"Feature" to look / ask for in Level 2 charger?

2888 Views 11 Replies 7 Participants Last post by 2002, Feb 13, 2020

N21HV

Discussion Starter · Feb 5, 2020

I do not yet have my Clarity but it is on order. My workplace just sent out a survey asking us what features we would like to see on the EV charger they are planning to install at our site.

I could think of the following.

L2 charger with J1772 plug
Enough stalls so that there are no "fights".
Enforcement of ICE vehicle hogging the space
Each plug dedicated to L2 charging and not "splitting" between adjacent stalls

Anything else I should be asking for? Since I have not owned an EV my imagination is rather limited on what capabilities chargers can offer and what's really useful.

Thank you.

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DucRider

· #2 · Feb 5, 2020

Actually much more efficient to have the EVSE serve multiple spaces with a n etiquette "policy" that allows other to unplug you when your charge is complete. Other wise your charge will complete in an hour or so and you'll have the EVSE tied up for the rest of the day. The other policy option is to require vehicles to be moved within xxx time of charge completing.
Not sure how big your company is, but most will not have the resources to pay for and install an EVSE for every EV an employees purchases.

It is also good practice to have the charging cost home rate + 10%. This frees up spots for people that need them vs those that opportunity charge. One of the big challenges for future EV adoption is the large percentage of the population that don't own homes with garages that allow for convenient overnight charging. Workplace charging is a big piece of that puzzle and a well thought out program will allow those that otherwise could not drive an EV make the move.

Some big companies in the area (like Intel) have many, many more EVs than charging spots and it can create issues.

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Kerbe

· #3 · Feb 6, 2020

Does your company realize that they can contract with a charging network like ChargePoint or Blink to install and service the EVSE? They don't need to "go it alone" unless they want to. As to the J1772, every plug-in vehicle currently sold in the US (except Tesla) uses that standard - and Teslas come with an adapter.

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N21HV

Discussion Starter · #4 · Feb 6, 2020

I have no idea what they know. I am in a satellite office away from HQ and they lease the building from a landlord that manages a bunch of commercial properties. I suspect they know they can get these guys to do it. I sent them the J1772 feedback because the only EV we see on our garage are Teslas and I suspect those owners are lobbying for their Superchargers to be installed. I wanted to forestall that by telling them that J1772 is THE standard and Teslas come with adapters so it will not bother them (well, not too badly anyway).

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Kerbe

· #5 · Feb 6, 2020

N21HV said:
I have no idea what they know. I am in a satellite office away from HQ and they lease the building from a landlord that manages a bunch of commercial properties. I suspect they know they can get these guys to do it. I sent them the J1772 feedback because the only EV we see on our garage are Teslas and I suspect those owners are lobbying for their Superchargers to be installed. I wanted to forestall that by telling them that J1772 is THE standard and Teslas come with adapters so it will not bother them (well, not too badly anyway).

FYI - "Superchargers" are DC units - what they'd install at an office would be a Level 2 240V Tesla Wall Charger. And everyone who doesn't drive a Tesla would be out of luck, unless they bought one of the $250 "Tesla-Tap" adaptors that convert from Tesla to J1772.

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DucRider

· #6 · Feb 6, 2020

Tesla used to give away destination chargers to public businesses with a focus on hospitality industries like restaurants, B&B,s, hotels. It was typically 3 Tesla destination chargers and 1 Clipper Creek J1772 (Superchargers would never be installed as workplace charging). Don't know it they are still doing this.
There is an adapter that allows you you use Tesla Destination chargers. It's called the Tesla Tap. So even if they do install Tesal EVSE's, you could use them (if you purchase the adapter).

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claritypicker

· #7 · Feb 13, 2020

Badged Access

Another option is to have employees swipe their badges before using the charger. This will restrict general public from abusing the facility and if the car is parked for too long, then the security team will know whose vehicle it is based on badge.

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lemonhedo

· #8 · Feb 13, 2020

Honestly, you want to have your company install just a couple "free" level 2 chargers for anyone who'd need it. Mostly, you just need to have a standard level 1 outlet at every stall if possible. The reason because you are at work say 6-8 hours? The level 1 charger will give you ~3miles/hr x8 = 24 miles. ENough for you to go home and charge. Having more opportunity to charge beats having having very little stalls with ability to charge fast. People can't be trusted to move their **** cars when its ready. The faster everyone recognize this, the better it is for an EV future. Fast charging such as tesla super chargers are only needed on highway/road trips.

To answer your question though, I think the most important is having long plugs (to allow maneuverability). Free!, and without the need to have to log in or some crap. Just plug and go.

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BillLopez

· #9 · Feb 13, 2020

No commercial charger is going to use L1.
The majority of commercial chargers are going to be L2 or L3
L3 is DC charging, and only supports a few vehicles.

My company uses Charge Point and queues - queues are turned on between 7am and 7pm, so you get in a queue and the service notifies you when you are up to charge your car, when your car is fully charged the service notifies you its time to move your car, if you chose not to move your car you start getting charged a higher $ per every 30 min (to get you to move). If the vehicle leaves the space and lets say a rouge person just pulls up and tries to charge they are denied - only the next person in the queue is allowed to start the charge process.

The price is set with your company and Charge Point - at one point our company covered the costs, then it went up to like $2 an hour - so my guess is your company can decide how much it wants to subsidise the price to the end user.

The overage rate is higher enough that it keeps people from just leaving their hybrids (that usually charge in around 2 hours) in the spot plugged in all day long - which before queues used to kill me in my all electric There would be 3 Volts in the same spots since early in the morning until 4p.

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2002

· #10 · Feb 13, 2020

BillLopez said:
No commercial charger is going to use L1.

Right, but lemonhedo didn't say install 120V chargers they said outlets. I have heard of people who have gotten their apartment landlord or employer to install a 120V outlet for charging, which they are sometimes more willing to do than install a charger. Installing say four additional 120V outlets will be much cheaper than installing four additional L2 chargers.

Obviously L2 is better and ask for that first, but if an employer or landlord turns that request down you can always ask if they are willing to install 120V outlets. Even if they agree to L2, why not go ahead and suggest they also install a couple of 120V outlets for people who don't need L2 and who would prefer not having to move their car. PHEV's will probably find much less competition for those spots than for the L2 stalls.

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N21HV

Discussion Starter · #11 · Feb 13, 2020

I would love to see a plain ole' 120V outlets on every stall. I would imagine that would be a lot more costlier than putting a few Level 2 chargers in a strategic locations. The parking lot is underground with solid concrete wall all around and concrete pillars holding up the building. The center shaft that has elevator banks has utility drop and has ready access to power trunk. Placing a few level 2 chargers in the stalls that are adjacent to the elevator wall will be fairly simple. Placing 120V on other location will involve running conduits on the ceiling, dropping down each pillar and attaching J-box to each. Even for some subset of pillars, that is a lot of locations and the labor cost to install them would be fairly substantial.
I am suspecting some public charging companies like ChargePoint will give some incentive in installing their charger in exchange for taking the cut out of charge fees.

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2002

· #12 · Feb 13, 2020

The suggestion was to request a few 120V outlets in addition to the L2 chargers they are willing to do, not to install 120V outlets in every spot in the entire garage. If they say they can only do four spots or whatever due to electrical access then sure get L2 chargers in all four spots.

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