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Calif DCFC info - and/or news

72K views 586 replies 34 participants last post by  greendave 
#1 ·
Figure this is probably the best spot to pass on news about changes in the Calif DCFC infrastructure ...
 
#5 ·
Nice. PlugShare still lists it as only one DCFC, but having two onsite is really good. That used to be a primary stopping point for me in my Volt. Just one more charger, and the I-5 route is open for me in the Bolt EV (at least one direction).

{repost from another thread}

"Soft opening" of the Recargo "ultra fast" site on US-101 near Salinas is going on. Six 150+ kW units (installed in cooperation with the Monterey Bay Air Resources District) (re-) opens up Bolt travel on US-101 between SF Bay Area, Monterey Bay area, and Santa Barbara and L.A. There are now these 150+ kW charging in Salinas, along with the existing two 50 kW chargers just N of Santa Barbara, other 50 kW units in Ventura and the LA basin and numerous other singleton spots spread along the route.
The BTC Power units at the Prunedale site are 200 kW CCS and 100 kW CHAdeMO.
 
#3 ·
{repost from another thread}

"Soft opening" of the Recargo "ultra fast" site on US-101 near Salinas is going on. Six 150+ kW units (installed in cooperation with the Monterey Bay Air Resources District) (re-) opens up Bolt travel on US-101 between SF Bay Area, Monterey Bay area, and Santa Barbara and L.A. There are now these 150+ kW charging in Salinas, along with the existing two 50 kW chargers just N of Santa Barbara, other 50 kW units in Ventura and the LA basin and numerous other singleton spots spread along the route.
 
#4 ·
ChargePoint (CP) hasn't (recently) opened any the promise 50 kW stations on I-5 "North" (except the one in Yreka, about a month ago) and it's getting close to the end of Oct, which was the supposed opening deadline. (The Mt Shasta stations appears to be installed, but not turned on.)

Bolt travel up to Oregon from the SF Bay Area or Sacramento is *possible* if a bit ... uh ... possibly harrowing? (At the moment, most of the sites are single units.)

Once Electrify America (EA) opens their proposed multi-stall location in Dunnigan, CA (near the junction of I-5 and I-505) - which hopefully happens soon - it should lessen the worry-factor. And the opening of some of the CEC-financed sites along I-5 north would help a lot too.

Not CA, really, but "western states" : driving north to Portland or WA has just gotten a LOT easier, as EA has opened two locations on I-5 in OR this past week : Grant's Pass and Albany. Both locations are supposed to have *at least* 4 CCS plugs (150+ kW) and will charge the Bolt at FULL POWER (which is 55 kW max). {The location in Vancouver, WA with 6 stalls isn't yet open to the public, but the H/W seems to be installed.) This is great news for any Bolt (or LEAF2) driver who wants to drive up to WA or northern OR.
 
#12 ·
ChargePoint (CP) hasn't (recently) opened any the promised 50 kW stations on I-5 "North" (except the one in Yreka, about a month ago) and it's getting close to the end of Oct, which was the supposed opening deadline. (The Mt Shasta stations appears to be installed, but not turned on.)

Bolt travel up to Oregon from the SF Bay Area or Sacramento is *possible* if a bit ... uh ... possibly harrowing? (At the moment, most of the sites are single units.)
All I had to do was post, apparently! The (singleton) 50kW Weed site popped up as live in the CP app today. ;)
 
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#7 ·
Dunnigan looks very promising but ...

It's still pretty sketch up from Corning to the Oregon Border; Chico is out, Corning is super slow 20kW; Redding the Carls Jr old 20kW is down, the 50 kW at Target is up. Yaks in Dunsmuir is currently down but someone did get it to work by turning on the breaker but now it's down again. Haven't seen Mt. Shasta new DCFCs online yet; Carls Jr. in Yreka is down (the old one) but there seems like there might be a new installed station (not sure but I hope it's a 50kW) near McDonalds next door.

The good news in Oregon is that it looks like at least 3 new Electrify America sites are now online; see their map. So it seems like Grants Pass is up which helps mitigate the super slow charger at Fred Meyers (20 kW) in Medford.

What's affecting me the most? The DCFC in Chico is down for almost two months; this really sucks. I mean the infrastructure up here is already poor; that it is also poorly maintained suggests that it's not sustainable and won't support growth or interest in EVs unless some drastic improvements are made. The only place worse than the North State is the East Side where there is virtually nothing.

Try risking a road trip to either Yosemite or Lassen National Park from around Sacramento and see how far that gets you. Or risking a road trip to Southern Oregon ... at this point in time ... or a trip to Bend, OR. (hardly feasible).

Had to vent ... simple as that.
 
#10 ·
Dunnigan looks very promising but ...

It's still pretty sketch up from Corning to the Oregon Border; Chico is out, Corning is super slow 20kW; Redding the Carls Jr old 20kW is down, the 50 kW at Target is up. Yaks in Dunsmuir is currently down but someone did get it to work by turning on the breaker but now it's down again. Haven't seen Mt. Shasta new DCFCs online yet; Carls Jr. in Yreka is down (the old one) but there seems like there might be a new installed station (not sure but I hope it's a 50kW) near McDonalds next door.
Well, it's only "sketch" because they are limited to one 50 kW charger per site. The gap between Vacaville/Sac International airport and Redding is going to be slow without Dunnigan. Both Williams and Corning are only 24 kW. However, Redding 50 kW at Target is up, Weed 50 kW at Comfort in is up, and the 50 kW in Yreka is up. Whenever that Mount Shasta 50 kW goes up, it will help with redundancy.

What's wrong with Baker??? I was at the EvGo DCFC maybe a month ago and it was working.

Edit: I see. It's down for maintenance. Hmm. I wonder if they can "push out" notifications on their App.
EVgo is upgrading the Baker site. They thought they would be able to keep one of the 50 kW up and running while doing the renovation, but they were wrong. I believe it is scheduled to be down until 10/26 or 10/27, but they took down the dates (afraid of making overly optimistic promises, I guess).
 
#14 ·
Madera Electrify America DCFC Station Underway

On our way to Santa Cruz, California we stopped in Madera to charge our Chevy Bolt EV. Just a few miles north Electrify America--the VW subsidiary ordered to do penance for its dieselgate scandal--is building a much larger fast charging station. So we stopped by to see its progress.

The EA site at a Madera Walmart just off Hwy 99 is hidden behind a privacy fence. Nevertheless, I was able to peer over the top and take a couple of photos with my phone.



There were tradesmen working on the project and lots of equipment stored on-site, including what looks like the charging cabinets. It appeared they've yet to place the concrete for the cabinet pads and curbing, though the re-bar and conduit were in the ground.

I have no idea when EA expects the site to open but from the site's appearance it's unlikely before year end.

According to a posting on PlugShare, EA's site will have four CCS kiosks and one CHAdeMO kiosk.



The nearest existing DC fast-charging station is the two dual EVgo units at Madera's Save Mart. One of those units is only 100 amps.

EA's Walmart site is relatively close to the store. We visited mid-day on a Monday and traffic was heavy in the parking lot with lots of people searching for parking. It will be interesting to see if the stations get ICEd.
 
#15 ·
On our way to Santa Cruz, California we stopped in Madera to charge our Chevy Bolt EV. Just a few miles north Electrify America--the VW subsidiary ordered to do penance for its dieselgate scandal--is building a much larger fast charging station. So we stopped by to see its progress.

The EA site at a Madera Walmart just off Hwy 99 is hidden behind a privacy fence. Nevertheless, I was able to peer over the top and take a couple of photos with my phone.
Nice. On my last trip up, I detoured to the Walmart site in Selma, but I wasn't able to where the Electrify Site will be going in. There was one section cleared for construction, but I didn't see any charging equipment. If that is where the chargers will be located, they will be farther from the Walmart but closer to the restaurants (The Habit, Chipotle, Baskin Robbins, etc.).

I don't remember if I emphasized this in my recent video about the ChargePoint Santa Nella site West Coast Electric Highway ( https://youtu.be/7sglqq3nnGU ), but even when the I-5 corridor is open, Highway 99 will still be my preferred route. These Electrify America sites will each save close to 10 minutes off of my regular charging times. That combined with the redundancy of the network and better amenities per stop simply makes Highway 99 a superior route for those traveling between Los Angeles and Sacramento.
 
#20 ·
Well, EA now lists : Walmart 1697, 8465 Elk Grove Blvd, Elk Grove, CA (that's a tad bit S of Sacramento on CA-99)

as being "live". No posts on PlugShare yet about it, however.

That's the 2nd one marked "live" in Calif (the first was down L.A.-way, in Torrance)
 
#22 · (Edited)
I’ve been writing regularly about California DCFC issues. Here are some links:

EA names 9 CA sites to open by end of year
https://electricrevs.com/2018/11/14...fy-america-sites-planned-to-open-before-2019/

Lots of background on Recargo’s new site
https://electricrevs.com/2018/11/22/recargo-opens-californias-first-ultra-fast-charging-site/

CARB delays EA Cycle 2 vote until December
https://electricrevs.com/2018/11/19...rify-americas-2nd-cycle-plans-for-california/

Livermore Tesla site is up now, EA site should happen soon
https://electricrevs.com/2018/11/13...-charging-sites-near-completion-in-livermore/

EVgo Baker: The new chargers still aren’t turned on due to a permit delay but things should happen before the end of the year.
https://electricrevs.com/2018/10/31/evgo-350-kw-charging-site-sparks-to-life-on-halloween-eve/
 
#23 ·
I was looking to try to see where Recargo was going to be opening charging sites.

Currently open is one in Prunedale (near Salinas and Monterey), but what about the others? When I checked their website, it seemed like they didn't have a list of locations, but undeterred I did some sleuthing and found out the following:


  • 375 Leavesley Road Gilroy, California 95020 (Not yet on plugshare; may not be final location?)
  • 8065 San Miguel Canyon Rd, Salinas, CA 93907 (Prunedale Shopping Center — Open)
  • 3070 H Dela Rosa Sr, Street Soledad, CA 93960 (Not yet on plugshare; may not be final location?)
  • 50630 Mesa Verde Road, King City, California 93930 (Not yet on plugshare; may not be final location?)
  • 2615 Buena Vista Dr, Paso Robles, CA 93446 (La Quinta Inn — Not yet on plugshare; may not be final location?)
  • 1585 Calle Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 (Calle Joaquin Park & Ride — Coming Soon)
  • 1157 E Clark Avenue C, Santa Maria, CA 93455 (Oak Knoll Shopping Center — Not yet on plugshare; may not be final location?)
  • 51 E. Highway 246 Buellton, California 93427 (Not yet on plugshare; may not be final location?)

Anyone have better information than this?

Sources: greencarcongress.com, CEC.
 
#25 ·
Electrify America has just stated that the site in Livermore, CA is now up and running (10 pedestals!).

No checkins on plugshare yet ...

San Francisco Premium Outlets
2774 Livermore Outlets Dr., Livermore
 
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#37 ·
I recently checked on the construction for Electrify America build in the Madera Wal-mart and I left some photos on Plugshare. Construction is progressing but it doesn't look like any of the equipment has been installed. Today, I checked on construction at the Selma Wal-Mart location. I was unable to locate any signs of construction that seemed to be charger related. Since Plugshare is indicating that there will be 7 CCS/SAE and 1 CHAdeMO plugs, the footprint for the construction would be noticeable, I would think. It was busy there due to the holidays, so I mostly drove the perimeter of the Wal-Mart and other stores in the shopping center. I checked the area with the restaurants and didn't see anything that looked like a charger construction site. It’s not an especially large parking lot and I don’t believe I missed anything, but I did not drive through every possible row. I will be periodically in Selma and will keep checking!
 
#38 ·
The last time I was at the Dunnigan Electrify America site, they still had one charger left to install. It sounds like Madera is a bit behind that. According to Electrify America, they plan to have both sites open before the end of the year, but that could be December 31st for all we know.

The Selma Electrify America site isn't scheduled to be completed this year, and when I was there about a month ago, I also couldn't find any sign of site prep or construction. There is an area of the parking lot that is under construction (or is at least unpaved), and the location would be right. According to what I've heard, the site is supposed to be near the restaurants on the far side of the parking lot from Walmart.

For these Electrify America sites, it appears that we can expect about 4 to 6 months between when the site is announced to when it will be completed. So even being pessimistic, we should see at least the 219 sites they've already announced across the United States up and running by June 2019.
 

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#39 ·
Construction is occurring at the Electrify America/Pismo Beach Premium Outlet site. I've posted pictures on Plugshare. It looks like there will be two separate installations, one smaller with perhaps one outlet and a much larger one. They are located at what I think is the North end of the shopping center near the Nike Factory Store. Wish I could have gotten more complete pictures but didn't want to intrude on the ongoing work. A company representative at their service center was aware of the construction but could give no date of completion. A construction worker at the site indicated, "After the first of the year," which wasn't that helpful. It would be good if this site is finished since there seem to be no fast charging stations on the actual central coast. If you are not staying at a hotel with a charger, you are pretty much stuck with the California Market chargers (both in use today when I arrived) or the Arroyo Grande parking chargers, both of which are Level 2. This would be a great alternative and free up travel to, from, and in this area IMHO.

NewsCoulomb, being rather a newbie forum member, I don't get how to quote you so my apologies for that. About the Selma site from your last post, I agree that the likely site for the chargers is the open area near the restaurants. That would be the best place, I think. From what I've seen from the Wal-Mart installations in Elk Grove and Madera, they are too close to the store and in very busy areas of the parking lot. The likelihood of the spaces being ICEd seems high and there are likely to be many people walking through the area, so not the greatest placement.
 
#40 ·
Construction is occurring at the Electrify America/Pismo Beach Premium Outlet site. I've posted pictures on Plugshare. It looks like there will be two separate installations, one smaller with perhaps one outlet and a much larger one. They are located at what I think is the North end of the shopping center near the Nike Factory Store. Wish I could have gotten more complete pictures but didn't want to intrude on the ongoing work. A company representative at their service center was aware of the construction but could give no date of completion. A construction worker at the site indicated, "After the first of the year," which wasn't that helpful. It would be good if this site is finished since there seem to be no fast charging stations on the actual central coast. If you are not staying at a hotel with a charger, you are pretty much stuck with the California Market chargers (both in use today when I arrived) or the Arroyo Grande parking chargers, both of which are Level 2. This would be a great alternative and free up travel to, from, and in this area IMHO.
Recargo also has an installation going in just north of of the Pismo Beach Outlets. It will only be a four-charger installation (100 kW, I believe), but it was supposed to be completed before the end of the year. When I stopped by, construction hadn't started, so I really doubt it will be up and running before late January.

NewsCoulomb, being rather a newbie forum member, I don't get how to quote you so my apologies for that. About the Selma site from your last post, I agree that the likely site for the chargers is the open area near the restaurants. That would be the best place, I think. From what I've seen from the Wal-Mart installations in Elk Grove and Madera, they are too close to the store and in very busy areas of the parking lot. The likelihood of the spaces being ICEd seems high and there are likely to be many people walking through the area, so not the greatest placement.
No worries. I don't really mind the Elk Grove chargers being so close to the store. They are only 50 kW, and they are really designed for local drivers. I thought the Madera site was supposed to be the faster 150 kW to 350 kW, so that's definitely one where you want the spaces reserved for travelers.
 
#41 ·
From a Recargo press release in September of 2016:

"Horvat also mentioned that Recargo could be interested in a possible partnerhsip with Tesla, perhaps on a site location basis—i.e., co-locating a Tesla Supercharger.

Horvat also said the the company was working on charging power higher than 50 kW; one of the challenges for a third-party in that task is trying to figrue out what each automaker is capable of doing, she said.

One of the questions for automakers is how much to invest in infrastructure; I don’t think any one automaker wants to do what Tesla did. The next wave of [EV] adopters is going to be a lot more critical of the infrastructure; the infrastructure needs to be really refined and ready for the next phase of adopters."

—Ashley Horvat, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives[I/]

A little over two years later, I have the following observations:

1. We've heard nothing more on a possible partnership with Tesla.

2. It would appear that the third parties are proceeding with the installation of DCFC hardware that exceeds the capabilities of the current generation of EVs rather than figuring out what each automaker's internal capabiilities are.

3. The next wave of EV adopters will need a relatively simple way of finding the next charging station a la Tesla, preferably by way of an on-screen app that can not only read the distance to their next preferred DCFC location but the amount of charge that will be remaining by the time they arrive at that location. In other words a fail safe for user miscalculation. If the automaker is unable to incorporate such software internally in their EVs, they need to provide an app such as myChevy that can monitor power consumption and correlate that information with the DCFC destinations at the traveler's disposal.

Ashley Horvat has correctly identified, but grossly underestimated, the needs of the next wave of EV adopters. They will almost NEVER give a rat's a$$ about Wh/mile, the minutiae of charging cycles, or any of the other mental exercises that most current EV adopters are trying to wrap their collective heads around in an effort to make the transition to sustainable transportation viable. What they will care about is a) being able to get in their EV and drive to where they want to go, and b) having enough juice in the batteries to accomplish that task.

The closer to simple that process is, the sooner mass adoption of EVs will occur. The more complex, the slower the transition will occur.
 
#42 ·
A little over two years later, I have the following observations:

1. We've heard nothing more on a possible partnership with Tesla.
That could be as much about Tesla as it is about those other public charging providers. Recargo specifically is a very positive player in the public charging space. A recent example of this is that they are in full support of Electrify America's build out while ChargePoint and EVgo are upset about the potential competition.

Recargo's first couple of sites (Prunendale and San Luis Obispo) are also being supported by local clean air districts, so it makes sense that they were prioritized. However, Recargo also has plans for a Casa de Fruta location along Highway 152. As many Tesla owners might know, they already have a Supercharger location there. I've already posed this question on my video channel, and I will be curious to see whether Recargo will be able to co-locate their site with Tesla's.

Now, I don't know if this was intentional or purely coincidental, but Electrify America's ten charger site at the San Francisco Premium Outlets in Livermore is located across from a 20-stall Supercharger site.

2. It would appear that the third parties are proceeding with the installation of DCFC hardware that exceeds the capabilities of the current generation of EVs rather than figuring out what each automaker's internal capabiilities are.
Perhaps, but Audi and Porsche clearly announced that their vehicles would ultimately be capable of 350 kW charging. Even if those vehicles aren't available now, it appears that the charging providers are using the capabilities of the CCS and CHAdeMO standards to dictate charging speeds.

3. The next wave of EV adopters will need a relatively simple way of finding the next charging station a la Tesla, preferably by way of an on-screen app that can not only read the distance to their next preferred DCFC location but the amount of charge that will be remaining by the time they arrive at that location. In other words a fail safe for user miscalculation. If the automaker is unable to incorporate such software internally in their EVs, they need to provide an app such as myChevy that can monitor power consumption and correlate that information with the DCFC destinations at the traveler's disposal.
I think the MyChevy app is a good stopgap, but ultimately, I see Google Maps taking that over and incorporating it into its navigation functionality. Essentially, my 2017 Chevy Bolt EV is already "future proofed" by having access to Apple Car Play and Android Auto capability.

Ashley Horvat has correctly identified, but grossly underestimated, the needs of the next wave of EV adopters. They will almost NEVER give a rat's a$$ about Wh/mile, the minutiae of charging cycles, or any of the other mental exercises that most current EV adopters are trying to wrap their collective heads around in an effort to make the transition to sustainable transportation viable. What they will care about is a) being able to get in their EV and drive to where they want to go, and b) having enough juice in the batteries to accomplish that task.

The closer to simple that process is, the sooner mass adoption of EVs will occur. The more complex, the slower the transition will occur.
I agree, and none of the current automakers (including Tesla) are acing that yet. Tesla gets it the best, by essentially holding their owners hands through the entire process of making long trips in their EVs; however, Tesla hardware still leaves something to be desired for someone who is coming from an ICE vehicle platform.

From a hardware perspective, we're going to need to see EVs that can charge at extremely fast rates (70% of the battery in 10 to 15 minutes) but that can also competently charge from 10% to 80% at a consistent rate (flat charging curve) on slightly slower chargers... say 150 kW to 200 kW. In all cases, the car should simply inform the owner that they are "full" at 80%, and it can include an additional note that the owner can continue to "overfill" the battery, which will take longer with diminishing returns.

Oh, yes, and we're going to need to see a unified charging standard.
 
#44 ·
Ok to my great surprise I walked out of the market to see what the new construction was all about in my little Po-Dunk town of Yuba City, CA (Hwy 99). They're adding a 10 stall Tesla Super Charger site in the parking lot. There are already the only two publicly available J1772 connectors at this market (for the entire town of 60,000). Ok so it now becomes clear as I've researched this a bit more that Tesla is also doing this in Woodland (similar sized town on a major travel route (I-5) and in Chico, CA (Hwy 99). So Tesla is now at the stage where they're filling in the gaps in our area. I'd venture to say they're at least 5-10 years ahead of the CCS network for our cars. I'd very very surprised if the CCS network ever comes close to this in the next decade. But hey. Keep hope alive.
 
#45 ·
For those forum members who travel Highway 99 in California, I've got an update on the Madera WalMart site for Electrify America, for what it's worth. To summarize, not much progress that I can see. I last checked on 12/16/18. Today, two construction workers were there. One was working on the fence and told me that it should have been completed one month ago and they hope to finish "...by the end of January or beginning of February." The site did not appear to be much changed from December, just some equipment and crates moved around. I posted several new pictures on Plugshare: https://www.plugshare.com/location/169517).
 
#48 ·
EVgo has just turned on FOUR new "80 kW" (200A) DCFC units near downtown San Jose. They replaced the old "50 kW" (125A) units with four brand-spanking-new 200A units - that do load-sharing! (If a Porche charges at 200A/800V, the other "paired one" won't get but a dribble of power until the Porche starts tapering down it's load.)

Whole Foods
777 The Alameda, San Jose

This is right near the Sharks' hockey rink, and San Jose's Diridon train station.

This is the sort of setup that is useful to every (non-Tesla) EV driving around today, or for the near future. Max charging rate for the vast majority of EVs sold through 2021-22, using "conventional" cabling (not liquid-cooled) and with load-sharing between dual units for those cars that will charge at over 500V. This is the sort of setup (4 "fast-ish" units) that would be great to see popping up about 10-40 miles outside of metro areas along travel routes (Bakersfield, SLO, Santa Barbara, Redding, Barstow, Needles, Blyth, Fresno, Sacramento (x4 major arteries), Santa Rosa, Eureka.
 
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#49 ·
Jeff at Electric Revs did a good piece of coverage on the site: https://electricrevs.com/2019/01/20/evgo-opens-first-upgraded-200a-charging-site-in-san-jose/

Apparently, EVgo is stealthily upgrading multiple sites in this way. I do hope that they start to prioritize four-unit sites, but they probably will be restricted by power limitations on some sites.

One thing I'm curious about is EVgo's CEC grant-funded sites because, as far as I know, they have been approved to build out chargers on I-5 between Red Bluff and Sacramento and on SR-99 between Red Bluff and Sacramento. These new chargers would be ideal for those sites.

Also, while these charging units are on the slower side (compared to the 150+ kW chargers that Electrify America is installing), they are an ideal speed for a number of business locations (grocery stores, sit-down restaurants, etc.). The only vehicle currently available that can max out these chargers is the Jaguar I-PACE, and even then, the speeds aren't that much lower than the I-PACE's maximum charge rate. Even still, after sitting down to a nice 45-minute or so dinner, an I-PACE owner would likely be driving away with close to an 80% battery.
 
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