Charging station at the restaurant, how much use will it get

[Slow1]

Anyway, I'm willing to pay 100% of the cost; I think it should be doable for $2000.00 or less if their electrical service is suitable. The meter is immediately adjacent to where the thing should be mounted, IE: hung on the wall, so if a circuit is available, it should be very easy.

I offered the same thing to a winery in town, similar situation (panel inside wall right next to parking spot, literally 2 ft of wire, circuit breaker, and a HCS-60 ClipperCreek mounted on the wall) and I estimated I could get the whole thing done for less than $1500, which I agreed to pay. No dice. This would have guaranteed multiple Teslas stopping since the winery was RIGHT NEXT TO THE HIGHWAY, 120 mi from the nearest SuperCharger. Some people just don't understand.

I'm trying to think of why a business would refuse such an offer. The only things I can think of are maintenance costs/updates (could be mitigated by simply removing/powering it off if issues came up), cost of energy (fear that too much use would cost more than the benefit - again could be mitigated by shutting it down if the issue arose and/or billing for use), or liability. Liability is the biggest unknown and hard to mitigate - My office claimed fear of liability issues as reason for restricting the L2 charger installed here to employees only. Whether that is real, imagined, or scapegoat liability risk may not matter though. Fear of the unknown?

 

[Reddy]

Agreed. Although I thought it was bogus, another restaurant cited that very concern: Insurance (liability). It is difficult to have a rational discussion when there is such fear of the unknown (e.g,. it MUST be like dispensing $100 of gasoline). Also, we're very much in the sticks out here so the political leanings may have something to do with it.

Unfortunately, the one winery that did install a charging station wasn't given complete information by the electricians and subsequently installed a premium, ChargePoint for $12,000+$15/mo. They were told it would fill an EV in 30 min and weren't told about other lower priced options, even when they indicated that they wouldn't charge customers. Now they are "stuck" with a huge sunk installation cost, continued on-going costs, and very few EVs in the area (maybe 200 or so to date). I doubt they will "give away" more than a few bucks a month in electricity, if even that.

 

[Nfuzzy]

I am in a big town with few charging options and I frequent the business areas with free charging as much as I can.

 

[alanlarson]

I am in a big town with few charging options and I frequent the business areas with free charging as much as I can.

That is the essence of the problem. Everyone likes to frequent the free chargers. A business that puts out free chargers will find them always occupied. They may not, however, find most of those users eating in the restaurant.

The restaurant owner who refused to put one in probably realized this.

A thread about Costco putting in chargers included people objecting to the idea of Costco turning off the free chargers when the store was closed, as they thought they would want to stop by later and charge up if they were low. I mention this, since one can find these examples in another thread on this forum.

Alan

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

To give you an idea of the desert situation we're in, this map: http://www.chademo.com/wp/usmap/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; shows the nearest DCQC station for me is Chicago, about 250 miles away. There are none shown in either Michigan or Ohio.

That map is less useful, less up to date than the crowd sourced one at http://www.plugshare.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; that most EV drivers use. It shows CHAdeMO at Ann Arbor and Farmington Hills. But that's all in your range, the rest are Tesla SCs, and lots of them. When the Model 3 comes out, you'll be in good shape.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Thanks for all your thoughts, they're much appreciated!

An EVSE at the restaurant would sometimes be useful for me, as it'd save a 10-mile trip home & back, plus the time, as I'm spending an hour at lunch anyway.

The restaurant is located in what was an old schoolhouse that now houses about 25 businesses, from a beauty shop to a newspaper office, so there's a bit more draw/traffic than just the eatery.

Mainly, I think it'd be cool to have it available in our little town, just outside Toledo, OH.

Who owns the property? Does the meter in question service the restaurant alone? Are you willing to contract for install, maintenance, and removal if requested? Liability falls on the property owner as it will be located in the public parking area. Are you willing to reimburse for any added premium? Perhaps the other 24 businesses would chip in? What about signage and painting?

Every EVSE that gets installed is a good thing. Good luck to you. It's worth the effort.

For you it would be a nice convenience. For someone running low in bad weather, it could be a lifesaver.

 

[flyonpa]

I would do Store Paid Charging the way they use to handle store Paid parking lots,

You charge for the Charge, say $1/Hr for L2. (and $5/hr after x (3?) hours), but anyone that comes in to your store/restaurant, Somehow you set it up so you can scan there ChargePoint Card, and they get a 1 ($1) hour "Charge" credit.

Just the way parklots give your Free parking for parking @ the store, but charge others who park there.

So it drive "Free" charging Traffic to you, and discourages freeloaders.

 

[jdunmyer]

By the time you set up something where you can actually "charge for charge", it will be not worth the effort, IMO, unless it really takes off and lots of electricity is being used. I'm thinking in terms of a nice sign, "This charging station courtesy of The Restaurant. Enjoy your free charge while dining with us."

The meter serves the entire building, I think. But, the building is owned by the restaurant owner's Father.

Am going to try to chat with her this week, will keep you posted.

 

[johnrhansen]

not hard to keep the freeloaders out. Just rig up a button behind the counter that if pushed puts power to the EVSE for an hour.