Category: Featured Plug In Site

Main Street EV Charging

The city of Rock Springs, Wyoming is proud of its rich multinational heritage. The main thoroughfare is lined with the flags of dozens of countries representing Rock Springs as the “Home of 56 Nationalities” due to the immigrants who came from all over the world to work in the local coal mines that fueled the Union Pacific Railroad locomotives.

The city installed two EV charging ports on their historic Main Street in August, 2019. We used them when we stopped in Rock Springs during a drive across the US on the old Lincoln Highway in September.

These are the first publicly available universal J1772 electric vehicle charging stations in Sweetwater County. Wyoming, being the least populous state in the union, has few EV charging stations. Rock Springs already hosted a Tesla Supercharger due to it being along the route of I-80 which runs across Wyoming. A hotel near the highway also has several Tesla destination charging stations.

Fee Free Charging

The city debated installing a commercial networked EV charging station that could collect a fee. But according to an article in the Rocket Miner, they would have had to spend $15,000 to do so. The city decided to spend $5,500 on material and labor to install two ClipperCreek Level 2 stations. This savings allow them to provide the electricity for free. The benefit for the city is that the charging stations will bring people downtown.

Location: 501 S. Main St., Rock Springs, WY

Tesla Destination Charging

Diners and cars go together. Both are an essential part of the American experience. At the Mill Plain Diner in Danbury, CT, you can plug in your Tesla while you enjoy your bacon and pancakes or coffee and pie.

This eating establishment installed a Tesla connector as part of the Tesla destination charging program. The charging unit is attached to a wall in back of the diner and a red sign designates the spot as for Tesla Vehicle Charging.

The Tesla FindUs page says the diner’s single Tesla connector is available for customers and charges at up to 8 kW.

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Fast Food – Slow Charging

Looking for a Big Mac and want to boost your charge? This McDonald’s has you covered. Don’t get your hopes too high, the food may be fast but the charging is not. This is Level 2 charging only.

Traveling down the West Coast Electric Highway in August, 2017, we stopped at this Level 2 charging station at the McDonald’s at 2910 Newberg Hwy, Woodburn, OR. This restaurant is about a mile from the Woodburn Tesla Supercharger and a West Coast Electric Highway fast charger site with CHAdeMO is across the street at the Woodburn Transit Center.

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Charming Historic Old Town Warrenton

Virginia is home to a number of charming, walkable small towns. Old Town Warrenton is one of those gems. Now you can charge your Tesla when you visit.

The Town of Warrenton recently installed two Tesla connectors in a public parking lot downtown. The location is near 45 Horner St., behind the Post Office.

On Way to Wineries and Shenandoah National Park

Warrenton Town Manager Brandie Schaeffer told WTOP Radio ”Warrenton is the best kept secret in Northern Virginia. People with electric vehicles traveling from the city to the wineries or Shenandoah National Park can stop in Warrenton for a quick charge, while they grab coffee, lunch, or shop.”

One attraction that gets rave reviews is the Red Truck Rural Bakery. Located in a former Esso gas station, Travel + Leisure calls it “One of America’s best small-town bakeries.”

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Utility Operated Charging Station

The first utility owned and operated DC Fast Charger in Maryland opened in Westminster, Maryland. It’s located in the parking lot at the Carroll County Government Offices Building at 225 N. Center Street.

The 50 kW charger is an Efacec QC45 similar to the charger at the Royal Farms Store about four miles east on Baltimore Blvd. We hope the single BGE fast charger is reliable, regularly maintained and fixed quickly since the only backup on site is a pair of Level 2 ports. See: Advocating for EV Charger Reliability at the Maryland PSC

All BGE fast chargers currently cost $0.34 per kWh as approved by the Maryland Public Service Commission which regulates the utility. Level 2 costs $0.18 per kWh. EV drivers can pay via a Greenlots account. Video.

More BGE Public Charging Coming Soon

BGE plans to own, and operate up to 500 public EV charging stations in their Maryland service area on property owned or controlled by state, county, and local governments. About 20% of these are to be DC Fast Chargers.

Eldersburg Library, North Carroll Library and Carroll Community College also plan to have charging stations according to a Carroll County news release.

For more information about the BGE EV Smart program, see bge.com/electricvehicles.

Newark, DE and Milford, CT Tesla Superchargers Open for Seven Years

On December 21, 2012, Tesla officially opened the Superchargers at the Delaware Welcome Center in Newark and at the Milford Travel Plazas on I-95 in Connecticut. These two locations let Model S drivers travel between Washington, DC and Boston. At the time, only six of Tesla’s exclusive fast charging sites existed elsewhere in the world and all were in California. Today, there are over 1,700 Supercharger stations worldwide.

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Tesla Supercharging at Francis Scott Key Mall

The Frederick Maryland Supercharger at Francis Scott Key Mall has power as of November 26, 2019. Tesla installed ten charging stalls at the mall which is south east of the town of Frederick near where I-270 and I-70 merge. Map link.

The Frederick Supercharger site is along Spectrum Drive on the north edge of the parking lot near Barnes and Noble. There’s a Red Robin restaurant and a BJ’s Brewhouse nearby. In addition to the mall’s food options, there’s a Panera, Jersey Mike’s Subs, Baja Fresh and several other eateries in the area.

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Ten Charging Stalls

The new Electrify America charging station in Columbia, MD is now the largest CCS/CHAdeMO site in Maryland and one of the biggest in the entire country.

The fast charging station, which is now operational, has a total of ten dispensers. Two are labeled as 350 kW maximum power and the other eight are 150 kW maximum. One dispenser has a CHAdeMO port rated at 50 kW, the other nine are CCS only. 

According to the Electrify America website, there are 339 stations operational as of Nov. 15, 2019. Most EA sites have eight or fewer chargers. Columbia is one of only about 14 Electrify America sites with ten chargers.

The electric vehicle charging station is built and operated by a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group as part of a settlement over VW’s diesel emissions scandal. It’s located in the parking lot of the Walmart at 6405 Dobbin Road. Walmart, a partner with Electrify America, has announced over 100 stores will have EA charging stations. The Walmart stores in Abingdon and Hagerstown, MD also have Electrify America chargers operating in their parking lots.

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A new set of DC fast chargers in Hancock, Maryland has moved the western frontier for CHAdeMO and CCS charging in Maryland about 25 miles past Hagerstown.

EV drivers in the region have been eager to have CCS and CHAdeMO options in western Maryland ever since it was first proposed over five years ago.

In April 2014, Maryland announced a $1 million plan to fund the placement of DC fast chargers throughout the entire state including Garrett County. However, when the first grant awards were announced, there weren’t any charging sites on the map past Hagerstown.

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The Columbia Association has installed a Level 2 electric vehicle charging station in the Oakland Mills Village Center in Columbia, Maryland. It is located at 5851 Robert Oliver Pl., behind The Other Barn, which serves as the Oakland Mills Community Center.

This is the sixth EV charging location installed by the Columbia Association since they began their EV charging initiative in February, 2013. The other CA locations with EV charging are Owen Brown Community Center, Columbia Gym, Supreme Sports Club, Athletic Club (2), and Long Reach Tennis Club (2).

Columbia Association still needs to post signage at this EV charging station. This will bring it into alignment with the Howard County Anti-ICEing ordinance allowing police to ticket violators.

The price to use this station is $0.20 per kWh and you need a ChargePoint account to initiate a session.