Alice's Restaurant prohibits EV charging

[Richard230]

I was at Alice's Restaurant (located in the Santa Cruz Mountains, south of San Francisco) today and was told by one of the owners that they were no longer going to allow electric vehicles to use the L2 outlet on the side of their gas station wall.  The reason is that their electrical system can not handle the load and their breakers sometimes trip off when EVs have been charging in the past, resulting in disruptions to their operations.  There is now a handwritten sign above the 240V outlet saying "No electric vehicle charging".  However, I was told that it would be OK to use their 120V outlet located behind the backyard fence gate, adjacent to the real estate office.

[Shinysideup]

Great: that's the 120V is the only one I knew about and so the only I've used! Since they're such a "bike magnet" for the Bay Area, it will be interesting to see if they're policy/facilities change as EV's get more popular. Seems like it would make good business sense to install a Chargepoint charger at some point.

[Richard230]

"Electric Terry", of Zero fame, installed a L2 charging plug for free on the side of the gas station, to replace the existing 220 outlet that had been there for years.  Then some Zero owners showed up and used the plug to charge several vehicles using high-powered off-bike chargers, which blew their very old 100 amp electrical breakers - shutting down the gas station pumps.  That precipitated a visit from an electrician ($$$), which put an end to that charging fun.  (At least that is the story that I heard from one of the owners.)