Found a free DCFC charger.

[Flying ace]

I ran across a free DCFC charger in my neighborhood. It is unpublished on Plugshare.

It's a 50kw FreeWire unit that was owned by Waymo. It appears while they left the site they kept everything on. One unit works and the other is turned off (The panel switch is capable to be turned on)

Interestingly, this unit has an internal battery. I found an YouTube video describing this particular charging unit and learned the battery is to supplement the charging power as the grid it is connected to cannot handle the power demand. The battery is then charged via the grid when not dispensing a charge.

I am amused that I'm able to find this under the radar DCFC. My use case for this unit is minimal. It's only 3 miles from my house, and it charges too slow for my needs (10% in 15 mins). My only use case would be if home charging is too slow and I need something quicker to top off the battery (e.g. 70%-90%) during peak hours. It's also not close enough to my house whereby I can park it and walk home, though it is walking distance to a few restaurants, good coffee and my optometrist. The EA stations are not too far from me either.

As I was charging, 2 other EVs came through, so it's not completely unknown ?

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[Flying ace]

I turned on the second unit, powers on, battery is already full, but there is an error message. I wonder what will happen if I just called the support? - Nothing! FreeWire as a company is no longer a going concern! They shut down a year ago, so the software is no longer supported. Once this unit bricks up, it's done.

Waymo which likely still pays for the electricity will shut it down, or the lease of the property will end, or the new owners of FreeWire will reclaim the units, or thieves will cut the cables and steal the components.

 

[jish]

Don’t talk about Fight Club. ?

 

[Flying ace]

Update on my super secret free DCFC. No sooner than a month after I found it, the unit bricked. And since the other unit was already bricked, I figured that was the end of it.

With no software support from Freewire, this is curtains, awaiting parts vultures to strip it clean.

And just this week I drive by and I noticed that one of the chargers is flashing green. It was the other previously bricked unit that has never worked and it is working.

I have no idea how this happened. Was able to grab a free 85%-95% top off.

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