Electric Auto Association Petitions for Mammoth Lake Public Chargers

[paulgipe]

Raejean Fellows, president of the Electric Auto Association, has begun a petition calling on the Mammoth Lakes ski resort to install public EV charging for its non-Tesla customers driving electric.

The petition, Help Mammoth Lakes get Non-Tesla Charging Installed, can be found on the web site of Change.org.

There is a Tesla supercharger station in Mammoth Lakes and four resort hotels have Tesla destination chargers. The hotels also have J1772 EVSEs for non-Tesla vehicles. However, the charge stations are reserved for hotel customers only.

There are no public charge stations, either J1772, or DC fast chargers, for non-Tesla vehicles in Mammoth Lakes, or anywhere else on US 395 from Mojave, California to Bridgeport. Effectively, the region east of the Sierra Nevada is a charging desert for non-Tesla EVs.

Fellows added, "I, along with the Board of Directors, encourage your taking active steps to increase charging infrastructure where you see it is needed."

The Electric Auto Association was founded in 1967 and is an advocate for EVs in North America. It has 80 chapters in the USA and Canada.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

I look at this map and think "wow, you Californians sure have it good with charging infrastructure!"

 

[paulgipe]

I look at this map and think "wow, you Californians sure have it good with charging infrastructure!"

Yes Brian that's true--relative to the rest of North America. As I often point out in my trip reports California has the most extensive network of stations in the US and Canada. However, there are who sections of the state that the CEC simply passed by. As I often note, many of the routes we take still lack charging infrastructure. This is one of the reasons we went to the Bolt and we're glad we did. Of course, it would be better still if we had a Tesla.

Paul

 

[GetOffYourGas]

Indeed. We still have a long way to go. It's just frustrating how much NY is lagging. And then the governor has the audacity to say that NY is "leading the way". Oh brother.

 

[SparkE]

I look at this map and think "wow, you Californians sure have it good with charging infrastructure!"

Yes Brian that's true--relative to the rest of North America. As I often point out in my trip reports California has the most extensive network of stations in the US and Canada. However, there are whole sections of the state that the CEC simply passed by. As I often note, many of the routes we take still lack charging infrastructure. This is one of the reasons we went to the Bolt and we're glad we did. Of course, it would be better still if we had a Tesla.

Paul

Commenting on the underlined. The CEC (California Energy Commission) had very little to do with the existing DCFC installations. The current plan for new installs would cover almost the entire state (allowing 100-mile-range EVs access to most of the state, and 200-mile-range EVs access to the entire state) - except for the portions of the extreme eastern part of the state (most of US-395 running through the Sierra Nevada mountain range N-S). The CalTrans (CA road repair authority, basically) "30-30 plan" would have covered the 'southern' portion of US-395 with multiple DCFCs - but that appears to have been put on hold for the moment.

 

[SeanNelson]

As I often point out in my trip reports California has the most extensive network of stations in the US and Canada.

I suspect on a per-capita basis our Canadian provinces of BC or Quebec might give you a run for your money.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

As I often point out in my trip reports California has the most extensive network of stations in the US and Canada.

I suspect on a per-capita basis our Canadian provinces of BC or Quebec might give you a run for your money.

Per-capita, my money is on Vermont. For such a tiny state, they have a great network!

 

[paulgipe]

As I often point out in my trip reports California has the most extensive network of stations in the US and Canada.

I suspect on a per-capita basis our Canadian provinces of BC or Quebec might give you a run for your money.

Sean,

I don't know about BC but I've been plugging Quebec's early build out of CHAdeMO. When we couldn't get anywhere from Bakersfield in a Leaf you could drive from Montreal to Gaspe! Ontario had--past tense--an aggressive program. It was marred by one contract building a lot of 24 kW stations but they got a lot of stations in the ground much quicker than here in California. I've described the pace here as "glacial".

Paul

 

[BarfOMatic]

{...} I've described the pace here as "glacial".

Very appropriate term - without all that CO2 the commie politicians in Calif are trying to eliminate, we'd be in the middle of a mini-ice-age !! (That's a joke, people.)

 

[SparkE]

As I often point out in my trip reports California has the most extensive network of stations in the US and Canada.

I suspect on a per-capita basis our Canadian provinces of BC or Quebec might give you a run for your money.

According to this article : https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2018TRAN0115-001398 , British Columbia has more than 1,300 Level 2 charging stations (pop 4.631 million).

Looking at JUST the ChargePoint app, I *guestimate* (it's too difficult to see all the numbers on the screen) that Calif has about 11,000 *public* stations that show up in the app (that doesn't include the private, restricted stations at Google, Apple, etc. - and there are a lot of those - nor does it show the "un-networked" stations avail to the public, nor does it show Greenlots or GE or EV Connect or Recargo or EV Connect or ...). Calif has a pop of 39.54 million.

(I asked google for the pop of CA and BC and grabbed the 1st number given.)

So multiply/divide by 8.5 ... It looks like CA and BC have "about the same" per capita (although CA may have over twice as many, it is difficult to know, the two are really "in the same ballpark", per-capita-wise). On the other hand, some stretches on the east coast of the US appear to have just as good (sometimes better) setups for long range EV use using DCFCs. (At the moment, CA DCFCs are mainly concentrated in metro areas, with a few strung along *some* travel routes N-S.)

 

[plj]

That charger desert on 395 extends all the way north to South Lake Tahoe. There's no public Level 2 or 3 in that entire 350-mile-long reach from South Lake Tahoe to Mohave.

In contrast, Nevada DOT has a free Level 3 charger in Hawthorne...

I'm heading to Lee Vining tomorrow, and called two motels to see if I could use a 220 Volt outlet (with my EVSE). Alas no. There's a RV park, but they want $40 / day, and with staying two days, we'll take a gas car. (Has anyone negotiated a lower price at a RV park?)

 

[plj]

I asked about plans for a public charger at the Mono Lake Committee, and they reported that the Chamber of Commerce is working on installing one. Perhaps at the Solar Pavilion, which a quick search found a discussion. Here's the first paragraph (dated July 5th, 2018):

"Exciting times are shining on Lee Vining early this summer with the groundbreaking of the Pioneer Solar Pavilion at Hess Park. The pavilion will provide protection from the harsh Eastern Sierra sun and wind, while providing solar power and free wi-fi, as well as a space for outdoor events. Visitors to the pavilion will find a unique blend of past and future, with panels detailing historically significant Mono Basin pioneer families juxtaposed against modern solar panels generating power for Mono County, which will own and maintain the pavilion."

Source: https://www.monolake.org/today/2018/07/05/moving-toward-a-brighter-future-lee-vining-begins-construction-of-pioneer-solar-pavilion/

 

[paulgipe]

Yes, the EAA and the locals in Lee Vining are working on a Level 2 for Hess Park. The PV system goes live on Tuesday, according to Janet Carle, the organizer behind it all.

I hope to have something up on it in a few days.

They have a ChargePoint rep visiting Mammoth, also on Tuesday.

Paul