Question...

No, because they don't charge for the other garage, so they shouldn't charge to charge(pun intended) in any of the other 4 garages.

 

It would seem that any organization of that size, public or private, would have someone charged (also pun intended) with environmental and/or energy issues. You might try to track that person down with a few calls to your facilities and public safety departments. (The latter probably knows who gets called when someone spills something hazardous or toxic -- usually the "environmental safety" officer or such.)

Have a nice conversation and see if you can figure out how to get someone to look at your institution's policy.

I occasionally teach at a local state college and I came across something about a state program which pays 50% of the cost of installing EVSE charging stations at any state facility. So I sent an email to the school's facilities manager and he replied that he was working on getting authorization under a different program which covers 100% of the cost. He was happy to get the extra nudge showing that employees were interested in having electric vehicle charging available.

You'll probably discover that the charging stations in the other garage are handled by an entirely different person than the person who felt installing locking covers on the outlets was appropriate. Bureaucracies can be like that.

While traveling across country, a man stopped a service station to have a minor repair done on his car. While he was waiting, a pick-up truck with a crew of several works came down the road, stopping to dig holes every 100 feet or so along the road's shoulder. A few minutes later, another truck and crew came along and neatly shovelled the dirt back into each of the holes. Watching this process, the traveler was puzzled. He could not help but ask one of the workers what was going on. The worker replied, "Just because the guy with the trees called in sick this morning doesn't mean that the rest of us shouldn't work."
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I called the number that you gave me to speak with a representative.
When I got to the section titled:
"Who should ChargePoint contact to discuss owning a station for their site?"
The rep told me that I would need to call up the store (let's say that it's Target) and ask for their information, like a manager, if the manager is alright with giving that information out.

So, I called Target, and asked for the manager's information, but the Target operator said that I was not allowed to have that information. Of the five fields of information under
"Who should ChargePoint contact to discuss owning a station for their site?"

for which I was able to acquire, all that the operator was willing to share was the phone number for the local Target.

So, since Target won't give me the information for the other four fields, and your ChargePoint request form requires that I have this information, I cannot put in my formal request to have a charging station installed at Target. (And I am concerned that I will run into this problem with other businesses in the area.)

So, Team ChargePoint, what am I supposed to do to submit my request for each business?

 

You'd probably do better by just walking up to the customer service counter in your Target store and asking to speak with the manager. Then, when someone comes to talk to you, ask specifically if he/she is the manager and explain what you're trying to do. Just ask, "Would it be OK if someone from ChargePoint contacted you about locating an EV charging station on site?"

Most likely, the store manager is not the person who can make this decision. There's probably a real estate or operations person in the regional corporate office. You can ask how you can contact that person.

Be aware that most Target stores are located in shopping centers which are owned and managed by others. If this is the case, you should contact the shopping center's property manager. If the Target person does not know how to do that, you can ask one of the other tenants in the shopping center. Most smaller tenants know who to call if the roof is leaking. (Target probably maintains its own roof.)

If you use Google or Plug-Share to search for charging stations located at Target stores, you'll find quite a few. They seem to mostly be in California (which may be in response to government requirements.) You can cite these examples to show how Target stores in other states have these amenities for their customers.

Your task is not simple. Most Whole Foods stores around my area have EV charging stations. But one of the biggest flagship stores does not. I spoke to the assistant manager and was told that the parking lot and sidewalks were "common areas" controlled by the landlord and it was the landlord's decision. Keep in mind that shopping centers typically pass through the cost of things like landscaping, irrigation, parking lot sweeping, exterior lighting, etc. as "common area maintenance" which is part of each tenant's rent. The landlord may be OK with adding EV charging stations but fear that some tenants may complain about paying a share of the cost of electricity. Sure, it's only pennies when spread over many tenants, but it can be a tenant relations problem for the property manager who must deal with criticism and complaints.

 

I commend you for your efforts and dedication. Tell me, do you work for ChargePoint? Maybe it is just me, but I would think that our contribution to a company like ChargePoint should be restricted to providing detailed geographical information about the whereabouts of EV drivers and their charging needs.

 

Yes, PM on the way.

 

Yeah they just replaced the whole EVSE with a non-chargepoint one, so no problem with that one any more!