EV Project/Blink Installs

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ECOtality absolutely needs a media spotlight shined on them!
They are NOT holding up their end of the public-infrastructure deal.

They're really good about pumping out press releases and self-congratulatory pap. Not so good on installing public L2 chargers in San Diego.

And yes, I have contacted them. They brush off any questions about:
1) WHEN will the first public L2 station in San Diego be on-line and ready for service?
2) WHERE will the first charger be?
3) Will free charging end in May, as planned, before the first car is ever charged?

If nothing else, it would be good to have an updated slideshow to share with the revised rollout plan. Maybe CCSE should host another forum.

Also, like others, I'm a little peeved that they appear to be "taking credit" for EVSE installations or even old ghost data that they had no part in installing. The little "EVProject" logos on their charger map are misleading at best. It's dishonest, and they need to stop that.


Look -- the public visible infrastructure is a pivotal part of what will make EVs grab hold, gain traction, and earn consideration in the eyes of the public. No public chargers makes the LEAF less valuable. Less viable as a car. It reduces range, increases cost, and makes it easier to disregard as a "nice try".

Asked another way... If you go to sell your LEAF in three years -- do you think the resale value will be higher with 1,400 public chargers in your city, or zero?

EV Project is SO FAR behind the eight-ball here it's not even funny. I'll make a pizza bet with any one person here that they don't have 140 chargers installed in San Diego by the end of 2011. 1,400 my ass... they're taking the DoE for a ride at taxpayers' expense.
 
GroundLoop said:
Asked another way... If you go to sell your LEAF in three years -- do you think the resale value will be higher with 1,400 public chargers in your city, or zero?

I'm not too worried about our LEAF resale value, because I'm going to be rolling in dough after I sell my Numbered Limited Edition Piece Of Cardboard With The Blink Logo On It on the ebay.



....wait...what do you mean "reserve not met"....wtw? What part of Numbered Limited Edition do you people not understand? It has a NUMBER. It's LIMITED. You can't just get these anywhere! I'm tempted to not relist it just to teach you people a lesson!
 
In Jan I learned that Stone Brewery in Escondido would be one of the first, if not the first, EV Project public charging locations in San Diego county. So I contacted Stone Brewery and they confirmed that. They said it would be up and running in March. Well March came and went and there was nothing. So a couple of weeks ago I contacted them again and they said that they just had the "contractor assessment" by the EV Project and expect to have their EV chargers up and running in mid May. So we should see the first actual public chargers in San Diego county in about a month.
 
ENIAC said:
In Jan I learned that Stone Brewery in Escondido would be one of the first, if not the first, EV Project public charging locations in San Diego county. So I contacted Stone Brewery and they confirmed that. They said it would be up and running in March. Well March came and went and there was nothing. So a couple of weeks ago I contacted them again and they said that they just had the "contractor assessment" by the EV Project and expect to have their EV chargers up and running in mid May. So we should see the first actual public chargers in San Diego county in about a month.

Great. I can see the headlines now: "Drunken EV driver arrested. Was seen screaming "EVP Finally came though!! WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" and then he reportedly passed out waving the charger cord like a giant %#$*@ at passing women."

(or at least that's how it went in my head) :lol:

I will definitely hit Stone Brewery up on day 1 for lunch. And if there's press there, I'll look the camera in the eye and say "I could have eaten anywhere today for lunch, but Stone Brewery is stepping up with a charging station for my EV, so they get my business." Maybe other business will take notice.
 
Jimmydreams said:
Great. I can see the headlines now: "Drunken EV driver arrested. Was seen screaming "EVP Finally came though!! WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" and then he reportedly passed out waving the charger cord like a giant %#$*@ at passing women."
At least with the J1772 spec, there's no danger of a Zoolander filling station type disaster scene...
 
ENIAC said:
thankyouOB said:
KeiJidosha said:
Everything referenced is from the EV Project website. If you compare their map with their promise, it does not support their own statements. And I have also visited the few sites shown in southern California. They are legacy sites that have nothing to do with the EV Project. And if you look at the Initial area proposals you will notice they are substantially the same. And some of the info is from EV proposals from the 1990s (note the EV-1 and early Chrysler EV examples). OK to get the contract back in 2009, but I would expect actual site selection 20 months later, 3 months prior to scheduled completion.

The question stands. What is the EV Project plan for Public Charging? Where is the map?

call them up. ask them.
do some work.
BS, the EV Project it's a public works project with a website. They should do some work. Get the public infrastructure built and get the website updated. That is what the DoE is paying them to do, period. And by the way, the contact doesn't stipulate if there is even a single LEAF on the road. They have been contracted to build it. Also, Ecotality shouldn't have to deal with a bunch of calls for us. But I've actually done some leg work. I was at a supposed EV Project (at least according to their map) location this weekend, the San Diego Safari Park, and there was no EVSE as their map showed.

So, let me throw it back to you. What information are you going on that there are presently more than two public chargers which Ecotality have installed in the last 18 months?

In three, certainly six months, you have a news story. It is getting close.
 
thankyouOB said:
ENIAC said:
BS, the EV Project it's a public works project with a website. They should do some work. Get the public infrastructure built and get the website updated. That is what the DoE is paying them to do, period. And by the way, the contact doesn't stipulate if there is even a single LEAF on the road. They have been contracted to build it. Also, Ecotality shouldn't have to deal with a bunch of calls for us. But I've actually done some leg work. I was at a supposed EV Project (at least according to their map) location this weekend, the San Diego Safari Park, and there was no EVSE as their map showed.

So, let me throw it back to you. What information are you going on that there are presently more than two public chargers which Ecotality have installed in the last 18 months?

In three, certainly six months, you have a news story. It is getting close.
What a crock of crap. And you have the audacity to proclaim on this forum that others are stating opinion as fact. Okay, here ya go, in three maybe six months the DoE will issue a "stop work" to Ecotality for the EV Project. It's getting close.
 
If I cared (can't believe I'm ever going to really use public charging, personally), I'd go straight to the DoE and skip the media altogether.

I did that with a Toyota safety issue...one small youtube'd video and a complaint to the NHTSA forced a recall in short order.
 
thankyouOB said:
In three, certainly six months, you have a news story. It is getting close.
What does that mean? ECOtality gets 3-6 more months before they are in default on the contract? And what is getting close? A GAO audit?

Where is the map of EV Project's public charging sites? What does the public get for $235 million dollars?
 
Wasn't The Lodge at Torrey Pines in San Diego one of the first on the list to get a public Blink installed? I haven't heard anything about it in awhile...
 
KeiJidosha said:
thankyouOB said:
In three, certainly six months, you have a news story. It is getting close.
What does that mean? ECOtality gets 3-6 more months before they are in default on the contract? And what is getting close? A GAO audit?

Where is the map of EV Project's public charging sites? What does the public get for $235 million dollars?

I was making a judgment about when this would be a news story. It is not laudable but also not unusual for contractors to fall behind their schedule. I do think EcoT needs to do some repair work here on their roll out, as they are behind the schedule that is shown on the slide posted above.
But I dont think any paper or tv outlet will think it is a story at this point.
You can take that view as accurate or not. I have the credentials to back it up.
Whether DOE would be concerned about them being, according to that slide, behind schedule by 3 to 5 months, I don't know. I would hope so.
That said, I cant think of any major infrastructure project or defense dept equipment that came in on time, except for the freeway repairs after the last major CA quake.
As to the insults to me personally by that other poster, and the use of near profanity, you are who you are. it reflects more on you than me.
 
thankyouOB said:
KeiJidosha said:
thankyouOB said:
In three, certainly six months, you have a news story. It is getting close.
What does that mean? ECOtality gets 3-6 more months before they are in default on the contract? And what is getting close? A GAO audit?

Where is the map of EV Project's public charging sites? What does the public get for $235 million dollars?

I was making a judgment about when this would be a news story. It is not laudable but also not unusual for contractors to fall behind their schedule. I do think EcoT needs to do some repair work here on their roll out, as they are behind the schedule that is shown on the slide posted above.
But I dont think any paper or tv outlet will think it is a story at this point.
You can take that view as accurate or not. I have the credentials to back it up.
Whether DOE would be concerned about them being, according to that slide, behind schedule by 3 to 5 months, I don't know. I would hope so.
That said, I cant think of any major infrastructure project or defense dept equipment that came in on time, except for the freeway repairs after the last major CA quake.
As to the insults to me personally by that other poster, and the use of near profanity, you are who you are. it reflects more on you than me.

As opposed to your "professionalism"...

thankyouOB said:
ridiculous conclusion lacking any factual support about what happened.
 
thankyouOB said:
I was making a judgment about when this would be a news story. It is not laudable but also not unusual for contractors to fall behind their schedule. I do think EcoT needs to do some repair work here on their roll out, as they are behind the schedule that is shown on the slide posted above.
On 3-6 more months before it’s a story, I agree. It is really only an issue for new LEAF owners delivered so far. And current delivery delay will push the story back further. But once you get thousands of new LEAF owners looking for public charging, it will be unavoidable.

As to project delays, project management has milestones. If they are having problems getting site owners to sign up (my personal bet), then they should just say so and adjust the schedule. My guess is the matching entry cost is too steep to sell their business model to site owners in this economy. If true, the DoE will have to reduce (halve?) the number of public chargers. Or re-think “free” public charging model, shifting to a pay model to entice site owners to sign up. Either choice affects my EV buying decision.
 
Randy said:
Wasn't The Lodge at Torrey Pines in San Diego one of the first on the list to get a public Blink installed? I haven't heard anything about it in awhile...
Randy--you're right on the money. Right as I entered the self-park gate, which is free during the day I found myself a Blink! The spot is unmarked and right next to a handicap spot. The Blink unit had the same firmware as I had .3A and the UI was completely open. There is a physical Ethernet connection but the Blink didn’t have an IP.

The Blink was last charged by someone on 4/1/2011 and pulled “0 kWh”. I’m thinking this was an installer test. In addition I bet you this date wasn’t a coincidence. I plugged in and it indeed charged just like home.

Just for fun I drove the garage looking for more and found 2 right above the first one in the valet section. Didn’t check these for firmware and/or IP addresses.

Well I’m happy I found the first blink install, but bummed that the firmware was the residential version. I think the reason Ecotality isn’t deploying the commercial EVSEs is that they don’t have their commercial firmware ready yet. Attached are a few pictures of the install.
20110413133202316.jpg


20110413133541367.jpg
 
syntaxerror said:
Randy said:
Wasn't The Lodge at Torrey Pines in San Diego one of the first on the list to get a public Blink installed? I haven't heard anything about it in awhile...
Randy--you're right on the money. Right as I entered the self-park gate, which is free during the day I found myself a Blink! I plugged in and it indeed charged just like home.
This is good news!

Randy – how did you hear about this installation? Where is the “List” that The Lodge at Torrey Pines is first on?

syntaxerror – does “Just like home” mean you needed a Blink RFID tag to start charging?
 
KeiJidosha said:
syntaxerror – does “Just like home” mean you needed a Blink RFID tag to start charging?
Has Blink even sent out any RFID tags, yet? I requested one a few weeks back, but nothing has come so far.
 
Behold! San Diego public EV Project install #1!

Without so much as a press release from ECOtality, too. Odd.

Does having residential software open them up to more hijinks and tampering? Could someone use the regular menu to reprogram the thing into a confusing state for visitors? (Timer engaged, IP address wrong, etc.)

Has anyone received the RFID from Blink? (not here)
 
I got my information from a North County Times article that was published back in March and had quotes from Adrienne Lovejoy and Andy Hoskinson from the local ECOtality office (guess I should have posted the link below a little sooner to calm the masses clamoring for public charging stations :) ). They also list some of the locations where we'll be seeing some of the first Blinks...Looks like Stone Brewery in Escondido will also be getting them soon or might have them, as well as Coaster stations, Pomerado Health, etc.

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/article_df2987d6-3b36-5376-99c6-571563ba225f.html
 
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