Hello, my name is Amos Johnson

[firebourn]

I am a proud owner of a brammo enertia. I also live in an area that has no charging station. Although I will work on changing that, I was hoping that I can get the help from the forum.

I am open to the idea of asking business owners, that I buy something from, to let me charge my bike off of their power. I just have no experience with that.

Has anybody done such a thing, if so what are some key phrases that get a "yes"? If there are any business owners on the forum, what key words would make you say yes?

Thank you all very much.

[Phantom]

Congratulations and welcome to the forum.

I charge at home 99% of the time.

I have not tried what you are planning to attempt, but if I was a business owner, I would ask how much of my electricity in $$$ are you planning to use per year? How does my business benefit from being associated with the usage of an electric motorcycle?

I would want my logo and/or business name displayed on your bike and a plan of how you would promote my business (e.g. giving talks at local events).

I would consider it an advertising expense and hope that it would bring me more business than I would otherwise get without advertising in this way. How can this successful advertising be measured so that I can see a return on my business expense.


If I were to say "Yes", these are the things I would need to consider.

[Shinysideup]

Or you could get one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4400-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU

and show the owner how many kWH you used and just offer to pay for the juice at whatever rate is shown on his/her utility bill. Since it would be a very small amount, he/she might just comp you on it for your patronage. If not, you're not out any big dollars and get the convenience of topping off.

[Brammofan]

I have done this a couple of times. Once, at quik trip on a particularly hot day, I stopped in to have a cold drink. I actually hooked up as soon as I got there, went inside, and as I was posting for my drink, I said, "I hope you don't mind, but I plugged my electric motorcycle in to one of your outlets." The guy looked at me  like I was crazy and said sure. I made a couple calls while I finished my drink, talked to the usual few curious onlookers, unplugged, and left. I could have made it home without plugging in, but figured I'd give it a try.

If they don't let you plug in, don't patronize the business. Seriously, we're looking at about 10 cents worth of electricity. F@ck em if they won't give you that much if you're buying something there.