DFW Metroplex

[Pipcecil]

yea I remember talking to Jason awhile back about our potential for a Volt (it was last oct I think). While we wanted another fob on the same plan, unfortunately he said we would have to get another plan for another fob, but he admitted that they didn't really have a plan idea for 2 plug-in families. I am glad his hint of a volt plan is still in the works and not forgotten! Personally I think us 2-plug in familes should get a package deal discount!!

Did he share the new locations? I am really curious now where they will be! I know of one at a Walgreens at Cedar Springs, but thats because iit was tweeted by someone else to eVgo.

@adric22 - car things like that happen, and you did your best, but it was just bad luck. I do wonder how many dings occur from accidents like wind or the door slipped to some people really just not caring and whipping their door open without realizing what is around them.

 

[Cheezmo]

Sorry I don't know all the locations. He mentioned something about Keller and North Richland Hills, and downtown Fort Worth.

The Walgreens near me in west Plano is in limbo because Walgreens doesn't own the land and the land owner has been sitting on the request

 

[vrwl]

Well, I went to check out the TXU charging station at the Roy & Helen Hall Library in McKinney. It was double ICE'd, but they don't have any markings on the pavement indicating this is for EV vehicles only, so I guess I can't complain. I did ask the girl who works at the library front desk to see if they could do an overhead announcement and ask for whoever owned the blue Dodge Ram 1500 pickup to move their vehicle and she agreed to help with that. Then she came back outside where I was and told me she wasn't allowed to do that after all. Oh well.

I called the 877-338-3470 phone number posted on the TXU unit to see about getting a key fob, but the guy who answered the phone wasn't quite sure with his answers. First he said that yes, this was the phone number to call to request a key fob. Then he put me on hold a several times and finally came back and told me I had to call a different phone number. So I wrote the number down and tried calling it after I hung up with TXU. The phone number he gave me was for eVgo! I think whoever he was talking to when he had me on hold gave him some bad info.

So then the girl at the library's main desk gave me a business card of a woman who works for the City Of McKinney and she told me this gal is the one I need to speak with about the key fob. I won't post her info until I'm sure if she's the right person to contact or not. But overall, not a very productive outing. And on top of that, I didn't get a charge when I really needed one.

 

[vrwl]

There are some places (like Whiskey Cake Kitchen and Bar at the tollway and Parker) that have a Blink card that you can use. The hostess will let you borrow it, and may have extras to give you a card to activate via the web. That was how I got my Blink card.

Tonight, we took garygTx's advice and went to the Whiskey Cake Kitchen in Plano. I had called them earlier in the day and spoke to the manager of the restaurant and asked him if he still had some spare Blink cards available. He checked, and YES, they are at the hostess desk. So when we got there, the same manager was still on duty, and he happily gave us a Blink card. Very friendly guy. Based on the stack he had, I'd guess he still has about 8-10 cards left to give away. We were able to immediately use that card to charge up while eating dinner, and then when we got home, I registered the card to my Blink account.

I'm so glad garygTx posted that, what a relief that we can now charge somewhere other than at home!

 

[adric22]

Well, I went to check out the TXU charging station at the Roy & Helen Hall Library in McKinney. It was double ICE'd, but they don't have any markings on the pavement indicating this is for EV vehicles only

Sometimes you have to wonder why they even bother to spend the money to install something that they aren't going to allow people to use. Your story is not too much worse than my story at Dallas City Hall. At least it wasn't ICE'd there. Anyway, if they know up front that these things require key-fobs, you'd think they'd work out a way for people to acquire the fobs. And if they aren't going to mark the spots EV only, then that makes them pretty useless especially if they won't ask people to move when needed. Money down the drain the way I see it. They shouldn't have even bothered.

 

[mkjayakumar]

Spotted this black Leaf in my neighborhood Walmart right next my blue. I waited a few minutes in vain to chat with the owner..

 

[adric22]

Spotted this black Leaf in my neighborhood Walmart right next my blue. I waited a few minutes in vain to chat with the owner..

Who arrived first? I have parked next to other EV or hybrid vehicles without seeing the owners. But I take comfort in knowing at least they'll see my car next to them when the leave. And wouldn't you know, in each case I have come back out of the store and their vehicle is still there! So they never knew I was there.

 

[Stanton]

I called the 877-338-3470 phone number posted on the TXU unit to see about getting a key fob, but the guy who answered the phone wasn't quite sure with his answers. First he said that yes, this was the phone number to call to request a key fob. Then he put me on hold a several times and finally came back and told me I had to call a different phone number. So I wrote the number down and tried calling it after I hung up with TXU. The phone number he gave me was for eVgo! I think whoever he was talking to when he had me on hold gave him some bad info.

After my first attempt at getting a fob failed miserably (back in May), I just called the 877# again. Whoever answered the phone was actually from AE (not TXU) and sounded like he knew what he was doing. He took my mailing/contact info and said I would receive a fob in the mail soon (days? weeks?); the whole thing took less than 5 minutes (which was quite a contrast to my failed attempt to even get a charge in May). I'll post back if/when I get my fob.

 

[mkjayakumar]

Who arrived first? I have parked next to other EV or hybrid vehicles without seeing the owners. But I take comfort in knowing at least they'll see my car next to them when the leave. And wouldn't you know, in each case I have come back out of the store and their vehicle is still there! So they never knew I was there.

Same here. The black Leaf was already parked and was still there when I came back. I waited for a few mins and then left.

 

[Cheezmo]

I was parked next to a big white minivan at the Arlington Tennis Center yesterday and as I was getting into the leaf, the kid getting into the passenger side of the minivan, said "Hey, we have a car like that!". They are around.

 

[vrwl]

I ordered vanity license plates for my Leaf... couldn't resist! Here's a pic of what they will look like:

 

[Cheezmo]

It might be behind a paywall, but the Dallas Morning News had an article about the EV charging infrastructure in the Metroplex today...

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/transportation/20120701-dallas-area-tops-state-in-electric-vehicle-chargers-but-most-stand-idle.ece" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Read (if you can) and comment!

 

[mkjayakumar]

I was able to read and I don't think it is behind a pay wall.

It starts off with some stats on the no. of EVs in the DFW area and the number of chargers, and then laments on the fact that they are hardly used. It quotes several business owners not too pleased that the chargers installed in their property were hardly used.

 

[vrwl]

I read it and refuted their claim about no ever using the charger at the Cinemark in Frisco. We used it Saturday night!

 

[Pipcecil]

The chargers not being used is half their own problem. Easily, 50% of the time I attempt a public charger (minus my work) all the chargers are blocked by normal vehicles. Yea, if I can't charge 50% of the time, you bet their charging events will be low. I guess no one pointed that out to the reporter.

 

[Stanton]

It quotes several business owners not too pleased that the chargers installed in their property were hardly used.

Imagine what they're going to think when they actually start CHARGING for their use (like all the Blinks) It's nice to see some press about EVs (it was even in the print edition of the DMN), but I'm getting tired of the "anti-EV" sentiment in the press. I am routinely asked "why isn't anyone using these things"? when I'm at a public charger: because there aren't hardly any EVs on the road yet! Of course I don't tell them I never really need to charge during the day anyway :roll:

 

[vrwl]

Maybe we should start reporting the inability to use the chargers to the facility managers when they're ICE'd. That way, they'd at least KNOW we're trying to use them, but just can't.

 

[vrwl]

I wanted to let everyone know that we now have an extra Blink card we're happy to give away to anyone who wants/needs it. My husband and I had both signed up for Blink, but then when people reported problems receiving their cards in the mail, we went ahead to the Whiskey Cake restaurant in Plano and got a card there. Well, lo and behold, the Blink cards we requested arrived in the mail yesterday, so now we have an extra. Does anyone want it? I'll be happy to meet you somewhere in the north part of town if anyone needs/wants it.

 

[LEAFer]

I am not 100% on this, and I might be confusing this with ChargePoint cards, but FWIW ... Blink may be (or may have previously had a policy to) tracking the cards it sends out by request, and link them to a name & address they were sent to. This may not matter much to some. But if/when you activate and (maybe later) add a credit card to them ... this could make a difference. YMMV. Check it out.

 

[vrwl]

I am not 100% on this, and I might be confusing this with ChargePoint cards, but FWIW ... Blink may be (or may have previously had a policy to) tracking the cards it sends out by request, and link them to a name & address they were sent to. This may not matter much to some. But if/when you activate and (maybe later) add a credit card to them ... this could make a difference. YMMV. Check it out.

I'll try to give them a call and see if they track the cards like that.