I have been driving by the above sign for years. It's at the intersection of Ocean Park Blvd. and 20th St. in Santa Monica about 2 miles from our office. This morning I was in our long-term Mini E, so I decided to search out the Electric Vehicle Charging Station and see what's up.
Another sign further up the road told me to turn right toward the Santa Monica Airport and the old sight of the Museum of Flying, which is now an Audi design studio. But when I got there, the parking attendant told me that that the charging station was no longer there. "They took that out about 8 years ago," he said.
I looked anyway. I drove up and down the street, which is called Donald Douglas Loop, and through all of the parking lots. I saw no evidence of an Electric Vehicle Charging Station.
When I got to the office I looked online. According to www.santa-monica.org there are 18 such charging stations in Santa Monica (list is included on the next page of this post), including two (2 inductive, 1 conductive) at the Santa Monica Airport Administration Building at 3223 Donald Douglas Loop S.
So either I missed it (hard to believe but possible) or the signage on Ocean Park Blvd. and the website are hopelessly out of date.
I'll check out some of the others soon and let you know what happens.
Santa Monica Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
*Santa Monica Pier, Upper Parking Lot, 2 inductive
*Santa Monica Place, Parking Structure (Broadway Entrance) 1 inductive, 1 conductive Call (310) 394-5451 for parking structure hours.
*Santa Monica Civic Auditorium Solar Port, 1855 Main Street. 1 inductive, 1 conductive
*Santa Monica Airport Administration Building
3223 Donald Douglas Loop S., 2 inductive, 1 conductive
*1101 Montana Avenue (Curb parking) 1 inductive, 1 conductive
*Ralph's Supermarket, 1644 Cloverfield Avenue, 2 inductive
*Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, 1700 Ocean Avenue
1 inductive, 1 conductive.
Scott Oldham, Inside line Editor in Chief
mlh says:
12:44 PM, 02/ 2/10
I live near the plug-in stations at 1101 Montana Avenue and can report they are still there and appear to work as I've seen a few city EVs parked there, charging.
soareyes says:
04:31 PM, 02/ 2/10
Scott, there are 8 new chargers installed for the Mini E in the parking structure directly across the lot from the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on Main St. Unfortunately you would probably have to pay the $8 parking fee to get into the structure, but the charging would be free.
Stan
Mini E #059
http://web.me.com/soareyes/Stans_Mini_E/Mini_E_Blog/Mini_E_Blog.html
keijidosha says:
09:15 PM, 02/ 9/10
There is a MINI E charger on the Santa Monica Pier (NE Corner). Nice place to have lunch. Most of the other conductive chargers are Avcon which work but you need an adapter. Also a few 120volt and NEMA outlets. See:
http://www.evchargernews.com/ Select EV Charger Maps.
SAE J1772-2010 level II connector standard has been approved which will make this simple once the connector is available.