New charging stations at Costco?

[gamernotwatcher]

I went through customer service on the web and made the recommendation that they add the EVSE charging stations back to the warehouse. I assure you that I spend much more time in their warehouse than in a walgreens.

Please make your own suggestions to customer service for their warehouse improvement.

https://ems02071lb.egain.net/system/web/custom/CostcoInitialPage.jsp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[TomT]

I really don't think that Costco is the best place for L2 charging stations or the best use of resources... We are frequent visitors to Costco and we are rarely there long enough that it would make that much difference... (But then, I think Walgreens is an even worse idea...)

I went through customer service on the web and made the recommendation that they add the EVSE charging stations back to the warehouse. I assure you that I spend much more time in their warehouse than in a walgreens.

 

[smkettner]

We can easily cruise Costco for a full hour. If it is free I would use it every time.... and probably linger a little longer.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

We can easily cruise Costco for a full hour. If it is free I would use it every time.... and probably linger a little longer.

+1 stay and eat a hot dog and one can easily get enough charge at 6 KW

 

[johnrhansen]

for me, public level 2 charging is for emergencies only when I can't make it home. Visiting the place where it is installed is kind of something to do to kill the time. Exception is when I am going hiking or biking somewhere and I leave the premises, as stated in my infamous "am I a mooch" thread. In my mind, all public chargers ought to be level 3, and charge 3 to 5 dollars. Except for workplace charging, or perhaps shopping malls and movie theaters.. you are in there long enough to make it count.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

for me, public level 2 charging is for emergencies only when I can't make it home. Visiting the place where it is installed is kind of something to do to kill the time. Exception is when I am going hiking or biking somewhere and I leave the premises, as stated in my infamous "am I a mooch" thread. In my mind, all public chargers ought to be level 3, and charge 3 to 5 dollars. Except for workplace charging, or perhaps shopping malls and movie theaters.. you are in there long enough to make it count.

I did a charge at Tahoma Market but also had to upload 2 jobs and download 4 jobs so I had to bust butt to get all that done before my charge ended. lucky that I was only at 8 GIDs when I started it!

FYI; they have free wi fi and very nice selection of drinks and food

 

[coolfilmaker]

Our Costco installed some cheap locks on the handle so they can prevent them from being used at night. Very tacky. They should have just towed the people who leave their cars there overnight.

 

[minispeed]

Our Costco installed some cheap locks on the handle so they can prevent them from being used at night. Very tacky. They should have just towed the people who leave their cars there overnight.

Or put the machine on a timer, it might be plugged in but if the power switched off people wouldn't leave them there overnight.

If my costco installed them I guarantee they would be used.... if I found they weren't frequently I'd park there after work for 3hrs and walk the 1000ft to my house!

 

[hill]

It'd be WAY nicer to have Chademo . . . maybe set it up where (using your costco card) you get a free charge for purchases over $100 or $200 (pretty much a given there ) in order to keep the deadwood freeloaders out. All it'd take to make be decide between a costco vs a walmart stop would be having a chademo at one or the other.

 

[TomT]

Since I doubt there is anyone to watch over them at night and instigate a tow, it makes perfect sense to me. There is an ongoing problem with people parking at EVSEs overnight to charge in lieu of having their own... This is one of the things that killed off after-hours charging at the LADWP's facility on Spring Street. Two people would always leave their Leafs there overnight since they lived nearby and didn't want to be bothered with installing an EVSE (I spoke to one of them when I was there)... Charging a fee is another way to end that practice...

Our Costco installed some cheap locks on the handle so they can prevent them from being used at night. Very tacky. They should have just towed the people who leave their cars there overnight.

 

[MikeinDenver]

I would love if Costco would put some in. We are there for quite some time each time we go. Long enough to get a good 20% or more charge.

 

[KeiJidosha]

Since I doubt there is anyone to watch over them at night and instigate a tow, it makes perfect sense to me. There is an ongoing problem with people parking at EVSEs overnight to charge in lieu of having their own... This is one of the things that killed off after-hours charging at the LADWP's facility on Spring Street. Two people would always leave their Leafs there overnight since they lived nearby and didn't want to be bothered with installing an EVSE (I spoke to one of them when I was there)... Charging a fee is another way to end that practice...

Our Costco installed some cheap locks on the handle so they can prevent them from being used at night. Very tacky. They should have just towed the people who leave their cars there overnight.

I'm much happier with pay to charge. Free chargers that go dark after hours, especially ones that are not visible on a network, are an unwelcome trap for those that might need a bump charge to make it home in cold/windy/adverse conditions.

 

[TomT]

Agreed! I rarely use public L2 any longer. It is just not worth the hassle, what with them being clogged with PiPs and the like. 85% of my public charging these days is on QC.

It'd be WAY nicer to have Chademo . . .

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Agreed! I rarely use public L2 any longer. It is just not worth the hassle, what with them being clogged with PiPs and the like. 85% of my public charging these days is on QC.

It'd be WAY nicer to have Chademo . . .

despite my swearing against using Blink fast charge, I just used it last week for the 2nd time this year. I have done fast charges on Chargepoint about 10 times this year

but it has become easier for me to incorporate small bites of L2 into my day when I have needed it. Its only been 3 times in the past 3 months I used gas because the LEAF could not work and twice was to Aberdeen (where there is ZERO public charging options of ANY kind)

The one Blink trip was during a 174.3 mile day and was done simply because there was not enough time for L2. that was Tuesday. I also had a 121 mile day on Wed and used L2 and did it to the point that I got home with over 40 miles of range left...

Such is the advantage of 6 KW charging. in most cases I was nearly back to full when I did plug in for less than 2 hours at a time

 

[coolfilmaker]

Since I doubt there is anyone to watch over them at night and instigate a tow, it makes perfect sense to me. There is an ongoing problem with people parking at EVSEs overnight to charge in lieu of having their own... This is one of the things that killed off after-hours charging at the LADWP's facility on Spring Street. Two people would always leave their Leafs there overnight since they lived nearby and didn't want to be bothered with installing an EVSE (I spoke to one of them when I was there)... Charging a fee is another way to end that practice...

Our Costco installed some cheap locks on the handle so they can prevent them from being used at night. Very tacky. They should have just towed the people who leave their cars there overnight.

But now instead they have someone whose job it is to unlock the padlocks on each handle every day.

 

[Pipcecil]

as much as I hate to agree - charging for public evse use is the way to go. This way you don't get moochers and the people that really need it/want it will use it. To be honest if a charger is free, I will go a bit out of my way and walk to my destination despite me not really needing the charge (granted its not like I am topping off at 85%, but I know I can get home easily without it). If it cost, I only use it when I need it or if its at the specific place I am frequenting (to support their installment of them).

No one should be charging off a free public evse because they don't want to install one in their garage.

 

[TomT]

The big difference is that it would be someone who is already there and likely making a sweep of the parking lot anyway...

But now instead they have someone whose job it is to unlock the padlocks on each handle every day.

 

[johnrhansen]

As long as it's pay per use I'm all for it. AV network up here in Washington has this system where you pay 20 bucks a month for unlimited charging. That sucks. It brings you both of the disadvantages of the free model and the pay model. Last month I only used it once. Put in 10 kwh. Thats 2 dollars per kwh. I could generate power with a steam engine for cheaper than that.

 

[coolfilmaker]

The big difference is that it would be someone who is already there and likely making a sweep of the parking lot anyway...

But now instead they have someone whose job it is to unlock the padlocks on each handle every day.

Our Costco is not that well run. The store manager was in charge and it took 20 minutes to track them down and get them to unlock it.

 

[TomT]

Remember, it IS free... That comes with a certain amount of implied inconvenience...

Our Costco is not that well run. The store manager was in charge and it took 20 minutes to track them down and get them to unlock it.