Why Do Chademo and L2 Installations Take So Long

I'm not really complaining because I'm not paying for them, and I certainly appreciate them, but I'm curious. Why does it take so long to put in new equipment? I've watched (actually I'm still watching) half a dozen new setups around me. Typically the equipment is in place pretty quickly, then it sits there, often for months, before it is ready for use. Anybody know what's going on?

Usually it's waiting for permitting/inspection and final hook-up by a qualified electrician.

In a larger sense, it's because there's usually more money involved in *setting up* a charge location than there is in actually operating one.

I guess that makes sense, especially the second reason. Perhaps they shouldn't get paid until the thing is turned on.

The ones you're referring to in NY/NJ/CT are by IPPSolar and I have no clue what the hell is taking so long. Some of those stations have been in place for over a year already! Some of them are turned on but don't show up on GreenLots so they can't be activated. It must be a money issue...part of me wonders if the company ever intended to activate them in the first place, or are they just waiting to sell the locations to eVgo?

They've been "coming soon" so long now that PlugShare has created a new orange icon bubble marker with a wrench in it to deliniate them.

I noticed that too; it's a good idea.

The wrench icon bubble is a great idea to delineate these coming soon stations, but they are getting our hopes up a bit prematurely I think when it takes a year to actually be up and running...

Okay, here's a new one for me. In the Big Y in Meriden/Wallingford, CT there has been a Chademo "under construction" for months. In June, it looked pretty much ready to go. Unit in place, electric meter panel set up, just needed to be turned on, it seemed.

I drove by this mornning, and it's completely gone! Panel removed, Chedemo gone and a shrub planted in it's place. What's that all about?

DNAinaGoodWay said:

They've been "coming soon" so long now that PlugShare has created a new orange icon bubble marker with a wrench in it to deliniate them.

Click to expand...

A bunch of QCs have recently disappeared off of PlugShare completely, when previously they had had the wrench icon. Is there a way to include/exclude them through filters? If there is, I haven't found it yet.

Graycenphil said:

Okay, here's a new one for me. In the Big Y in Meriden/Wallingford, CT there has been a Chademo "under construction" for months. In June, it looked pretty much ready to go. Unit in place, electric meter panel set up, just needed to be turned on, it seemed.

I drove by this mornning, and it's completely gone! Panel removed, Chedemo gone and a shrub planted in it's place. What's that all about?

Click to expand...

Probably someone with a lot of money that doesn't like EV's.

GetOffYourGas said:

A bunch of QCs have recently disappeared off of PlugShare completely, when previously they had had the wrench icon. Is there a way to include/exclude them through filters? If there is, I haven't found it yet.

Click to expand...

I wonder if those QCs arereally gone, like mine, or if the icon was just removed. Is there some new trend to have less charging locations? New big oil conspiracy?

I have found that there are chargers that do not show on the plugshare app, but they are visible on the plugshare web interface.

These locations that I'm thinking of (one in Carmel, NY, and four at Thruway rest stops) don't show up on either the website or the app. Last I checked, the QC in Carmel was in the ground, but not powered on. The QCs along the Thruway were "on order", and not yet delivered as of this June. I haven't followed up since.

I don't think there is any conspiracy. I think there is a legitimate problem in finding a profitable business model with the high demand charges, low cost of home fueling, current low range of most BEVs (which in turn limits them to commuters) and the low market share of EVs, at least in the Northeast.

I'm still curious about what happened to the one in Meriden, CT. Someone spent half a fortune putting it there - buying the unit, running the electric, pouring a concrete pad and installing the charger, then putting in a bollard to protect it. Then spent some more money to remove it all.

My guess would be getting high-amp power out to the charger is the number one issue. Unless it's on the side of a building, all that cable has to be trenched over, probably under concrete. So you have to line up a bunch of different companies to visit the site, and the people coordinating everything are not likely in any kind of time crunch at all.

Meanwhile, at the Stop & Shop in Wallingford: I went away for a week, came home and there are two L2s where there used to be a brick wall. Why can't the rest of them work like that?