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[Richard230]

Could it be that the same consultants who used to advise oil companies where to place their gas stations are now advising charging companies where to place their facilities?   

[DonTom]

I don't think it is a question of installing them where they are really needed. That can be debated for decades. The question is can money be made by installing chargers at a certain location. We have all seen four-way intersections with a gas station on each corner. Does that intersection really need gas stations on each corner? No. Can money be made by having a gas station on each corner? Yes. I think this is the logic that is being followed with charging stations in the areas you describe. Also it is easy to say right now given the number of EVs on the road that a charging station isn't needed at a certain location. But as the number of EVs on the roads grow so will the need to have more charging stations. If charging station owners get ahead of the demand for charging it will help EV adoption.

The problem is that there cannot be more EVs in some areas, because they cannot now get there. More charge stations  will bring more EVs out there, as well as an  increase in  sales of EVs.

The locations of EV charge stations is more important than the range of EVs, IMO.

-Don-  Reno, NV

[DonTom]

Today, I took a ride around Lake Tahoe and checked out several charge locations.  At the Chase Bank in Zephyr Cove, they have a Tesla destination charger that is in a really nice area with a picnic table in the shade trees behind the bank.

Here are some photos of the trip including a CCS charge in Tahoe City, CA.

I already checked-in at PlucgShare at these locations with photos.

There are many more I need to check out on my next trip around the lake.

To go around the lake took around 25% of my charge, starting with a full charge at the lake. Good range because of slow speed limits and some traffic just north of Incline Village, NV. I went around the lake counter Clockwise starting from the  Mt Rose Hwy (hwy 431).

Here are some photos of today's ride:

-Don-  Reno, NV

[DonTom]

Small total size limit in this forum.

Emerald  Bay

-Don-

[DonTom]

 View of Lake Tahoe from Mt. Rose, NV:

[DonTom]

Bike at Mt. Rose

CCS charge at Tahoe City SaveMart.

-Don-

[togo]

> > Whether or not a charger location is useful or not depends on your state of charge!

> But with that many charge stations around the I-80 summit, it has to be one's own fault if to let the SOC get that low.
> It looks like they now  have another  new charger location in Truckee, CA  that I will have to check out. At 10069 Church Ave. All ChargePoint, both CCS and J-1772. The first check-in there was just yesterday. It opened on July 9.
> As if they didn't already have more than enough CCS & J-1772 in Truckee. They now have EV-Go, Electrify America, ChargePoint and Green Lots in Truckee.

Climbing a mountain range takes a lot of power.  Of course, charging to 100 at the top of a mountain range is dumb; you'll wear brake pads on the way down since regen is disabled at high state of charge!

[DonTom]

It looks like they now  have another  new charger location in Truckee, CA  that I will have to check out. At 10069 Church Ave. All ChargePoint, both CCS and J-1772. The first check-in there was just yesterday. It opened on July 9.

I discovered this charge station does NOT exist. 10069 Church in Truckee, CA is a house with no chargers around, other than the ones already listed at  9932 Donner Pass Road,  one block away.

Since they are shown as so close together on Plugshare, some people do a "check-in" for Church when they are really on Donner Pass Road (a block away--a very short walking distance). I left a note on PlugShare saying "address is incorrect" for 10069 Church.

-Don-  Auburn, CA

[DonTom]

I see on Plugshare that they just added another CCS / CHAdeMO charge station where NOT needed on I-80.

The East Bound Donner Summit Rest Area.

This must be a CA thing to have countless chargers where they are not needed and none where they are needed. Still no J1772 there.

IMO, they should add a J1772 at every fast charge station. The 240VAC  is already there, so why not? At least have a 240 VAC outlet!

I could name places all day where we need charge stations, even on I-80, just not in CA. How about LoveLock, NV for an example?

Between here in Auburn, CA and my main Reno home, there are now 13 different exits where I can DC fast (24KW) charge in that 99.0 miles (160 KM). But only a few J1772 stations--and those can charge ALL EVs, albeit slow at 6.6 to 7.7 KW max AC capacity.

I really only need one location. The one at Cisco Grove is my favorite, right in the middle and near the summit and can also be used for taking Hwy 20. And there are three J-1772 ports there, two at 6.6 KW and the other at 7.680 KW (32 amps at 240 VAC). The new ChargePoints are LOWER capacity then the old Clipper Creek behind the gas station. But the two CP's are NOT split so both ports can be used and get the full 13.2 KW (also pay double). The old Clipper Creek is a flat  fee of $2.00 and is a better deal in every way, especially when under the 7.680  (32 amp) rating.

Who makes these stupid decisions of  where to put the new charge stations?

-Don-  Auburn, CA

[Richard230]

I guess they go where they think the money is, Don. And in the corporate world that would be following the herd and placing your chargers where everyone else has one.     Plus, it could also be that charging stations are cheap compared with providing the necessary new electrical infrastructure out in the boondocks. I bet charging station companies are just not willing to invest in new infrastructure unless there is already a demonstrated demand for the service. It is a chicken and the egg thing and a lot of companies don't like to take chances nowadays and are willing to invest in old live chickens and not fresh eggs that may or may not hatch. 

[DonTom]

I guess they go where they think the money is, Don. And in the corporate world that would be following the herd and placing your chargers where everyone else has one.     Plus, it could also be that charging stations are cheap compared with providing the necessary new electrical infrastructure out in the boondocks. I bet charging station companies are just not willing to invest in new infrastructure unless there is already a demonstrated demand for the service. It is a chicken and the egg thing and a lot of companies don't like to take chances nowadays and are willing to invest in old live chickens and not fresh eggs that may or may not hatch. 

Of the countless times I have DC charged between here and Reno, I have yet to see another person use a CCS charge station while I was there--at any of them.

I have seen others use a J-1772 station, however, but perhaps because they are there longer charging and there are not nearly as many J stations as DCFC on I-80. But there are a few more of those too, than  last year.

More  DC fast charge stations on that part of I-80 are unnecessary, at least for now. IMO, if they would spread them out better, there would be a lot more EVs on the road these days.

BTW, I was at the free  J1772 charge station at the Colfax Train Station the other day. It looks like somebody vandalized it and it's now out of service.  The J1772 plug looks like it was deliberately destroyed. You can see the damage in the photo I took there., if you take a good look at the plug on the bottom of the photo.

And I do not expect it to ever  be fixed. Who will pay to fix it when it is free? And perhaps just to be vandalized again. At least now they have another J station hidden behind this restaurant only a mile or so away.

-Don-  Auburn, CA

[Crissa]

Don, they have to build to the peak hour use ever, not the median use whenever you zip through.  Are you ever there when it's snowpacked?  They'd need chargers for all the cars unable to continue.

-Crissa

[DonTom]

Don, they have to build to the peak hour use ever, not the median use whenever you zip through.  Are you ever there when it's snowpacked?  They'd need chargers for all the cars unable to continue.

-Crissa

I have wondered the same. Perhaps those CCS chargers get a lot more use in the winter after the ski season starts. And that is when I will NOT be riding or even looking at charge stations.  And if I take my Tesla, I can do a round trip on a home charge. I can easily go  between here and Reno and back again &  have charge left over (it sure would be nice if electric motorcycles could do that!). But I also can charge at either place.  Besides that, even if I did need to charge on the road I would not be using any of those CCS / CHAdeMO or J1772's.

I often see Teslas charging at the Superchargers. But that is the most common electric car these days.

-Don-  Auburn, CA