Walgreens Installing 800 Charge Stations before 2012

[MrFish]

No sign of anything in Aliso Viejo yet. Asked the Asst. Manager about it and he didn't even know what an electric car was. :roll:

That is similar to what i have encountered. With a reported timeline of completing installation by the end of the year, I thought I would have seen more activity by now :|

 

[LEAFer]

I've used both Walgreen's stations in Elk Grove, CA, ...

That's encouraging, at least there following through. I'm not crazy about the reported charges, but if I need a charge once in a while to extend my range, it would be worth it.

Do you mind sharing the cost for charging you encountered?

Free. For convenience you just need the ChargePoint card, although -- less convenient -- if the station is a "free" one you can call the 800 (or 888) # listed on the station and they'll unlock it for you remotely. There is no info -- AFAIK -- on whether these Walgreens' station will be free forever. Each time I charge there I try to buy something I like/need (their deals can be amazing, but depending on what you like, are usually short-run ... my favorite: 55c Arizona Ice Tea cans) and also find the manager on duty to thank them for providing these stations. Hopefully that'll grease the "free" wheels for a long time to come

 

[Danal]

The Dallas area CHADEMO at Walgreens at Belt Line and Dallas North Tollroad is sort of free, for a while.

EvGo announced a $39 per month plan for "Network Only" charging. Not on their web site yet, call them for details. Written into the contract is $19 start up fee, one year commit, and $99 early termination fee... and written in is the fact that they will NOT start charging the $39 a month until they have 70 chargers in the DFW service area.

I really doubt they will have 70 chargers by 12 months from now, so the early termination should never apply. Therefore, for a $19 start up, you get the RFID card/fob, and can use the QC for free. When they get 70 stations up, you can decide whether to just start paying, or cancel with no further fees.

I sent a contract in last week.

 

[MaryC]

Since I live close by I walked up to check on the station at Walgreens on Castro Street in San Francisco. The station has been installed but seems to be going through some kind of testing mode. Hopefully it will be activated soon. This is a good location if you need to do any shopping on the very popular 24th Street area. Walgreens allows 1 hour of free parking even if you don't shop there.

 

[hill]

The Dallas area CHADEMO at Walgreens at Belt Line and Dallas North Tollroad is sort of free, for a while.

EvGo announced a $39 per month plan for "Network Only" charging. . . . . . . . . . . . snip

That sounds like a great price! If you quick charge (50% ... maybe 12-13kWh) just a bit more than every other day, that's about $2 each charge ... maybe two bits per kwh. I'd do that.

.

 

[shay]

The Dallas area CHADEMO at Walgreens at Belt Line and Dallas North Tollroad is sort of free, for a while.

EvGo announced a $39 per month plan for "Network Only" charging. . . . . . . . . . . . snip

That sounds like a great price! If you quick charge (50% ... maybe 12-13kWh) just a bit more than every other day, that's about $2 each charge ... maybe two bits per kwh. I'd do that.

.

Wow, you plan to QC a lot. I am glad they are going to offer a mobile only plan.

 

[LEAFer]

Walgreen's in Elk Grove ... I sent the following email to ChargePoint support this morning:

I should also add: I received a "Plug Out Detected" notification almost immediately on my cell phone after unplugging. (Also notice the "UTC" times, rather than PST. They are the correct times that I was actually charging (using UTC). All other items in my usage history show the correct PST (or PDT).)

 

[oakwcj]

I just used the charging station at the Walgreen's on Lakeshore in Oakland. It's along the wall to the right of the entrance facing Lakeshore. The parking space is marked in Green and says it's for EV parking only. There's a Trader Joe's right next door. To thank Walgreen's, I went in and bought some soap.

 

[MaryC]

The Walgreens at 1333 Castro Street in San Francisco, Chargepoint dock is working. 1 hour free parking. Convenient for shopping on 24th Street in Noe Valley.

 

[MaryC]

The Walgreens at 191 E. 3rd Ave, in San Mateo has a new Chargepoint dock that I got to try out today. Since the lot is signed for just 30 minute parking, it is good just for a short/emergency charge. I did go in and shop and thanked them for having it available.

 

[hill]

I've talked to 2 managers in 2 Irvine (CA) Walgreens. One says 'soon' and the other says (like TRONZ mentioned), "what's an EV". IMO, Walgreens will be lucky to get 33% of their goal done, by the end of the year. Sure, each store can theoretically get it done with one day's labor . . . but they've only got 3 weeks to go now. That's a lot of contractors, and a lot of labor.

 

[leafedbehind]

The Walgreens chargers are popping up like crazy in the past two weeks. Check the plugshare app "activity" list. A ton in MD and a few more in CA just in the past couple days. I'm glad Walgreens is doing this, but I think if a grocery chain did this, it would be a bit more useful . I don't typically go to Walgreens, but I guess that is their whole point of putting them in.

 

[planet4ever]

I do go to Walgreens. I much prefer them to the CVS stores that started inundating northern California a couple of years ago. But as vin944 said here (Oct 20), the catch is that I only spend ten or fifteen minutes in a drug store when I go there. I'm not sure that is the best fit for L2 charging. However, there is a Starbucks right next to our Walgreens, and both are right off US 101, so I suppose ...

Ray

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

does anyone know what percentage of these will be L3?

The Walgreens chargers are popping up like crazy in the past two weeks. Check the plugshare app "activity" list. A ton in MD and a few more in CA just in the past couple days. I'm glad Walgreens is doing this, but I think if a grocery chain did this, it would be a bit more useful . I don't typically go to Walgreens, but I guess that is their whole point of putting them in.

 

[DarkStar]

does anyone know what percentage of these will be L3?

Currently it's 0%. There are Walgreens locations with L3, however those aren't operated by the chain. The L2 units are operated by the chain.

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

that's unfortunate, originally I read that they were going to be L3/L2 combos... I'd drive out of my way to a walgreens for L3. I currently go to a walgreens about 2 times a year for about 15 to 30 minutes a pop...

does anyone know what percentage of these will be L3?

Currently it's 0%. There are Walgreens locations with L3, however those aren't operated by the chain. The L2 units are operated by the chain.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

This seems like a well-intentioned effort that is destined to fail, providing fodder for the "see EV's are a joke" bashers. People really need to think through the "use cases" for charging stations, not just install them for the sake of image. How does an L2 charging station at a drug store make sense? Maybe if you are really in a bind and didn't plan well.

Examples of "use cases" and benefits to the facility are:

-Airport parking: L1, the car will be parked a day or more, and L3 for people picking up/dropping off and the airport is a long trip
-Restaurant/Movie theater/Mall: L2, people will be there a while, benefit to facility is increased radius from which to draw customers
-Highway service plaza: L3 only

Plenty more you could think of, but Walgreens? Only L3 makes sense to me, maybe to offset the lost revenue from people no longer getting pictures developed.

 

[TomT]

Yep, I agree! That is also why all the Nissan Dealers, like in the UK, should have a QC and not just L2!

This seems like a well-intentioned effort that is destined to fail, providing fodder for the "see EV's are a joke" bashers. People really need to think through the "use cases" for charging stations, not just install them for the sake of image. How does an L2 charging station at a drug store make sense? Maybe if you are really in a bind and didn't plan well.

Examples of "use cases" and benefits to the facility are:

-Airport parking: L1, the car will be parked a day or more, and L3 for people picking up/dropping off and the airport is a long trip
-Restaurant/Movie theater/Mall: L2, people will be there a while, benefit to facility is increased radius from which to draw customers
-Highway service plaza: L3 only

Plenty more you could think of, but Walgreens? Only L3 makes sense to me, maybe to offset the lost revenue from people no longer getting pictures developed.

 

[Reddy]

My bank has L1. It takes longer to plug in than it does to stand in teller line. What do I get for all the effort of pulling out the L1 brick? A couple hundred yards of distance?
Reddy

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

well put!

This seems like a well-intentioned effort that is destined to fail, providing fodder for the "see EV's are a joke" bashers. People really need to think through the "use cases" for charging stations, not just install them for the sake of image. How does an L2 charging station at a drug store make sense? Maybe if you are really in a bind and didn't plan well.

Examples of "use cases" and benefits to the facility are:

-Airport parking: L1, the car will be parked a day or more, and L3 for people picking up/dropping off and the airport is a long trip
-Restaurant/Movie theater/Mall: L2, people will be there a while, benefit to facility is increased radius from which to draw customers
-Highway service plaza: L3 only

Plenty more you could think of, but Walgreens? Only L3 makes sense to me, maybe to offset the lost revenue from people no longer getting pictures developed.