Featured Plug In Site: Potomac Overlook Park, Arlington, VA *CLOSED*

Lanny

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*This Station is Permanently CLOSED*

Peaceful and Secluded Charging Spot

This is one of my favorite charging stations to visit. It’s hidden down a gravel road in a peaceful wooded park near the Potomac River in northern Arlington, Virginia.

Many of us are used to finding a coffee shop, restaurant or movie theater nearby when we plug into a Level 2 public charging station for a boost. This “plug in site” in Potomac Overlook Regional Park has a nature center, hiking trails, gardens, picnic tables and a sustainable energy exhibit to occupy your time while charging.

Potomac Overlook Park EV charging station - click map
Potomac Overlook Park EV charging station – click map for details

First EV Charging Station in Arlington
This SemaConnect ChargePro is the very first electric vehicle charging station installed in Arlington. It was unveiled at the park’s 26th Annual Potomac Overlook Open House & Heritage Festival on May 1, 2011.

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*This Station is Permanently CLOSED*

The charging station is accessed by driving down a gravel road normally closed to the public. It’s beside a brown shed on the right about 100 feet before the Nature Center.

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The park is open daily, dawn to dusk. The park manager asks that you call first so that they can manage vehicular use on the Nature Center access road. During events or heavy visitation, the charging station may not be available.

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*This Station is Permanently CLOSED as of 11/28/16*

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Ever Been ICEd? – Charging Challenges

Lanny

CevartthumbStory of the Anti-ICEing law in Montgomery County, MD

Our recent post showing the Jeep that got slapped with a $60.00 fine for ICEing has kinda gone viral. It’s generated thousands of views and has been shared and discussed in EV related groups on Facebook and elsewhere. It’s even prompted a thread on a VW enthusiast forum asking how common these laws are. Maybe these photos will serve as a warning to gas car drivers to think twice before parking in an EV charging spot.

The truth is, most jurisdictions still don’t have laws against blocking a charging station. It took years to get the first such law in Maryland and Montgomery County is still the only jurisdiction in the state to give tickets for ICEing on private parking lots where most of the charging stations are located.

Advocating for a similar law in your area
It’s not easy to get these laws made. I wrote an article for the Electric Auto Association’s Current EVents detailing some of the history and challenges of the first anti-ICEing law in Maryland and tips on advocating for similar legislation in your jurisdiction. Click here to read.

@Lanny

Text of Federal Employee Charging Section of Transportation Bill

Lanny

passedstrr
The following portion of the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015 (HR22) relates to electric vehicle charging infrastructure. It includes language introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie to authorize the operation of EV charging stations in parking areas used by federal employees. This was originally introduced as the EV-COMUTE Act of 2014 by Rep. Zoe Lofgren before being amended to the Surface Transportation bill, now signed into law by the President.

SEC. 1413. National electric vehicle charging and hydrogen, propane, and natural gas fueling corridors.

(c) Operation of battery recharging stations in parking areas used by Federal employees.—

(1) AUTHORIZATION.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of General Services may install, construct, operate, and maintain on a reimbursable basis a battery recharging station (or allow, on a reimbursable basis, the use of a 120-volt electrical receptacle for battery recharging) in a parking area that is in the custody, control, or administrative jurisdiction of the General Services Administration for the use of only privately owned vehicles of employees of the General Services Administration, tenant Federal agencies, and others who are authorized to park in such area to the extent such use by only privately owned vehicles does not interfere with or impede access to the equipment by Federal fleet vehicles.
Read More …

$60 Parking Ticket for “ICEing” in Gaithersburg, Maryland

Lanny
photo credit: David H. used with permission
photo by: David H. used with permission

Warning to gasoline car drivers, if you block an EV charging station in Gaithersburg in Montgomery County, Maryland with a vehicle that doesn’t plug-in, you risk getting a $60 parking fine. The police in Gaithersburg gave a ticket to a Jeep that parked in a clearly marked electric vehicle charging spot at the Cadence at Crown parking garage.

The parking violation notice referred to City Code Sec. 14-7G (In Violation of Official Sign) with a handwritten note, “Jeep parked in spot marked ‘Electric Vehicles Only.'” The fine was listed as $60 on the ticket.

Montgomery County passed a law that went into effect on June 11, 2014 that makes it illegal to park a non plug-in vehicle at a charging station marked with an official sign. That law is in Sec. 31-26B of Montgomery Co. Code.

To report parking violations in Montgomery County, call the police non-emergency line at 301-279-8000.

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UPDATE: Maryland EVIP Fast Charger Map – December, 2015

Lanny
PlugInSites-org EVIP Map April 2016
Click map for location details of Maryland EVIP CHAdeMO/SAE Combo Fast Chargers.

This is the December, 2015 April, 2016 PlugInSites unofficial map of open, under construction and planned locations of the Maryland Energy Administration’s Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program (EVIP) Fast Charger stations. Grants were awarded for 21 sites although not all of those locations are shown on this map and some of the planned locations shown are subject to change.

The EVIP grant program, announced on April 24, 2014, provides up to $1,000,000 in matching funds for a public/private partnership to install a DC Fast Charging network throughout the State of Maryland. The DC Fast Charging sites will have both CHAdeMO and SAE Combo connectors.

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Two DC Fast Chargers Open on MD Eastern Shore

Lanny

  
The DelMarVa peninsula has been an EV charging desert for years. Today, two DC fast chargers came online that will enable drivers of CHAdeMO and SAE Combo equipped electric vehicles to drive from the Washington, DC and Baltimore area to Ocean City. 

The two fast chargers are part of the Maryland Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program (EVIP) grant. The locations are at Royal Farms stores at 2703 Ocean Gateway, Cambridge, MD and 27992 Ocean Gateway, Salisbury, MD. 

 
For the moment, the stations are free but there will eventually be a $0.39 per kWh fee assessed.

Who will be the first to reach the Ocean City boardwalk in a Nissan LEAF, Chevy Spark EV, VW eGolf or BMW i3?

Wytheville, Virginia Tesla Supercharger – Permit Issued

Lanny

WythevilleVA_SCmap

A building permit was issued last week for a Tesla Supercharger to be constructed at 165 Malin Dr., Wytheville, VA. (map link)

There is a Holiday Inn Express located at that address. A Waffle House, Shoney’s and Peking Chinese restaurant also show on the map nearby.

Construction has not yet begun as of November 24, 2015.

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Tesla Supercharger to be Built in Lexington, VA

Lanny

LexingtonVASC
Officials in Rockbridge County have issued a permit for the construction of a Tesla Supercharger station near the town of Lexington, Virginia at 880 N. Lee Highway (map).

There is an Applebee’s restaurant, Best Western and a Holiday Inn Express near this address.

The new Supercharger will be close to the interchange of I-64 and I-81 and will be accessible to travelers on both highways. The Lexington, VA Supercharger will be about 109 miles south of the Tesla Supercharger in Strasburg, VA that opened on September 2, 2015.

Subscribe or follow @PlugInSites for updates.

Westminster, MD Royal Farms Fast Charger is Online

Lanny


The DC Fast Charger at the Royal Farms store at 1818 Baltimore Blvd, Finksburg, MD, southeast of Westminster, is now online.

This dual port, SAE Combo and CHAdeMO station is part of the Maryland EVIP grant program which includes 15 Royal Farms locations in the state of Maryland.

The station shows up on the ChargePoint map and is listed as free. The free period is probably temporary and then it will cost $0.39 per kWh with $2.00 minimum.

Follow @PlugInSites for updates.