CoulombTech getting overwhelmed by the ChargePoint network

[ericsf]

I don't know about the rest of the country but in the San Francisco bay area, ChargePoint seem to be the most developed public charging station network. Blink has the most DC Quick charger but when it comes to L2, ChargePoint is all over the place. That's the good news.

The bad news is it seems that they don't appear to be staffed to handle the amount of stations they are installing and have to maintain. Here are some of the experiences I had with them that led me to this conclusion:

- The Sutter Stockton parking garage got 3 ChargePoint stations installed around March this year. It took then 6 weeks to activate them and about a month after they started working, one of them went into a "Ground Fault" state. I called their tech support several times, talked to the garage staff, talked to level 2 support. They entered my e-mail into the ticket so that I'd be notified of their progress. Nothing happened for about 3 months. So I sent a mail to their tech support agent and CCed the mayor and their CEO. 2 days later, I started to get a flurry of e-mails from their ticket system about parts being shipped, electrician being dispatched and guess what: 2 weeks later the station was fixed. The problem wasn't that hard to fix. It was just that nobody was working on it.

- More recently, a brand new Whole Foods opened next to my home. On my first visit I noticed they had 2 ChargePoint stations in the customer parking garage. From the distance, they were all lit up. Great! So 2 weeks later (today) I stopped by and tried to use them. That's when I found out that the stations were unavailable because of "pending activation". I called their tech support (should put it on speed dial) and got the usual, "can't do anything, sorry sir" and "escalation to level 2" speech. Apparently the stations had to be "registered with the server" before they can be used. Let's see how long that will take.

Am I really unlucky with ChargePoint or do other people have similar experiences with ChargePoint?

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

its just about the exact opposite here. i think Blink has a small lead as far as number of chargers, but their reliability is much worse than chargepoint. there was a Blink with a damaged touch pad at Sears in Lacey that was down for months. i had actually checked on it regularly for 4 months then finally lost the opportunity to drive by there on a regular basis. for all i know, its still down. now they do have 3 stations there so the site is still usable as long as there is not more than 2 people there at once.

 

[ericsf]

To ChargePoint's credit, their stations are very well designed on the outside: There are no big LCD screens waiting to be shattered, no keypad to smash. The J1772 connector is locked up when not in use. Even the L1 receptacles are locked behind a solid metal door. Those EVSE are definitely one league above the Blink L2 stations. It's frustrating that some of your Blink stations are unavailable because of the keypads. I don't get the zip code thing with the Blink. How much electricity could someone steal with a card?

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

never had a keypad issue. once i had to rekey my zip but not sure if it was the pad or me. (my aim is suspect)

 

[EVDRIVER]

That unit has been broken for a very long time.The others there are usually occupied by PIPs :roll:

 

[srl99]

Chargepoint is often at the mercy of their "distributors". One nearby station has the wrong address in it, which means that the free/busy indicator is wrong. Another driver also reported it, but after weeks and weeks their distributor said "that's what the customer gave us for the address". Upshot - the free/busy indicator is wrong and probably will be for a long time.

There was another station I saw which had an install problem. I sent in an email - a couple of weeks later it was fixed, and I was CCed (as you were) on the parts progress emails. I don't expect Electricians to drive J1772 vehicles, but when the display is "relay stuck open", the electrician could call in for the part themselves.

It seems telephone support is in India ... which is almost OK when the chargers are free.

Chargepoints are a good value when they're free - I'm unsure I would willing pay much to use them.

 

[Pipcecil]

Here in Dallas-Fort Worth Blink, by far, dominates level 2. 87 locations for blink and only 11 for chargepoint. Hell, even eVgo, a private public charging system (aka, monthly fee to be apart) has 17 locations, 15 of which are QC chargers with level 2s. Chargepoint here is next to non-existant.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Here in Dallas-Fort Worth Blink, by far, dominates level 2. 87 locations for blink and only 11 for chargepoint. Hell, even eVgo, a private public charging system (aka, monthly fee to be apart) has 17 locations, 15 of which are QC chargers with level 2s. Chargepoint here is next to non-existant.

hmm, weird. one thing; first 240 volt charger in Oly area (actually the whole state i think) was lott treatment plant in Downtown Olympia, installed Aug of 2010. (ya 2010 thats right!) and it was chargepoint. Right after that, Sunset Air & Heating installed the first solar powered L2 station, also a chargepoint a few months later (around Oct 2010 i think)

Then the State put in batch of a stations which was total of 8 (two in each location) in Feb 2011 all Chargepoints. All this was waaay before Blink put in their first station of any kind. in fact, Blink probably put in less than 10-20 in 2011 in this area.

now, to their credit; Blink went hog wild in 2012 putting in hundreds all over the area.

now; i dont know if Chargepoint is more reliable due to the "owner" end of things. guessing the State owns what is at their facilities (these chargepoints are mostly public, available 24/7 and still free. only L2's beside Sema that is still free)

 

[ksnogas2112]

The only two networks around here are the Sema (Walgreens) and ChargePoint. The only time I've found a ChargePoint down was a fault and it was fixed the next time I checked a week later. They just added one at the DMV which when you think about it is totally awesome location.

 

[Stanton]

To ChargePoint's credit, their stations are very well designed on the outside: There are no big LCD screens waiting to be shattered, no keypad to smash. The J1772 connector is locked up when not in use. Even the L1 receptacles are locked behind a solid metal door. Those EVSE are definitely one league above the Blink L2 stations. It's frustrating that some of your Blink stations are unavailable because of the keypads. I don't get the zip code thing with the Blink. How much electricity could someone steal with a card?

I couldn't agree more: there's only a few ChargePoints in my area among many Blinks, and I have always been more impressed with ChargePoint's useability/reliability. Now that the Blinks aren't "free" anymore, the ChargePoints are all I even think about (along with a couple of great city sponsored L2's in downtown Dallas, also without a fragile LCD screen and with a lockable J1772 connector/door).

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

any one get the email with chargepoint SW update to 4.0?

Get to Know ChargePoint 4.0
ChargePoint connects you to the largest network of independently owned charging stations in the world. Now, new and enhanced features make it easier than ever to plug in and charge up:
ChargePoint Connections allow you to connect with a growing list of businesses that provide charging via ChargePoint so you can enjoy upcoming discounts, special offers and alerts when stations are added by businesses that you frequent.*
A new, user-friendly experience with improved navigation.
Easy to use dashboards helps you quickly find stations, plan trips and track your usage.

so does this mean free charging if you purchase $X or more? i am definitely on board with that!!

this allows parking validation options and guessing a business is more than willing to sign off on what is essentially a buck or two of electricity in exchange for a sale

 

[mazdaboi]

In my city we have 2 Charge Points (only 2) most are West and North West of Me. The one is at Kohl's Department Store and has been OOC for over 2 years. Chargepoint and Kohls both will not do anything to fix it. On a side note now the ONLY chargepoint (which i used for 2-3 weeks prior to my Blink ECOtality charger being installed) now charges $2 per hour. Not HORRIBLE but still....

SEMAConnect is a Maryland based charging network and they are all over DC and MD for FREE. But after repeated tries to get Chargepoint to fix/remove our prime spot for a charger at Kohls, i can see how they are understaffed. Instead I called and tweeted to Blink and Sema suggestions to add additonal sites around the Northern VA area. It will assist all of the PHEV and Pure EV owners.

Id like to see more chargepoints, but they need to get a bigger staff.

@DaveinOlyWA ya i got the Chargepoint 4.0 email. GUI on the website changed, you can see stats and some additional information now. Kinda cool.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

In my city we have 2 Charge Points (only 2) most are West and North West of Me. The one is at Kohl's Department Store and has been OOC for over 2 years. Chargepoint and Kohls both will not do anything to fix it. On a side note now the ONLY chargepoint (which i used for 2-3 weeks prior to my Blink ECOtality charger being installed) now charges $2 per hour. Not HORRIBLE but still....

SEMAConnect is a Maryland based charging network and they are all over DC and MD for FREE. But after repeated tries to get Chargepoint to fix/remove our prime spot for a charger at Kohls, i can see how they are understaffed. Instead I called and tweeted to Blink and Sema suggestions to add additonal sites around the Northern VA area. It will assist all of the PHEV and Pure EV owners.

Id like to see more chargepoints, but they need to get a bigger staff.

@DaveinOlyWA ya i got the Chargepoint 4.0 email. GUI on the website changed, you can see stats and some additional information now. Kinda cool.

ya, semaconnect is still free here too. its strange. i went and got a sema card but you dont need one. you just walk up, plug in and it says "authorizing" and then it starts to charge, so no card needed.

i think the great part of the Chargepoint upgrades will be parking validations. Chargepoint is very much a Jekyll and Hyde situation. Most are free but some charge upwards of $2-3 an hour (you might think its reasonable but with the average business rate of about 5 cents a Kwh, i think its OUTRAGEOUS) PLUS parking fees.

now, i am not going to claim that parking in downtown Seattle is cheap, but many stores validate parking for mere browsing. it would be great for stores to advertise "buy $10 or more and get free charging" simply use the same CC . bill credit will appear within 2-3 days..." kind of thing.

now, this may seem like a stretch but all my credit cards do this with partnerships to various business or thru Foursquare, Yelp or what have you.

last week we went to our favorite sushi place (which is all you can eat buffet and has GREAT lunch prices) and i got $5 off for using amex. so our $18 bill was less (have my savings was added to my normal tip...why not? still made out!)

but was offered this by checking in on Foursquare. nice!

 

[srl99]

Found another Chargepoint database problem today - new "unrestricted" charger, is behind a locked (RFkey) gate. Chargepoint either needs to QA their own database or give some token of appreciation when you do the QA for them.

Given how much they're saving by not having a data quality staff, they need to give out service credits for DB upgrades. I'll start the bidding at $10.

Chargepoint is often at the mercy of their "distributors". One nearby station has the wrong address in it, which means that the free/busy indicator is wrong. Another driver also reported it, but after weeks and weeks their distributor said "that's what the customer gave us for the address". Upshot - the free/busy indicator is wrong and probably will be for a long time.

There was another station I saw which had an install problem. I sent in an email - a couple of weeks later it was fixed, and I was CCed (as you were) on the parts progress emails. I don't expect Electricians to drive J1772 vehicles, but when the display is "relay stuck open", the electrician could call in for the part themselves.

It seems telephone support is in India ... which is almost OK when the chargers are free.

Chargepoints are a good value when they're free - I'm unsure I would willing pay much to use them.

 

[srl99]

On the fence about the "new" Chargepoint SW showing chargers with a charged ("Completed Charging") vehicle as green. There might not be enough room to park somewhere within reach of the cable in order to charge another vehicle.

Chargepoint needs to start giving service credits for database corrections, or hire their own QA staff. [Believe service credits are cheaper.] I've got a couple of DB corrections which are available for a $10 service credit each.

 

[srl99]

I know of a couple of Chargepoints which won't release the J1772 connector. One has been down a month and the other nearing two. This despite plenty of notice to Chargepoint support.

I'm comparing these to ClipperCreek EVSEs which have been installed for years and years, and in fact some have been in service so long they've been upgraded from AVCON to J1772.

Question: is it worth locking the J1772's at all? Especially if you don't have any effective field support. Which is worse - someone potentially cutting off the J1772 cable or the pedestal locking mechanism (or more) malfunctioning.

There's a commercial location nearby about to install a dozen pedestals ... I'm about to recommend ClipperCreek unless there's experience to the contrary.

 

[surfingslovak]

I just experienced a malfunction related to the CP network. My car is currently charging, verified that in person, but both their website and the station map don't indicate the correct status. Strangely, when I tried to login from their mobile app, it would report that the network was not available, and then let me in, and show incorrect status as well.

Like virtually all ActiveE drivers, I have experienced numerous GFCI trips at ChargePoint stations, which I'm told were caused by the onboard charger. I did not experience these problems with other stations, and if, then to a much lesser degree than with ChargePoint. They are one of my favorite vendors, and I'm a bit disheartened to see this. I hope they will get things back on track.

 

[kubel]

I have a ChargePoint in my garage. Took them about 45 minutes to activate it. :/

 

[Randy]

As much as I wish it wasn't the case, you can't run the back office, staff a help desk, plus pay the repair techs/electricians from the revenue generated by devices that earn $1-$2 per hour of use. I suspect the only reason they're able to halfway do it now is because of government grant money. Once that starts to dry up, though, it seems like tougher times ahead for the EVSPs.