Exciting news for EV drivers traveling to Ocean City, Maryland. The Holiday Inn Oceanfront in OC has six EV charging stations. A note on their Facebook page says, “We are excited to be able to offer this amenity to our EV guests, and look forward having you charge towards a greener future with us.”
A representative of the hotel told PlugInSites, “We just got them up yesterday and are waiting for the electric company to come and finish the job.”
The installation includes four Tesla HPWCs and two ClipperCreek universal stations. The universal stations have J-1772 connectors that can charge any modern electric car.
The Holiday Inn Oceanfront is located on 67th Street in Ocean City. Visit them on the web at holidayinnoceanfront.com
Stay tuned for updates on when these charging stations will be online and ready to use.
Alex Roy, Carl Reese and Deena Mastracci, are apparently attempting to set a record for fastest Autopilot equipped Tesla to drive coast to coast. Alex Roy held the cross country “Cannonball Run” NY to LA driving record for a number of years with a BMW M5 that covered the distance at an average speed over 90 mph with top speeds reaching 160 MPH. Roy’s record was broken in October, 2013 by Ed Bolin who drove the distance in 28 hours, 50 minutes and 26 seconds.
Carl Reese, his fiancé Deena Mastracci, and Rodney Hawk drove Reese’s Model S P85D 3,011 miles from LA to New York in 58 hours and 55 minutes in April, 2015. They are listed in the Guinness World Records as having the least non-driving time to cross the United States in an electric vehicle at 12 hours, 48 minutes and 19 seconds. This beat the record set by a pair of Model S sent by Tesla Motors in early 2014 when the Supercharger network was established to the point that would enable cars to drive coast to coast exclusively using Supercharger stations.
I got a clue that something was up this morning when @AlexRoy144 tweeted, “What Is The Level 2 Autonomous Driving Record? Enquiring Minds Want to Know” #Tesla #Autopilot
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed classification system, a Level 2 automated vehicle system has at least two controls that can be automated in unison, such as adaptive cruise control and lane keeping.
Alex Roy put a video on Instagram from Richfield Utah with a red Model S with the alarm going off in the background asking, “Has Elon Musk bricked our Tesla Model S in the middle of our level 2 autonomous driving cross country road trip?”
Another Instagram photo shows 90 MPH on a dim speedometer display with this note: I’m sorry, officer. I couldn’t read how fast the car was driving itself. #NotAllExcuses
This team is likely to be the first to cross the United States since Version 7.0 with Autopilot was released to the public. I’m excited to see Alex Roy in the car with the two experienced Tesla drivers. Roy recently shared his thoughts on the consequences for driving enthusiasts in an autonomous car future in an article, “How Science Fiction Failed Us: The Real Future Of Autonomous Cars.” Worth a read.
The new Signet dual-connector DC Fast Charger at the Municipal Building in Blacksburg has a unique feature. It talks!
Step-by-Step Voice Instructions
A woman’s voice emits from a loudspeaker in the front panel of the unit to give the operator step-by-step instructions on how to use the charger. In the video below, she explains how to end a session. “Your charge is completed. Disengage the connector from your vehicle and confirm that you want to stop the charge by pressing the stop button.” After the button is pushed, the voice says, “Please return the connector to its cradle and close the door until it clicks. Thank you for using our service.”
Enables Trips in the Shenandoah Valley
We recently used this Fast Charger in Blacksburg on our way back north after driving 200 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway. It delivered 132 mi/hr and we easily made it to the Tesla Supercharger in Strasburg in our Model S 70D in mild fall temperatures. As of October, 2015 it is free to use and you don’t need a card or smartphone app of any kind.
As a result of the Maryland legislature voting to pass and the governor signing HB-235, there can be up to four locations in the state where Tesla can engage in sales activity. One of those locations is the Montgomery Mall in Bethesda which opened a little over two years ago. A Tesla Sales and Service Center is coming to Owings Mills according to the Tesla Motors website.
Tesla has also announced that they will have an Experience Center at the Westfield Annapolis Mall beginning on Monday, October 19th. This location will only be open through December and will offer test drives and the ability to configure and place an order for a car.
The Tesla Experience Center is set up like a kiosk in the main hall of the mall across from the J Crew store in the vicinity of JCPenney.
Tesla Model S cars charging in the Red Garage
On October 13th, there were four Teslas parked on the ground level in the Red Garage with three of them plugged into the Level One outlets that are designated by the Mall for EV charging. These are presumably test drive cars. At the present time, there are no HPWCs or NEMA 14-50 outlets in the garage.
City of Charlottesville Downtown DC Fast Charger Ribbon Cutting Oct 13, 2015, 11:00 am – 12:00
Ribbon cutting at the Charlottesville, Va Downtown Mall on Tuesday, October 13, 2015 at 11:00 a.m at the charging station located at 1st and Market Parking Lot.
Address:
First and Market Parking lot
Charlottesville, VA
Christiansburg EV Roundup and Blacksburg DC Fast Charger Ribbon Cutting Oct 13, 2015, 12:00 pm – 3:30 pm There will be a ribbon-cutting on Tuesday, October 13, 2015 at 2:30 pm at the DC Fast charging station located in the parking lot at 300 S. Main Street in Blacksburg.
Address:
300 S. Main St.
Blacksburg, Virginia 24060
Brown Harris Wealth Management Open House with Tesla Test Drives Oct 13 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Brown Harris Wealth Management has moved to a new location at 309 N. Main Street in Culpeper, VA. They’ve installed an electric vehicle charging station at their new building. Tesla Motors will have a car to test drive at their open house on Tuesday, Oct. 13 from noon to 6:00 p.m.
Croc’s 19th Street Bistro. October 15 at 6:00 pm
Ribbon cutting for a Tesla destination charging station at Croc’s 19th Street Bistro in Virginia Beach.
Address: 620 19th St.
VA Beach, VA 23451
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park now has four electric vehicle charging stations open to the public. The stations were unveiled by the East Tennessee Clean Fuels Coalition and the National Park Service, at a ribbon cutting ceremony on September 30, 2015.
The charging stations were installed at two locations, Sugarlands and Oconaluftee Visitor Centers on Newfound Gap Road in the Smokies. Each Visitors Center has both a Level 2 charging station and a dual-connector (CHAdeMO & SAE Combo) DC Fast Charger.
Park Superintendent Cassius Cash said, “Putting this equipment in use will help us meet our goal of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions from 2006 levels by 20% by 2020.”
Coordinator of the Land of Sky Clean Vehicles Coalition Bill Eaker said, “The park is a clean transportation leader within the National Park Service and is setting a great example for other parks and fleets across the nation.”
Joint funding from the Dept. of Interior and Dept. of Energy is helping a number of national parks advance their goals toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions from park operations and improving air quality in and around the parks. According to the Clean Cities National Parks Initiative website, Catoctin Mountain and Shenandoah National Park are due to get EV charging stations.
“To help keep views along scenic Skyline Drive clear, Shenandoah National Park is acquiring a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, an all-electric vehicle, and three EV chargers.”
“Catoctin Mountain Park will replace two conventional vehicles with plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and install three electric vehicle charging stations for park and public use.”
Today, October 1, 2015, a new law goes into effect that will allow Tesla to sell cars in the state of Maryland. HB 0235, introduced by Montgomery County Delegate Kirill Reznik, passed a vote on April 13, the last day of the 2015 legislative session with only five minutes to spare.
Bob Erdman and Lanny Hartmann testify in the House Environment and Transportation Committee in support of Maryland HB 235 with Jeff Cadman, Delegate Kirill Reznik and James Chen of Tesla Motors looking on. Feb. 19, 2015
The bill was supported by the Maryland Dealers Association which agreed to allow as many as six locations. However, General Motors wanted to limit the number to two locations. In the end, the bill was amended to allow up to four dealer licenses to be issued.
HB 0235 was signed into law by Gov. Hogan on May 12 at a ceremony attended by several Tesla drivers who represented the support of the Tesla community for the direct sales model employed by Tesla Motors.
HB 0235 – Sale of Electric or Nonfossil-Fuel Burning Vehicles
This bill authorizes a manufacturer or distributor to obtain no more than four licenses as a vehicle dealer if the manufacturer or distributor deals only in electric or nonfossil-fuel burning vehicles, no dealer in the State holds a franchise from the manufacturer or distributor, and the manufacturer or distributor does not have a controlling-interest relationship with any other manufacturer or distributor licensed as a dealer under the bill.
Electric vehicle drivers can now use a statewide network of high-power Level 2 charging stations in Delaware. The “Charging Up Delaware” program has placed 11 new EV charging stations at five locations throughout the state under a partnership between the University of Delaware and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC).
Enables EV Travel Throughout the Entire State
The state of Delaware is 96 miles long and the distance between charging locations is less than 50 miles in order to enable travel in the entire state for electric cars with shorter range, even in winter. Gov. Jack Markell said, “By strategically locating stations throughout the state, our citizens and out-of-state visitors now have convenient access to charge electric vehicles for both long and short trips.” Read More …
A DC Fast Charger for CHAdeMO and SAE Combo equipped cars is being installed in downtown Front Royal, Virginia. A concrete pad and signs for two parking spaces to be reserved for EV charging are already in place in the parking lot of the Front Royal Visitors Center at 415 E. Main Street.
Equipment Donated by Nissan North America
The Town Council approved a plan at their August 24, 2015 General Meeting to accept a donation of an electric vehicle fast charger from the Nissan North America EV Advantage Program. The value of the equipment and services being provided by Nissan is $38,000. The Town of Front Royal will pay for the installation costs and pay $600.00 to cover four years of Greenlots software and support services. The town must also commit to keeping the charging equipment in place, maintained and accessible to the general public at all times for at least five years. Read More …
The Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) Catonsville campus has installed rows of solar panels covering parking lots 6 and 8. This is part of a 5.1-megawatt solar generation system that will have about 16,500 photovoltaic panels covering more than 1,400 parking spaces at the three main campuses including Dundalk and Essex.
Eight Electric Vehicle Charging Ports
Four dual-port ChargePoint charging stations capable of charging eight electric vehicles at once are installed, but not yet operational under the solar canopy in Catonsville. There will also be four dual-port charging stations at Essex and three at the Dundalk campus. Read More …
