The Oakhust Inn is part of Hay Creek Hotels which also has Tesla HPWCs at ten of their properties in New England.
Dewey Beach, DE has two HPWC stations in the garage of the Hyatt Place and the management of the hotel are big supporters of Tesla. A Tesla Drive event was held at the hotel this summer.
In Hershey, PA, there are two HPWCs in front of the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum. Like the Oakhurst Inn, they’ve also installed a Clipper Creek HCS-40, J-1772 charging station. The three stations are available 24 hours a day and are free. Museum executive director Mark Lizewskie says “Tesla is a futuristic car that will be a milestone in the history of the automobile.” Lizewskie acknowledged that in the early days of the automobile, electric cars competed with steam and gasoline and public charging stations existed in many cities.
Some have compared Elon Musk and Tesla Motors to Preston Tucker who created a futuristic automobile in the 1940s. The AACA Museum recently opened a wing dedicated to the Tucker auto. Might be a good reason to take a road trip to Hershey!
More info:
Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Installed at Oakhurst Inn
Hyatt Place hot spot for Teslas
AACA Museum installs electric car charging station
Tucker Automobiles: The Cammack Collection
Find Tesla Charging Locations
First Public Charging Stations in Howard County
Featured Plug In Site – Dorsey Building
The Howard County law prohibiting ICEing goes into effect today, September 29, 2014. To mark the occasion, I’m featuring the very first public charging site in Howard County. It is the Dorsey Building at 9250 Bendix Rd. in Columbia, MD. These five SemaConnect stations were funded by the Maryland Energy Administration EV Infrastructure Program (EVIP).
T
he stations are free but there is a four-hour limit. Official signs designating the spots for electric vehicles are in place and these, along with the EV charging spots operated by the county at the Howard Building in Ellicott City are the only stations in the county currently marked with regulatory signs that makes the new law enforceable. However, I have checked with Columbia Association and they are planning to erect new signs at their charging stations in the near future.
The Dorsey Building is within walking distance of a Pizza Hut and a Wendy’s. The Wendy’s has WiFi. No card or app. is needed to use the SemaConnect stations, just plug in and begin charging.
I attended the dedication ceremony of these stations on November 7, 2011. The County Executive, Ken Ulman, said these were the first of many coming to Howard County. Here is video I recorded from the ceremony.
http://youtu.be/QApoE5cK41M&rel=0
@Lanny
Hotel Charging Station at Springhill Suites Annapolis
I was in Annapolis over the weekend and stopped by the Springhill Suites at 189 Admiral Cochrane Drive to look at the new charging stations there. As I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed orange cones saving the parking space. There is currently no sign designating the adjacent parking spot as for EV charging only, so the fact that the management had been proactive to protect the spot for potential guests with a plug-in car was good to see.
This charging station is identified as public in the Alternative Fueling Station Locator. However, the message on the screen states, “THIS CHARGER FOR GUEST OF OUR HOTEL ONLY. NO EXCEPTIONS.” A regular SemaCharge card does not work on this station. Apparently, the front desk has a special card to initiate a charging session. I suppose the policy makes sense considering that there are some office buildings nearby and it is reasonable for the hotel to discourage other EV drivers so that the charging station is always available for their guests.
The SemaConnect station has a different J-1772 connector and cable than older SemaConnect ChargePro stations. The connector housing is made of a softer, rubberized plastic with a different release thumb button. The cable is much more flexible which will make it much easier to coil, especially in winter.
I’m happy to see more charging stations located at hotels. This can encourage more overnight road trips in plug-in cars.
FedEx Field Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
Featured Plug In Site: Ten Charging Stations at FedExField in Landover, MD
The home of the Washington, Redskins, FedExField, has a total of 10 electric-vehicle (EV) charging stations. The stations are in two of the parking lots at the stadium. There are eight at the South Purple Permit Lot and two at the A-1 Platinum Lot. These charging stations, from NRG eVgo, allow fans to plug in their electric cars and charge during the game.
When you arrive in your plug-in car, inform the parking staff that you wish to use the charging stations in the front of the Purple Lot. I was directed to the charging area of the Purple lot even though my parking pass was orange.
The charging stations are free and don’t require a card to use as of now, August, 2014.