Charging networks in SF Bay Area?

[DepletedZPM]

I'm curious that there isn't more discussion of charging networks. Perhaps most folks figured out their charging needs early and haven't needed to look any further. As a new user, this is still an interesting topic to me.

Signing up for ChargePoint was a no-brainer for me. In addition to getting two CP cards along with the e-Golf, they have the largest coverage in my vicinity, including my office (5 ports), and two apartment complexes (2 ports each) within a quarter mile of my home. Most of the CP stations feed 6 kW and charge $1/hour for the first few hours ($0.17/kWh). So they're usually a mite cheaper than my winter Tier 1 cost from PG&E ($0.18/kWh) let alone my T3 cost ($0.27/kWh). Though the CP at Fry's Electronics costs $3/hour, which seems nasty for LEAF drivers with 3.3 kW chargers.

Looking in PlugShare, I see pockets of Blink and EVgo nearby, too. I've signed up for Blink. They're more expensive than most ChargePoint stations, but the membership costs nothing and they could be useful in a pinch. EVgo appears to have more fast chargers than Blink, but I don't anticipate needing that capability, so it doesn't seem worth paying the $4.95 registration fee.

 

[JoulesThief]

plugshare app. install, surf, explore, practice, plan, drive.

In 3 months of ownership, charging at home wins, hands down. If I can't do it in the e-golf, due to distance, the TDI gets the nod instead. 800+ miles between recharging with Unocal diesel at any easy to spot and fill up station in under 5 minutes, with only a credit card and existing infrastructure. 48 to 55 MPG, all day long, at 60 to 65 mph on cruise control.

I try to relegate the e-Golf to surface streets and Blvd drives, or perhaps country 2 lane roads, 35 -55 mph max. I've found this is where performance wise and efficiency, this is where it really excels, and knocks down the most miles per kw. YMMV, let us know how you do in miles per kw per recharge. Pushing air out of the way driving fast is a huge waste of energy and kw.

 

[nsayer]

I've got three cards - Blink, ChargePoint and NRG/eVgo.

If I didn't have the SEL eGolf - that is, the CCS port - I wouldn't bother with NRG. Blink and Chargepoint have just about the whole bay area sewn up. Blink went belly up and into receivership and now is owned by CarCharging, I believe. For a while, during the transition, service and support was virtually nonexistent. The Blink chargers at our workplace still have the old charge handles on them and are derated to 24A (that's just under 5 kW given that they're on 208VAC because of three-phase power), and one of them has been broken for months. If given a choice, I'd always prefer a Chargepoint EVSE, as they're generally more reliable in my experience. Chargepoint does offer a dual-head CHAdeMO/CCS HVDC EVSE, though it's fairly new, and I've only seen one of them publicly available, and that was at Chargepoint's office in Los Gatos.

On the other hand, there are a substantial number of NRG HVDC stations up and down the peninsula, mostly at Whole Foods markets. I've taken to using them for trips to San Francisco, and they work perfectly, so far as I can tell (I've been unable to use them once, and that was because when I arrived there were cars piled up three deep waiting to use it).

 

[f1geek]

You should also get the Greenlots RFID card, too. There is a free Greenlots dual standard DCFC in Belmont at the VW headquarters (shows up on the e-Golf Nav system, too). It's an Efecec 50 kW unit and I've used it several times. I love seeing the fuel gauge slowly increase before my eyes. I wish VW would provide more data like voltage, amperage, and state of charge in kWh. Maybe someday....

 

[JoulesThief]

I tend to use the Green Lots app on my smart phone instead of the card, but I do have both.

 

[miimura]

I also have a SemaCharge RFID card. When I got my first EV, I found that there were L2's in the Monterey area on that network that could be useful. However, now that EVgo has fast chargers in the area, I'm not likely to use those. The Gilroy outlets also changed out their SemaCharge units for Blink stations.

 

[DepletedZPM]

Thanks for the tips on Greenlots. I had seen them pop up in a PlugShare trip planning session, but hadn't realized they had much of a footprint.