New Bay Area Blink/EVP agreeement?!!

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matth

Well-known member
Joined
May 6, 2011
Messages
82
Location
Berkeley, CA
Just got this from Ecototality. The substance doesn't bother me greatly, but being asked to provide info and agree to more reporting after an earlier agreement was in place smells bad to me.

As an EV Project participant, we would like to thank you for working with ECOtality North America (ECOtality) as we continue to grow and invest in the EV (electric vehicle) charging infrastructure in the Bay Area. ECOtality recently finalized requirements with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), and needs to collect some additional information from you. As part of this requirement, we request that you read and acknowledge the revised Residential Participant Agreement (RPA).

The new RPA allows ECOtality to share your vehicle and infrastructure usage data with the BAAQMD. The data obtained will be used to evaluate Bay Area EV charging patterns. The data will also be used to help inform and develop future programs, including locations for publicly accessible charging, and to support EV rollout. Through this program and the EV Project, the Bay Area is leading the way in providing EV data.

In addition, a copy of your Motor Vehicle Registration for your Nissan Leaf is required to verify your eligibility to participate in the BAAQMD program and study. This will ensure that you actually own or lease the Nissan Leaf, live within the BAAQMD jurisdiction, and that the Level 2 Blink Charger is installed at the same residence as the EV.

Why is this happening?
To provide background, the BAAQMD announced a program to assist consumers who bought an EV and live within the BAAQMD jurisdiction. ECOtality, through an agreement with the BAAQMD, Nissan, and the Department of Energy brought the EV Project to Leaf drivers living within the BAAQMD jurisdiction to provide additional incentives to the BAAQMD program. In return, the participants in the program agreed to provide data on vehicle and charge infrastructure usage for 3-years to help understand how future EV rollout programs can be improved.

How does this affect the Bay Area?
Through the EV Project and the BAAQMD data collection program, ECOtality is committed to provide 1,500 Level 2 Residential Blink Chargers to the participants. By participating in the data collection, you are assisting the auto industry, utilities, and government to understand the various challenges faced in the emerging market of EV and associated infrastructure development.

ECOtality will collect data from you and other EV owners. ECOtality will then provide aggregated usage data to the BAAQMD to help identify ways that the EV rollout affects the Bay Area, the utility grid, and provide lessons learned for future EV rollout and infrastructure deployment.

How does this affect you?
In return for your participation, the EV Project provided the DC Fast Charge Inlet on your Nissan Leaf ($700 value); provided you with a Level 2 Blink™ charger ($1,495 value); and installation costs were assumed (up to $1,200), through funding provided by the EV Project, the BAAQMD, and ECOtality.

In return, we are requesting you to agree to the terms and conditions of the revised RPA and provide the required documentation to verify that your Leaf is registered within the BAAQMD jurisdiction.

What to do next.
You can view the RPA and sign electronically by clicking here or copy and paste the following link into your Internet Browser:

(link)

If you have questions, please call the Blink Contact Center at 888-998-BLINK.

You can email your Registration to [email protected]; or call the Blink Contact Center and arrange for an ECOtality EV Project Representative to speak with you.

ECOtality would like to thank you for working with us and the BAAQMD, and for your support in helping to pave the way for future EV ownership all across America.


Sincerely,
The EVProject Team
 
Oh, here's the new language in the agreement:

(a) The location (address) where the EVSE is installed must be the same as the location that the Participant's vehicle is registered; (b) Participant agrees to operate their vehicle and EVSE for a minimum of three years; (c) The Term of Agreement Section 1 is modified to extend the termination date to July 1, 2014;

I suspect that this is illegal under contract law.
 
I just got mine. The big kicker in it is section 13 which previously said no changes could be made except by agreement of both parties, pretty standard in contracts. The new language says Ecotality can change it at will to anything it wants for no reason and if you continue to use the services (e.g. plug in your car to the Blink they paid for) after receiving notification of the change, you have agreed to those changes. You have five days to notify them by mail that you don't agree and then they can come and take the Blink away. So if you get an email from them and it goes in your spam folder by mistake, or you are traveling and don't do email for a week, you have agreed. If your get it by snail mail and it takes a week before you get back from vacation to read it, you've agreed. Any dispute you have to travel to Arizona to arbitrate it and they are never liable for attorney fees or costs, or punitives (that arbitration part was there before). Sorry, but that's a deal-killer for me.

I don't mind them sharing the info with the Bay Area Air Quality Mgt. District, but this clause is ridiculous. It is probably not enforceable in a court since it is both unsupported by consideration and an adhesion contract, but I wouldn't want to have to litigate that.

Edit: "You have five days to notify them by mail that you don't agree ..." refers only to changes they make after you have signed this. If you don't sign this and they try to make changes, they can only do so if you agree. I did not mean to suggest you must reply in writing within five days to this email.
 
It's rather like the email and new agreement that we all got in the L.A. area a few months ago and which everyone ignored. Nothing ever came of it.
 
Sounds like someone screwed up by not providing the proper contract at the beginning and is now sending out these emails in the hope that people would just click AGREE without reading.
 
The bay area group is very official and likely needs this to move forward.
 
I emailed to the SFO email address it provided and told them I consented to sharing the info with BAAQMD but not the rest of it.
 
Just got mine too. Not happy about the changes. I see the termination date of July 1, 2014 a problem considering my lease is up January 2014. So what happens if we don't sign?
 
Spies said:
So what happens if we don't sign?
That's the question. In return for the QC charger and Blink EVSE, we have already previously agreed to be in the program for 3 years (mine would end Apr 2014). What's the consideration for us to accept the revised terms?

I am thinking of doing what Rat did, with a reply that they could share my info with BAAQMD and no more.

Edit: My existing agreement ends Dec 2012.
 
greenleaf said:
In return for the QC charger and Blink EVSE, we have already previously agreed to be in the program for 3 years (mine would end Apr 2014).
Really? Interesting, it was only 2 years when I signed.
 
Spies said:
greenleaf said:
In return for the QC charger and Blink EVSE, we have already previously agreed to be in the program for 3 years (mine would end Apr 2014).
Really? Interesting, it was only 2 years when I signed.
Opps. I made a mistake. I went back to the signed agreement, and here is what it says:

This Agreement shall commence on the Effective Date and shall continue until December 31, 2012 unless terminated earlier (the "Term"). The Agreement may be terminated early in accordance with Section 7.

Mine ends 12/31/2012. No thanks to the extension by another 1 1/2 years. In 2013, the Blink could be open-sourced and fair game to mods.
 
Below is section 3 of the original signed agreement. It looks like they are already somewhat covered to share information with BAAQMD.

Participant agrees to provide and release to ECOtality, its affiliates and contractors (hereinafter referred to collectively as ECOtality), data and information relating to the Participant's EV and its use, and the Participant's use of residential and any publicly available EV Project EVSE ("Data"). Participant acknowledges and agrees that the Data may be used by ECOtality to analyze the Participant's EV use and charging patterns, the effectiveness of the EV infrastructure, and the performance of the EV Project.

Participant's willingness to supply and release Data to ECOtality is a material condition of this Agreement. Participant understands and acknowledges that ECOtality will need Participant's reasonable cooperation and assistance, and Participant agrees to provide his/her reasonable cooperation and assistance to ECOtality, so that ECOtality can successfully conduct its testing and collect Data from the Participant, the Equipment, and public EVSE infrastructure utilized by Participant.
 
greenleaf said:
Sounds like someone screwed up by not providing the proper contract at the beginning and is now sending out these emails in the hope that people would just click AGREE without reading.

I did exactly that, under that same assumption :D
 
earther said:
greenleaf said:
Sounds like someone screwed up by not providing the proper contract at the beginning and is now sending out these emails in the hope that people would just click AGREE without reading.

I did exactly that, under that same assumption :D
Not good!

Let me summarize for those who receive the email. If you click AGREE, you are agreeing to

1) extend EVP's hold on the EVSE by 1.5 years (but could be even longer, see point 2 below). Without the new terms, you own the EVSE on 1/1/2013, and is free to apply mods from other users. We all know of the many issues with the existing Blink firmware.

2) EVP changing the terms unilaterally. If they change the terms again, you have only 5 days to opt out from the date of their email. If you opt out, they can take away your EVSE. This is particularly disturbing because they can keep extending the terms and you could never gain ownership of the EVSE.

3) liquidated damages of up to $2650 (for the cost of the EVSE and installation) if terminated for cause. Previously they could only take away the EVSE.
 
I signed the revised agreement electronically AND I e-mailed a copy of my vehicle registration. I have nothing to hide and I'm happy to trade whatever statistics they want to collect to help improve the charging infrastructure. I don't see how this can hurt and I am grateful for the free EVSE, EVSE installation and reimbursed cost of the quick charging port. As far as I'm concerned they are welcome to the data.

Now, what displeases me is the poor quality of the charging statistics available at my BLINK online account. I was counting on this data to be accurate to have some idea how much energy my EVSE uses each month - it is not and BLINK/Ecototality have acknowledged there are software bugs and that they are working on it. They confirmed that they are receiving all the right data from my BLINK, it just doesn't show up on my account :( The BLINK charging station seems to provide accurate numbers, unfortunately only for the current and previous month. I'll post details of the issue in a separate thread.
 
Just had a chance to look mine up. It expires in early 2013.

I'm certainly not going to unilaterally accept an extension of responsibilities beyond that date. If they want to renegotiate terms of the contract so there is consideration for the additional commitment, that might be an option. :lol:

Solarman, I don't object to sharing data with BAAQMD. However, the new language in the contract locks us into a location, perhaps in perpetuity. Life changes, and if you were to move (even temporarily) out of the 9 county Bay Area, you'd be in violation of the agreement.
 
I received this today as well. I clicked the link and looked at it, but decided to come back and look at it later. Good thing I did.

I think they're trying to pull a fast one over on us, which I do not appreciate. I will not be signing this either.
 
I don't like it when people try to change an agreement like this 7 months after we signed a contract. I think we need a better explanation from them at a minimum.
 
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