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Tesla CHAdeMO Adapter at MOM’s in Frederick

July 8, 2015 Lanny

moms frederick chademo

MOM’s Organic Market in Frederick, Maryland is now lending out a Tesla CHAdeMO adapter so that Model S drivers can use the DC Fast Charger at their store. The idea to offer the adapter came from the founder of MOM’s, Scott Nash, who has been a great supporter of EV charging and drives an electric car.

To charge a Model S at the Frederick store, just ask for the adapter at the customer service desk inside the front door. I tested it out for a few minutes to see how it operated and everything worked fine. I plugged the adapter into the vehicle first, then attached the charger’s CHAdeMO connector to the adapter. Then I pressed the green start button on the charger cabinet. The screen displayed that it was in testing mode for a few seconds, then the green light on the vehicle’s charging port illuminated showing that it was charging. The 25 kW unit charged at a rate of 66 mi/hr.

moms frederick chademo screen

MOM’s Organic Market has free EV charging stations at almost all of their stores. MOM’s says that the Woodbridge store, scheduled to open in August, 2015, will have four Level 2 stations and one DC Fast Charger. If you still drive a fossil fuel car, they will Terrapass your gas and buy carbon credits to offset the carbon dioxide emitted from your round trip to their store. But with so many plug in sites such as these, why not drive electric?

Ref: Tesla CHAdeMO Adapter Manual (PDF)

@Lanny

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12 Charging Ports Coming to Tanger Outlets in Rehoboth

July 2, 2015July 6, 2015 Lanny

Tanger Outlets Seaside Center Charging Stations — Seaside Center Charging Stations photo: Tanger Outlets

Tanger Outlets in Rehoboth Beach, DE has three centers along Route 1: Bayside, Seaside and Surfside. Each one of these now has two ChargePoint dual-port charging stations. That’s four J-1772 charging connectors at each center for a total of 12 charging ports. This is part of an initiative to bring EV charging stations to Tanger Outlets nationwide. Tanger Outlet Centers in Hershey and Lancaster, Pennsylvania already have charging stations.

The finishing touches such as signs and paint still are being applied, but power is already on at the Seaside and Surfside locations. The charging stations at the Bayside outlet center are installed but awaiting power.

Charging stations are near the Gap store in Seaside center. photo: Tanger Outlets

Two high-amp Level 2 charging stations are now open at Surfside Park in downtown Rehoboth Beach. The addition of these 12 charging ports means that Rehoboth Beach now has enough public EV charging stations to handle 14 electric vehicles at once.

Who’s going to the beach in their electric car this summer? Where will you charge?

@Lanny

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U.S. Transportation Bill Calls for National Electric Vehicle Charging Corridors

June 23, 2015 Lanny

US Capitol
The Senate has introduced its six-year highway infrastructure spending bill known as the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act, or DRIVE Act. [PDF] The bill includes a provision for national electric vehicle charging corridors and deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in those corridors by the end of fiscal year 2021.

The DRIVE act calls for designation of national electric vehicle charging corridors to identify the need for, and location of, electric vehicle charging infrastructure at strategic locations along major national highways to improve the mobility of electric-powered passenger and commercial vehicles.

In designating corridors, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation shall involve the heads of other Federal agencies; State and local officials; representatives of energy utilities; the electric vehicle industries; clean technology firms; the hospitality industry; the restaurant industry; and highway rest stop vendors.

The bill calls for a report that identifies electric vehicle charging infrastructure and standardization needs for electricity providers, infrastructure providers, vehicle manufacturers, electricity purchasers, and establishes a goal of achieving strategic deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in those corridors by the end of fiscal year 2021.

@Lanny

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SAE Combo Station in Maryland Now Online

June 16, 2015 Lanny

Royal Farms Store Fast Charging price: $.39 per kWh, $2.00 minimum.

The ChargePoint Network map is showing a new DC Fast Charger that supports both SAE Combo and CHAdeMO located at 6210 Allentown Rd, Camp Springs, MD. This is a new Royal Farms Store that opened on June 15, 2015 and is apparently the first location from the Maryland EVIP Fast Charger Grant to be installed. @MDVolt posted some photos.

Usage is free for the first 30 days and then $.39 per kWh, $2.00 minimum after July 15, 2015.

@Lanny

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Tesla Supercharger Approved for Strasburg, VA

June 10, 2015 Lanny

view larger map

Tesla Superchargers have been approved to be located at a Denny’s restaurant in Strasburg, Virginia according to Planning and Zoning Administrator Wyatt Pearson.

The restaurant location at 119 Hite Lane, off U.S. 11 is near where I-66 intersects with I-81. Strasburg is one of the five new Virginia Supercharger sites mentioned by an official at the opening of the Tesla Tysons Sales and Service Center in March.

Construction has yet to begin and so far we have no information on the timeline.

@Lanny

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UPDATE: Rehoboth Beach Stations Coming Online “Shortly”

June 9, 2015 Lanny

rehobothave01
June 9, 2015: The two High-Amp Level 2 stations in Rehoboth Beach that are part of the “Charging Up Delaware” program are expected to be online “shortly.” The charging station enclosures are in place. They are awaiting some electronic components and then the J-1772 cables will be attached and signs put up. It may still be a few more weeks until they are available. More info will be shared here as it develops. Subscribe below for email notifications.

@Lanny

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Baltimore City $0.15 per kWh Fees Begin June 15

June 4, 2015 Lanny

Baltimore-June15-600
The Baltimore City Department of Public Works, Office of Sustainable Energy posted letters at the EV charging stations in some of the parking garages owned by Baltimore City, informing users that the fees announced for Level 2 charging on weekdays will begin on June 15, 2015.

Currently, there is more demand at the garage in which you typically park than chargers available. On many weekdays, both the level 1 and 2 EVSE are occupied by the same vehicles for the entire day. These vehicles remain parked long after the battery is charged. To increase access to charging stations for EV drivers needing to charge, we will be implementing a fee structure for charging in the most popular EV spaces in yours and other Baltimore City owned garages.

For now, we will only charge drivers for level 2 electricity use. Level 1 charging will remain free at all times. If you need a charge, and will likely be parked all day, we hope you’ll use the Level 1 outlet when available. Beginning on June 15, 2015, Level 2 charging in this garage will cost $0.15 per kWh between the hours of 7:00AM and 7:00PM on weekdays. All funds collected will be used to pay for equipment repairs or annual subscription fees of municipal EV chargers. Having financially sustainable chargers would also make installing more EV chargers more successful in the future.

The affected garages are:
Arena Garage – 99 S. Howard Street
Baltimore Street Garage – 15 Guilford Avenue
Caroline Street Garage – 805 S. Caroline Street
Lexington Street Garage – 510 E. Lexington Street
Penn Station Garage – 1151 N. Charles Street
Redwood Street Garage – 11 S. Eutaw Street
Water Street Garage – 414 Water Street

The Baltimore City Office of Sustainable Energy is also asking the drivers who use the EV charging stations in those garages for input, via a survey, to help in determining a pricing structure. The three options on question 9 in the survey all specify $0.15 per kWh used but with varying levels of additional fees for occupying the station after charging is complete. The fees given in the choices range from $1.50 per hour to $20 plus an additional $6 per hour after 4 hours if the vehicle is not removed.

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EV Charging with Solar Parking Canopies at CCBC Campuses

May 28, 2015 Lanny

Artist’s rendering of the solar canopies planned for the Dundalk campus of CCBC

The Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) has started construction of a 5.1-megawatt solar generation system that will have approximately 16,500 photovoltaic panels on canopies that will cover more than 1,400 parking spaces at the college’s three main campuses in Dundalk, Essex and Catonsville.

Eleven ChargePoint charging stations, capable of charging 22 electric cars at once, will be installed as part of the project. There will be four dual-port charging stations each at Essex and Catonsville and three at the Dundalk campus.

Constellation Energy will own and operate the CCBC solar power systems. CCBC will purchase the electricity generated by the solar panels from Constellation under a 20-year power purchase agreement. The system is expected to generate around 6.5 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, enough to meet about 27 percent of the college’s electricity needs.

Welcome sign at CCBC Catonsville

“This zero-emissions system will allow the college to demonstrate the viability of clean energy resources and provide charging stations for plug-in electric vehicles to students, faculty and our local community,” said Gary Fromer, senior vice president of Distributed Energy for Constellation.

Work on the solar canopies has already begun at CCBC Dundalk. Lots #3 and #4 are closed this week due to the construction. The EV charging stations are expected to be available by the end of the year. A use fee will be implemented but the amount has not yet been determined.

@Lanny

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Baltimore City Adding More EV Charging Stations

May 22, 2015 Lanny

Baltimore EVI — click map for details on planned locations for new charging stations.

The Baltimore Department of Public Works is coordinating with the Electric Vehicle Institute, Inc., to install a number of Level 2 charging stations at up to six parking locations. Some of the parking facilities are now without any charging stations and others will be an expansion of the existing charging infrastructure installed about three years ago. Initially, it will be free to use these new stations.

New charging locations planned:
Fleet & Eden, 501 S. Eden St.
Marriott, 405 W. Lombard St.
On-street parking at Light and E. Barre St. in front of the Royal Sonesta.

Expansion of existing locations:
Arena, 99 S. Howard St.
Water Street, 414 Water Street
Redwood Street, 11 S. Eutaw Street

water st garage — Water Street Garage is one site due for more charging stations.

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Spark EV with SAE Combo Fast Charging in Maryland

May 18, 2015 Lanny

The Chevrolet Spark EV with SAE Combo DC Fast Charging capability is being sold and leased in Maryland as of May, 2015. Mark Czajka, Director of MD Volt, Inc. is one of the first Marylanders to get one. In this short video tour of his car, Mark shows us how to tell an electric Spark from the gasoline version.

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