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Baltimore City $0.15 per kWh Fees Begin June 15

June 4, 2015 Lanny

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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.

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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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More Maryland Rail Stations Getting Charging Stations

May 15, 2015 Lanny

mta2 — Halethorpe MARC Station, 5833 Southwestern Boulevard, Halethorpe, MD 21227

In 2013, the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) secured $1,000,000 to fund the installation of EV charging stations at rail transit stations. Parsons Brinckerhoff presented a study to the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Council on November 13, 2013 to help identify transit stations with the highest demand for EV charging based on socioeconomic factors and the travel patterns of public transit passengers.

PEVMTAmap

The following locations are due to have charging stations installed this summer. Milford Mill Metro Station, Lutherville Light Rail Station, North Linthicum Light Rail Station, Cromwell Light Rail Station, West Baltimore MARC Station, Halethorpe MARC Station, Muirkirk MARC Station, Monocacy MARC Station

mta1 — Muirkirk MARC Station, 7012-B Muirkirk Road, Beltsville, MD 20705

Many of the locations have broken ground and some, like this one in Beltsville, look to be ready to be powered on.

mta3 — North Linthicum Light Rail Station, 450 North Camp Meade Road, Linthicum Heights, MD 21090

All the charging spots have signs designating them for Electric Vehicles only.

mta4 — Cromwell Light Rail Station, 7378 Baltimore Annapolis Blvd, Glen Burnie, MD 21061

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Watching the Governor Sign the Maryland Tesla Bill

May 12, 2015May 13, 2015 Lanny

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Maryland is the latest state that will explicitly allow Tesla to sell cars direct to consumers. Earlier today, May 12, 2015, Delegate Kirill Reznik, co-sponsors, representatives from Tesla Motors, and several of us from the public who supported the bill, watched as Governor Larry Hogan signed HB 235 into law at the State House in Annapolis.

Maryland HB 235 Bill Signing Governor Hogan

The bill signing was part of a ceremony where 350 pieces of legislation passed by the 2015 Maryland General Assembly were signed by the Governor.

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Delegate Reznik, pictured above, initiated the effort to open Maryland to Tesla sales when he learned from a news article that Maryland was one of the few states that didn’t allow Tesla employees to engage in sales activities such as helping customers place an order online or even tell visitors to its gallery in Bethesda the price of the car and options.

In February, Jeff Cadman, Bob Erdman and I went to Annapolis to show support for the bill at a hearing in the Environment and Transportation Committee. Bob and I spoke in favor of the bill on a panel as individual citizens.

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Model S driver and early Tesla supporter, Peter Soukup, was very happy to see progress in his home state that will ease the way for more Maryland residents to drive a Tesla. This was a good day for electric vehicles and the people who want to drive them.

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Mount Airy, MD Charging Stations Draw Visitors Downtown

May 12, 2015December 24, 2019 Lanny

Town’s Mayor Drives a Honda Fit Electric Vehicle

When a resident of Mount Airy, Maryland suggested EV charging stations to encourage more visitors to the shops and restaurants in the quaint, historic downtown area, the Mayor took to the idea immediately. Mayor Pat Rockinberg of Mt. Airy happens to drive a Honda Fit EV and knows the lure of charging stations because he has experienced it himself on travels in his electric vehicle.

With support of the Council President, Peter Helt, and work donated by local electrician Mike Dixon of Electrical Solutions, the town now has a dual port charging station in the Municipal Parking Lot at Park Ave. and Cross St.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on May 11, 2015 and visitors are now welcome to plug in and charge for free while they “stop, shop and stroll” the downtown area. This is an example of a trend to court “EV Tourism” that is already popular in Oregon and Arizona.

Mount Airy Main Street has shops to browse including a pottery shop and a model train store.

There are charging stations at Linganore Winery about six miles away and Mt. Airy is a perfect place to get an extra boost during a lunch or dinner stop on an EV tour of this area.

Be sure to tell the shop keepers that you came to visit because of the charging stations installed by the town. This may help encourage other communities to consider EV charging to lure visitors.

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Howard Co. PD: Anti-ICEing Law Enforceable Only on County Property

May 7, 2015 Lanny

HoCoVolt

According to records obtained by PlugInSites under the Maryland Public Information Act, police officers in Howard County were issued guidance that they have no authority to enforce parking restrictions at plug-in vehicle charging stations except on property owned by the county.
In an email dated February 25, 2015 addressed to all sworn police officers, a Sergeant in the Traffic Enforcement Section wrote,

“There has been an increase in parking complaints related to Electric Vehicle Parking. As this technology becomes more prevalent around the country and within Howard County, this trend is expected to continue. There has been some confusion regarding enforcement as there exists some potentually confusing language in the County Code pertaining to where enforcement may take place.”

The email references Howard County Code Title 21.207 (Parking Restrictions) and that it,

“Provides that on property under the County’s jurisdiction, the Department of Public Works may designate a parking space where a plug-in vehicle may be recharged. The section further states that a person may not stop, stand, or park a vehicle in a space that is posted for the exclusive use of plug-in vehicles.

“The issue arises when responding to private property (which is obviously not under the County’s jurisdiction) for these complaints. Further in the title there is a provision that gives Private Property Owners the authority to post reserved parking spaces for the exclusive use of plug-in vehicles and further outlines that parking in these spaces is prohibited.

“This authority to post signs on private property SHOULD NOT be construed as an authority for the Police Department to enforce these violations on private property. If the property is not under the County’s jurisdiction (basically owned by county) there exists no authority for the PO to issue a Plug-in Vehicle Parking Citation.”

Read the entire email.

Ref: Howard Co. Code Sec. 21.207c3.

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Hagerstown Premium Outlets CHAdeMO NRG eVgo Station

May 4, 2015 Lanny

Hagerstown Premium Outlets Electric Vehicle CHdeMO NRG eVgo Nissan Leaf — Nissan Leaf using CHAdeMO at Hagerstown Premium Outlets. photo by Rick Rohn

Our friend Rick Rohn from Martinsburg, WV reports that there is a new NRG eVgo Freedom Station at Hagerstown Premium Outlets. Rick was out driving his Nissan Leaf this weekend and stopped by the Outlets in Hagerstown and to his surprise there was a functioning CHAdeMO and a Level 2 EVSE that is installed but not operational yet. The customer service rep at NRG eVgo says the station is in “testing phase” and should be officially open by the end of May, 2015.

This NRG eVgo station apparently has no relationship with the Maryland Energy Administration’s Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program (EVIP) Fast Charger network. When the grant awards were announced in March, Hagerstown Premium Outlets was identified as a location awarded to ChargePoint, not NRG eVgo. Also, the EVIP program specifies that each site must have both CHAdeMO and SAE Combo Fast Charging. This only has CHAdeMO.

Hagerstown Premium Outlets Electric Vehicle Charging Station NRG eVgo — NRG eVgo Freedom Station at Hagerstown Premium Outlets. photo by Rick Rohn

The CHAdeMO station is located on the opposite side of the Mall from the Tesla Superchargers there. It is behind the Rack Room Shoes and Children’s Place stores.

Hagerstown Premium Outlets EV Charging Station location map

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Rehoboth Beach Charging Stations Under Construction

May 1, 2015July 13, 2015 Lanny

UPDATE – July 13, 2015: Rehoboth Beach “Charging Up Delaware” Level 2 stations are now online and available to use.

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Concrete has been poured for the two High-Amp Level 2 (HAL2) charging stations that are being installed in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The stations are located at two parking spaces at a small park next to the Henlopen Condominiums near the north end of the boardwalk.
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These are part of the “Charging Up Delaware” program, a partnership with the University of Delaware and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) to place EV charging stations in Delaware at 50 mile intervals to enable en-route and destination charging throughout the entire state.

View Larger Map

The triangular-shaped park sometimes referred to as Mariner’s Park but labeled Surfside Park on the map, has metered parking during the vacation season.

These stations were first proposed on May 5, 2014, when Professor Willett Kempton of the University of Delaware made a presentation to the city commissioners. The HAL2 EVSEs with J-1772 connectors are manufactured by Milbank and can deliver up to 75 Amps of AC power.

The funding is provided by an $80,000 state grant. Charging stations in the Charging Up Delaware program are also installed at the Delaware Welcome Center in Newark and the Ferry Terminal in Lewes.

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