List of known SAE combo plug quick charge stations

Hi -

i think this is a great idea - i live in Oakland and have not found one yet.
BMW is going to use the same port at Sparky, but Weaterford motors does not have one yet.
Anyone know a DC fast charger for the Sparky in the East Bay?

bryantracy said:

Hi -

i think this is a great idea - i live in Oakland and have not found one yet.
BMW is going to use the same port at Sparky, but Weaterford motors does not have one yet.
Anyone know a DC fast charger for the Sparky in the East Bay?

Click to expand...

There aren't any yet, and the one previously shown at Sonnen BMW in Marin has now disappeared from Plugshare. Meanwhile, another one has popped up in SoCal, but it's at Pacific Nissan in San Diego, so it's highly unlikely - judging by the photos there's just a CHAdeMO there. I don't know if it's a Plugshare glitch or just overenthusiastic/clueless users who keep listing seemingly every new QC site as having CCS.

gra said:

bryantracy said:

Hi -

i think this is a great idea - i live in Oakland and have not found one yet.
BMW is going to use the same port at Sparky, but Weaterford motors does not have one yet.
Anyone know a DC fast charger for the Sparky in the East Bay?

Click to expand...

There aren't any yet, and the one previously shown at Sonnen BMW in Marin has now disappeared from Plugshare. Meanwhile, another one has popped up in SoCal, but it's at Pacific Nissan in San Diego, so it's highly unlikely - judging by the photos there's just a CHAdeMO there. I don't know if it's a Plugshare glitch or just overenthusiastic/clueless users who keep listing seemingly every new QC site as having CCS.

Click to expand...

I removed that one, there's no way that was a CCS station.

There are three new CCS/Chademo shown on Plugshare in the Bay Area. Two are eVgo dual CHAdeMO/CCS : one in Mountain View, one in Menlo Park. [Edit: the one in Mountain View is a separate unit; the one in Menlo Park has just disappeared from Plugshare] There's also a dual unit in Benicia, not sure of its parentage. Also, there are two or three more in Oregon, although the CCS doesn't appear to be live yet at most of them, and there are still bugs in the ones that have power.

CCS-2 seems to be springing up fast in Europe, as there are multiple ones in the U.K., Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, two in Switzerland, and singles in Finland and Greece.

I've been visiting them as soon as I can get to them in Oregon. There's a new one way out east that will be hard to get to for a while, but the rest I've hit and provided feedback on Plugshare.

I'm not going to keep this page updated, Plugshare is far and away a better place to easily find accurate and updated information on charger status.

Bryce

the one in Mountain View does not seem to work without nrg card.

nrg fees are exorbitant IMO. In fact assuming I need it 1-2 times a month for occasional extended driving, and realistically assuming i'd be topping it off at 80% (it is painfully slow to charge between 80 and 100% in comparison), the fees per mile would quite exceed that of an ICE car.

On the other hand, if I decided to use them as my regular source of charge to offset nrg's flat fee, it would still not even closely beat my home charging (assuming i would want to charge it over 80% since 80% would not make it for my roundtrip commute, or at the very least will be dangerously close to running out of charge.

I had a chat with a guy there who was charging his Nissan, he showed me his RFID card that Nissan gives them, told me he had a free pass onto blink, nrg and something else (chargepoint?) i don't already remember.

These NRG plans pretty much make its SAE chargers useless IMO. Which is a shame really.

So far, so sad.

ASFGeek said:

I had a chat with a guy there who was charging his Nissan, he showed me his RFID card that Nissan gives them, told me he had a free pass onto blink, nrg and something else (chargepoint?) i don't already remember.

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Re: the above program for Leafs, see below. I haven't kept up w/the details ever since Chargepoint dropped about of the free part and it doesn't apply to me anyway. I got my Leaf WAY before the program was announced.

http://insideevs.com/nissan-leaf-now-gets-free-public-charging-on-all-the-major-networks/
http://insideevs.com/nissans-charge-charge-free-public-charging-leaf-now-live/
http://insideevs.com/nissan-adds-los-angeles-to-leaf-no-charge-to-charge-program/

cwerdna said:

ASFGeek said:

I had a chat with a guy there who was charging his Nissan, he showed me his RFID card that Nissan gives them, told me he had a free pass onto blink, nrg and something else (chargepoint?) i don't already remember.

Click to expand...

Re: the above program for Leafs, see below. I haven't kept up w/the details ever since Chargepoint dropped about of the free part and it doesn't apply to me anyway. I got my Leaf WAY before the program was announced.

http://insideevs.com/nissan-leaf-now-gets-free-public-charging-on-all-the-major-networks/
http://insideevs.com/nissans-charge-charge-free-public-charging-leaf-now-live/
http://insideevs.com/nissan-adds-los-angeles-to-leaf-no-charge-to-charge-program/

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My understanding is that ChargePoint is "back in".

TonyWilliams said:

My understanding is that ChargePoint is "back in".

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My understanding (although it may be wrong) is what http://chargedevs.com/newswire/chargepoint-back-in-the-picture-as-nissan-launches-no-charge-to-charge-program/ says

Updated 2: Confirmed: ChargePoint is participating in the EZ-Charge program giving Leaf owners the ability to access multiple charging networks with one single card, and not participating in the No Charge to Charge program. Although, the company points out that about 60 percent of stations on the ChargePoint network are already free to use.

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Although the $6,548 BMW CCS QC announcement isn't news, some of the details mentioned in this article at ABG,

"Plug In 2014 BMW i DC Fast is poised to change the EV game", are new.

Quoting from the article:

"That's why the first of the new blue boxes will be installed at the 285 i dealers in the US, many of whom already installed the cables needed for fast charging when they put in the Level 2 chargers, said BMW's Cliff Fietzek, manager of connected eMobility. Even if you haven't gotten a site ready for a DC fast charger, the installation costs for BMW's unit are lower because you don't need to pour concrete (for the wall unit) and the SAE Combo connector plug costs "significantly" less than the competing CHAdeMO plug, Fietzek said.

"One minor drawback to the BMW DC fast charger compared to the more expensive traditional, full-size DC fast chargers is that the 24kW BMW fast charger allows you to charge to 80 percent full in 30 minutes, while the bigger units can do the job in 20. The good news for EV drivers with SAE Combo cars (which, in the US, means the Chevy Spark EV and the VW e-Golf) is that any driver with a Combo plug car and a ChargePoint card will be able to use the BMW stations. In fact, BMW is talking with both GM and VW on where to install SAE Combo stations in the US so that there is minimal duplication of effort.

"In other places, BMW is working with other automakers, including Nissan, which uses a competing fast charging standard. "In Great Britain, we are installing triple chargers, the CHAdeMO, SAE Combo and the high-power, three-phase AC that can go up to 43 kW to support the Renault [EVs] and others," Fietzek said. The reason for the competitors working together is that the cost of laying the cables and pouring the concrete are the most expensive parts of an installation, and the different connectors and software can all be run from one box.

"BMW has also worked to get two charging networks (ChargePoint and NRG eVgo) to play nice behind the scenes for the ChargeNow DC Fast free charging program that launches with the new chargers. "What's significant about the program, which is a first for the industry right now, is that you are able to use a ChargePoint card on the EVgo network," Healey said. "Our customers don't need to go to the EVgo to open up a new account. It's the first step towards true interoperability."

The full article is at http://green.autoblog.com/2014/08/07/plug-in-2014-bmw-i-dc-fast-charger-change-ev-game/

Two of the three U.S. CCS QCs in Arizona formerly shown on Plugshare have now disappeared. OTOH, new CCS QCs have now appeared in Vermont and New Jersey. The Vermont listing seems solid; I'm not sure about the one in New Jersey.

gra said:

Two of the three U.S. CCS QCs in Arizona formerly shown on Plugshare have now disappeared. OTOH, new CCS QCs have now appeared in Vermont and New Jersey. The Vermont listing seems solid; I'm not sure about the one in New Jersey.

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Those ones in Arizona were actually the first public CCS Combo1 installed in the USA, but I don't think they ever actually worked.

TonyWilliams said:

gra said:

Two of the three U.S. CCS QCs in Arizona formerly shown on Plugshare have now disappeared. OTOH, new CCS QCs have now appeared in Vermont and New Jersey. The Vermont listing seems solid; I'm not sure about the one in New Jersey.

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Those ones in Arizona were actually the first public CCS Combo1 installed in the USA, but I don't think they ever actually worked.

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I'm not sure, but I think the remaining one at Bookman's may have been the first. OTOH, one has now popped up on the big island of Hawaii - the photo is unmistakably a dual-mode charger.

TonyWilliams said:

I remember some time ago that PlugShare was weeding at "pending" stations. So, they may still be coming, but PlugShare removed them because BMW (or the dealers) prematurely posted them?

Best guess. I haven't heard ANY announcement of specific BMW dealers getting DC chargers, and BMW is not shy about blowing their own horn... who knows?

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In some cases, it was clueless (optimistic?) people who "put" them there.

http://www.plugshare.com/?location=40253 (BMW of Bellevue, WA) formerly did list SAE Combo. But, it was confirmed to be TGTBT at https://www.facebook.com/groups/seattlenissanleaf/permalink/833657249999047/ with "Well that's disappointing. Three people I talked to didn't know what DC quick/fast chargers were but confirmed that they only has one electric car charger (two headed)..."

I still know of 0 BMW and 0 Chevy dealers who have ANY DC FCs.

Oddly, http://api.plugshare.com/view/location/54971, a Kia :shock: dealer is in the process of installing a dual-standard SAE Combo and CHAdeMO DC FC. I saw it myself. This is odd given the Kia Soul EV will have CHAdeMO standard and Hyundai/Kia aren't shipping any cars w/SAE Combo nor have they announced any.

Reposting this from MNL to save me typing it twice:

All right! The Green Lots/Sun Trail CHAdeMO in Pt. Reyes Station has just had a CCS added. Not sure if they replaced the CHAdeMO only QC, or added an separate CCS. This is one of the most obvious and needed places for QCs in the Bay Area. In addition, someone listed a 'coming soon' dual mode QC at Stevens Creek Kia in San Jose, and although still taped off, the photo shows it's definitely there and a dual-mode ABB (mentioned by cwerdna in above post). Compared to the CHAdeMO rollout in the Bay Area, CCS is hopping along. There's already access to West Marin and Hwy 1 north to Bodega Bay, the wine country via Benicia, Sacramento and points east via I-80, and San Jose north up 101 a far as Belmont so people can do the SJ-SF drive. In addition there are now 7 open and one 'coming soon' sites in SoCal, and one of the open sites has two QCs of each standard. While I dislike posting 'coming soon' sites on Plugshare, it's a Trader Joe's on Sunset Blvd. in L.A. and being put in by eVgo, so I think it's almost certainly real.

Plugshare is now showing several more "SAE Combo DCFC" sites in Southern California including The Oaks Mall in Thousand Oaks, and the LA Department of Water and Power . Additionally I heard that the existing CHAdeMO at the Camarillo Outlet Mall is being upgraded to include an SAE Combo. Can anyone confirm that any of these are functional, particularly the LADWP site?

This is very exciting, I may be able to actually use my quick charge port sometime soon!

You beat me to it by a couple of minutes; saves me typing One of the sites is listed as a private residence in Corona with both CHAdeMO and CCS; although there was a guy in Modesto who put a CHAdeMO in at his place, I'd be very surprised if the Corona listing is correct. There's a cryptic listing that just appeared in San Jose claiming to have J1772/CHAdeMO/CCS, and I'm equally skeptical of that one until someone uses it. And the same goes for the one that's now shown in Florida, although that at least is at a city hall. eVgo is definitely ramping up their installation rate; guess they've got to meet a year-end quota, and now that the equipment is available there's no excuse not to.

Yesterday I tried to utilize the CCS charger in Thousand Oaks, CA. I spent 15 minutes of trying every possible combination of connecting the charger, turning on/off the car, disconnecting/reconnecting, etc. that I could think of. I was able to get the charger to indicate that it started charging several times, however it would immediately quit indicating the car was fully charged when the car was actually at 61%. Other times it would say a communication error, etc. Calling the number on the charger was of little use, the operator just read their script, and walked me through the process which simply failed again. I tried to get them to take a report that the charger was not functional, but I don't think I was successful. The recent incidents on Plugshare show similar results, so I don't think it is something wrong with my copy of the Spark EV. A few others seemed to eventually get it to charge with enough persistence.

I personally consider the one in Thousand Oaks to be non-functional, at least for the Spark EV. An argument could be made for it being just unreliable. I suspect something needs a firmware update, either the Sparks or the ABB chargers. I am disappointed that with only 2 car to test, they apparently chose not to make sure their product was actually functional.

I also stopped by the one at Trader Joe's on Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles. This is not yet powered on, but there is hardware is in place for 3 stations, one J1772, one CHAdeMO, and one CCS/CHAdeMO combo. The unit looks like the same AAB charger installed in Thousand Oaks, but I did not get the model numbers for either.

Chocula

It appears there is a CCS that is now working in Point Reyes Station.
Make sure you have a Greenlots card.
Not inexpensive, though, at .89 per kilowatt hour.

gra said:

In addition, someone listed a 'coming soon' dual mode QC at Stevens Creek Kia in San Jose, and although still taped off, the photo shows it's definitely there and a dual-mode ABB (mentioned by cwerdna in above post).

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To further clarify my comment about that Kia dealer, I physically visited that dealer and confirmed it was a ABB Terra 53 J 50 kw CHAdeMO and Combo1 DC FC. I was able to remove the Combo1 handle and look at it, while IIRC, the CHAdeMO handle was locked to the unit. When I visited a few weeks ago, it was still taped off and work in progress. The dealer employee there didn't want me taking any pictures. :roll: He was supposedly doing as he was told by his manager. And, he didn't know much either...