Home > News > March – April 2018 Big Island EV Association Updates

In this update – Meet-Ups, Charging Stations

Recent Gatherings…

March 3 Coffee and EV Meet-Up at Just Cruisin Coffee

This Hilo event took place at Just Cruisin Coffee. A small group of us gathered to talk EV. We were joined by a new Chevy Bolt owner and a couple of would-be EV owners. Here’s a short gallery of images from the meet-up.

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April 7 Coffee and EV Meet-Up at Kohala Coffee Mill

This Hawi event was well attended, with several driving all the way from Hilo. Most of us were treated an up-close look at the new Tesla Model 3.  I shared a recap of this event before at: Coffee and EV Meet-Up at Kohala Coffee Mill Recap. Here’s a gallery of the images from the event:

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Upcoming Events

  • April 20 – Earth Day Fair – UH Hilo – We’ll have a Tesla Model S and Tesla Roadster Sport at this event.
  • May 5 – Coffee and EV Meet-up – Pahoa (venue TBD)

Charging Stations

New Fast Charger!  On March 15, the Papaaloa Country Store Fast Charger (Level 3) was energized! The charger operated by Greenlots. The addition of this station brings the Level 3 Fast Charger count to 6. This includes stations at The Shops at Mauna Lani, HELCO Kona, KTA Waimea, and HELCO Hilo.

New Operator for the Fast Charger at the Shops at Mauna Lani – As of April 9, HELCO assumed operation of this Fast Charger. The station continues to be on the Greenlots network. A credit card reader will be added to this station. Of course, it’s more convenient to get a Greenlots account, along with their mobile app or RFID car.

More Fast Chargers. Our HELCO partners are exploring locations for additional Fast Chargers. We understand that one is planned for Kau (location to be announced later). If you have suggestions for new Fast Charger locations, please contact us.

Charging Station Blues

Misuse

We’ve heard reports of owners misusing charging stations, e.g., parking in a slot but not charging or leaving a car parked and plugged

 in overnight. Waiting anxiously for a charging station to free-up in order to get a charge to get home can be very frustrating. These situations will become more common as electric car adoption increases so we all need to help out.

I came across a list of best practices for charging on PlugInCars. Please take a moment to review and share. Importantly if you have ideas on how we can improve the situation on our island, please let us know.

Scarcity

Our lower Puna electric car owners, particularly those that are off-grid rely on the sole Level 2 station at the Pahoa Recreation Center. Unfortunately, this station has only 1 plug – there can be a queue of cars waiting. Some owners with young children may even be seen there.

The County appears to not be able to respond to this need at the moment. (Officials were contacted to no avail.)

If you’re aware of a business owner who might entertain hosting a level 2 charging station, please contact us. (Of course, it would help for you to reach out to them directly if you have a relationship to help explain the need.) Yes – we have suggested Pahoa to HELCO as an ideal site for another Fast Charger.

If you have a home charging station and are open to having someone charge in case of an emergency, consider adding your station on PlugShare.com (it will be visible only to PlugShare users and you can specify instructions and contact information).

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Noel Morin

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Noel Morin