Plug-In Sites

We just finished a 270 mile weekend road trip to Lancaster and Philadelphia to cap off 400 electric miles driven during National Drive Electric Week.

An electric road trip in our THINK City, which has a 70-80 mile range and recharges at about 10 miles per hour, requires a fair amount of preparation, a healthy sense of adventure and a bit of luck.

The Planning
We were happy that our friend @vdivanov joined us on our trip driving his Chevy Volt. The Volt has an electric range of between 40 and 50 miles which meant that we would space our charging stops within that range. Beginning in Columbia, MD, I mapped out a route that would take us to six charging sites. I made sure each stop had two or more charging stations so that we could stay together while traveling.

I called ahead to the Nissan dealer in Exton, PA to make sure their two units were working and that we had permission to use them on Sunday while they were closed. I also called the AAA office in Wayne, PA who had two Blink stations on their property to confirm that both were working and wouldn’t be blocked by ICE cars as we’ve seen before. I also took note of alternate charging stations near each site in case our first choices were broken or being used by someone else.

The Open Road
Early Saturday morning we headed north on I-95 after Vladi topped off his Volt in Columbia. We had about 100 miles to travel to Lancaster before late afternoon. We reached the first charging stop at the White Marsh Park and Ride after 36 miles. With five Level 2 charging stations at this MTA lot, I wasn’t worried about being able to charge here. There is an Ikea, White Marsh Mall, movie theaters and restaurants all within walking distance to entertain you while your car charges.
After topping off at White Marsh, we headed to another Park and Ride with two SemaConnect stations about 15 miles north at Belcamp, MD. These stations, operated by the State Highway Administration, are not reporting their status so we were unsure if they were available. We passed a red Nissan Leaf on the Interstate shortly before the exit. As we arrived at the charging stations, the Leaf was right behind us. They also wanted to charge. We happened to know the driver and it worked out because he was leaving his car there until evening and we agreed to plug in his car when we finished and he would be fully charged when he retrieved the car that night.

We ate lunch at Ruby Tuesday and headed north on full stomachs and full batteries.

Smell the Roses
The road we took between Belcamp and Lancaster was through scenic farmland and Amish country. We crossed the Susquehanna River at the Conowingo Hydroelectric Generating Station which produces 500 MW of emissions-free power. Due to careful driving and maybe a slight tailwind, Vladi was able to make the 49 mile leg to the hotel all-electric in his Volt. We plugged his car in and relaxed for an hour or two before we all got into the Volt (the THINK only holds two people) and headed into town for dinner.

We had arranged to meet Brandon who offers his home charging station on Plugshare. He rolled up in a 1968 SAAB EV conversion with lithium batteries and a range of 120 miles. We plugged in the Volt and walked to a nearby restaurant and dined al fresco, relaxing as the Volt charged. One aspect of long distance travel by EV is that it forces you to slow down and smell the roses. And in this case we met a fellow electric vehicle enthusiast who was so kind to let us use his charging station and explored the city of Lancaster.

When we arrived back at the hotel, our THINK City was still charging on the ChargePoint station in the rear of the hotel and a Signature Red Tesla Model S with Virginia plates was parked next to it. I had placed an EV charging “courtesy card” on my dash with my cell phone number but nobody had called. I didn’t see any notes on either my car or the Model S seeking to be contacted when I was finished. We asked at the hotel front desk if the Tesla owner had spoken to them about using the charging station and they said no.

We had topped off the Volt at another nearby station. Since I was almost full, I unplugged my car and moved it to show that I was finished and that the station was available for the Tesla if the driver wanted to use it.

National Drive Electric Week in Devon, PA
The next morning we left the hotel around 6:30 a.m. to get an early start on the 170 mile drive home including a stop at the National Drive Electric Week event at the Tesla store in Devon, PA. We drove through fog on the old Lincoln Highway seeing some Amish horse and buggies along the road.

We were relieved to find the two charging stations at Exton Nissan available and we plugged in and walked almost a mile to a Panera Bread for breakfast. Vladi was met by a friend who lives in the area and we probably talked his ear off about electric cars.

We arrived at the NDEW event as it was getting started. We ran into some friends we know from the EV community including some of the guys we went across the country with in the @TeslaRoadTrip Supercharging Across America drive this summer.

We left there and plugged in at the two Blink stations at AAA in Wayne, NJ. It cost $2.50 an hour to charge on Blink, so we only stayed connected until we had just enough to get to the next stop which was the Delaware Welcome Center.

There are two high-amp Level 2 charging stations that were recently installed in the truck parking area about 100 yards from the Tesla Superchargers at this rest stop in Newark, DE. We plugged in and our friend @delanman drove us in his red Model S P85+ to a restaurant at the next exit. His car had no trouble merging at the on ramp. What a rocket!

Midnight Charging
The next leg was 49 miles to White Marsh, to top off enough to get back to Columbia. We charged there until shortly after midnight waiting outside in the soft breeze on an unusually warm night for the end of September. By the end, we had driven 270 miles in our THINK in two days. Vladi had driven over 360 electric miles in his Volt since his round trip began and ended in Virginia.

Your Turn
Taking a road trip in an electric vehicle, other than a Tesla, using the public charging infrastructure is a fun challenge. There are enough charging stations in place now to hop up I-95 to Philadelphia and back. It still requires planning and you risk coming upon a broken station or ones that are already in use. But the adventure and reward of making the journey on electricity is worth it.

Now it is your turn. Where will you go on your electric road trip? Tweet me – @Lanny

UMD Eliminates Free Parking at EV Charging Stations

The University of Maryland implemented some changes in their electric vehicle parking and charging policies. Starting September 15, 2014, parking at EV charging stations on campus is no longer free. It will continue to be free to use the charging stations themselves but you must have a parking pass or use one of the charging stations at a metered spot.

The other policy change is that the parking pass discount for electric vehicles went from 50% down to 20%, which is the same discount rate that regular hybrids and other low-emissions vehicles receive under the Green Permit program.

Some electric vehicle owners are not happy about the changes. One plug-in vehicle driver expressed his opinion in the University of Maryland’s independent student newspaper asking “How green can DOTS be if they take away the benefits of electric car commuters?” The writer pointed out that some commuters may have based their decision to purchase an electric vehicle on the assumption that the 50% parking discount would continue.

I spoke with David Allen, Director, Department of Transportation Services at UMD to get the story on the policy changes. David, who is a Nissan LEAF owner, explained that the decision to cut back on the EV incentives was made by the Campus Transportation Advisory Committee. When the first charging stations were installed four years ago, there were few electric cars to use them. Now, the stations are in such high demand that they recently added six more in the Regents Garage. He explained to me that the committee considered the adjustment a social justice issue. Generally, EV owners are in an upper income bracket and providing a financial break to people who statistically make over $100,000 per year was one of the motivations for the policy change.

A letter placed on the windshields of vehicles at charging stations announcing the changes said that the University of Maryland had more EV charging spaces than any other university in the country with 28. However, a recent press release from ChargePoint claims that the University of California at Davis is number one with 38 stations. Towson University in Maryland has 36 according to ChargePoint.

Regardless of who claims to have the most charging stations or the reaction to reeling back the perks that used to go with owning an EV, it is good to see a rise in the number of on-campus EV charging stations, especially in Maryland.

@Lanny

Beginning today, a new pricing policy will be introduced on EV charging stations owned and operated by the Blink Network in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC.

CarCharging Group will implement a per-kWh pricing model on their Blink EV charging stations in states where such pricing models are permitted. Those states include Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. The per-kWh price model has already been in place at many of the CarCharging Group owned charging stations in the DMV area including Walgreens stores.

The announcement said that Blink Network fees will range from $0.39 to $0.79 per kWh. Fees for the Blink DC Fast Chargers will range from $0.49 to $0.69 per kWh.

@Lanny