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Post by riddick on Feb 19, 2014 20:37:57 GMT 11
I have recently driven by Monash University and located the charging station based on the leaf GPS map. It happens to be a Better Place charging pole with 2 car spaces. The plugs on the pole look like nothing I have seen.
Now that Better Place is bankrupt, do these stations still operate? If so, where do I get a cable that would work with a LEAF?
The cover on one of the sockets seemed broken, the other side was intact.
I wonder if it still works? The signage suggested that the carparks are still reserved for EV charging.
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Post by gabzimiev on Feb 19, 2014 20:41:47 GMT 11
so you need 2 things a cable and a betterplace RFID tag cables are standard mennekes type 2 to type 1 j1772 cable can be purchased with some googling, RFID tags are harder to find.
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Post by riddick on Feb 19, 2014 22:47:39 GMT 11
Thanks for that. I have recently visited my Nissan dealer for the 1000km service and asked the same question. They haven't had the faintest idea, even after they made some phone calls.
I presume a 16 amp cable is enough, no need for the 32. What is the difference between them, is it just the wire thickness as electrically they must be the same?
The cheapest I could find was around AUD245 with shipping.
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Post by riddick on Feb 21, 2014 14:58:27 GMT 11
For those who may be interested, I have managed to get my hands on some ex-Better Place stock cables pretty cheap. I have a few different types of connectors. Once I sort through them, I will post a few pictures.
Some new/some used.
If you may be interested in getting some, send me a message.
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Post by leighf on Feb 21, 2014 20:41:51 GMT 11
I've still got a Better Place RFID tag but I have no idea if it still works since Better Place closed. It's in my car so I can lend it to you on Sunday if you want to try it out.
Leigh
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Post by leafboi on Feb 21, 2014 21:09:39 GMT 11
Yeah sounds good, if the units work, but where to find the RFID tag to go with having a cable. Pretty dissapointing because they have a free parking space at the Crowne Plaza in Clarandon St in Melbourne. Perfect to park and charge when in the city all for free.
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Post by gabzimiev on Feb 21, 2014 21:35:02 GMT 11
I've still got a Better Place RFID tag but I have no idea if it still works since Better Place closed. It's in my car so I can lend it to you on Sunday if you want to try it out. Leigh if it still has power it should they turned all them into independent mode as they closed.
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Post by riddick on Feb 22, 2014 17:08:37 GMT 11
I have driven back to Monash Uni, now that I have the cables. I have plugged my Leaf into one of the chargers (with the door stuck open) and nothing happened. So I presume that I do need the RFID to operate it. Leigh, I would like to borrow your RFID tomorrow, so I can test it again.
While I was at Monash, I found a second set of (secret :-)) charges, which is not indicated on any of the network sites. It is also a Better Place one and I only stumbled upon it as I saw an iMiev plugged in.
I have taken photos and will update recargo with them when I get the time.
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Post by leafboi on Feb 23, 2014 17:03:20 GMT 11
Hey riddik,
After you guys left the expo today I bumped into a representative from the government trial and she said she may be able to organize some of the Better Place tags for us to use the stations that are available. I gave her my email so hopefully she will be In touch soon. I'll let you know how I go in getting them.
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Post by gabzimiev on Feb 23, 2014 18:45:20 GMT 11
Feng if you can get a hold of one from leafboi it should if theory make the CHAdeMO stations work if they haven't been removed yet.
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Post by riddick on Feb 23, 2014 21:18:02 GMT 11
leafboi, was she the lady with the white Leaf? Please keep us in the loop on how you are going with her.
Someone else suggested that we could copy them in the worst case.
Now, the good news is that on the way home I dropped by the Monash charging station and I managed to get the better place charging pole to work with the RFID lent to me by leighf and using the cables I have bought. So, I am really happy about that.
However, disappointingly, out of the 2 poles, only 1 socket works on each, the other socket is broken. So, clearly no one maintains these anymore and if they break, probably no one even knows how to fix them anymore.
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Post by riddick on Feb 25, 2014 21:23:56 GMT 11
I have added both charger locations to Recargo together with pictures (one previously unknown). I could not select the right plug type, but added cabling instructions in the text.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2014 10:14:41 GMT 11
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Post by riddick on Feb 27, 2014 12:13:15 GMT 11
b) greenlots c) elektrobay Do these 2 have charge points in Australia? If so, which cities, I could not find any info on their sites unless I signed up.
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Post by riddick on Feb 27, 2014 12:21:42 GMT 11
The 2 charging locations I have added to Recargo have been merged into 1 location by "someone". They have also merged my pictures of the 2 separate sites into 1 and moved the location to the wrong place!!! And on top of this, neither location comes up in their mobile app.
Who is fiddling with it, is it the Recargo officials or other users?? (Someone did put a phone number on it, too, but it is missing a digit, so it must have been a person who does not understand Australian phone numbers)
Of course, no notification to the originator of all this. Not impressed by Recargo at all!!
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Post by gabzimiev on Feb 27, 2014 19:07:22 GMT 11
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Post by gabzimiev on Feb 27, 2014 19:08:19 GMT 11
be careful the plugshare app for iphone and android needs more improvement by default will filter out type 2 plugs. you need to change your region to worldwide.
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Post by riddick on Feb 27, 2014 19:53:12 GMT 11
Ok, looks like I have confused plugshare and recargo. I have put the details on plugshare and it is in the the plugshare app, too.
You found both sites because I put the missing one back. Also readjusted the location of the other one.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2014 9:03:24 GMT 11
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Post by riddick on Mar 5, 2014 20:00:53 GMT 11
Anyone knows, what these connectors are? I got them with the Mennekes cable set I bought. It is ex Better Place stock. I am suspecting that some charging poles may have this connector perhaps? Or is this for an EV? One side is Mennekes, the other is this connector.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2014 23:13:03 GMT 11
here is some info. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Placesearch for word "triangular" "Better Place displayed Charge Spot charging stations that used a connector with the same pin layout as SAE J1772-2009 but housed in a non-standard, triangular plug.[41] "
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Post by riddick on Mar 6, 2014 19:59:04 GMT 11
Thanks for that...
leafboi, have you heard back from your friendly government representative about the Better Place RFID tags or do the wheels of the government turn slowly?!
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Post by leafboi on Mar 6, 2014 22:40:07 GMT 11
Very slowly it would seem. Nothing yet. I might drop an email their way next week some time to see what's the go.
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Post by kris on Mar 9, 2014 9:53:58 GMT 11
God I hate to see Melbourneites having all the fun! Any Sydneysiders even come close to riddicks Monash success? All that charging infrastructure laying idle is starting to really bug me.
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Post by Phoebe on Mar 9, 2014 10:34:37 GMT 11
God I hate to see Melbourneites having all the fun! Any Sydneysiders even come close to riddicks Monash success? All that charging infrastructure laying idle is starting to really bug me. Yes,well, Better Place was based in Melbourne so it's not surprising there is more of their stuff there
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Post by Feng on Mar 9, 2014 12:53:30 GMT 11
You know you've been obsessing over electric cars too much when you dream about them. Last night I dreamt I was in the carpark of a Westfield and saw that they were installing replacement quickchargers next to the Better Place ones. The new ones weren't fully installed yet and I drove to several areas of this car park to find other BP chargers being replaced but couldn't get any of them to work. That's where the dream ended. I do remember getting excited with the sight of new quickchargers, I just couldn't find a working one.
Don't judge me.
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Post by kris on Mar 11, 2014 10:15:04 GMT 11
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Post by riddick on Mar 13, 2014 10:32:12 GMT 11
I tried to duplicate the borrowed Better Place tag I have from Leigh. I realised that my mobile having an NFC reader/writer may be able to copy RFID tags as well. I have got plenty of NFC tags, so I was going to try if that would work. I have tried many applications, but none of them worked. One application has managed to read the data out of it, but that one had no writing function.
I may have to find some other means to do it ...
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Post by gabzimiev on Apr 18, 2014 22:58:05 GMT 11
Crown plaza hunter valley has upgraded their better place evse to chargepoint. Hopefully it means other ihg hotels will upgrade
I'll try and remember to ring them tomorrow and see if it's public use or hotel guests only
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Post by leafboi on Apr 18, 2014 23:11:58 GMT 11
Crown plaza hunter valley has upgraded their better place evse to chargepoint. Hopefully it means other ihg hotels will upgrade I'll try and remember to ring them tomorrow and see if it's public use or hotel guests only So there is hope that Melbourne Crowne Plaza will upgrade too!
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