Electric Car Battery Charging Stations at resorts

[cp73]

I was out at Desert Springs Villas a couple of weeks ago and was surprised at how many charging stations were available for electric cars. Between DSV I and II I would estimate they had several charging locations throughout the resort that must have totaled at least 25 charging stations. I only recall seeing a couple of cars using them. I am sure as time goes on it will become more the norm. They did take away parking spaces for non electric cars.

Driving time from Orange or LA County could be anywhere from about 1.5 to 4 hours depending on the time of your drive. Its approximately 110+ miles on average.

 

[mdurette]

I have seen them at Grand Vista in Orlando too.

 

[Passepartout]

They are popping up like mushrooms. At least near relatively affluent communities. We are in a VRBO in Reno this week and I have to plug the car in at a Hampton Inn about a mile away.

Businesses and communities can apply to have them installed (free) under the Volkswagen diesel pollution lawsuit claim. They have to show need, and public access.

It's sort of a 'chicken and egg' deal. Businesses are reluctant to put in chargers because of few cars to use them. And people are reluctant to buy an electric car because of few and far between chargers.

And as mentioned above, a charging station takes away a normal parking place. Believe me, if you are down to just a few electrons, and the charger is blocked by some gas hog, kind thoughts are not foremost in your mind.

Jim

 

[SeaDoc]

I was out at Desert Springs Villas a couple of weeks ago and was surprised at how many charging stations were available for electric cars. Between DSV I and II I would estimate they had several charging locations throughout the resort that must have totaled at least 25 charging stations. I only recall seeing a couple of cars using them. I am sure as time goes on it will become more the norm. They did take away parking spaces for non electric cars.

Driving time from Orange or LA County could be anywhere from about 1.5 to 4 hours depending on the time of your drive. Its approximately 110+ miles on average.

View attachment 8590 View attachment 8591

I use them everytime I go. I own at DS1 and proud of our Board that put them in. Now if ICE cars would be so kind not to park in these few spaces for us EV owners, it would be greatly appreciated.

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[mjm1]

Marriott’s Pulse in Downtown San Diego has chargers as well.

Mike

 

[dioxide45]

--Deleted--

 

[tahoe]

I use them everytime I go. I own at DS1 and proud of our Board that put them in. Now if ICE cars would be so kind not to park in these few spaces for us EV owners, it would be greatly appreciated.

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@Maui Ocean Club a couple years ago....

 

[Passepartout]

@Maui Ocean Club a couple years ago....

This is what I mean. I don't know if there is a penalty for a gas hog parking at a charging station or not- I suspect not- like the Veteran's spaces at Home Depot or the 'expectant Mothers' spaces at 'Babies R Us'. These are rental cars, so their users don't care if it's ticketed. I long for a 'Shameing Card' to put on the windshield of offenders. Maybe white squeeze-on shoe polish to write a 'Thank You' note on their windshield.

Jim

 

[Steve Fatula]

I've always wondered myself if there is a fine. Why have a sign if not enforced. They're at DFW airport now in the long term parking garage, cheap parking now too and free charging. I leave my car there, no limit, so, on this trip, 2 weeks. Was glad to see them at dsv1/2.

It's not always affluent neighborhoods. Sometimes they show up in dinky towns along major highways.

 

[classiclincoln]

Be very careful if you call and ask if the resort has an EV charging station. Called one of the Marriott Ocean Beach resort in Myrtle Beach and was told yes. Turned out to be just a regular 110v outlet being blocked by a cone with an "EV Charging Only" sign.

Stayed at a Hampton Inn in Myrtle Beach and asked if they had an EV charging station and was told yes, and it ended up being the same thing.

Luckily I had planned on not using any there so it wasn't a problem for me.

 

[bogey21]

I wonder how soon you will have to swipe your Credit Card to use one of these. IMO the question is not will they? It is when...

George

 

[Passepartout]

I wonder how soon you will have to swipe your Credit Card to use one of these. IMO the question is not will they? It is when...

OK. So what? If businesses see that attracting customers who will have little choice but to spend some fair amount of time- say an hour or two- twiddling their thumbs while their car scarfs down a few Kilowatts of power at a cost of really- pennies, they will choose to be more competitive than their rivals. Already, we have chargers in our downtown parking garages. But it costs a couple to a few dollars to park there for the time. Isn't that the same thing? Meanwhile, I can park and charge at the local mall for free. The cost of the space and the power is subsidized by the businesses at the mall as a cost of getting me out of my car and into their shops, restaurants, theaters, casinos etc.

When the charging stations become so ubiquitous that EV drivers don't have to spend extra time looking for one, it's just a matter of convenience. Most EV drivers just charge at home and don't need to use the public stations anyway. Looking ahead, I can see 'pay-to-charge' stations in places that would attract longer distance travelers- visitors' centers, tollway service plazas, highway rest areas, near retail centers & malls.

Jim

 

[Steve Fatula]

Be very careful if you call and ask if the resort has an EV charging station. Called one of the Marriott Ocean Beach resort in Myrtle Beach and was told yes. Turned out to be just a regular 110v outlet being blocked by a cone with an "EV Charging Only" sign.

Stayed at a Hampton Inn in Myrtle Beach and asked if they had an EV charging station and was told yes, and it ended up being the same thing.

Luckily I had planned on not using any there so it wasn't a problem for me.

That's what apps like PlugShare are for, it tells the type of EV outlet in addition to finding them for you.

Some charge stations do charge, not by swiping your credit card but by using a network card like Chargepoint et al. We had a chargepoint station at a gas station in Sherman Texas that was free. i would stop there on my weekly trip to Dallas area and eat at their Subway for an hour or so.after a year of doing this, they started charging for the use, $2/hour. So, They lost me as a customer. In Texas, per hour is about 25 cents of electricity. It cost them 25 cents to have me as a customer. Perhaps some people pay the $2/hour, not seen it used driving by though.

 

[wilma]

I wonder how soon you will have to swipe your Credit Card to use one of these. IMO the question is not will they? It is when...

George

Been going on for years already!

 

[Passepartout]

I wouldn't let cost of charging be a deterrent to buying an EV. The cost is easily figured. For instance, our electricity cost is $.08 per kWh. Our car's battery holds 17 kWh when dead empty- which you'd never allow. So that's about $1.30 to power it for 50 miles. A Tesla Model S holds roughly 100 kWh. I understand their charging network bills owners direct for charging (the charging station queries the car's computer for VIN). One owner said he got a bill for something like $13.00 for a charge. Obviously it would depend on waaaay too many variables to accurately predict your charging cost. But it's safe to say it's a LOT less than buying gasoline. And there are no oil changes or tune-ups with an electric...

 

[Steve Fatula]

I wouldn't let cost of charging be a deterrent to buying an EV. The cost is easily figured. For instance, our electricity cost is $.08 per kWh. Our car's battery holds 17 kWh when dead empty- which you'd never allow. So that's about $1.30 to power it for 50 miles. A Tesla Model S holds roughly 100 kWh. I understand their charging network bills owners direct for charging (the charging station queries the car's computer for VIN). One owner said he got a bill for something like $13.00 for a charge. Obviously it would depend on waaaay too many variables to accurately predict your charging cost. But it's safe to say it's a LOT less than buying gasoline. And there are no oil changes or tune-ups with an electric...

True. I went another way though. Since, for economic reasons, I was getting a solar array to power my house basically completely year round, it cost very little for another couple panels which then gives me enough to power my partial EV (Volt). So, 99% pf my trips are within EV range (all trips except vacations), and, those charge for "free". Sure, it cost a little for the panels and structure space, but not that much. I figured 3 cents per kWh for the addon over 9 year period. So, a full 15kWh charge to go around 65 miles costs me 45 cents. Just a tad less tha gas! I got a partial EV to make long vacation trips easier. I do have to pay for a tuneup every 2 years. The incentives for EV were too great, $7,500 tax credit, plus the 30%? (Forgot) tax credit for the solar array. Had to take a lot of money out of 401k to make sure taxes were at least that much so I could get those credits first year. Which in turn paid for the car.

 

[Passepartout]

True. I went another way though. Since, for economic reasons, I was getting a solar array to power my house basically completely year round, it cost very little for another couple panels which then gives me enough to power my partial EV (Volt). So, 99% pf my trips are within EV range (all trips except vacations), and, those charge for "free". Sure, it cost a little for the panels and structure space, but not that much. I figured 3 cents per kWh for the addon over 9 year period. So, a full 15kWh charge to go around 65 miles costs me 45 cents. Just a tad less tha gas! I got a partial EV to make long vacation trips easier. I do have to pay for a tuneup every 2 years. The incentives for EV were too great, $7,500 tax credit, plus the 30%? (Forgot) tax credit for the solar array. Had to take a lot of money out of 401k to make sure taxes were at least that much so I could get those credits first year. Which in turn paid for the car.

We made similar calculations. Except the solar. Our power is among the nation's cheapest at $.08 and we are both over 70, so the payoff would be long after we are gone. But with the new tax laws and significant medical bills this year that are not deductible, the $7500 tax credit on the Honda Clarity Plug-in tipped us over into buying it. Like you, we live kind of in the boonies. The ~50 mile EV range allows us to drive all week without starting the IC engine, but we are unlimited in road mileage- just took a 400ish mile trip yesterday in under 7 hours. Undo-able in a full electric.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Some of our extended family members became early adopters of plug-in rechargeable Chevrolet Volt cars. Twice on timeshare vacations with us to Kissimmee FL, when they drove their own car, they wangled parking spaces where they could run a long extension cord from standard 110-vac. outlets to the charging port on their car. At both timeshares (Vacation Village At Parkway & Silver Lake Resort Silver Points), resort staff members warmed up to the novelty of the request & cooperated in saving favorable parking spots for the plug-in arrangements. Back then, specialized recharging spots were semi-rare. These days, they've started cropping up in lots of places, possibly including timeshare resorts. Who knows ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Steve Fatula]

We made similar calculations. Except the solar. Our power is among the nation's cheapest at $.08 and we are both over 70, so the payoff would be long after we are gone. But with the new tax laws and significant medical bills this year that are not deductible, the $7500 tax credit on the Honda Clarity Plug-in tipped us over into buying it. Like you, we live kind of in the boonies. The ~50 mile EV range allows us to drive all week without starting the IC engine, but we are unlimited in road mileage- just took a 400ish mile trip yesterday. Undo-able in a full electric.

Excellent, so Honda has one also. I liked the idea to easily allow long vacation trips. The longer range EV cars are just not conveient enough yet. We went 1,000 miles to Colorado this summer for example. These vehicles make a lot of sense. Most people live close enough to work to make virtually all their trips on electric with these sorts of vehicles. Takes 4.5 hours for a full charge for me at 12 amps. Which normally I just set it to do over night but here and there, charge immediately for many trips in one day. I can generally easily do 3 trips to town and back in a day, of course, rather do it all in one. Yes, you definitely had your medical bills this year! I had mine too, though nowhere near as severe, scary, and expensive. Just a shoulder. We have around 20k miles on our car, 15k electric and the rest vacation trips. Between the tax credits, little to no cost charging, and quite honestly really good performance with electric engines which is great getting on the highway with no merge lanes, it just made sense.

 

[Steve Fatula]

Some of our extended family members became early adopters of plug-in rechargeable Chevrolet Volt cars. Twice on timeshare vacations with us to Kissimmee FL, when they drove their own car, they wangled parking spaces where they could run a long extension cord from standard 110-vac. outlets to the charging port on their car. At both timeshares (Vacation Village At Parkway & Silver Lake Resort Silver Points), resort staff members warmed up to the novelty of the request & cooperated in saving favorable parking spots for the plug-in arrangements. Back then, specialized recharging spots were semi-rare. These days, they've started cropping up in lots of places, possibly including timeshare resorts. Who knows ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

I wouldn't do that myself. Those charging cables are very expensive, too risky for me. Of course, few options when they purchased. Now, Branson, Kansas, whereveer, not hard to find even free EV charging. When we go to Branson, we visit either the mall or river area and charge for free, making all our trips within Branson free.

 

[Fasttr]

I was just at a car club get together at Wayne Carini's place here in CT (of Chasing Classic Cars TV show fame) , and he was commenting that he had owned an early Tesla, but ended up selling it rather quickly after purchasing it... the reason, he and his wife were so "over fixated" on watching the available miles quickly drop down that he had no enjoyment driving it as he was always afraid it would not get him to where he wanted to go and back. He said they would start the trip and it would tell him he had 160 mile range, and about 5 miles in, it would tell him he had a 60 mile range remaining, because he was accelerating quickly, and/or had the headlights on and air conditioning cranking, etc.. Totally freaked him out.

They really do need to make the batteries better (and I do realize they HAVE come a long way already) and QUICK charging stations more prevalent before this will become attractive for the average car owner.

 

[Steve Fatula]

I was just at a car club get together at Wayne Carini's place here in CT (of Chasing Classic Cars TV show fame) , and he was commenting that he had owned an early Tesla, but ended up selling it rather quickly after purchasing it... the reason, he and his wife were so "over fixated" on watching the available miles quickly drop down that he had no enjoyment driving it as he was always afraid it would not get him to where he wanted to go and back. He said they would start the trip and it would tell him he had 160 mile range, and about 5 miles in, it would tell him he had a 60 mile range remaining, because he was accelerating quickly, and/or had the headlights on and air conditioning cranking, etc.. Totally freaked him out.

They really do need to make the batteries better (and I do realize they HAVE come a long way already) and QUICK charging stations more prevalent before this will become attractive for the average car owner.

That's the appeal of the cars like the Volt and apparently the Honda Clarity, no worries at all. For pire electric cars, definitely agree. That was our concern exactly.

 

[Passepartout]

I wouldn't do that myself. Those charging cables are very expensive, too risky for me. Of course, few options when they purchased. Now, Branson, Kansas, whereveer, not hard to find even free EV charging. When we go to Branson, we visit either the mall or river area and charge for free, making all our trips within Branson free.

Yeah, you just don't leave those $300+ power cords all that accessible- even if they are on zero value to someone who doesn't have an electric car.

Which brings up another question, since you have more experience with these than I do. We wonder if there is a semi-official courtesy/practicality/
etiquette regarding said power cords. Say you find a charging station with it's cord plugged into another car- that shows being fully charged. Is it OK to unplug their car and plug yours in? One place we go semi-frequently is a Whole Foods. The charging station there is where 4 parking spaces meet, so it's not uncommon to find a parking space but invariably another EV is plugged in- not necessarily getting power. What to do? My DW wonders if it's like in the college dorm when some other student's clothes are in the dryer and it's finished. Do you take them out and put yours in?

 

[Passepartout]

the reason, he and his wife were so "over fixated" on watching the available miles quickly drop down that he had no enjoyment driving it as he was always afraid it would not get him to where he wanted to go and back. He said they would start the trip and it would tell him he had 160 mile range, and about 5 miles in, it would tell him he had a 60 mile range remaining, because he was accelerating quickly, and/or had the headlights on and air conditioning cranking, etc.. Totally freaked him out.

You do find out fairly quickly that those electric 'miles' are not always 5280 feet long. For instance at 80mph on the highway with a/c going, those miles go pretty quickly- about 2 per mile. So the EV 'range' meter may say you have 40 miles remaining, and you have 25 miles to your destination, you'll feel pretty nip-and tuck about getting there on electrons. Otoh, around town I have gotten pretty handy about using the
regeneration paddles. when you see a stop sign or light or downgrade ahead, rather than step on the brake, there is a paddle on the left of the steering wheel. Lift it and the car turns the electric traction motor into a generator and power flows into the battery. You never come out ahead, but I frequently have made 5ish mile trips and used 3-4ish 'miles' of electricity. When you're really good at this, you only use the accelerator and don't touch the brakes.

 

[Steve Fatula]

Yeah, you just don't leave those $300+ power cords all that accessible- even if they are on zero value to someone who doesn't have an electric car.

Which brings up another question, since you have more experience with these than I do. We wonder if there is a semi-official courtesy/practicality/
etiquette regarding said power cords. Say you find a charging station with it's cord plugged into another car- that shows being fully charged. Is it OK to unplug their car and plug yours in? One place we go semi-frequently is a Whole Foods. The charging station there is where 4 parking spaces meet, so it's not uncommon to find a parking space but invariably another EV is plugged in- not necessarily getting power. What to do? My DW wonders if it's like in the college dorm when some other student's clothes are in the dryer and it's finished. Do you take them out and put yours in?

The etiquette as I understand it is as follows. If I see another car plugged in, many of the chargers say if the car is fully charged or not, either explicitly or by how much current is flowing. If it is not fully charged, you should not unplug it. But if it is, same as laundry, feel free to plug yours in. Ideally, leave a nice note that says something like how great someone else has an electric car like yours, you saw their car was fully charged so you plugged yours in and hope they don't mind. Maybe even leave your email address or phone # if they have any questions, i.e., courteous. You can pre-print tjese and keep a supply in your car. That's what I do. Never had a complaint or contact.