EV Charger News
Adopt-a-Charger Overview
What is the Adopt-a-Charger program?
In order to maintain the best possible up to date
information about status of public chargers, we are asking for volunteers to
adopt a public charging location of their choice. Once adopted, the volunteer
would regularly (monthly) visit the charging location and report on its status
by filling out a special “I was there” report (found at http://www.evchargernews.com/). This
report would typically include the following information:
- Is the
charger working? If not,
- Has
Clean Fuel Connection (888-890-4638) been notified?
- When
is the estimated date for repair?
- Has
the charger been removed?
- Are
there new chargers installed at that location?
- Any
best practices? (e.g., At some locations a parking attendant is able to
move non EVs out of the EV parking.)
- Is the
parking space marked as EV only? Report on incidents where non-EVs were
parked in the EV only location
- Charging
protocol information visibly displayed on the charger?
- Ensure
that any special directions (e.g., Where precisely in the large shopping
mall parking complex is the charger located?) are correctly represented on
the web pages for EV drivers who may not be familiar with the area.
Pictures to improve instructions for locating the charger or of any
special access considerations would be a great bonus for the web page.
What are the responsibilities of the adopter?
- Visit
the charger at least once per
month, to:
- Ensure
that it works – at least a self-test,
preferably a sample charge
- Keep
it clean
- If
charger is not functioning properly,
- Call Clean Fuel Connection (888-890-4638)
- Obtain
an estimate for repair/replacement date
- Follow-up
to ensure the repair/replacement has been successful
- Notify EV Charger News of problem status, estimated date of repair, and successful conclusion of repairs.
Please click on this link to send mail:
- Note
if charger is “ICEd”. If so, place a warning notice on the windshield if appropriate, and contact the property owner.
- Ensure
that there is proper signage at the charger, if no signage, then
- Remind
the property owner of the new California state law, in effect beginning
Jan 2003, that will result in a parking ticket for non-EV cars parked in
an EV-only charging spot.
- Work
with the property owner to obtain/install proper signage for the EV-only
parking spot
- Charge
there, when vacant, to “show the flag”
- Monitor
the EV Charger News web site. If any problem reports for your adopted
charger, visit the site ASAP to verify the report and help expedite a
resolution to the reported problem.
- Know
the phone number contact for the property owner/manager where the charger
is installed
- Ensure
that the http://www.evchargernews.com
web site has up to date information about the charger, including any
special directions/instructions for difficult to find chargers
How can I participate?
Go to http://www.evchargersnews.com/
and click on the "I Was There" report link. Fill out an "I Was There" report for the charging station you wish to adopt, and check the button to that asks "would you like to volunteer as the Adopt-a-Charger sponsor for this site?". Details will be e-mailed to you.
Why is it needed?
This information is particularly important for out-of-town
visitors who rely on finding a functioning charger at a location in order to
complete their trip.
Although millions of dollars have been spent on installing public EV
charging infrastructure in California, Arizona, Georgia, and elsewhere, the goals of available,
convenient charging for EVs have not been met. Chargers fail, and repairs are not always performed in a timely fashion. Signage is sometimes inadequate, leading to ICEing (blocking of chargers by Internal Combustion Engine vehicles.) Even when signage is good, ICEing can be a problem. Site owners need education and urging to help enforce EV-only parking restrictions.
Infrastructure needed on the EV Charger News Website
- Need
to flag chargers that have and have not been adopted. And encourage
adoptions.
- If no
charger report filed by adopter, remind adopter. If reports stop, find new
adoptive owner.
- Quick
“all okay” web report that can be filed by the adopter.
- Ideally,
the “all okay web” report could automatically update the charger location
data base entry to signify date of last visit.
- Ideally,
a problem report, could automatically and immediately update the charger
location data base entry to signify a problem. Perhaps even an e-mail
warning out to interested parties?
- Ideally,
a way to add/delete an e-mail notification request for a specific charger
(or all chargers for a city/sub-region?). For example, I may use charger
at location X frequently and request an e-mail notification if any
problems are reported at that site.
- Ideally,
an automatic e-mail notification to the adopter if someone files a problem
report. So the adopter can physically visit the charger to verify report
and obtain additional information about problem resolution.
Questions:
- Should
some chargers have more than one adopter?
- Should
we have a separate e-mail redirector/mailing list for all adopters? This
could be a good way to share best practices, information about the
appropriate signage that is required at the chargers?
- Should
EV Charger News accept recommendations for charging infrastructure
improvement? Examples might include:
- Replace
LPI charger with SPI or conductive charger
- New
locations for chargers?
- Contact
information to “lobby” property owners to add charging infrastructure
- Monitor
the number of remaining EV1s to help accelerate the conversion of LPI
chargers to conductive or SPI?
We need to ensure that this program is implemented in such a way as to not
overburden the web masters of the EV Charger News web pages.
Revised 12/30/06.
Original draft by Kim Rogers. Revised by Tom Dowling.
This is still a draft. Your suggestions for changes and additions are welcome.