Chargepoint at LAX... the only way to fly.. almost

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sparky said:
mogur said:
I wonder what would happen if you were going on a long trip, say two weeks. You, of course, wouldn't want to tie up even a L1 stall for that long... If you didn't need to charge, could you just park somewhere else in that lot and still get the parking free for that long? (I actually do have a scenario like this coming up in April when I should have my Leaf...)
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Shouldn't be a problem. The parking people at the gate don't check if you plugged in or even if you parked in the EV zone. They just check if your vehicle is an EV and that your ticket shows you were there less than 30 days. The xBox EV that was there when I arrived, was just parking, not charging.
Click to expand...


ebox:) Perhaps it was Tom's.
 
garygid said:
My typical dropoff/pickup trip to LAX is about 55 miles, a few hills, but mostly high-speed, congested, freeway traffic. Keeping speed down a little to get there on a 100% charge is OK, but getting home after a 1-hour drop-off would require an L3 (QC) to over 80%, especially after the pack capacity has diminished somewhat.
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Sounds like you'd better take your Volt for that trip.

/Ducks quickly behind a barrier/
 
Ooo I have a trip in February. Was thinking there was no way to take the leaf... ha, yes there is :D This was a very helpful post.
 
What is expected of you, information-wise, when you leave. I like the idea of printing off what they need in advance, in order to save time, but I am a little disturbed by the amount of information they suggest you give here:

http://www.evchargernews.com/regions/90045_2.htm

In order to exit without payment, you must present EV information to the attendant. Print something up that says:

EV Driver Information for Free Parking in LAX:

* Name
* Address
* Phone Number
* CA Driver's License Number
* Vehicle License Number
* Make/Model of Vehicle
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They ask to see your license. Printing it out for them would be of no assistance.

Parking is free for up to 30 days. I had a car there for over 2 weeks once and it was awesome to see the total go from $330 -> $0.
 
BudRaymond said:
They ask to see your license. Printing it out for them would be of no assistance.

Parking is free for up to 30 days. I had a car there for over 2 weeks once and it was awesome to see the total go from $330 -> $0.
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I may be parking our LEAF at LAX next week. I wanted to double check to see if they are requiring the DMV parking sticker at the check out kiosk. I don't have that sticker yet. Can I still park for free? They just ask to see my license when I am leaving? Any specific info about leaving the parking structure would be appreciated.
 
A quick caution: Per the LAX website, "Free parking is available for electric vehicles only at charging stations located in the lower/arrivals level of Parking Structures 1 and 6 for up to a maximum of 30 days per visit." Note that ONLY structures 1 and 6 allow free parking. Don't ask how I know this. Let's just say it was a $300 lesson.
 
Kataphn said:
I wanted to double check to see if they are requiring the DMV parking sticker at the check out kiosk. I don't have that sticker yet. Can I still park for free? They just ask to see my license when I am leaving? Any specific info about leaving the parking structure would be appreciated.
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Stickers not required. They look to make sure you don't have a tailpipe and write down your license number. Don't put the ticket in the machine, just hand it to the attendant and say Electric Vehicle. And be sure you park in short term lots 1 or 6.
 
Perhaps this post belongs in the "Unplugging the Volt" topic but oh well.

A few days ago I needed to drive to LAX to pick up my son returning from college.
As I was about to leave I realized the LEAF was only at 80% charge (normal setting) and LAX is about
70 mi R/T, all freeway. No problem I thought, I'll grab 30 mins of juice at the Chargepoint spot and have a place to wait while my son gets his bags. Checked the availability of stations and there's one J1772 in use, one free, so I figure I'm ok.
Imagine my dismay to arrive and find the scene below... damn this EV revolution!



So, what to do? I either needed to get some juice or take surface streets home. I got out and it seems
all the cars were fully charged... no blinky lights. But, I'm actually not sure what the Volt's charge indicator looks like.
So, I see that the LEAF Level 2 cable will reach my car and the LEAF's charge lights were off, meaning either it's charged or the owner is in "Timer mode" and waiting for "whenever" to start (this would be dumb IMO).

I decided to snag the LEAF's L2. I plugged into my LEAF, swiped my Chargepoint card and sat for 45 mins getting precious coulombs. When I finished, I plugged back into the LEAF and swiped my card again so in case they were in Timer mode, they should start charging. Of course, all they would see remotely via the Carwings account is an email saying "you've been disconnected" and probably panic or be pissed or both.

So, it's clear the LAX EVSEs are gonna be busy from here on out. I've emailed Chargepoint recommending they put more into this location pronto.
But I'm wondering about my EV etiquette here. Was I right to disconnect another EV under these circumstances?
I know I would be fine with it but, if I've just landed in Denver and see an email saying my LEAF has been disconnected from the EVSE I'm gonna think WTF!!??
Maybe Nissan could have a way for one LEAFer to notify another through Carwings?


BTW, if the blue LEAF owner (on the far left side of photo) is reading this and I messed you up somehow; many, many apologies.
 
sparky said:
But I'm wondering about my EV etiquette here. Was I right to disconnect another EV under these circumstances?
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Sounds like you got it right by plugging the LEAF back in. If EV owners had used the Charge Protocol Card; http://www.evchargernews.com/chargeprotocolcard.pdf you would have known if they still needed to be plugged in. If they had left a cell number, you could have called to discuss or left a text message. There is a cryptic sequence that Volt owners can go through that disables the "honk on disconnect" but you wouldn't know that unless you can ask them, or they mark “unplug at any time” on the card.
 

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