Charging Stations coming to New York

I read in the 4-15-2013 issue of USA Today the following:

" Albany: The state will install 360 charging stations for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids across the state as part of a five year initiative to expand their use. The goal is a statewide network of up to 3,000 public and workplace charging stations."

That's wonderful. I sent them a "thumbs up" acknowledgement!!

Yes, well, not to be a pessimist, but let's see how many of those stations wind up in places other than private parking lots in Manhattan that charge $40/hour to park. (Not to mention that the stations themselves want $3.95 an hour!)

Let's also not mention that the state refuses to fund any Quick Charging stations, yet will put in all these Level 2's in the silliest places...

I suggest you "get on them!"

Get involved. Write to the Governor, (I did and I don't even live there,) as well as the news papers. Use the blog as well as this wonderful site. I would not have known of NY's plan had I not seen it in the paper, (USA Today.)

Now that I drive an electric car, I know I sound like a reformed smoker, but I will NEVER go back!!

(When I see all these ICE vehicles spewing crap from their tailpipes, I am reminded of the time some 30 years ago when I left the drain valve to the toilet storage tank on my camper open, dripping you know what along the highway for the entire day, only discovering the mistake when I pulled into the next camp site for the evening. That's how I feel every day, seeing what people are doing out of shear ignorance.

These electric vehicles are WORTH fighting for. I am confident you know that. Right?

End of rant... for now.

greengate said:

(When I see all these ICE vehicles spewing crap from their tailpipes, I am reminded of the time some 30 years ago when I left the drain valve to the toilet storage tank on my camper open, dripping you know what along the highway for the entire day, only discovering the mistake when I pulled into the next camp site for the evening. That's how I feel every day, seeing what people are doing out of shear ignorance.

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While I'll be the first to admit I didn't buy an EV for environmental reasons.. I will also admit that I did have an eye-opening moment a few months ago. I was sitting in traffic on a really cold morning. We don't have many really cold mornings here in Texas, by the way. Anyway, it was so cold that every vehicle on the road was showing an enormous amount of steam coming from the tailpipes while sitting there going nowhere. Seeing all of the steam coming from the cars around me and just totally filling the air made it really obvious in a visual way to me exactly how much exhaust a typical car emits. My leaf was the only car around that did not have anything belching into the air. I guess since the weather is so warm here usually, that we don't see it visually like that.

but I can never go back either. Our Volt has been in the shop for the last 3 days getting the power steering repaired. My wife has been driving the Leaf, and my father (who lives next door to me) has been driving me to work in his Honda CRV. I don't say anything since I don't want to appear ungrateful for the ride. But his vehicle feels, sounds, and smells like it was built during the steam age.

I look forward to a day when there are 3,000 charge stations in NY. I'm not going to hold my breath but I will remain optimistic.

As I have been pestering my local town and county officials about getting the Gov's share of charging stations I received the same info from an aid to the county exec yesterday. I am still a bit pessimistic about getting any outside of the NYC metro area, but who knows. At least the County Exec installed a bunch of charge points in the town he was supervisor of before being elected to county level. So maybe there is hope for us in Suberbia.

NYLEAF said:

Yes, well, not to be a pessimist, but let's see how many of those stations wind up in places other than private parking lots in Manhattan that charge $40/hour to park. (Not to mention that the stations themselves want $3.95 an hour!)

Let's also not mention that the state refuses to fund any Quick Charging stations, yet will put in all these Level 2's in the silliest places...

Click to expand...

I did notice (on plugshare) two new QC stations in the NY city area, one on Long Island and the other in the city. I suppose these are being installed for Taxis? Not sure if the public will be able to use them...

-Jim

I'm the one who added the Manhattan one to Plugshare. It's real, I'm just waiting to hear back if it's open to the public yet or not. The one on Long Island (it's in Queens, actually, which yes is on Long Island but I'm not going to get into that whole debate right now) may or may not be real. A lot of times people put things on Plugshare and check off "Quick Charge" but it's just a J1772. That one is not too far from my house so I may drive over there one day and see if it's real. If it is, it's in a great location, right by the LIE (I-495) and the Clearview (I-295). I was looking on Street View, there's a 7-11 and a Waldbaum's (supermarket).

I take that all back. The Quick Charger at the 7-11 in Flushing, Queens is totally real and totally awesome. I stopped by on my way to work today and plugged in for a few minutes just to make sure it worked. Here's all the photographic proof (Sorry for the size of the images!):









Unfortunately, as you can see in the last photo, there is no signage indicating the spot is for EVs only, and there is a generic sign for the whole lot saying that it's for 7-11 customers only (meaning you can't walk over to the diner, the supermarket, or the pharmacy nearby) and you can only park for 10 minutes.

What is the fee?

greengate said:

What is the fee?

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It was free for me. The employee inside 7-11 said the station had been there for 5 or 6 months, but was just turned on. He asked me how much it cost me, and when I told him nothing, he was shocked, saying it is supposed to be charging me something. I bought a gatorade because I felt like I should at least buy something, but the station doesn't seem to have a credit card swipe or anything that would allow it to charge someone.

Thanks for posting! It's good to see visual evidence of a QC in NY, even if it's outside of my range.

Yay, now I can drive to JFK with more confidence, few times I've had to drop off relatives from westchester I returned home with one bar left. Thanks for sharing the info.

elmobob said:

Yay, now I can drive to JFK with more confidence, few times I've had to drop off relatives from westchester I returned home with one bar left. Thanks for sharing the info.

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And here I was, thinking about how I can drive up to the Raceway in Yonkers without worrying! (I'm about 2 miles from JFK)

I'm just hoping this is the first (or second, if you count Seward Park) of many to come in the area.

I'm in NY.

I don't have a QC port, so the only places I'd ever possibly charge would be if they introduced a charge station at the mall or at Wegmans (a big grocer here).

EatsShootsandLeafs said:

I'm in NY.

I don't have a QC port, so the only places I'd ever possibly charge would be if they introduced a charge station at the mall or at Wegmans (a big grocer here).

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As far as I know, Wegman's has zero plans to install charger stations. Price Chopper, on the other hand, wants to roll out L2 charge stations to all of their stores.

I too got a Leaf without the QC port. I don't believe I will be seeing a QC within the next 3-5 years in upstate NY, although I'm thrilled that those downstate have a couple.

GetOffYourGas said:

EatsShootsandLeafs said:

I'm in NY.

I don't have a QC port, so the only places I'd ever possibly charge would be if they introduced a charge station at the mall or at Wegmans (a big grocer here).

Click to expand...

As far as I know, Wegman's has zero plans to install charger stations.

Click to expand...

I contacted Wegmans. I was told that they don't have plans but that they would forward my inquiry to the appropriate people. I assume that the "appropriate people" are not actually people but the waste basket. I honestly thought that Wegmans would be receptive to the idea because it would attract the EV community to shop, but also frequent the prepared food on lunch breaks or as we travel through a town. How hard does Wegmans work to get people into their stores and to stay for a while? They have child care in some of their stores, helping hands (what, you want to buy so much stuff that you cannot get it to your car on your own?), etc., but I guess the EV community isn't big enough to be of a concern. I hope that changes.

Publius said:

GetOffYourGas said:

EatsShootsandLeafs said:

I'm in NY.

I don't have a QC port, so the only places I'd ever possibly charge would be if they introduced a charge station at the mall or at Wegmans (a big grocer here).

Click to expand...

As far as I know, Wegman's has zero plans to install charger stations.

Click to expand...

I contacted Wegmans. I was told that they don't have plans but that they would forward my inquiry to the appropriate people. I assume that the "appropriate people" are not actually people but the waste basket. I honestly thought that Wegmans would be receptive to the idea because it would attract the EV community to shop, but also frequent the prepared food on lunch breaks or as we travel through a town. How hard does Wegmans work to get people into their stores and to stay for a while? They have child care in some of their stores, helping hands (what, you want to buy so much stuff that you cannot get it to your car on your own?), etc., but I guess the EV community isn't big enough to be of a concern. I hope that changes.

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So give them 30 days and, if you haven't heard, take it up the food chain...or start at the very top..the president and CEO. (If Jackson Hole, WY can put in some level 2's when they only have 4 EV's in the county...what more can I say?)

NYLEAF said:

elmobob said:

Yay, now I can drive to JFK with more confidence, few times I've had to drop off relatives from westchester I returned home with one bar left. Thanks for sharing the info.

Click to expand...

And here I was, thinking about how I can drive up to the Raceway in Yonkers without worrying! (I'm about 2 miles from JFK)

I'm just hoping this is the first (or second, if you count Seward Park) of many to come in the area.

Click to expand...

I was able to stop by the Seward Park QC station yesterday and was able to charge with no problems . The location is a bit odd.. There are also two lvl 2 charge points on the opposite side.

Awesome! Would you be willing to post those pics on PlugShare?