Massachusetts / New England

[MikeDabrowski2017]

Big EV meet up at Hebert candy factory on 574 Hartford tpk (rt 20)
The new england electric vehicle club and the Tesla club are gathering
Saturday Oct 14 10am to 3 pm
I and a friend are Planing to attend.
Hope to see a couple of bolts .

.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

I'll be there. I have leftover Leaf stuff to give away if a Leaf driver needs them, winter mats and an OBD II.

 

[NeilBlanchard]

If it rains, I might be able to go. If it is not raining, I have to work on my new roof.

 

[Lin19687]

Oh Neil, it is going to rain
:lol:
No really it is. You don't want to start a project if you can't finish before the rain

 

[NeilBlanchard]

I am in the middle of a big project, that needs to be finished, as soon as possible.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

A MA registration is typically for two years. I’ve registered 3 new EVs now and each one was initially less than that, either 1-3/4 or 1-1/2 years, but renewed for two years. AFAICT, this is a function of the way MA plates are coded, with the last number signifying the month of renewal (1-0 for January to October, and Y & Z for November and December) and you basically get whatever plates are at the top of the stack when the dealer goes to the registry.

Is this your experience? Is the state systematically scamming every new registration?

 

[Lin19687]

When I got my plates they did prorate it because it goes by the Month.

I thought it was that they wanted them all to expire on Dec/Jan but I think you are right about month printed on the plate.

I have swapped plates for so long that I never noticed and wondered about the month thing... until I got the EV


I doubt they are scamming, I think they are TRYING to get things under control. But then we are talking about the RMV and Gov :lol:

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

I think you’re right. They are pro-rating the fee.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm new to this forum. I've done some research and read many posts.
I'm looking for the recommendations on settings in PlugShare and other apps or websites that might provide better info here in New England.
Thanks,
Jo

P.S. - I had an ordeal at the Hannafords in South Portland last Friday evening. I was heading to save my pipes from freezing at my off-grid place. It was 17 degrees and windy. The touch screen on the EVgo was intermittently functioning. After several attempts and phone calls, I ended up driving to another Hannafords.

 

[SeanNelson]

I'm new to this forum. I've done some research and read many posts.
I'm looking for the recommendations on settings in PlugShare and other apps or websites that might provide better info here in New England.

The single most important thing to do is to set the "filter" options to show only chargers with J1772 or CCS connectors. (And the various flavours of 240V NEMA plugs if you bring your own level 2 charger with you).

After that, I always open up the description of a charger I'm planning to use and have a quick scan through the most recent comments to see if anyone has had an issue with it.

The flip side of is that as a PlugShare user you should get into the habit of checking in when you use a charger. If the only people who check in are the ones who want to make a negative comment then the charger will get an artificially low rating.

 

[Lin19687]

I too wish that people would 'check in' when using a charger.
Makes it easier for others that are looking to charge and see what is open.

1 free CCS charger in MA that I am aware of and many don't check in. I was charging and saw a Leaf come, look around and seem kinda pissed off. Even on my OLD OLD cell phone I was able to use Plugshare.

I was at a mall waiting for a J1772 to open up so i could do a few things IN the Mall and "Checked In Waiting". I figured that people would see that and know that there is someone waiting. I also went and parked behind the 2 charging thinking they might be out soon after about 25 minutes. As I backed up for the guy who was leaving someone came over to me saying they were a Leaf and had 50%, needed to charge to get home.... Sorry I too am only EV and needed to charge too and said i would only be able 1/2 hr. The Leaf COULD go to the Nissan dealer 8-10 miles away and use the Chademo or J1772 .
Hated to not let him charge but really people need to use the plugshare app. If he had put in Waiting before me then I would have given it to him. He was gone when I came back 25 min later.


As more and more EV's come around this is going to be an issue. Hopefully there will be more J1772 around and DC's too. If not, i think the Hybrid/EV plug fight will get worse.

 

[SeanNelson]

I too wish that people would 'check in' when using a charger. Makes it easier for others that are looking to charge and see what is open.

While I agree that it would be very nice, I think it's unrealistic to expect that everyone will (a) install the app, and (b) actually bother to do checkins and checkouts. The ultimate solution is for the charging networks to share their "in use" data with PlugShare - there's no better authority for knowing when a charger is in use than the charger itself.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

ChargePoint stopped sharing data with Plugshare a long time ago, so you have to use their app for real time usage. It also lists the the last few uses, so you can tell if a station has been used, even if the last Plugshare comment was that it was broken. The EVgo app will also tell you if a station is in use, which doesn’t show up on Plugshare.

Ideally, real time station availability should display in the car’s nav screen, so you don’t have to stop to check apps, but we’re not there yet.

 

[SeanNelson]

Ideally, real time station availability should display in the car’s nav screen, so you don’t have to stop to check apps, but we’re not there yet.

One of the cool things about Android Auto and CarPlay is that it will improve over time, unlike the rest of the car's software. And charging apps are a natural to be developed for Android Auto and CarPlay - that's where virtually every EV driver is going to want to get their information in the coming few years.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

PlugShare has applied for CarPlay but apparently it’s invitation only.

 

[Lin19687]

Not all Charge-point chargers are ON plug share too. So that is also an issue. The one I was talking about is not listed on Charge-point and I am happy about that
DNA, I just found out the CP lists last few times. I wonder if that it new as I don't remember seeing that a few years ago?

I agree that we are not there Yet and EV's should have this on their Nav systems. But I don't think it is unrealistic to have people check in with Plugshare. It is the only app that lists all the plugs and I Highly doubt that people just stumble upon a plug to use.
If more check-in there will be less upset people Especially with Winter coming. At least with the CCS/Chademo plugs. I am not too worried about the J1772 plugs as most that would use those will be Hybrids...........they have gas.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Plugshare participation will probably always be limited. Nature of the beast. I know people who are always on Facebook, I’m always checking Plugshare or some EV forum. Others never bother, they want their EV experience to match ICE driving. No one checks in at gas stations. But we’re not there yet either.

Actually, it stations had cameras or sensors, they could also report if they were ICEd in, maybe automatically call in a tow truck.

OTOH, what if the whole market evolves to wireless? The whole plug thing could only be temporary.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Just checked the Hannafords ChargePoint QC in Lowell and ChargePoint reports it’s in use and gets 4-5 users a day at least, but no Plugshare check ins for a week. It’s a drag, but for now we really have to check multiple apps if we really need to know.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

Discussions like this make me envious of Tesla's network. They are well located with multiple plugs per location. You don't have to think about checking an app. In all but very few circumstances, you just show up and charge. This is the future I look forward to. Just like you don't have to check if all the gas pumps are in use because it rarely happens.

For 2017, your best bet is to plan, plan, plan. Check multiple apps. Have a plan B and a plan C. Be ready to wait if needed (e.g. bring along a book or a tablet to entertain yourself). We are still in the very early days of EV travel. But hey - it's worlds better than 5 years ago when people were packing their trunks full of adapters so they could beg to be allowed to charge at campgrounds, etc.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Yeah, my 2012 Leaf waited a whole year before there was even one QC around here to use. But Tesla does it best. I’d have gone for a Model 3 if it was ready. Can’t wait to see what’s on offer in 2020.