NRG eVgo Freedom Station thread for San Diego

The tower with the receptacle on the side is the "customer service" tower. The L2 station should be a standard Charge Point unit...I don't see it in that photo, but sometimes it is mounted off to the side...

The customer service tower contains the telematics gear to run the station and will ultimately also have a credit card reader, etc. There is also remote reset equipment, camera control, etc. in the tower....

There has to be a substantial outage at the center to energize the new transformer, so it will be a few days longer, after Thanksgiving....

Randy said:

The L2 station should be a standard Charge Point unit...I don't see it in that photo, but sometimes it is mounted off to the side...

Click to expand...

The cable you see dangling over the "customer service tower" is a J1772 L2 cable. The cable comes out of the bottom of the pedestal, under the L1 plug cover.

No signs of any standard looking Charge Point stations anywhere.

I don't see one either in your Las Americas Premium Outlet pic on the first post?
Edit: Oh wait, looks like there is one mounted to a light post from another one of your pics.

drees said:

Randy said:

The L2 station should be a standard Charge Point unit...I don't see it in that photo, but sometimes it is mounted off to the side...

Click to expand...

The cable you see dangling over the "customer service tower" is a J1772 L2 cable. The cable comes out of the bottom of the pedestal, under the L1 plug cover.

Click to expand...

I swung by again this morning to see if it had been powered on yet - still nothing.

But there is now a hook for hanging the L2 plug, a padlock on the 120V outlet and some electronics filling the hole that used to be there on the customer service tower.

Here's a question Randy might be able to answer.... With these mall evGo installations who is providing the space? The mall management or a particular store? I like to thank supportive retailers, preferring to shop at stores that host charging stations when practical. So, for example, at Fashion Valley is Bloomingdale's to thank for hosting the station, or do JC Penney and Nordstrom deserve equal credit?

It's the mall management, not any particular store...

A major power outage for a sizable portion of the Carlsbad Outlet Center is coming soon in the wee hours so that the new transformer can be connected to the 12kV primary...A few days to commission and test the units and I'm sure it will be up and running soon...More units under construction elsewhere...

2 Freedom Stations online in San Diego:

* Fashion Valley Mall (with SAE Combo), 7007 Friars Rd, San Diego
* Las Americas Premium Outlets, 4211 Camino De La Plaza, San Ysidro

Other Stations Coming Soon:

* Carlsbad Premium Outlets, 5620 Paseo Del Norte, Carlsbad
* SDG&E Energy Innovation Center, 4760 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego
* Flower Hill Promenade, 2730 Via De La Valle, Del Mar
* Broadway Plaza, 1142 Broadway, Chula Vista

Two new eVgo stations are installed and active in San Diego as of today...

Carlsbad Premium Outlets, 5620 Paseo Del Norte (by Rubios)

Del Mar Flower Hill, 2720 Via de la Valle (in rear of Whole Foods on first floor parking structure by entrance)

Photo of Carlsbad Location:

Photo of Del Mar Flower Hill site:

Called NRG/eVgo to sign up for the 60-day trial membership ($7.95).

A few tidbits from my call with customer rep. (855-509-5581):
- Key card required to activate units (vs. direct CC access).
- Will take 3-5 business days to receive key card.
- Prior to receipt of key card, you can call 800# in order to have them activate the charging stations.
- Per rep., non-membership/non-trial rates for L2 is $2.00/hr (despite website's $2.50/hr rate).
- Per rep., upon expiration of trial period, eVgo will contact you to discuss monthly rate options,
which may/may not include a rate plan that includes use of both DCQC and L2 charging stations. Currently, monthly rate plans show separate DCQC and L2-use options.

Looking forward to using the additional DCQC options for EV travel between OC and SD areas.

Also, looks like these stations are not networked. Therefore, no way to determine
their status ahead of time? :?

Anyone know what the billing granularity is for L2? Whole hours, or hopefully minutes?

Good to see more QC sites popping up.

Randy said:

Photo of Del Mar Flower Hill site:

Click to expand...

Not active yet, the Flower Hill station. Soon, we hope.

I almost posted this note under the ICE Hall of Shame thread. It's a very nice counter example.

Yesterday we went to Las Americas mall and charged at the eVgo QC. It was a very busy shopping day and all the main lot was filled with lots of cars cruising and jamming the aisles waiting for spaces to open. After charging we drove to a satellite lot to park for shopping.

When we arrived both charging spaces were open. While we were there a car pulled into the other charging space - the accessible space to take last. I debated with myself a moment whether I should say anything to them, and what. But then a big Jeep SUV stopped. The driver leaned out and told them that space was for car charging and it wasn't a parking space. Then he repeated it in Spanish, the other driver said okay and immediately left. (He may not have been able to read the English sign restricting the space to EV charging.) So...

The charger wasn't ICEd

A Jeep driver is aware of EV's and the importance of charging access

He went out of his way to educate a fellow driver

Who immediately vacated the space with no hard feelings

lonndoggie said:

Randy said:

Photo of Del Mar Flower Hill site:

Click to expand...

Not active yet, the Flower Hill station. Soon, we hope.

Click to expand...

I charged there when the photo was taken...It is turned on. They are calling it a "soft open" and will install the logos on the equipment soon and make it "Official"...So you can go there and grab a charge if you have a card...

walterbays said:

Randy said:

The information I have was printed out and distributed on brochures at the Fashion Valley grand opening...

DC Fast Charging:
$14.95 per month plus 10 cents per minute for electricity
or
$9.95 per single use for a 20 minute charging session

Click to expand...

Their web site does not list this subscription option, so either they're not going to advertise it until the 60 day trial times out, or like the extension of that trial until they have some stations built it's just something they're considering but will not commit to. Which could be good news if it means they're still flexible in considering what will work best for drivers and for their business.

Click to expand...

I received a phone call last night from Monica Kling @ eVgo asking me if I would like to sign up for a subscription now that my 60-day trial was over. I was kind of surprised to hear that my trial had ended, since they do not yet have 6 stations operational in SD, but she assured me that my key fob had been deactivated and would no longer work. I told her I had no interest in a subscription, since I had never used one of their stations yet in the two months trial period, and was kind of surprised that they deactivated me before their network was really developed. I basically wasted the $7.95 I paid for the trial (which is my fault for not visiting and using their stations sooner, but I thought I had a little more time, according to what Andy Hoskinson had told me). Even one DCFC session would have made it worthwhile to pay the $7.95, but I never needed it and didn't make a special effort to get one. My bad. Live and learn.

She did say that there will be a non-subscription, zero up-front option for charging that is not currently on their website called the "on-the-go Flex Plan." If I sign the agreement and put my credit card on file, my key fob will be re-activated, and I can get a DC fast charging session for $4.95 plus 20 cents/flow minute, which works out to $8.95 for a 20-minute session rather than the $9.95 they have been advertising, if I understood correctly. It also allows L2 charging for $1.50/connection hour, which is 50% more than Blink. Despite the bad taste in my mouth, I will probably sign up for this just for the flexibility of being able to access another set of chargers for emergency purposes, and then never use it unless absolutely necessary.

TT

ttweed said:

... She did say that there will be a non-subscription, zero up-front option for charging that is not currently on their website called the "on-the-go Flex Plan." If I sign the agreement and put my credit card on file, my key fob will be re-activated, and I can get a DC fast charging session for $4.95 plus 20 cents/flow minute, which works out to $8.95 for a 20-minute session rather than the $9.95 they have been advertising, if I understood correctly. It also allows L2 charging for $1.50/connection hour, which is 50% more than Blink. Despite the bad taste in my mouth, I will probably sign up for this just for the flexibility of being able to access another set of chargers for emergency purposes, and then never use it unless absolutely necessary.

TT

Click to expand...

That actually sounds better than I had guessed. I can work with a plan like that. Not for everyday charging but for the occasional need to extend my travel on the weekend. Disappointing about the ending of your trial. I guess with four stations open (is that count right?) they think they have a viable network.

davewill said:

I guess with four stations open (is that count right?) they think they have a viable network.

Click to expand...

Three, Carlsbad Premium Outlets, Flower Hill Mall, and Las Americas Premium Outlets. Fashion Valley Mall station has been down for a week now. If they get that one fixed, open the stations at Broadway Plaza and SDG&E Energy Innovation Center, demonstrate an ability to fix broken stations within a day or two, and provide an accurate online means of checking the status of a station, then I could go for their subscription. It wouldn't be cost effective for my occasional use, but it would be supporting development of public infrastructure. And $15/month to give my 11-bar 3 year old car care free unlimited range is sure a better deal than $100/month to Nissan for a new battery pack.

I drove my wife to the Apple Store at Fashion Valley Mall a couple of Saturday mornings ago at 8am for a training session. After I dropped her off, I drove around back to check out the eVgo station only to find that every night the entire lot is chained off, as well as the parking lot with the 4 blink EVSE's in the front. The chains were finally removed around 9am. So much for 24/7 access.

Graffi said:

I drove my wife to the Apple Store at Fashion Valley Mall a couple of Saturday mornings ago at 8am for a training session. After I dropped her off, I drove around back to check out the eVgo station only to find that every night the entire lot is chained off, as well as the parking lot with the 4 blink EVSE's in the front. The chains were finally removed around 9am. So much for 24/7 access.

Click to expand...

The mall doesn't want any overnight parkers, so they block off most of the lots...There have been some discussions with the mall management about the issue, but no movement yet. It would really be helpful if interested drivers could call or drop the mall management a note to let them know how important 24 hour access is...Maybe there would be some strength in numbers....

Getting a DC Fast Charge at the new just-commissioned eVgo station down in Chula Vista on Broadway in the Costco/Walmart center near Petco. This makes Freedom Station # 5 in the San Diego region...It is powered on now (what they call a "soft" opening), and final touches including logos will be completed soon....

Randy, no L2 station at Chula Vista?

I know that at the Carlsbad location, there seems to be quite a bit of demand for additional L2 stations based on plugshare comments and the fact that the couple times I've stopped by, the L2 plug was in use. I'd really like to see 3-4 L2 stations to go with most of these QC stations. Given that there are probably at least 2-3 times as many L2 capable vehicles around here than CHAdeMO capable vehicles, it only makes sense...