Not sure where to ask this. Just curious. I don't own an electric car and don't plan to buy one. With all of the attention being given to electric cars now, has BGW done any planning to install charging stations? Just read where some of these cars wouldn't hold enough charge to drive roundtrip from Northern VA to BGW and back. It will be interesting to see how BGW and WCUSA address this.
Adding EV Chargers
- Thread starter Rothbury
- Start date
I can say I’d like to see them use the England lot, install some solar panels over the spots, and allow EV cars to use the employee entrance as an added benefit.
The problem I see occurring is someone plugging in early in the day and NEVER moving, making the charger useless for everyone else.
Uhhhh….yea? That’s the idea. Lower level charging costs less. We’re not at a spot yet with EV usage where 100 spots won’t be enough.
There are multiple charging stations throughout the Williamsburg and Newport Nnews area. There are some located at the I-64 Rest Stop in New Kent County near State Route 155. @Zachary had map in another thread showing the charging stations within the vicinity.
The England Lot really wouldn't be the best choice for solar panels. There are too many trees and there is some significant slope that does create issues with installing panels. Plus the England lot is the locations for buses and campers. That creates height restrictions. The France Lot would be better choice for panels. It has more open space, less trees and its much flatter. It doesn't get busses or campers. EV vehicles would then pay for preferred parking just like guest with pets have to pay for the kennel.
The Scotland lot would be ideal. Wide open spaces. Nice and flat. Easy to install panels without disrupting normal parking operations.
Then you run into the issue of trams. People don’t want to park over there (nor does the park) because of how far it is from the park. Charging stations would be better in France out of all the lots.
As for guests with kennel- they get England tags and get parked in England.
There are a over about 3 dozen less the 5 minutes from the park. I I am not sure why BGW needs to be responsible for adding any.
It's because of the way EV's charge. In order to get to 100% charge you need to charge for a long period of time. Usually EVs will stop to charge to 60% or 80% charge at the chargers you are referring to. If you can charge at your destination, especially if it's a destination that you'll be at for an extended period of time, then you can charge to a much higher percentage and travel further without stopping on your way home.
Also, saying that BGW is responsible is a little off the point. It's something that would be a great feature that will one day become a need. The fact that they are where they are in relation to Northern VA actually should make it a priority for them since Northern VA is like Tesla's natural habitat and a region that they pull people in from -- and if those people have an EV it could end up being the deciding factor on whether they go to BGW or not.
I said they should put panels in Scotland, not charging stations.
That still poses an issue when talking about days they do have to park across the street. Now if they put them on top or the tram stop- no problem. But unlikely. If they’re put in the parking lot- that eliminates parking spaces that the park could otherwise use.
You put them overhead..... basically they act as a roof and you still park cars under them.
Knowing BGW they would charge you an extra $50 for the covered parking spot.
A lot of parks are also becoming better and better at having this. Last I knew Hershey has them out front of CW (they might have expanded this). I swear last time I was at USO they had it.
I’d even say at time goes on that when you see even places for running around town (where range anxiety shouldn’t matter as much) then destination places need to start including things like this.
There are actually quite a few places in Northern VA that have chargers...... Especially in shopping centers with eateries, etc. Right now it's not a requirement but not too far in the future businesses are going to need to provide chargers in order to maintain business.
They will make it a member benefit first, then take it away and charge extra for it.
It's been bugging me all day because I remember seeing charging stations recently at a theme park, and now I remember where... SeaWorld Orlando!
Sea World Orlando | Williamsburg, FL | EV Station
Provided by Duke Energy Park & Plug program (3) J1772 EV chargers
www.plugshare.com
A few thoughts:
- Baring some huge leap in battery capacity or charging speed, mass EV charger availability in amusement park parking lots (as in, available in a huge percentage of spaces) will certainly be an expectation in the not so distant future for many of the previously described reasons.
- Charging a premium for covered parking isn't actually unreasonable in my opinion—we see it done in MANY similar places already and it can represent an improved parking experience.
- Building out solar over much of the park's parking lots could be a good investment for offsetting park energy costs regardless of the EV charging question. We have already seen parks like Six Flags Great Adventure and Legoland Florida doing this exact thing.
- A large solar buildout and an investment into EV charging infrastructure fits very well with the chain's claimed conservation focus and would be a great PR tool to bolster that messaging.