Chargepoint at LAX... the only way to fly.. almost

So, I'm in Seattle for quick meeting. Last Sunday, I signed up for the Chargepoint free charger card ($9.95). It showed up just in time for my LAX jaunt in the LEAF. I knew the Chargepoint stations were supposed to have been activated this week and sure enough, when I logged in, I could see two J1772s available on their map.

Got to the P1 lot at LAX and one of the stations is in use.. by a Volt! Notice there's also an xBox conversion in the background. Not charging, just using the free parking I guess.



Nice looking Volt ( I also like the Volt in red) , no plates, from Ryder Chevrolet.



So, I will be parked for about 21 hours, and the Chargepoint EVSEs have a 120 volt option as well as the J1772. I thought it would be less piggy, to use my 120V opportunity cord so the J1772 would be available to the space next to me. Furthermore, the 120V option has a locking cover over the plug so as not to lose your connection. Held my Chargepoint key fob card to the machine and it unlocked the door.
Tried it, but got a ground faut error!
I've used this trickle charge cord before so I know it works. Dunno what's wrong but had to run so I snagged the J1772 and headed off to my flight.

(Edit) Trickle EVSE, via the 120V port worked fine on my return. No idea what I did wrong the first time.



Later, from seat 5A, I checked in on the charge status, both with Carwings and with my Chargepoint acct. All was good and free parking to boot... sweet!
This deal seems too good to last once we get 10,000 Volts and LEAFs in SoCal. But it worked great today. In the last two days, my LEAF has been charged via Blink, AV and Coulomb. All work fine.




If I have time on my return, I may play with the 120V connection some more and then give them a call if it still doesn't function.

Very interesting, Sparky....By any chance did you use an extension cord for the 120v charge connection, and if so, are the ends clear? Just trying to figure out the Chargepoint website.....

Thanks, RedRandy

Nice report.

Is it me, of does the position of the J1772 port on the Volt look out of place.....the cord goes halfway down the side of the car and looks to be a tripping hazard. The Leaf plugs in right in front and has much less cord laying around. I dunno, maybe I'm biased. :mrgreen:

Jimmydreams said:

Nice report.

Is it me, of does the position of the J1772 port on the Volt look out of place.....the cord goes halfway down the side of the car and looks to be a tripping hazard. The Leaf plugs in right in front and has much less cord laying around. I dunno, maybe I'm biased. :mrgreen:

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Sure - it the charge point is in front of the car. However, the one I saw in Portland was on parallel parking space, so on the side of the car - thus just the opposite effect on the Leaf/Volt plug locations

In the 2nd photo Leaf looks so much smaller than volt !

Randy said:

Very interesting, Sparky....By any chance did you use an extension cord for the 120v charge connection, and if so, are the ends clear? Just trying to figure out the Chargepoint website.....

Thanks, RedRandy

Click to expand...

I brought an extension cord but didn't try it. It does not have clear ends. I'll take a pic of the 120V connector tomorrow. I don't see how it can tell if the ends are clear since the whole thing is in the dark once that cover closes.

LakeLeaf said:

Jimmydreams said:

Nice report.

Is it me, of does the position of the J1772 port on the Volt look out of place.....the cord goes halfway down the side of the car and looks to be a tripping hazard. The Leaf plugs in right in front and has much less cord laying around. I dunno, maybe I'm biased. :mrgreen:

Click to expand...

Sure - it the charge point is in front of the car. However, the one I saw in Portland was on parallel parking space, so on the side of the car - thus just the opposite effect on the Leaf/Volt plug locations

Click to expand...

I thought the passenger side would generally be on the curb.... that makes Volt even worse.
What sort of parking puts the J plug on the drivers side?

smkettner said:

I thought the passenger side would generally be on the curb.... that makes Volt even worse.
What sort of parking puts the J plug on the drivers side?

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Ha - that didn't even occur to me as the charge point I came across in Portland was on a one way street on the left as you drive, so well suited for the Volt.

Maybe Chevy intends to sell a lot of Volts in the UK? :lol:

I thought the passenger side would generally be on the curb.... that makes Volt even worse.
What sort of parking puts the J plug on the drivers side?

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Agreed. The focus EV same problem. Plus every parking spot in my area is made for compacts, but everyone parks their SUV in them. I can barely get my door open. I can imagine that everyone who walks between my car and the SUV would be bumping into the side port cables. Yuck.
Yes, I am biased, but of all the options, only a pure induction charger makes better sense than putting it in the front.

evnow said:

In the 2nd photo Leaf looks so much smaller than volt !

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What's amazing is the Volt is classified as a compact while the Leaf is a mid size. (The interior space determines the classification.) The volt is a huge hunk of steal with a very small interior.

I don't know the volume of each car, nor what the break points are for the EPA classifications, but it could well be that the Leaf is at the very bottom of the Midsize class and the Volt is at the very top of the Compact Class, thus there might not be that much actual difference in the numbers. Having spent a fair amount of time in a Volt now - which is in itself ironic - it definitely does not feel tiny inside to me. The front seat and area does surround you more than in the Leaf but coming from sports and smaller cars, I like that type of cockpit. Granted the back seat is only two versus three but for two, I find it more comfortable than two in the Leaf for longer trips. And since there is just the two of us, that extra spot in the rear of the Leaf is irrelevant to us. (I'm short, so headroom is not a consideration for me as it is for some others.) We also won't know until they are crash tested if that extra external Volt steel has been put to good use in that regard...

jcesare said:

evnow said:

In the 2nd photo Leaf looks so much smaller than volt !

Click to expand...

What's amazing is the Volt is classified as a compact while the Leaf is a mid size. (The interior space determines the classification.) The volt is a huge hunk of steal with a very small interior.

Click to expand...

A couple more ChargePoint photos after my return to LAX.
BTW, it's hard not to smile when the plane is taxiing to the gate and you bring up Carwings to enable the climate control. Then get to your car and find it a pleasant 70 deg with the AC humming.
Also, when I got to the parking lot ticket gate, I handed over my parking stub and told the woman this was an electric vehicle. She just asked for my DL and walked around to the windshield and recorded the VIN. Took 90 secs but I'm sure it was an eternity to the guy behind me. I asked if this process is easier with the ZEV tag on the car and she said, "no, we do this every time no matter what stickers are on the car". Then I exit without paying a thing and smile some more... I used to hate LAX.

I tried the LEAF trickle charge EVSE again and this time I did not get the "Ground Fault" error. Several tries, with, and without an extension cord and all worked fine. Make sure the cord has the ground pin intact (I have one with ground pin removed) or the LEAF trickle EVSE won't work. It shows a flashing green light, as it should. However, the ChargePoint was OK without the ground pin and detected a good connection to the EVSE.

sparky said:

Randy said:

Very interesting, Sparky....By any chance did you use an extension cord for the 120v charge connection, and if so, are the ends clear? Just trying to figure out the Chargepoint website.....

Thanks, RedRandy

Click to expand...

I brought an extension cord but didn't try it. It does not have clear ends. I'll take a pic of the 120V connector tomorrow. I don't see how it can tell if the ends are clear since the whole thing is in the dark once that cover closes.

Click to expand...

Here's a shot inside the 120V box with my extension cord plugged in. You can see a couple of LEDs at the top. I suspect those are just for visibility at night. I guess the two "knobs" east and west of the black power cord must be the plug-is-in sensor. Seems some black tape, roll of cardboard, etc. would do the trick if you have a cord with a clear end.



Without the extension cord, the LEAF EVSE kind of hangs without decent strain relief. I plan to always have a power cord just for that purpose when I go to LAX. Plus, I can put the LEAF EVSE someplace less obvious, like under the car or on a tire.

evnow said:

In the 2nd photo Leaf looks so much smaller than volt !

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Here's a different perspective, with the LEAF looking a bit more prominent (as it should be).

nice that you don't need the sticker either! now I just need to fly somewhere!

Thanks so much, Sparky for the detailed LAX information. I won't be reluctant to try it now for lack of information and clarity.

I don't think you actually need to fly anywhere, but you need to do something to fill the hours of L2 (or L1) charging ... dinner perhaps?

I wonder what would happen if you were going on a long trip, say two weeks. You, of course, wouldn't want to tie up even a L1 stall for that long... If you didn't need to charge, could you just park somewhere else in that lot and still get the parking free for that long? (I actually do have a scenario like this coming up in April when I should have my Leaf...)

garygid said:

I don't think you actually need to fly anywhere, but you need to do something to fill the hours of L2 (or L1) charging ... dinner perhaps?

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mogur said:

I wonder what would happen if you were going on a long trip, say two weeks. You, of course, wouldn't want to tie up even a L1 stall for that long... If you didn't need to charge, could you just park somewhere else in that lot and still get the parking free for that long? (I actually do have a scenario like this coming up in April when I should have my Leaf...)

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Shouldn't be a problem. The parking people at the gate don't check if you plugged in or even if you parked in the EV zone. They just check if your vehicle is an EV and that your ticket shows you were there less than 30 days. The xBox EV that was there when I arrived, was just parking, not charging.

Once again I think a row of unprotected 20a outlets would be far less cost and far more coverage. Just a dedicated outlet, LAX could probably install 20 for every fancy evse port. And do you really think they will notice on the electric bill. Not even a blip IMO. I could even see having the L2 for employees but anyone taking a flight can only need L1 even if you have a Tesla.

OK maybe some people fly out in the morning and fly back in the evening but still even that is a lot of time.

My typical dropoff/pickup trip to LAX is about 55 miles, a few hills, but mostly high-speed, congested, freeway traffic. Keeping speed down a little to get there on a 100% charge is OK, but getting home after a 1-hour drop-off would require an L3 (QC) to over 80%, especially after the pack capacity has diminished somewhat.

So, the backup plan would be another QC near the LAX freeway exit, and one somewhere about halfway along the southbound 405 freeway trip. The L2's while parked will only help a little for this "hit and run" trip.

Yes, 120 for long term parkers and L2 for day visitors, that makes far more sense. This is a great option for office buildings as well since many only need 20% at work to get the full range they need.