Work might be installing charging stations

I picked up a new leaf this weekend and how a few of us have EV at work. I was talking with the COO about the possibility of getting a charging station or two installed at the office. He was very welcome to the idea.

I would like to get some info together to provide them with some data that hopefully will make it happen. My office is in Washington and I dont know if there are any tax credits or anything that they can get. I also dont know if there is a benefit to installing a public station or a private one that only employees can use. We are in an industrial park but we are surrounded by apartments and restaurants.

Does anyone have any info this or an idea on where to gather info. I have done some google searches and looked at chargepoints website about installing a business class charger but i dont know what information is valuable and what is worthless. anyone been through this themselves?

I am interested in this also, our parking structure at work is putting in charging stations and I'd like to suggest info to them also. I'd like to see Level 2 or CHAdeMO's installed. I have used NRG/EVGO and Chargepoints, both no issues. Who else makes a good CHAdeMo charging station ?

The Aerovironment ones http://www.evsolutions.com/ev-charging-products-for-business here in Oregon are very reliable...even in our limited heat waves! Part of the West Coast Electric Highway. I recommend them over ANY others due to reliability...and when not working they have phone support to re-boot them. After normal business hours even! I think their model works. It's expensive for a single QC ($7.50) but makes the $20/month unlimited seem like a bargain. Just need more than one Chademo at each location. and soon.

All locations with the Chademo also have a L2. Again, more of the L2 per location would be great.

My two cents.

Curt

CHAdeMO stations seem very poorly suited for workplace charging, IMHO. Even employees who arrive on the last joules of their car's charge would be done QC'ing in an hour; whose workday is short enough that they wouldn't either wind up leaving their parked car blocking access to an extremely expensive piece of equipment for long periods of time, or having to come back to their car half an hour after arrival and move it? Seems to me that L2 or L1 stations would be the way to go.

Im hoping they put in L2 stations, and limit it to a max of 4 hours per person. I think that will make it so everyone can use it and all should be fully charged at that point.

If I cannot get them to install L2 chargers, then Im hoping they will install 220v and let us bring our own L2 charger.

I know they already have a few 110v outdoor plugs and at the least I am sure they will let us use those with the factory charger.

Re the relative advantages of public vs private (employee only) charging stations: if money is an issue (it often is, even if only from a psychological standpoint) and EVs are popular in your area, a Chargepoint station is probably the way to go. If maybe eventually making money isn't a big factor, then inexpensive non-smart stations from a company like Clipper Creek that are open to the public after hours would buy your employers good will, with a much smaller outlay.

For work place charging that you will be parked all day, up to 9 hours, the cheapest way for an employer is to install a 30a 120v circuit. What I did for my home was install a 240v outlet with two 120v split off each side in a quad box. This is now just used for outside outlet as we have an L2 EVSE in the garage.

By installing two dedicated 120v outlets two EV's can be charged during the work day. Those spots will need to be reserved for EV charging only.

By using 120v the Leaf will charge at a rate of 3.3kw per hour, so your employer can know the cost by multiplying their rate times 3.3kw/hour. In my case the rate is $0.15/kwh or $0.50 per hour. If you average 4.0 miles/kwh just divide your miles used by 4, then miltiply those kwh times the rate to determine the electricity used each day. Lets say you drive 40 miles to work, then 40miles / 4.0m/kwh = 10kwh. 10kwh times $0.15/kwh = $1.50 per day of electricity. You can let the employer know that you will work an extra 5 minutes per day to pay for the electricity.

If you drive less than 30 miles to work, then you do not need to charge during the day, but just charge when you get back home. JMHO.

sparelink said:

I picked up a new leaf this weekend and how a few of us have EV at work. I was talking with the COO about the possibility of getting a charging station or two installed at the office. He was very welcome to the idea.

I would like to get some info together to provide them with some data that hopefully will make it happen. My office is in Washington and I dont know if there are any tax credits or anything that they can get. I also dont know if there is a benefit to installing a public station or a private one that only employees can use. We are in an industrial park but we are surrounded by apartments and restaurants.

Does anyone have any info this or an idea on where to gather info. I have done some google searches and looked at chargepoints website about installing a business class charger but i dont know what information is valuable and what is worthless. anyone been through this themselves?

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In researching this myself as I thought that some states, etc. may have initiated similar programs I came across this from MN of all places. I wouldn't doubt that WA may have a government office that could assist but this one is a good start ...

http://www.energyinnovationcorridor...1/01/charging-while-you-work-guide-8.5-11.pdf

Here in IL, the IL EPA was still offering rebates for public and private EVSE stations but with our latest BIG budget shortfall, its doubtful it will continue much longer; even without it the attached write-up does a decent job covering most of the bases, not sure how big (# of employees, etc.) your company is but great food for thought ...

CHAdeMO is the way to go ! Last Sunday I was headed to meet a group of friends in Huntington Beach, I live in Mission Viejo, I had it all planned, go to Fred's and the parking structure next to Fred's has charging stations. But who's to say they will be available right ? I pick up my girlfriend, we're driving and she says, oh it got changed, US Open (surfing) is going on we moved further away from the ocean. OK, well we get there to the new place and I have plenty to get home, so no charging. My husband calls on my way home, pick up tickets to Pageant of the Masters at his moms in Newport. OK I should be ok, well I wasn't, there are NO QC's in Newport, closest one is Santa Ana, Trader Joes. There's a Level 1 or 2 at Fashion Island, you get like 3 miles an hour ? really ?? I had to go back to my mother in laws, use her car and leave my car there and deal with it later. I was pressed for time, didn't have 2-3 hours to burn to get home. After the event it was 10:30, I headed to Newport, went to Fashion Island to get 5 miles in almost 2 hours, drive to Santa Ana to QC and I got home by 12:30am, what a load of ****, the girl I was with said she'd never get an EV after this fiasco, I don't blame her, my husband was disappointed, don't blame him, I had it planned but two curveballs hit me and I failed.

So my office is going to put chargers in their parking structure, CHAdeMO is the way to go, if I am coming from the beach area or Laguna (all hilly) I know there is a QC in Irvine by John Wayne Airport. The company can make money by people coming into our area to charge. 9 hour chargers are crap, I'd rather have the 30 mins and move my car, when done and not have some ass leave his/her car in a spot for 9 hours cause it takes that long, I'm not the only EV in the structure. Then I have another friend, her boss put in 10 chargers at her work, she paid $99 for the year and that's her parking spot for the day, she doesn't have to move. That's crap to me, great for her but what if I needed to charge ? no dice. Level 1 or 2 or trickle is fine for home, but out on the open road we need more QC's.

Sondy132001 said:

CHAdeMO is the way to go ! Last Sunday I was headed to meet a group of friends in Huntington Beach,
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So my office is going to put chargers in their parking structure, CHAdeMO is the way to go, if I am coming from the beach area or Laguna (all hilly) I know there is a QC in Irvine by John Wayne Airport. The company can make money by people coming into our area to charge. 9 hour chargers are crap, I'd rather have the 30 mins and move my car, when done and not have some ass leave his/her car in a spot for 9 hours cause it takes that long, I'm not the only EV in the structure. Then I have another friend, her boss put in 10 chargers at her work, she paid $99 for the year and that's her parking spot for the day, she doesn't have to move. That's crap to me, great for her but what if I needed to charge ? no dice. Level 1 or 2 or trickle is fine for home, but out on the open road we need more QC's.

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There's no question but what your errands and personal travel got you into a situation where CHAdeMO would be the best remedy. What a great argument for setting up a 1950s style drive in near the beach or other popular venue where each stall has a DCQC cable; drive in, order a $20-ish burger, and the car hop plugs you in, clamps on the window tray, and gets your burger, shake, and fries! But your original posting was concerning the kind of charger appropriate for employers to provide for their employees. And, given that 95-plus-% of employees are going to have needs and expectations, just like your friend, of leaving their vehicle parked at least until lunchtime, L2 or L1 is the correct answer; sorry.

As someone agitating for their employer to test the waters of providing employees with EV charging, consider that it would be helpful if the employer found the experiment went well enough to want to repeat, or at least serve as an example to others. If they spent upwards of $50K to install each piece of CHAdeMO equipment, who knows how much to keep maintained (the ones in public use seem to break down every couple months), and possibly have their entire electric bill elevated to a higher pricing plateau, thanks to the possibility that a quarter megawatt's worth of cars might all try QCing at once, they might not feel that the experiment worked out all that well for them.