New Chargepoint EVSE at Costco

[Luft]

They could do something like that. Maybe they can sell separate RFID cards that would allow the use of the charging stations? Who knows. I hope that they just provide the stations as an incentive to draw EV drivers to their store. Really the cost of electricity for a person plugged in for 20 or 30 minutes will be insignificant. Just about any sale will more than cover the cost.

You mean like the ones chargepoint has been giving out for years and that have always allowed the owners of charging stations to collect whatever fees they choose from whoever they choose.

Yes and no. Chargepoint cards allow owners to collect whatever fees they choose but not "from whoever (whomever) they choose." At least I don't think that one chargepoint card will be honored at one location and not another. But maybe Costco can work with Chargepoint so that Costco Chargepoint cards will word on their EVSE but not all Chargepoint cards.

 

[coolfilmaker]

Yes and no. Chargepoint cards allow owners to collect whatever fees they choose but not "from whoever (whomever) they choose." At least I don't think that one chargepoint card will be honored at one location and not another. But maybe Costco can work with Chargepoint so that Costco Chargepoint cards will word on their EVSE but not all Chargepoint cards.

They can set it up so that registered Costco members pay 25¢ per hour and non registered people have to pay $5. That is effectively the same thing.

Besides that, it doesn't matter. No one is going to be parking in those crowded parking lots besides Costco members.

 

[Luft]

Yes and no. Chargepoint cards allow owners to collect whatever fees they choose but not "from whoever (whomever) they choose." At least I don't think that one chargepoint card will be honored at one location and not another. But maybe Costco can work with Chargepoint so that Costco Chargepoint cards will word on their EVSE but not all Chargepoint cards.

They can set it up so that registered Costco members pay 25¢ per hour and non registered people have to pay $5. That is effectively the same thing.

Besides that, it doesn't matter. No one is going to be parking in those crowded parking lots besides Costco members.

In order to set it up so that registered Costco members pay 25 cents per hour and non registered people have to pay $5.00 per hour they need to relate the member's Chargepoint card to a Costco account. I was suggesting that the easiest way to do that was to "sell" Costco members a new Costco/Chargepoint card that was already flagged by Chargepoint as being eligible to work at Costco locations.

If Costco wants to allow its members to charge and prevent others from charging (Let's say in off hours when the parking lots are not crowded) this could work.

 

[coolfilmaker]

I believe Costco is going to have us register our chargepoint cards with them to be able to use the chargers. I tried waving my chargepoint card in front of both of the covered chargers today and they both acknowledged the card but did not unlock the cord. I couldn't see what was on the screen because there are yellow bags taped completely around the screen area.

I think this is probably the best possible outcome, only Costco members will be able to use them but they will be free. I can't really see them justifying charging people who already pay $50-100 a year for a membership.

 

[TonyWilliams]

... only Costco members will be able to use them but they will be free. I can't really see them justifying charging people who already pay $50-100 a year for a membership.

They charge $1.50 for a hot dog and drink. Maybe they should give those away, too? My Rav4 can suck down 50kWh, and at the national average of 12 cents per kWh, that's up to $6 in electricity. Even a LEAF can suck down almost half that. These are NOT insignificant costs. EDIT: somebody will claim we will "all only use a few pennies worth"... Right.

As always, I support fees for charging for numerous reasons. The single biggest reason is the folks who will and do camp out at a charging spots just because it's free. Second is the wider adoption of charging stations if they are cost neutral to the host (charging for the service).

 

[coolfilmaker]

They charge $1.50 for a hot dog and drink. Maybe they should give those away, too?

Yeah, and they started making the hotdogs themselves a few years ago to keep the price at $1.50 and now they taste like crap. Did you know that they have free samples inside?

I might be wrong. I can only assume the reason they are holding these chargers in limbo is that they're still trying to decide how to use them.

I just want them to give us free electricity as penance for ripping out a whole ton of perfectly fine chargers.

 

[timhebb]

How about a mini-pool to predict the rate Costco will charge for using their ChargePoint chargers?

Considering Costco's history and culture of not-quite subsidizing such amenities, my prediction is ...

Drumroll, please...

75¢ per hour

Others?

 

[smkettner]

I am looking for 20 cents per kWh.

 

[Cheezmo]

They should reserve those spots for employees with all electric vehicles and long commutes. The people it would make sense for. Any place I go to for less than a couple of hours, paid L2 charging is a waste of time and money. I think movie theaters are where it starts to make sense, hotels next.

Of course it starts being a maybe with 6.6kW charging and low enough rates (if I had a car that could do it).

Give me L3 anywhere (if I'm in a car that can use it).

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

... I will never own another Costco card or purchase anything at any Costco again, they are dead to me and I recommend that no one shop there.
If you care at all about the EV movement, cancel your Costco card immediately and let them know why. ...

Either way, I'm not thrilled if Costco is partnering with ChargePoint, rather than choosing to install their own network of subsidized (free) charging stations for customers to use while shopping. Still, it's a welcome move, since Costco abandoned their commitment to EV drivers years ago. At least they may be recognizing us again, and responding to a need.

Costco does so much right in terms of customer service and how they treat their employees, that I'm not about to get on their case over balking on EV charging...especially since their first effort was made obsolete by an industry that couldn't figure out how to create a proper standard and stick to it. Let's face it, those chargers have been sitting there collecting dust for the most part for a long time. Little wonder they didn't want to sign up for another round. If they are now going to partner up with Chargepoint, I say bully for them.

+1. they have one of the lowest (who is lower?) CEO/worker salary ratio of any company in the US. they pay the greatest percentage of benefits of any other company in the retail sector so i will not discount them for this one bad decision.

besides, the local Costco still has their charging station (120 volt only...) and it is still up and running.

it would be great to see Costco put in L2's but have to think that parking enforcement has to be in place first. Costco has one of the busiest parking lots and that is always the case.

as far as Blink. I have a Blink plus membership and have yet to pay a penny for it. I have charged 3X (mostly to check on their 5 minute grace period) and was not charged for the first two which happened last fall.

i recently charged for 2 hours (and 3 minutes) for a charge of $2 which has shown up on my blink account. we shall see how long it takes them to take the money.

but as far as reliability, i have had no issues. i have seen broken blinks but like one broken out of 4 is not going to make me cry. now, L3 is a different story. dont know of any that have not been broken more than a few times for significant periods of time.

rumors of a moisture problem does not explain their lack of reliability during the past Summer but supposedly there has been a fix put out and only time will tell if its a "fix".

i will say that Fife has been up for more than a month with no reports of down time.

 

[timhebb]

This doesn't really rise to the level of news on this topic, but is really just venting my frustration at not being able to come up with any.

Still, here goes: 1) still no reply to my email to Costco corporate asking for info on the Torrance ChargePoint station; 2) dropped by the Los Feliz Costco today and looked up the manager on duty. Told her about the Torrance installation and asked if she knew if other Costco locations would be getting the same. She didn't know anything about it, but slipped away for five mins. to consult someone else. Came back saying that Torrance was a test location to see if charging stations would be supported. She mentioned the group of old paddle stations at Los Feliz had been removed, which is evidence of nothing except that Costco got burned by being progressive in the last wave of EV enthusiasm a decade ago.

Obviously, Costco is playing this close to the chest until they see how it goes and make a broader decision. But if simple usage of the stations is what they're looking for before moving forward, they should be encouraged to do so unless they price charging sessions out of the market.

I'm still guessing their rate will be 50~75¢ an hour.

 

[coolfilmaker]

So I guess what they're saying is that they want a group of people to storm in and accost them and demand that they turn the chargers on.

On another note, the South Bay Galleria mall is now charging per kwh.

 

[Reddy]

....snip Came back saying that Torrance was a test location to see if charging stations would be supported. She mentioned the group of old paddle stations at Los Feliz had been removed, which is evidence of nothing except that Costco got burned by being progressive in the last wave of EV enthusiasm a decade ago.....snip.

So, all you local Leafers, get together and start using that station. Stack up multiple Leafs at one time, sharing the plug, posting signs, etc. Then, take a picture with date/time/number of EVs and send it to Costco management. If you want them, then you've got to use them, pay for them, and let management know how much they are being used!

 

[coolfilmaker]

....snip Came back saying that Torrance was a test location to see if charging stations would be supported. She mentioned the group of old paddle stations at Los Feliz had been removed, which is evidence of nothing except that Costco got burned by being progressive in the last wave of EV enthusiasm a decade ago.....snip.

So, all you local Leafers, get together and start using that station. Stack up multiple Leafs at one time, sharing the plug, posting signs, etc. Then, take a picture with date/time/number of EVs and send it to Costco management. If you want them, then you've got to use them, pay for them, and let management know how much they are being used!

They're still disabled!

 

[smkettner]

86 miles round trip for me. I might have to miss the opening event. But give a shout if a bunch are going to swarm for a photo shoot. I figure if we schedule a day to meet 30 minutes before open we could fill the picture with plug in vehicles. Weekend would be best.

 

[coolfilmaker]

Still disabled....

 

[QueenBee]

Probably the only thing that WILL make charge stations cost effective IS advertisement dollars...

I wonder who came up with the idea of the 50" plasma above the L3 stations that burns 500 watts of power 24/7 ? Perhaps the person that thought they would pump ads to the 7" screens in homes.

Are you sure it's plasma and not LCD? Modern LED LCDs are more in the neighborhood of 50 watts not 500 watts.

 

[QueenBee]

Sorry, but there are other things that are equally important to me. Things such as paying your workers a decent wage and offering them good benefits, things such as excellent customer service and good prices, things such as giving back to the community. On these points and more, Costco excels and exceeds when compared to just about any other retailer. Thus, I have always and will continue to support them as one of my primary shopping destinations.

I will never own another Costco card or purchase anything at any Costco again, they are dead to me and I recommend that no one shop there.
If you care at all about the EV movement, cancel your Costco card immediately and let them know why.

Agreed, Tom.

If you care about the EV movement and are not an ornery cranky bitter person you'll reward Costco for coming around and installing EVSEs by being a Costco member and purchasing everything at Costco.

 

[QueenBee]

http://mobile.businessweek.com/articles/2013-06-06/costco-ceo-craig-jelinek-leads-the-cheapest-happiest-company-in-the-world" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

More reasons to not shop there...

In other thread someone mentioned that the City, Costco and the manufacturer are in a disagreement about something and that's why it is taking so long for these to be turned up.

 

[TomT]

Perfectly fine for what??? The two cars left in the entire area that are compatible with them???

I just want them to give us free electricity as penance for ripping out a whole ton of perfectly fine chargers.