This L.A.-area site and its public EVSE have strong and fond memories for me (in the same way people drag out their wallet pictures of the grandkids and talk incessantly about them, I drag out images of EVents, EVSE, and other EV-related activities I have attended, and talk about them with the same pride). I am hoping that my posting (some EV history) of the past is useful, and not just considered more brucedp blather people have to contend with so as to continue getting the latest news items, etc.
Back in May of 2000, CARB had two public workshops: - one at the capital Sacramento (2000/03) http://brucedp00.0catch.com/carb0003/ - and later another at Diamond Bar (SoCal, SCAQMD HQ, 2000/05) http://brucedp00.0catch.com/carb0005/ The latter being a larger and more EV-crucial EVent, as that was when GM made the announcement that they were not going to make nor lease highway speed EVs any longer (instead they would use a mandate wording loophole and practically give-away golf-cart/ nEVs for the CARB credits). Later, this is when GM began crushing and destroying the EV1s that came off lease. ... back to SCAQMD's EVSE ... To attend that workshop, I rented for a week a GM EV1 http://brucedp00.0catch.com/carb0005/carb0005-015.jpg for $100/day from now-defunct EVrentals out of a Budget-rentals office (back then, that was about the same amount of money as taking a week vacation in HI - which shows my priorities: I would rather toot around in eye-burning smoggy, polluted LA in an EV than enjoy the joys of HI). I had brought my zappy Electric scooter and found it fit nicely in the EV1 trunk http://brucedp00.0catch.com/carb0005/carb000530-005.jpg The zappy was way too small for me (it was made and marketed for a kid) but it was the only thing available back then, so I made do (so what if I looked too weirdly big for it, it got me where I needed to go). I came early to the workshop http://brucedp00.0catch.com/carb0005/carb000531-002.jpg so as to help direct the EVs that were to flood the EVent to SCAQMD's EVSE (they were EVs traveling the length of CA to attend and would be hungry for a charge when they arrived. That worked out quite well as the non-LA EV drivers did not know that site. While there was yellow-tape sectioned-off parts of the ice parking (no EVSE) so that all those EVs could make a huge impression on the the press that was to arrive later, there were three areas at the HQ for getting a charge: -the smallish amount of EVSE in the center of the asphalt ice-parking lot (seen with the goofy futuristic round lighting thingy) http://brucedp00.0catch.com/carb0005/carb0005-212.jpg -off to the right on the top level of the cement parking structure was a whole row of various EVSE with PVs above as a canopy http://brucedp00.0catch.com/carb0005/carb0005-209.jpg -and below that was a less accessible security-guarded area below that with some old L1 outlets against a wall and near the CNG refilling station at the bottom (no one used these, when you could have access to L2-6kW AVCON or LPI or SPI GM inductive (above) http://brucedp00.0catch.com/carb0005/carb0005-130.jpg This becomes a little clearer if look at a satellite image https://goo.gl/maps/rjkaeyxTUnA2 that round white dot in the asphalt parking is the smallish amount of EVSE, next you can see off to the right on the gray cement top level parking the row of EV spots, and at the top right the (cng) area. Way back then it was a mis-mash mixture of old tired outlets with long runs of undersized wiring, GM inductive (fore-runner to wireless EVSE), AVCON, etc. There was more EVSE than parking so some crowding began to happen so that all the EVSE was being used http://brucedp00.0catch.com/carb0005/carb0005-134.jpg The bad part of the charging in that solar canopy covered area was that you did not want to stay there as there was the strong smell of CNG being released into the air (it stank there, so people just plugged in and then left, instead of socializing near their EVs like at other EVents). Plugshare has a listing for that SCAQMD site https://api.plugshare.com/view/location/156 If you scroll down to the bottom of the comments, it begins about the same time as when plugshare.com came on-line (2010). I found it an interesting read to see the comments of problems and issues with Blink, and fewer with the Chargepoint EVSE. A whole lot of complaining of failing Blink hardware, especially the L3 50kW EVSE down near the CNG station (at some point that site became more than just tired L2&1) http://brucedp00.0catch.com/carb0005/carb0005-203.jpg If you view the images at the left most, it is like walking back in time as about 3/4 of the way through them it begins to show AVCON, and GM inductive EVSE. Today, that site has three EVSE networks to contend with: Blink, Chargepoint, and now Greenlots (so how many EVSE rfid cards do you have in your wallet?) Taking a look at the other efforts SCAQMD was making http://brucedp00.0catch.com/carb0005/carb0005-206.jpg this May 2000 shot show there HQ using low water use landscaping (quite common in CA now), and notice the site's location https://goo.gl/maps/qn8VZip9f6x it is on a hill/knoll over looking two highways (60 & 57, LA is crisscrossed with too many highways). All that ice driving everywhere, and the LA basin acting like a bowl to trap the ice pollution, in the May 2000 image I took (above) you can see what looks like a haze in the background (as if it is a foggy day). That is a light amount of LA smog (there were days when it was much worse). If that smog were not there you would be able to see a mountain range. Now look at a current google maps image near by from August 2016 https://goo.gl/maps/cfCddEdtU1o The sky is blue, and you can begin to see that mountain range = less air pollution from CARB's regulations (the ZEV mandate that 7 states have adopted). On top of that, my old image was in May, and google's was in August, one of the hotter, drier, dirtier months. Anyone in denial about if whether the mandate is doing anything, can see positive results in those, before and after images. 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