I was really excited to get my electric conversion on the road and, like many others, I built a car with very limited range. It's not that I need more range but that I would like to be able to charge at public stations just in case I need to. Presently, I get between 11 and 20 miles per charge in my converted VW Beetle, which is enough for my regular errand-running routine. Sometimes, however, I get an itch to drive my EV to places that I just can't reach unless I have access to an outlet. This led me to go on a search for plugs in Riverside, CA outside of my typical radius. I went to several websites that list EV charging stations and noted the addresses; I also remember seeing EV charge station signage near freeway exits in certain downtown areas, so I f thought I might just find some signs by driving around (I had to drive my Chevy Sonic for this drive, as I knew I was not guaranteed a charge).
On my journey, I visited 3 locations I noted from different websites (afdc.energy.gov , City of Riverside , among others), which would have been useful to me. The first station I went to visit only had an approximate location instead of an address and this turned out to be a wild goose chase, as I found nothing after circling the area several times. The second was also nowhere to be found, even thought there was a real address, there just wasn't a public charging station anywhere a driver could be expected to find. The third place I visited claimed to have level one and level two charging, so I thought I would find a charging "station", but the elusive station was never found. The only hint of charging ability was 2 electrical outlets near parking spaces with absolutely no signage indicating that the spaces were for EVs.
I took pictures (my daughter ca along to help) of the outlets I found so that I could inquire with the parking structure owner or manager as to whether I would be cited for stealing electricity were I to plug in. Finding someone to answer those questions seems impossible, as I just got shuffled from person to person, nobody even knowing that vehicles could be powered fro electricity. I really do think they (parking patrol, security, parking structure manager) would cite me for plugging in, so until I see a sign saying that it's reserved for EVs, I won't even try.
My real world experience shows that public charging, even in a big city like Riverside (which makes many claims about being an "innovative city" and falls short here), is not reliable. I have found places to charge, however, at my local community college (Riverside Community College) and I did get permission from facilities maintenance to plug in my electric motorcycle while I was attending classes there. Another time, I ran out of battery power conveniently near Riverside Carburetor and Electric, whose owner let me charge for a bit (but was hesitant, worrying slightly I would run up his bill) and whose mechanics were having some fun checking out my electric car-they'd never seen one before. I only charged for 30 minutes, which got me a bit further down the road, but was not how I planned on spending my day.
note *plugging in a level 1 charger for a couple hours won't cause any noticeable increase in electricity usage, we're talking pennies*
Before you buy an EV or convert your vehicle, make sure you get something with enough range or make sure that your city as the charging structure it claims or you'll be in between a rock and a hard place. Make sure you know the difference between EV charging levels 1,2 and 3 and which you need. Though I found level one charging, at the expense of begging, level two was nowhere to be found in my area. The case could be incorrect information, and the elusive chargers may be out there somewhere. The people listing these chargers obviously don't need them (or have no way of verifying chargers), so they probably don't understand how important it is to those who do drive EVs. Even if the chargers do exist, there are at least 50 electric vehicles per charger, so good luck getting there before the Chevy Volts and Nissan Leaves (Leafs, I know).
tags: EV charging stations in Riverside CA, EV charging levels, electric vehicle charging station
On my journey, I visited 3 locations I noted from different websites (afdc.energy.gov , City of Riverside , among others), which would have been useful to me. The first station I went to visit only had an approximate location instead of an address and this turned out to be a wild goose chase, as I found nothing after circling the area several times. The second was also nowhere to be found, even thought there was a real address, there just wasn't a public charging station anywhere a driver could be expected to find. The third place I visited claimed to have level one and level two charging, so I thought I would find a charging "station", but the elusive station was never found. The only hint of charging ability was 2 electrical outlets near parking spaces with absolutely no signage indicating that the spaces were for EVs.
I took pictures (my daughter ca along to help) of the outlets I found so that I could inquire with the parking structure owner or manager as to whether I would be cited for stealing electricity were I to plug in. Finding someone to answer those questions seems impossible, as I just got shuffled from person to person, nobody even knowing that vehicles could be powered fro electricity. I really do think they (parking patrol, security, parking structure manager) would cite me for plugging in, so until I see a sign saying that it's reserved for EVs, I won't even try.
note *plugging in a level 1 charger for a couple hours won't cause any noticeable increase in electricity usage, we're talking pennies*
Before you buy an EV or convert your vehicle, make sure you get something with enough range or make sure that your city as the charging structure it claims or you'll be in between a rock and a hard place. Make sure you know the difference between EV charging levels 1,2 and 3 and which you need. Though I found level one charging, at the expense of begging, level two was nowhere to be found in my area. The case could be incorrect information, and the elusive chargers may be out there somewhere. The people listing these chargers obviously don't need them (or have no way of verifying chargers), so they probably don't understand how important it is to those who do drive EVs. Even if the chargers do exist, there are at least 50 electric vehicles per charger, so good luck getting there before the Chevy Volts and Nissan Leaves (Leafs, I know).
tags: EV charging stations in Riverside CA, EV charging levels, electric vehicle charging station
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