Over 17 months of LEAF ownership I have charged at public EVSEs about 40 times at perhaps 25 different locations in LA, Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties, so I can report from direct experience.
I try to plan my extended trips and select charging locations where I can profitably spend .5 to 1.5 hrs or more, usually eating a meal or (rarely) do some shopping. The bare minimum requirement is access to a public restroom. Now that I have an iPad, Wifi is a definite plus. It takes time on Google Maps to find restaurants adjacent to charging stations, because no restaurant chain in my area seems to have committed to EVSE installations.
At first only Nissan dealers had EVSEs in my area, and they met only the restroom requirement, but many of them do offer Wi-fi. Of course one can buy the food separately and eat it at the dealership, but this wastes time, and there are often distracting sounds, TVs, etc in the dealership waiting rooms. They are not open 24/7, but this is not a problem for me.
The number of public stations in good, useful locations has grown substantially over the last year, but so has the problem of
EV parking space abuse as more Volts, Pips, and Active-Es appear alongside the LEAFs.
BTW I encountered my first Tesla Model-S in the wild last night. Its owners were leaving their brand-new 85 kWh car in the Caltech parking lot overnight to get a full charge, since they had not yet installed charging at their house. They were happy to pay the 2$/hr for 7 kW. They were going to need 9-10 hours of charge.
EV parking space states:
0. Space and EVSE available. No problem, begin charging.
1. No space available, and EV is charging. No abuse, execute Plan B or C.
2. A space is available, but EVSE is plugged into an EV whose charge is completed. I would unplug them if they have left a note, or it is a LEAF with its dashboard still showing completion, but I have never had this opportunity. Volts can never be unplugged because their owners have probably neglected to disable the default alarm that sounds when they are unplugged.
This condition is becoming more common for
free EVSEs. The solution is to charge a
modest fee. Charging a fee has not been possible for non-networked EVSEs such as ClipperCreek, but they now offer a keypad-phone system for billing.
3. EV is parked in space, but it is not plugged in. Clearly abuse, should be reported. Adjacent spaces may be available if the cable is long enough, as shown below.
4. ICE is parked in the space. This has been the most common problem. It occurs at Nissan dealerships, where parking is often scarce. Signage is often missing, but signs are often ignored as well. One mall where I charge has to field frequent complaints to their mall police for this problem. Signage plus painting the spot white appears to work the best.
drees said:
I hate thieves. Using shorter cables will also help deter thefts - 7 ft of cable is a less enticing to steal than 15 ft.
Unfortunately I see a need for more long cables, not shorter. In the picture below, a pair of ClipperCreek EVSEs are mounted between the two posts, adjacent to 4 parking spots, but all 4 spots are occupied by
EVs not charging, one in state 2, the others in state 3. Fortunately these units had 25' cables, and the cable not plugged in reached my blue LEAF on the extreme left.
Although there was no note, I would have unplugged the LEAF in state 2 if necessary. As it was, I was able to eat a nice healthy meal at this location at the Helms Bakery mall in Culver City while I got the 1.3 hrs of charge I needed to get home. Plan B would have been some chargers at an office location several miles away with no food and no restroom.
