New Order with the city of Santa Monica free charging

So I worked from home the day after that last charge at the VW dealer since it is a privilege we can use sporadically and to regroup for a strategy after that experiment.

I zoomed in on a park that offers a few free charging stations, then at a few others in the blink network.

The following morning I went for the park first, and there was a spot left, alas the 2 charging ports were in use.

I was down to 12 miles of range and I noticed the Ford hybrid plugin next to me (Cmax) was almost full so I unplugged it but left a note to the owner with my number saying I would be back to plug them back in and for them to text me asap if they needed that.

My goal was to let it charge a couple of hours and plug them back in.

When I came back the owner left me a note back and was thankful I notified them with my info.

Looks like EV owners are a nice crowed indeed.


I went for lunch and reparked the car and noticed someone was already charging at my previous spot within 20 min of me leaving, so I left another note to a Volt near me asking for them to plug me in when they were done.

I came back 3 hrs later (per rules of the park you can only stay there 3 hrs) and I noticed my car was plugged in, which was nice.

At that point I was at 90% charge and it was around 4:30 PM so I drove to a spot I know is free to park there near my work, as I also did when charging at the VW dealer.

Overall an awesome experience, which is also coupled with me surrendering my parking pass from work which gives me an extra $185 per month.

But time will tell... as it is definitely a new experience.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crossing 13.5k and the new normal

Image
My conversion to gasoline free is now complete. So much that I decided to only make a new entry at more significant milestones, like now which is also 20,000 km, or halfway across the planet. The serenity of complete engine silence and lack of vibration seems to have conditioned me to realize the utter violence and assault on the senses of the gasoline vehicles outside, especially the diesel monsters. 3500 more miles and it barely was any achievement. I still average 200 miles a day and the battery is as effective as ever, with 115 miles of range every morning and about 108-110 when I drive back, due to the altitude difference between Murrieta and Santa Monica. The car is also very utilitarian lately, with a coffee table and other large items being transported. My work is moving to a new location to I can grab a whole lot of free stuff there offered to employees and bring back all the way to the inland empire. In Santa Monica it seems the 3hr limit at the free charging stations seem to...
Read more

How the infrastructure prepares us for the future.

This may comes as a surprise to some but so far my experience with mostly public charging, given my very long distance commute, has been positive. Most EV drivers seem to follow proper etiquette as is common of most self respecting minorities aware of their trailblazing importance and given some common sense I am able to find chargers and adjust to some constraints, One thing EVs do is make you walk a bit and certainly contribute to your health in this sense too. Another is the serenity that accompanies the drive. No more vibrations and none of the smells associated with the black goop from the ground. The human mind can always adjust to a new reality, and sustainability as well as reliance on alternative energies that will only provide us a meager fraction of the extravagance oil did is embodied in cars like the i3. Oil is like a treasure in the basement humanity has found and that stored millions of years of accumulated sunshine. Once gone we will need to make due with a very low ene...
Read more

38000

The battery is as strong as ever and my average is about 120-130 miles a day. There is exactly 0 issues with the car. And the new rear tires I installed a few months back which were the only item needed in more than a year will look like they will last more than the 25k of the factory ones. If there are any doubters about how advanced BMW i3's battery technology is here is proof in the pudding... a car driven relentlessly and very hard and the battery pack shows absolutely no sign of charging fatigue. I think this is where the i3 shines and is set apart.
Read more