New California Corridor Fast Chargers Installed

[jgblair]

So it is not economically feasible, at least right now, to install a DCFC with 3-phase power unless there is already 3-phase power at the location? That makes sense. Would the large gas stations have 3-phase or just the truck stops?

John

 

[jgblair]

Thanks to miimura for digging up that document with the upcoming charger locations. I agree that they are not in the ideal locations, but they appear to be an improvement over what we have now, especially along the 101 corridor that I just drove. Any ideas about the timeframe for their installs?

John

 

[swogee]

Typically most commercial locations will have access to or the ability to obtain 3-phase power. I suspect the main limitation may be the amperage and the voltage of the 3-phase power available. Most L3 chargers seem to use 480 volts as opposed to 208 volts. The ABB Tera 53 CJ L3 charger uses 480V 3 phase with 75A per phase for a total of 60 kVA. Most commercial building don't have 480V 3 phase. The 3 phase 120/208 volt wye configuration is far more common in commercial buildings.

 

[miimura]

The big difference between the first round grant that installed the 25kW chargers and the two more recent rounds is that the funding amount increased enough that each site can install a dedicated 277Y480V 3-phase service, just for the fast chargers. The first grant was $500,000 for all the locations on CA-99 and I-5, which pretty much required piggybacking onto a hotel's existing 120Y208V service. The recent ones are like $3M for each segment. So, I don't think electrical facilities are the obstacle to getting good sites, just willing site hosts.

 

[TonyWilliams]

http://drivethearc.com/locations/

 

[miimura]

http://drivethearc.com/locations/

Looks good. The locations on I-80 and US-50 to Tahoe look excellent. We should be able to get free CHAdeMO charging through this app at participating EVgo sites. I was all disappointed that I missed out on this for my trip this past weekend, but I noticed that it is only enabled through the software on the BTC chargers. The QR activation was not an available choice on the Dixon Walmart charger I used on Sunday. It only listed Credit Cards and EVgo cards as available choices. You will need to look for this screen and use their app.

The app currently shows 5 locations active with the unique DRIVEtheARC Station pin. They are:
Save Mart Auburn
Raley's Loomis
Whole Foods Roseville
Raley's El Dorado Hills
Sacramento 49er Travel Plaza

The app also shows what appears to be a bogus DtA pin at SFO. I say bogus because the listed address is in Houston, TX and the pin is in the middle of the airport between the 28L and 28R runways.

 

[TonyWilliams]

LA-Vegas corridor.

Baker, CA is slated to get 4 Dual Standard fast chargers at their fast charge site funded by the CEC.

http://www.energy.ca.gov/2016publications/CEC-600-2016-008/CEC-600-2016-008.pdf

Summary of the sites for the “North of Victorville to West of Nevada” corridor:

– 16868 Stoddard Wells Rd. Victorville, CA 92394 – 2 DCFC, 1 L2
– 1611 E Main St. Barstow, CA 92311 – 2 DCFC, 1 L2
– 40873 Sunrise Canyon Rd. Yermo, CA 92398 – 2 DCFC, 1 L2
– 72363 Baker Blvd. Baker, CA 92309 – 4 DCFC, 1 L2
– 65845 Cima Rd. Nipton, CA 92364 – 2 DCFC, 1 L2

 

[miimura]

I did a simple copy and paste from the CEC documents into this Google Map. The map currently has the North-South corridors shown. I will add the Interregional corridors as an additional layer later.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1VEJLK0-wcAhWV8Q0MirTLULd5mg

When you click on each marker it will show how many DCFC and L2 chargers are planned and which entity is developing the site.

Edit: I've added the Interregional Corridors sites and some of the relevant existing corridor sites. The existing ones are colored by charger power while the proposed grant sites are colored by the entity developing the site.

 

[dstjohn99]

I see how it is. What does the rest of the state have against San Diego and Imperial counties? Is travel to the Mexican border or Arizona not allowed for electric vehicles? STOP THE DISCRIMINATION. SAY NO TO HATE! :lol:

 

[miimura]

I see how it is. What does the rest of the state have against San Diego and Imperial counties? Is travel to the Mexican border or Arizona not allowed for electric vehicles? STOP THE DISCRIMINATION. SAY NO TO HATE! :lol:

I feel for you, but these grants never had anything but the section of I-5 between San Juan Capistrano and Carlsbad on the map. In the end, you only get one more site two exits closer to SD than the existing NRG site in San Clemente. If you care so much about the infrastructure down there, you should work with the EVA of San Diego and others to lobby the CEC, the SDAPCD, and the Imperial County Air Quality District to get coverage in future grants.

 

[miimura]

Back to the actual title of this thread "...Fast Chargers Installed".

There are two EVgo stations marked Coming Soon in ******* Pines and Twin Bridges in Plugshare. These locations were alluded to on the DRIVEtheARC web site. So, I expect them to use the 100 amp BTC chargers that are part of that initiative. That makes the US-50 route to South Lake Tahoe a cake walk for JdeMO users. There will also be a NRG site at the Raley's in South Lake Tahoe. I saw that on the DtA site before they took down the interactive map.

PlugShare: Pines Shopping Center, ******* Pines, CA

PlugShare: Strawberry Station General Store, Twin Bridges, CA

 

[swogee]

There are two new "DrivetheARC" L3 chargers going in at the Marina Dunes Shopping center. The units are installed and they will be turned on shortly according to plug share.

https://api.plugshare.com/view/location/99329

They aren't powered on yet but it will be nice to have an additional options on the Monterey peninsula.

 

[miimura]

I believe the Watsonville Civic Center location is also a DRIVEtheARC site.

PlugShare: City of Watsonville Civic Center Garage

 

[user 340]

It's amazing how fast a private group like Drive The Arc can install DCFCs compared to the state CEC. I realize that solicitations and awards take time, but the CEC process seems extra long compared with the Federal agency awards I am familiar with (those Federal awards are not energy-related).

 

[miimura]

It's amazing how fast a private group like Drive The Arc can install DCFCs compared to the state CEC. I realize that solicitations and awards take time, but the CEC process seems extra long compared with the Federal agency awards I am familiar with (those Federal awards are not energy-related).

We don't know how long they've been talking to NRG about this project. Sure, once they announce the initiative it's easy to look like they're moving fast. In fact, some of the sites that are marked as part of the initiative were installed before the announcement. Take Dixon for example. They were installed with the standard BTC software, but the NRG logos were offset to the side consistent with the DRIVEtheARC logo scheme. All they have to do is apply the DTA logos and update the software and BOOM, another DTA site. Also, the DTA sites are following the NRG pattern by utilizing existing relationships with Raley's and Walmart where possible.

 

[user 340]

Good point @miimura - I ignored the likely lengthy time it took to secure locations and permits. I had thought that the Nissan / Kanematsu press release announcing the project came out within the past 6 months, but it has in fact been over a year (Oct 2015):

http://insideevs.com/nissan-kanematsu-selected-by-nedo-to-analyze-electric-car-usage-in-california/

 

[miimura]

There is some additional news about the CEC grant sites that was exposed by a TMC user who wrote to the State because he was concerned about low power chargers being installed. Here is an excerpt of their response.

For the I-15 corridor, ChargePoint under this award will be installing at least (2) DC fast charging stations with both CHAdeMO and SAE connectors with a minimum charging rate of 50-kW, (1) dual-port 7.7-kW level 2 charging station, (2) stub outs for future installations, security cameras and lighting at every site along the corridor.

ChargePoint also stated that they plan to install their newest DC fast charging station, once it completes its UL certification, in place of their 50-kW stations. These new DC fast chargers are capable of dispensing up to 125-kw per charging port.

One can only hope that this will be their strategy for all the sites they have been awarded recently.

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/posts/1871644/

 

[n3ckf]

if you have an NRG card already do these new chargers work with that?

 

[miimura]

if you have an NRG card already do these new chargers work with that?

Not sure which ones you're talking about. The DriveTheArc chargers are on NRG network, so of course the NRG card will work. Personally, I would try their app first, since it would be free.

The rest of the Corridor Chargers funded by the CEC will be on whatever network the site operator sets up. We don't really know what network or payment methods Recargo (owner of Plugshare) and EV Connect are going to use. Presumably NRG and ChargePoint will just put them on their own networks. There is still talk among the network operators about interoperability and roaming. I saw a reference to ROEV in some State documents recently, so there is still hope on that front.

 

[evdrive]

All I want for Christmas is to be able to travel the state on fast chargers. I appreciate everyone who is keeping the updates coming as these chargers are rolled out.

I really can't believe I still can't drive to Oregon on fast chargers. What a sad and slow rollout by the state considering that the Oregon and Washington I5 Fast Charge Electric Highway was completed years ago. That being said, when we get the fast chargers to Tahoe up and running, and the ones in Monterey, I will feel a lot more confident driving around Northern California.

We are such patient early adopters