Electric cars, i.e., Electric Vehicles (EV): can they be charged in White Plains?

I'm considering getting an EV. I have not had a car this year (2018) after decades of having a car. Living in downtown enables being car free.

Of course, if you live in a house and have a private garage, you can charge your EV easily enough. You would know the procedure and have working equipment. But if you live in an apartment building, you need to convince the building management, either a rental company or a condo/co-op board, to install charging equipment.

As a supplement to charging at home, you would also want the option of charging your EV batteries elsewhere. Where? How about one of the MANY huge public garages that constitute the architectural definition of downtown White Plains?

The City of White Plains has that, sort of.

http://www.cityofwhiteplains.com/index.aspx?nid=368

Electric Vehicle Charging
Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in White Plains

The City of White Plains currently offers twenty publicly accessible electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in parking structures and lots throughout the City.

Eight EV charging spaces are located in the surface lot adjacent to the White Plains TransCenter Garage on the North side. Four of those are Level 2 charging stations and four are Level 1 charging stations. Monthly permits are available for $129.00. This fee guarantees a spot and includes parking and electricity.

Twelve additional EV charging spaces are now open and available for use. They are located in the following public parking garages:

Lexington-Grove East Garage (100 Main St.) - 3 chargers
Lexington-Grove West Garage (100 Main St.)-2 Chargers
Hamilton-Main Garage (365 Hamilton Ave.) - 3 chargers
Longview-Cromwell Garage (11 Longview Ave.) - 2 chargers
Lyon Place Garage (1 Lyon Place) - 2 chargers

To utilize one of the above charging stations, customers should download the free 'EV Connect' app. This will activate the charging station and allow the customer to monitor the charging process remotely. Once the app has been activated, the customer pays $1.50/hour, which covers both parking and electricity, through the normal payment process at the garage pay stations.

For more information, please call: (914) 422-1232.
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Wow, that seems pretty comprehensive. I installed the 'EV Connect' app mentioned onto my Android phone. Yesterday about 5:30 PM I went to the Galleria (Lexington-Grove) parking garage in search of the five EV charging stations that constitute 25% of those in city public parking spaces and 42% of the EV charging stations in the public garages.

I entered the Galleria garage on foot (remember, I don't have any car, much less an EV) from Martine Avenue near South Lexington. I did not find any signs directing one to an EV charging station. I continued into the Galleria food court and asked a guard. He had no idea. I left and walked up Main Street and noticed an office inside the "east" Galleria garage. I walked down in there and entered the office. The person behind the desk had no idea but called someone, who was then put on a speaker phone so that I could ask questions. I got enough information to find the two Galleria (Lexington-Grove) locations.

One is in the middle of that creepy underpass that divides the Galleria, you know, the one where almost no one walks. I went inside on the "east" side and finally found three EV charging stations adjacent to the sidewalk, down a few steps from the sidewalk. No signs anywhere to indicate their location.

The instructions on each were in font size of about five and it was dark. I opened the 'EV Connect' app on my phone and tried to engage each EV charging station in turn. I have not put credit card information into the app, so I don't know why the programmer who wrote it did not check for that right away. I stumbled through trying to get the app to find the stations, including loading an ID. I used the parking space number but apparently that was not it. Finally I realized that all three EV charging stations were "unavailable", i.e., not operational.

I walked across the street and entered the "west" part of the Galleria garage from Martine Avenue. I had been told that those EV charging stations were on level three, which in White Plans parlance was street level. I found them in about a minute along an inside barrier on a slant. These two EV charging stations were illuminated and had EV Connect written on them, which the other three did not.

I fired up the EV Connect app again and it appeared to find them. I also located, in small print, the ID and entered it. The app warned me that it was going to start charging both my EV and my credit card even though it did not have any information on either. I waited about a minute for it to fail and give me an error message but it's state did not change and I closed the app.

So:
1. no signs directing you to the location of the EV charging stations
2. different types of EV charging stations at each of the two locations tried
3. 60% of the EV charging stations found were not operational

I may try this at one or two more city public parking areas. Will the result be better? Does anyone in city government care? Do the car companies selling EVs care? Or is all this just another feel good exercise, a Kabuki dance?

Should I get an EV?

Common Council twice warned about dangerous bus traffic downtown. Maybe if they lived downtown ... Monday, September 25, 2017