ICEd at Lund's in Downtown Minneapolis... my story

I live about 45 minutes west of the Twin Cities and have a daughter with special needs that resides in a suburban group home. My daughter spends every other weekend with me and Sunday I took the usual trip back to the cities with the usual plan of stopping at Lund's in Downtown Minneapolis so I could charge the Leaf enough to make it home.

TheI prefer Lund's because i can shop, have coffee and read during the 90-120 minute charge time.

I left the group home and checked the Chargepoint app which showed an available station with the other in a "grey" status. I assumed the "grey" status was "out of commision" I had reported to a Lund's employee a few weeks earlier that stations #1 needed repair.

I arrived at Lund's to find an ICE vehicle at #2 with #1 open. I pulled into #1 seeing that the station was still online. However, I discovered that there was still a problem with the seating washer in the plug unit. The plug would not fully insert into the Leaf recpetacle. So... i entered the store to seek out a staff member that could page the ICE driver. Timing was such that I needed to plug in ASAP.

I found an employee and explained the situation. She in turn tracked down an on-duty manager and came back with the following information.

"We are unable to page the customer because we don't want to UPSET THEM" and "the parking spaces are NOT reserved". "If you wait 10 minutes I'm sure the customer will be gone"

Needless to say my bloodpressure spiked. I explained that the spots SHOULD be reserved because people like me depend on the chargepoint network being accurate. I also explained that EV stations should have posted signs stating that parking is for EVs ONLY.

It's Sunday and the lot is busy. I go back outside (of course it's cold and rainy) to find the original car gone.... only to be replaced by ANOTHER ICE driver....arrgghhhh.. Screw it. I went back to the defective station and removed the rubber seating washer (didn't appear to function as an electrical insulator). I was then able to plug in and charge.

I e-mailed Lund's customer service Sunday night (with gratidute and complint!) and received a response yesterday. It was from the general manager of the store and he was very apologetic. He stated that he scheduled repair on station #1 today and signage is already scheduled for install (waiting for the ground to thaw).

Lund's is one of a few retailers in Minneapolis that has installed free L2 chargers at their location.

Be vocal and support retailers that are on the leading edge supporting us!

MarvGordon said:

... I found an employee and explained the situation. She in turn tracked down an on-duty manager and came back with the following information.
"We are unable to page the customer because we don't want to UPSET THEM" and "the parking spaces are NOT reserved". "If you wait 10 minutes I'm sure the customer will be gone"

Needless to say my bloodpressure spiked. I explained that the spots SHOULD be reserved because people like me depend on the chargepoint network being accurate. I also explained that EV stations should have posted signs stating that parking is for EVs ONLY. ...

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The lack of signage was the whole problem and that issue was above both their pay grades. The facts are that the spaces weren't posted, and it isn't reasonable for the employees to police them unposted (of course they might not do so even if they are posted, but that's not what happened here). Nor are the ICE drivers really at fault. Without a sign telling them not to park, they just aren't doing anything wrong.

Until signs go in, all you can do is camp out there until a car moves.

Frustrating for sure, but without signs, I agree that the ICE drivers are not at fault. And I'll bet those two slots are prime parking locations.

I've taken steps to prevent that from happening to me again (especially when I really need the charge).

If you purchase one of these J1772 extender adapters...

http://modularevpower.com/UL_J1772_to_NEMA_14-50_Adapter_Box_Compact.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Then you'll be able to park off to the side of the blocked charging station, plug in the J1772 connector to this adapter, then run a NEMA 14-50 adapter/cord over to your 240v-modified cordset (with or without an extension cord for distance) and connect right up. Works like a charm...

Yes, people should respect the charging stations, but without signs that's a tough one. Even with signs sometimes...

But with the above adapter and your modified cordset, you're good to go... The photo was taken at a local Walmart that was super-iced...With my adapter and an extension cord, I was golden...Necessity is the mother of invention

Randy! Wow! That's an incredible fix!

Good deal.

Philip

I have a similar story with a bad outcome. It's a ChargePoint station in Mesa, AZ at Bookman's bookstore. They have an EV spot that's always ICEd. I emailed the owner and he said OK, he'll put a sign up. Guess what? the new sign doesn't say "Reserved for EVs only" or something like that. Instead it just says something to the effect of "Free charging station for EV at Bookman's". And guess what? The spot is still continuously ICEd after the sign was put up.

I hope the new sign at Lund's is enforceably clear and not lame like the Bookman's sign.

Randy..... any danger if there's rain?

MarvGordon said:

Randy..... any danger if there's rain?

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I think it says the adapter is not intended to be used in wet weather. But the Panasonic EVSE has a GFCI built-in so that should alleviate some concern.

I'd be more concerned about theft of the $255 adapter and extension cord, and even the EVSE as well if not locked up somehow.

I'm more likely to patronize stores that provide charging, whether free or paid, than I am their competition. Indeed I even shop more often at Kohl's and Walgreens stores that don't have charging stations, because the chains do provide charging at other stores.

But if a store has charging stations and allows them to be ICEd, whether by lack of signs or by lack of enforcement, then I'll drive past that store where I had hoped to charge, and shop at their competition instead.

MarvGordon said:

Randy..... any danger if there's rain?

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I wouldn't use the adapter and the EVSE outside in the rain, but that's just me...Fortunately, we only have a handful of rain days per year...

We really need to get these stores to put the chargers in the unused portion of the parking lot. I prefer to park out there anyway and that will guaranteeing no iceing.

From dealing with a local municipality, I see a lot of placement decisions being made on how close they can get to the power source.

My town is putting a L2 in a parking lot that should guarantee it's never being used, because it has an easy power source & the other proposed location would require 30 more ft of underground cabling.

Philip

philipscoggins said:

From dealing with a local municipality, I see a lot of placement decisions being made on how close they can get to the power source.

My town is putting a L2 in a parking lot that should guarantee it's never being used, because it has an easy power source & the other proposed location would require 30 more ft of underground cabling.

Philip

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This was exactly the reason the LUNDS chargers are where they are.
I love those and know a number of plug-in owners that never went to Lunds before they had the chargers. One of them spends a lot of time there working and relaxing at the coffee shop.

That location was chosen as it gives the easiest access to power. The managers there have worked with chargepoint to allow them to provide the free charging. They don't know how LNG the deal will last, but they hope it remains free for a while.

They are great guys and very enthusiastic about the EVs that visit

BTW, a number of the GoodWills in the area also have free chargers.

Elephanthead said:

We really need to get these stores to put the chargers in the unused portion of the parking lot. I prefer to park out there anyway and that will guaranteeing no iceing.

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20 or 30 feet is one thing, but most of the commercial installations I've been involved with are trying to make the job work economically. In other words, you can't make the charging stations capital cost and operational costs pay for themselves AND put extra installation costs on top of it by charging just $1 per hour. And if you're talking about trenching through asphalt or concrete and repairing it back after the install for this additional distance, that adds cost to a job that is struggling to get paid for anyways...

I honestly think many of you would be shocked to see how much these charging station jobs cost in total (another BIG reason to really vocally support the hosts with your business)...Of course, my experience is in California, which is probably more expensive than other states...