New eVgo CHAdeMO in Maryland and Northen Viginia

[FiddlerJohn]

I drove pass my local Bowie Town Center a few days ago. Wow! A new eVgo (level 2 and 3) CHAdeMO charger.

1. Sort of: The level 3, nrg eVgo Freedom Stations are never called CHAdeMO. Edit:(My guess is nrg is not licensed to use the CHAdeMO name.) I guessed wrong. Riveted to the cable side of the charger is a CHAdeMO logo name plate. It's shown in the photo about two feet below the cable connection.
2. Half of the Freedom Stations are Coming Soon; however, they are already built and look ready to go online.http://www.evgonetwork.com/find-a-station/
3. The Level 3 cables and connectors are very difficult to handle in the cold. I had to call eVgo for help. I found that some connectors are more difficult than others.
4. The is a game changer. With fast chargers in almost every direction, my range has increased up to 70%. Instead of 70 miles round trip, I might go 40 miles, charge 80%, drive 40 miles, charge 80%, 40 miles to home. That 120 miles.
5. The optimal location is in a shopping center that is 40 miles from my house. Forty miles means a quick 80% charge I should get me home again.
6. Level 3 EVSE stations are in fact chargers and not just charging stations. The on board car charger is bypassed.
7. Poor man's CHAdeMO: This past weekend, I got stuck at a ChargePoint station that after four hours hadn't given me any charge. I had an "Session Limit Reached" problem. My wife was hungry. It was nearing midnight, and we were forty miles from home with 11 miles RR. My brother says "No problem." He hooks a tow line to the front of my MiEV and the back of his old YuGo. After towing maybe 15 miles with READY on, I had enough charge. Just for fun we towed until I had 78 mile RR. The max regen charging current seems to half to around 25A around 80% SOC.

Ten Newly Built, half not yet powered, CHAdeMO Chargers in the DC, Maryland, northern Virginia area:

Bowie - Bowie Town Center (Coming Soon) 4.6 miles 15437 Excelsior Dr.Bowie, MD, 20716
City Market at O (Coming soon) 15.8 miles 1400 7th St. NWWashington, DC, 20001
Washington D.C. - Van Ness - Walgreens 4225 Connecticut Ave. NWWashington, DC, 20008
Arlington - Walgreens 19.8 miles 2825 Wilson Blvd.Arlington, VA, 22201
Rockville - Woodley Gardens Shopping Center 24.2 miles 1101 Nelson St.Rockville, MD, 20852
Waldorf - St. Charles Towne Center (Coming Soon) 27.3 miles 11110 Mall CircleWaldorf, MD, 20603
Queenstown Premium Outlets (Coming soon) 31.5 miles 441 Outlet Center Dr.Queenstown, MD, 21658
Dulles Town Center 36.5 miles 21076 Dulles Town CircleDulles, VA, 20166
Centreville - Newgate Shopping Center 38.3 miles 14100 Lee HwyCentreville, VA, 20120
Towson (soon to be coming soon, built but no power meter) ~ 44 miles York Road

This is exciting.

 

[JoeS]

FiddlerJohn, thank you for the update. Wonderful - and you won't be blocked by any PHEVs!

Thanks for doing the regen charging test - I had always wondered if it might throw a code if doing that for an extended period of time. Yes, regen current certainly goes down as SoC increases - in my case, it cuts off almost completely when I leave home with a full charge and start off with my usual 4-mile downhill run.

Regarding the ChargePoint issue you had - it's possible to query your vehicle's charging status on the ChargePoint website. I do that if I'm particularly anxious, but sometimes catch the car doing it's 'timeout' during charging, which makes me more anxious until it resumes charging again. After plugging into ChargePoint I usually hang around for about a minute to verify that it actually starts charging. I don't know what the "Session Limit Reached" problem was, but it sounds like something ChargePoint put in at the request of the owner of the location - that still should not have had anything to do with your not obtaining a charge in the first place.

 

[FiddlerJohn]

... After plugging into ChargePoint I usually hang around for about a minute to verify that it actually starts charging. I don't know what the "Session Limit Reached" problem was ...

All five no cost stations said NOT AUTHORIZED: Session Limit Reached. I bought my ChargePoint card online with my credit card. I then registered on their webste, and I still have my original $25 on it. The problem was I never clicked the "add another card" on the account page. There was already one item listed, so I assumed that was my ChargePoint RFID card. Wrong. Today, two years later, I finally clicked "add another card."

When my ChargePoint didn't work we used my bother's card. It worked, but the station must have timed out or something while we were talking and plugging in. Since we had used these five stations many times before we just assumed everything was now working. Four hours later we found no charge.

So, as JoeS once said, "hang around for about a minute to verify that it actually starts charging." That's my new mantra.

 

[Don]

What does a charging cost using a ChargePoint card?

Don

 

[FiddlerJohn]

What does a charging cost using a ChargePoint card? ...

Nothing. Free, but I don't think I saw a single ChargePoint station during my first year.

I have had my ChargePoint for two years and I still have the original $25 in my ChargePoint account. All the stations that I needed to use the card have been free so far. That is changing quickly now that there are starting to be more stations. I think ChargePoint is now starting to charge $1 per hour on busy stations. This is good because it will keeps stations open for those that need it.

I hear that some Walgreens ChargePoint stations were free but now charge $2 per hour.

 

[JoeS]

What does a charging cost using a ChargePoint card?

The price to charge is dictated by the owner of the charging station at that location, not by ChargePoint. Around here the price varies from zero to about $2.50/hour, but this entire topic is in a state of flux as, for example, ChargePoint has the flexibility to charge on a per-kWh basis and that is now deemed legal. We'll undoubtedly see movement in that direction as more 6.6kW chargers come into play and, of course, there's Tesla and its ability to suck whatever the EVSE can put out.