Plug-In Sites - EV charging from a driver's perspective.

New York Bill to Require EV-Ready Parking at State Funded Construction Projects

December 27, 2019December 27, 2019 Lanny

Senate Bill S7055 by Anna M. Kaplan

New York State Senator Anna Kaplan has prefiled legislation in Albany to require that new construction projects with more than 50 parking spaces that receive state funding must be capable of supporting electric vehicle charging stations.

The bill as drafted specifies that an electrical supply panel, raceway, and other components would be required to support future EV charging equipment with a capacity of at least 3.1 kW for each charging station.

Senate Bill S7055 is due to be assigned to the Committee on Finance when the 2020 Legislative Session begins on January 8th.

Mount Airy, MD to Add Tesla Destination Charging

December 24, 2019December 24, 2019 Lanny

Mt Airy, MD Charging Station — White paint marks an area where EV charging is to be installed.

Mt. Airy, Maryland, a town located between Baltimore and Frederick, installed a Level 2 charging station in May, 2015. We reported on the ribbon cutting when the Mayor, who drives an EV, and other officials welcomed electric vehicle drivers to charge for free while visiting the quaint and historic Mt Airy Main Street.

Town Attractive for EV Tourism

The initiative to attract EV tourism must be successful because the town is ready to break ground to add four more charging stations. These will be 240v Tesla charging units. Two will go next to the existing universal J1772 connectors in the Municipal Parking Lot and two will be installed in Watkins Park.

BGE Fast Charger in Westminster, MD

December 23, 2019December 23, 2019 Lanny

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.

Happy 7th Birthday East Coast Superchargers

December 21, 2019December 20, 2019 Lanny

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.

Frederick, MD Supercharger at FSK Mall

November 26, 2019November 26, 2019 Lanny

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.

Columbia, Maryland Electrify America Fast Chargers

November 16, 2019November 16, 2019 Lanny

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.

Hancock, Maryland Fast Chargers – CCS & CHAdeMO

November 12, 2019November 12, 2019 Lanny

Hancock, MD Fast Charging — Located at the Western Maryland Rail Trail Parking Lot.

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.

V3 Supercharger Planned for Vienna, Virginia Wawa

October 16, 2019October 16, 2019 Lanny

Drawings Indicate Eight 250 kW Supercharger Stalls

Tesla plans to build a Version 3 Supercharger at a new Wawa store in Vienna, Virginia. The location is a former Caldwell Banker building at 465 Maple Ave. (Rt. 123) at the intersection with Nutley St. Map link. Construction to convert the existing building began in September and management expects the store to open around April, 2020.

Plans show eight Supercharger stalls. Five charging spots are on the north side of the parking lot near the entrance from Nutley, Street. Three stalls are shown on the west side of the lot across from the main store entrance according to drawings submitted to Fairfax County and obtained by PlugInSites through a Virginia Freedom of Information Act request. One of the stalls will be in a pull-in spot. Two spots will be “dedicated” with “TESLA VEHICLE CHARGING ONLY” signs. The remaining stalls will allow “15 MINUTE GENERAL PARKING” according to the documents.

Electrify America Posts Enforceable Signs in Columbia, MD

September 26, 2019July 25, 2020 Lanny

Signage is a Model for Maryland EV Chargers

Electrify America is building one of their largest and highest powered charging stations in the parking lot of Walmart in Columbia, Maryland. There are 10 DC Fast Charging dispensers, five are labeled 320 kW.

When construction started to wind down and signs were installed, I was disappointed to see only “branding” signs with, “EV charging only” printed in small, thin letters on the far ends of the charging area. I took to Twitter and asked @ElectrifyAm for signs that conformed to the MUTCD standards so that the police could enforce Howard County’s anti-ICEing ordinance.

Advocating for EV Charger Reliability at the Maryland PSC

June 19, 2019June 19, 2019 Lanny

The Maryland Public Service Commission met this morning to approve an implementation of Electric Vehicle Charging Program Offerings by BGE, Pepco and Delmarva Power. Among other things, it will provide rebates for residential charging stations and sets the rate for utility-owned public charging stations at $0.18/kWh for Level 2 and $0.34/kWh for DC Fast Charging.

52-81% of US apartment dwellers with BEVs rely solely on public charging according to a Jan. 2019 report. Reliability is critical for these folks. I spoke to the Commissioners today to stress the need for better accountability for companies that use public or ratepayer funding to provide EV charging. [Link to YouTube Video]

Here’s a transcript of those remarks.

Joint Utilities Compliance Filing Regarding Implementation of Approved Electric Vehicle Charging Program Offerings. Case No. 9478.

My name is Lanny Hartmann. I drive an electric car. I appreciate the opportunity to make a few comments from an EV driver’s point of view.

I want to focus on one segment of people who drive battery-only electric cars and don’t have access to charging at home or at work and who rely solely on public EV charging.

The proposed flat rate of 34 cents per kWh [for DC fast charging] is in a range that I think is fair. I’d point out that the cost to use a Tesla Supercharger is only 28 cents per kWh. And Tesla delivers a very reliable service at that price.

Customers of utility-owned chargers need to have a high degree of confidence that they can rely on them. Otherwise, this pilot won’t succeed.

There was an article Saturday in the Carroll County Times about this EV charging program. There’s a quote from BGE about the maintenance of the chargers saying, “BGE is being held to the same reliability standards as our electric distribution system, so they must be operational at all times.”