Electric car charging station... why not me too?

[X New Yorker]

So last week as I was lamenting my inability to plug in my AI (to really deep charge my batteries as I have read I should), my co-worker suggested I plug her in at my work site, where the electric cars re-charge.

At first I thought - no, but now I'm thinking hummmmm??????? If I could actually maneuver her over to the plug.... will that work?

I have to give that Lady props for creativity as that never crossed my mind!

[Protagonist]

To the best of my knowledge, the lowest voltage of electric car charging station is 230vAC, 16A.

You need 120vAC, 30A. Don't even try it; you'll fry your entire house electrical system.

If you don't have a place to plug in at home, set up a regular schedule of running your generator to charge the house batteries, preferably during daylight hours. You should run the generator on a regular basis anyway; they suffer from neglect.

[dznf0g]

Not all cars are the same. There is level 1,2,3 and 4. Most common is level 1 and 2 in small passenger cars. They can charge on 120 and 240. In the case of a Volt, on 120, they default to 8 amps with a driver selectable 12 amps....so little home worries.

[dznf0g]

Wait...I missed your intent of this question, sorry.

[Protagonist]

Actually, I suppose the best advice is, ask your boss. He should know if the service available is compatible with what you need. And if so, whether the company will pay for your electricity.

Unless you were planning to just steal the electricity…

[dznf0g]

A lot of times, some parking lot poles have outlets on them for Christmas lights or whatever. I have asked at hotels to plug in a Volt (120V mode) Look around the lot for 120V outlets. Sometimes there are some around the building for landscaping maintenance.

[noreen&sal]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Actually, I suppose the best advice is, ask your boss. He should know if the service available is compatible with what you need. And if so, whether the company will pay for your electricity.

Unless you were planning to just steal the electricity…

OK. So a guy or gal is going to work. Things are not tough enough, so he-she has to look for an outlet no. 1 and go beg management no. 2. When are they going to find time to go hug a tree? Sal

[noreen&sal]

Plus, if your boss does you a favor, just sit back and wait for the payback. Sal

[73shark]

Just because the car may be charged on 120 or 240 doesn't mean that the charging stations will be 120 or 240. I suspect that most would be 240 in order to get the job done quicker.

[X New Yorker]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Actually, I suppose the best advice is, ask your boss. He should know if the service available is compatible with what you need. And if so, whether the company will pay for your electricity.

Unless you were planning to just steal the electricity…

Dear Protagonist - FYI, when you plug into a charging station, you also get to plug in your credit card My big ole green Employer, is not green enough to give away free power, but they do provide the chargeing station as a convenience for those employees who decided to go green and have moved to electric vehicles. And... it was my Manager who came up with this idea.

[jcl]

In Vancouver, we now have public electric vehicle charging stations all around town. Owners (including the city and parks board) can not charge for the electricity (by provincial law). Some charge a parking fee or convenience fee per use. The chargers are all equipped with EV plugs (Level 2), J1772, which communicate with the vehicle and decide how to charge it based on maximum charging rates that the vehicle batteries can accept. None of that sensing intelligence is built into a standard trailer connection, so it is a non-starter.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by X New Yorker

And... it was my Manager who came up with this idea.

Apologies; when I was working for a living, I made a distinction between supervisors and coworkers. I just assumed everyone did, so when you said a coworker suggested it, it never occurred to me that it might have been your manager.

[xrvr]

There's a free charging station about a mile from my home here in Gainesville, the only one I know of.

[LB_3]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

To the best of my knowledge, the lowest voltage of electric car charging station is 230vAC, 16A.

You need 120vAC, 30A. Don't even try it; you'll fry your entire house electrical system.

120v service is one wire off the end of a transformer (+120) and one off the middle(neutral). Since 240v service just adds an additional wire off the opposite end of the transformer,(-120) a simple conversion plug using only one of the hot wires would be all she needs.