Photo: Mike Kamm
Public Charging Availability Is Good But There are Still Gaps
A charging desert refers to an area with little public charging. It may or may not have cactus. These tend to happen at the extremes of the most and least densely populated areas. For the low-density part of that, the absence of an interstate highway usually makes it worse. That is the case in northwest CT, especially for non-Teslas. (There are 8-stall Tesla Superchargers in New Milford and North Canaan, and there are both Tesla and CCS fast chargers about 20 miles north of the state line in the area of Lee, MA).
New Milford and Canaan were designated for NEVI-funded sites, but CT was caught by the funding freeze and they have not been built. (There is some hope that recent legal action might lead to funds restoration, but CT is not a party to this at present.) The map below indicates the NEVI sites approved by the Department of Transportation.
Level 2 Charging To Fill The Gap
There is a certain amount of level 2 charging in the region that has not been consumer-friendly for no obvious reason. Club-member Mike Kamm has singlehandedly tracked a couple of these down, and after months of badgering town officials to pay attention, including by generating local support as a result of the sign in the photo above and social media, has gotten results.
At the risk of generalizing, there seems to be a certain amount of level 2 infrastructure installed by municipalities, possibly as the result of a grant, which then are neglected.
Falls Village
From Mike:
“Allow me to set the stage here. The Plugshare listing had the wrong address, the wrong map pin location, the wrong provider (AmpUp) listed, and was listed as being $.45/kWh. It’s actually on the Blink network. However, this location doesn’t exist on Blink’s website locator, or in their app.
“It gets better. There is no QR code or phone number to call. Remember that this station is not in the app. The only way to start a charge is via an RFID card, which I have. So I touch my Blink card and away we go.”
“The whole calamity was so ridiculous that I actually had to laugh when I returned to my car and saw the cost in the display when I returned.”
“The price they actually charge is $1.48/kWh! 25 kWh cost me $37.”
North Canaan
The charging station in North Canaan was incorrectly listed on Plugshare, appearing as a second station in Falls Village. That’s because there is an identical “Railroad Street” address in Falls Village and the person who added it to Plugshare did so in the wrong town. The problem – it was set to “private” and required a PIN to activate. We don’t know how long it had been set that way, but in this case, the First Selectman was more responsive and the setting has been adjusted. The Plugshare listing and the setting have been corrected and the charger will be waiting there for anyone looking to charge. There are two ports. It uses AmpUp for access and is $.45 per kWh per Plugshare.
The chargers in both towns have J-1772 connectors.
And thanks, Mike, for your determination and for sharing your story.
