"No electric vehicle charging!" locks on power outlets.

Found these on all the 120V outlets at my employer's parking garage.

A sign of things to come?

My employer provides 4 spaces for 100% electric vehicles to charge for free (from 2 Level 2 EVSEs). So I can't really complain that they are prohibiting charges from the 120V outlets. . .

However, this does change things for me. Up to now, I would typically just trickle charge from a 120V outlet, freeing up those 4 electric-only spaces for other EV drivers at my work. Now there will be more of us jockeying for those few electric-only spaces.

Also, PHEV drivers used to plug in to the 120V outlets, and are prohibited from parking in the "electric-only" spaces. Now they have no option for charging at work at all. . .

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dgalvan said:

Found these on all the 120V outlets at my employer's parking garage.

A sign of things to come?

My employer provides 4 spaces for 100% electric vehicles to charge for free (from 2 Level 2 EVSEs). So I can't really complain that they are prohibiting charges from the 120V outlets. . .

However, this does change things for me. Up to now, I would typically just trickle charge from a 120V outlet, freeing up those 4 electric-only spaces for other EV drivers at my work. Now there will be more of us jockeying for those few electric-only spaces.

Also, PHEV drivers used to plug in to the 120V outlets, and are prohibited from parking in the "electric-only" spaces. Now they have no option for charging at work at all. . .

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It never hurts to ask. There may be a valid reason. Maybe they were clogging other legitimate uses like construction, cleaning, or tripping breakers because of the load.

Got a response from the facilities department, and the reasoning does indeed sound legitimate:

Basically they say that too many people (both BEV owners and PHEV owners) were plugging in their cars, and they were getting circuit breakers tripping. So management identified a small subset of 120V outlets that could still be used for trickle charging based on the capacities of the circuits they were on, and made all other 120V outlets off-limits to charging.

Based on this I have no beef with my employer for this.

dgalvan said:

Got a response from the facilities department, and the reasoning does indeed sound legitimate:

Basically they say that too many people (both BEV owners and PHEV owners) were plugging in their cars, and they were getting circuit breakers tripping. So management identified a small subset of 120V outlets that could still be used for trickle charging based on the capacities of the circuits they were on, and made all other 120V outlets off-limits to charging.

Based on this I have no beef with my employer for this.

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I had a similar problem at my work. Turns out the outdoor outlet I'd chosen was on the same circuit as the coffee maker in the executive kitchen and it would trip when they went to make coffee. Whoops!

Found another outlet on the other side of the building where I'm pretty much the only thing on the circuit.

that is really funny, mike.
i got locked out of my favorite outlet with a similar device and just moved to another outlet.
i didnt want to investigate to heavily, as there are still good EV spots in the third sub-basement, where there are empty spots.
we have j1772s, but they cost via blink, and i only use them when i need to leave work with a full deck.

dgalvan said:

Got a response from the facilities department, and the reasoning does indeed sound legitimate:

Basically they say that too many people (both BEV owners and PHEV owners) were plugging in their cars, and they were getting circuit breakers tripping. So management identified a small subset of 120V outlets that could still be used for trickle charging based on the capacities of the circuits they were on, and made all other 120V outlets off-limits to charging.

Based on this I have no beef with my employer for this.

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I haven't seen any such signage on at the random 120 volt outlets at my work's garage. We have 8 J1772 handles on Chargepoint EVSEs at work + 6 more out front for our EV valets, all free of charge.

Our facilities folks I believe installed some dedicated 120 volt outlets and painted them as EV spots. Each of can handle 16 amp loads (so, basically 1 plug-in at a time, in most cases). We've been told not to plug into other random non-designated spots as there are many outlets on a single circuit and if you don't know which is connected w/which, you could trip a breaker.

Anyhow, w/our utilization rate, friendliness of other drivers, EV valets and free charging leaves me nothing to complain about.

dgalvan said:

Basically they say that too many people (both BEV owners and PHEV owners) were plugging in their cars, and they were getting circuit breakers tripping. So management identified a small subset of 120V outlets that could still be used for trickle charging based on the capacities of the circuits they were on, and made all other 120V outlets off-limits to charging.

Click to expand...

Had the same issue at my work. Another LEAF owner and myself wound up charging on the same circuit, and blew the fuse. Our facilities folks explained their outlet-labeling scheme, and how to avoid sharing circuits. Basically just park as far away from the other guy as possible.

cwerdna said:

Anyhow, w/our utilization rate, friendliness of other drivers, EV valets and free charging leaves me nothing to complain about.

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What's an EV valet? Is it what I imagine it is: a facilities staff member who circulates employee EVs through charging, so that utilization is maximized and employees don't have to stop work and remember to move their cars? Awesome!

uwskier20 said:

What's an EV valet? Is it what I imagine it is: a facilities staff member who circulates employee EVs through charging, so that utilization is maximized and employees don't have to stop work and remember to move their cars? Awesome!

Click to expand...

Kinda...

The parking at my work has become very full due to our buildings becoming too full. So, they had to hire valets until our new buildings and their parking lot are complete. Use of the valets is optional but if the lot's full, you have no choice but to park very far away or use the valet.

For those who choose to valet their EV/PHEV, the valets can charge the cars for you. There are 3 dedicated EVSEs (w/6 J1772 handles) near are main buildings that are are for EV valet use only. But yeah, they charge valeted EVs/PHEVs and do the necessary shuffling of them.

120V circuits can be problematic; as noted 12 amps from a car doesn't leave much headroom on a multi-outlet 15A circuit for other devices -- heaven forbid another car! Kind of why Nissan recommends a dedicated circuit.

At the risk of being seen as hypocritical compared to my views in the "Am I a mooch?" thread, in the case of 120V, I would refrain unless clearly marked as an EV charging outlet, or having otherwise verified with the property owners that it's ok to plug in.

cwerdna said:

... There are 3 dedicated EVSEs (w/6 J1772 handles) ...

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I haven't seen any L2 with two plugs.
What model #?
Do they work like the Blink DCQC units that have two cables and the second vehicle starts charging once the first car finishes?

TimLee said:

cwerdna said:

... There are 3 dedicated EVSEs (w/6 J1772 handles) ...

Click to expand...

I haven't seen any L2 with two plugs.
What model #?
Do they work like the Blink DCQC units that have two cables and the second vehicle starts charging once the first car finishes?

Click to expand...

The 3 dedicated stations w/6 handles total for our EV valets are the CT4000 series at http://www.chargepoint.com/stations/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. They initially were configured for power sharing (http://insideevs.com/chargepoint-introduces-ct4000-series-charger-with-unique-power-sharing-option/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false but not anymore. Each handle now has its own 40 amp feed, just like their legacy stations.

The other stations we have are the CT2000 series at http://www.chargepoint.com/guides/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. Some are the dual handle type and some are the single handle type with a 120 volt outlet under the metal door. In all these cases, each handle has its own 40 amp feed.

There are a ton of the CT4000 series at the Google campus in Mountain View. There quite a few CT2000 series stations all around the Bay Area.

Both handles can be in use at the same time, at full power, except if it's a CT4000 configured for power sharing.

Nubo said:

At the risk of being seen as hypocritical compared to my views in the "Am I a mooch?" thread, in the case of 120V, I would refrain unless clearly marked as an EV charging outlet, or having otherwise verified with the property owners that it's ok to plug in.

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Agreed. This is a totally different situation, with clear and legitimate reasons for checking before plugging in to a 120 volt outlet.

this sounds like a marketing idea for Phil and his adjustable EVSE mod...

cwerdna said:

uwskier20 said:

What's an EV valet? Is it what I imagine it is: a facilities staff member who circulates employee EVs through charging, so that utilization is maximized and employees don't have to stop work and remember to move their cars? Awesome!

Click to expand...

Kinda...

The parking at my work has become very full due to our buildings becoming too full. So, they had to hire valets until our new buildings and their parking lot are complete. Use of the valets is optional but if the lot's full, you have no choice but to park very far away or use the valet.

For those who choose to valet their EV/PHEV, the valets can charge the cars for you. There are 3 dedicated EVSEs (w/6 J1772 handles) near are main buildings that are are for EV valet use only. But yeah, they charge valeted EVs/PHEVs and do the necessary shuffling of them.

Click to expand...

NEST?

tailgate1234 said:

NEST?

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Nope. Although I don't work at Apple either, I've heard of valet parking there due to their overcrowding and our EV valets sometimes do EV valet (and regular valet?) over at Apple.

TimLee said:

cwerdna said:

... There are 3 dedicated EVSEs (w/6 J1772 handles) ...

Click to expand...

I haven't seen any L2 with two plugs.
What model #?
Do they work like the Blink DCQC units that have two cables and the second vehicle starts charging once the first car finishes?

Click to expand...

AV units are all 1 plug here, most ChargePoints are 2 plugs.

There's 300-500 cars where I work, so they've outlawed regular outlets and installed one CP EVSE. Luckily, we're not at CA EV levels yet, so it's just me and the security car using it. Cost is $0.40/hr when charging, prorated, so about the same as at home with a 3.3. They're worried about the day when all the cars could be EVs.

CA workplaces could install more L1's. I'm trying to get them to add that here.