Irksome… Awesome charging location found with 32 Level 2 Free charging…

So… I was out and about a few weeks age and decided to try out a public charging station that had quite a bit of chargers, according to Plugshare.

So, off we went to the City of Industry Metrolink Station. It was reported to have 32 Aerovironment Level 2 stations. This was a sight I wanted to see.

Now, I had slightly over half a charge left, so, if I was careful, I could’ve made it back home in the charge that I had, but… I like to have some room to really drive the Active E like a BMW if I wanted to or needed to, so I like to charge.

Luckily, the SCAQMD site in Diamond Bar was less around 2 miles away, so I went there to charge instead.

Anyway, it is always important to have alternates picked out if it turns out that the public charging station you identify ends up being taken or closed.

Are Plug-in Hybrids, EVs?

So, are plug-in hybrids, EVs?

Count me as one of those BEV (battery electric vehicle) snobs that have been irritated when I turn up to a public charging and find Chevy Volts plugged in and taking space.  I’ve always felt that if you were going electric, jump in feet first.

Even after slightly over 15 months of driving electric, I am a relative newcomer to the EV world.  My original bias was caused by my attitude that pure BEV are superior to our plug-in hybrid brethren and felt that those that went halfway with their Chevy Volts, etc. could use gasoline and therefore shouldn’t be taking the space on an EV charging station.  I held this belief for my first year of EV driving.  So, why the change of heart?

Well, I’ve listened to my “elders”, in terms of years of EV experience, etc.

On Thursdays at Noon Pacific, 3pm Eastern, and 8pm British Time, Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield and Mark Chatterley host a program called Transport Evolved.  I started listening to the program on episode 144 and have been hooked since.  I’ve used Youtube and iTunes to catch up on the backlog and you should too.  Though I may find that the program may be more focused on the “green” aspects of EVs and the like and not necessarily on the economics that motivated me, I find their review of EV news to be interesting and entertaining.  They (at least Nikki is) are real “car people”.  Mark is very entertaining.  The hosts definitely have a more Liberal (had they been in the US) view of things than I, but they definitely make good points.

After spending some time through hours of the series backlog, I’ve been convinced by the hosts and their guests regarding the fact that the entire EV community (including our plug-in brethren) are too few to stand divided.  I have been reminded of the challenges that the “previous” generations of EV owners have done to blaze the trail and that we need to support those that are taking “baby” steps toward EV ownership.  Once they drive one and get more comfortable.  They’ll get it.

Basically, I respect the fact that Volt owners would go through all sorts of lengths to stay driving electric.  I can only guess how frustrating it is to only have 40 miles of EV range.  Even driving a pure BEV for the majority of my drive has still required me to go approximately 20% of the time on gasoline.  Now, I don’t feel guilty about driving gas, just irritated at how much it costs me when I do.  In fact, during the past three months, it cost me a bit to replace the battery on my X5.

Now, an optimal 40 mile battery range for a plug in hybrid makes the vehicle practically electric and should be treated with respect.  What about the 12-16 mile range plug in hybrids (like the Plug in Prius or Plug in Accords)… Well, I’m not SO “enlightened”.  I’m still irritated by those.  I mean, there ARE better choices (in terms of battery range, etc.)  I don’t know if I’ll ever be “enlightened” enough to welcome Plug in Prius or Plug in Accord users, but in the meantime.  I’m ok with saying that “I was wrong.”

So, join me (and a bunch of other EV enthusiasts) and support my favorite EV journalist, advocates and their guests on Transport Evolved.

Dodger Stadium is going backwards on its commitment to being more environmentally friendly.

So, the new Dodgers management has been exciting to watch in the moves that they will take to “win”.

I was notified that after the disappointment that was the 2012 Season that the EV chargers in Lot N WERE going to be upgraded to J1772.  That was at least positive.

Then, the Dodgers tweeted the following in the beginning of 2013 –

Blue to Green! Measures toward being energy efficient will be instituted- new water valves, flush fixtures, waterless urinals, etc.

11:38 AM 08 Jan 13

Wow.  I thought. This is really going to happen!  The Dodgers will definitely be upgrading the chargers in Lot N for EV Dodger fans (heck even EV Opposing team fans can plug in).

Well, my excitement just got squashed by a very nice follow up email from Reconnect CA/Clipper Creek-

From: Stacey Barhydt <Stacey@clippercreek.net>
To: Dennis Pascual
Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2013 2:36 PM
Subject: Re: Fwd: Eligible upgrade site for Reconnect – Dodger Stadium
Dennis,
Hope you’ve been well and having a Happy New Year!  I had a note to contact you about Dodgers Stadium and the EV Charging stations . . . unfortunately we just found out that they are demolishing this site and accompanying infrastructure to make way for some new plans.
New infrastructure won’t be available for some time, thus they’ll miss the grant deadline.
Very sorry!  But maybe the parking lot will be better in the future.
Thanks again for all your efforts, we really appreciate it!
Stacey Barhydt
ClipperCreek, Inc.
Reconnect CA Program Support
530-887-1674 x 312

I guess the Dodgers Tweet was just PR…  They’ve decided to go backwards on their commitment to the environment…  (which is a shame.)  These new enhancements to Dodgers Stadium just took out the Prime Ticket Section that I was sitting in last year to watch the 8 or so Dodgers game that I went to under the Premium Mini Plan that we decided to sign up for with our 2011-2012 Lakers Playoffs budget.  (credit another early Lakers playoffs exit with those funds.)

So, Guggenheim Baseball Management (Mark Walter, Magic Johnson, Stan Kasten, Peter Guber, Bobby Patton and Todd Boehly) what are you guys going to do for your EV driving Dodgers fans?  What made you guys decide to back-track on EV chargers at Dodger Stadium?  Or do we still blame part of it on Frank McCourt because he’s still part of the parking lots around Dodger Stadium?  There were some old legacy chargers in Lot N.  Sure, it was a far walk from where my seats had been (you’ve torn up that section, so I’m not sure where I’ll be sitting next year since it would look like the Lakers probably won’t be in the Playoffs in 2012-2013 and I will have my early summer free, though…  the Kings might be getting some of those dollars as well now that the NHL has pulled its head out of its…)

So, rather than just complain, let me propose something else…  a mix of 110V and 240V chargers in ALL Dodger Stadium Parking Lots.  A Baseball game can go for 3-4 hours.  Some of your PHEV like the Volt or plug in Prius can use gas and can be filled up over 110V just fine during the game.  Those that need a faster charge (such as the Leaf or my ActiveE) and are pure EV can use the Level 2/240V chargers during that time to get their capacity back.  110V can do in a pinch to at least get enough juice to get to another 240V elsewhere.  That would show that the Dodgers really are looking to go from Blue to Green!  If you really wanted to understand your crowd, I would even suggest some higher capacity NEMA 14-50 for those Dodgers fans that are just now taking delivery of their Tesla Model S (I’m anticipating getting mine during the dog days of August and beginning of September.)  C’mon Dodger Ownership!

The Dodgers and practically any business can get some of its costs to install chargers back with grants that have authorized some reimbursement for installing public charging facilities.

Lastly, I got the following email from Chargepoint today –

You May Qualify for up to $1,000 in Tax Credits

Hi Dennis,

Did you install an EV home charging station in 2012 or have plans to install one in 2013? We have some great news for you. The recent fiscal cliff deal passed by Congress includes tax credits for purchase and installation of an electric vehicle charging station. The Section 30C credit for Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property includes a credit of up to $1,000 for purchase and installation of a charging station for personal use.

Additionally, Section 30C includes a 30 percent credit, capped at $30,000 for business/investment use per site. This means that any ChargePoint customer who installed EV charging stations in 2012 or who plans to install EV charging stations in 2013 may qualify for up to a $30,000 tax credit per site. So tell your employer or favorite retailer (hint, hint).

For more information, please visit:

US CODE: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/30C

And download:

2011 IRS FORM: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8911.pdf

(Subject to change, updated by the IRS)

Please consult with your tax advisor to determine your eligibility.

Spread the EV goodness and share this email with people you know in the EV community so they can take advantage of this fantastic opportunity.

To view this information on our web site, click here.

Recommend a Place to Charge Your Car

Are you able to charge your vehicle at work? If so, are there enough charging stations available for you and your colleagues?

Does your favorite store offer EV charging? Are there parking lots you frequent that you wish had an EV charger?

Let ChargePoint help you get an EV charging station installed at any location. Email us at sales@chargepoint.com with the following information:

  • Location Name (e.g. company, retailer, parking facility, etc.)
  • Address
  • Contact Name

Oh, and one more thing… happy EV driving.

Sincerely,

Team ChargePoint

Follow us on Twitter @chargepointnet 

Like us on Facebook @ChargePoint

So, between ReconnectCA and Chargepoint, Dodger Stadium could’ve been able to get upgraded for a lot less than it would’ve cost anyone else.

LAX Parking… free no more… March 1st, 2013…

Thanks to fellow Active E Electronut Dr. Bob on the ActiveE forum, it looks like LAX will no longer be allowing parking and charging for free in Lot 6 and Lot 1 beginning March 1, 2013.  Also, looks like Helen Chiu (@yesthisishelen on Twitter) posted the following, which looks like a scan of the notice.

Needless to say, this was a nice benefit that was provided to EV and Plug-in Hybrid drivers that has been running at LAX for quite a while (especially since it was not until April last year that the chargers were upgraded to J1772).  So, this leads me to believe that this benefit was at least around for when most people charged with the old SPI chargers (and therefore GM EV1 or the older Toyota RAV4 Electric (not the re-launched based on a Tesla platform).

It was great to have this benefit out there, but seeing how California public facilities really need to be upgraded, I suppose it is to be expected that the LAX folks would be counting on increasing their revenue from ALL users of LAX Parking facilities.  This just means that I’ll have to plan my trips in and out of LAX with off-site parking in mind and ensure that I have enough charge to get home before I park.

LAX Onsite parking is pretty expensive.  Though the charging will more than likely remain “free”, the charge for parking would mean that one will need to consider OTHER charging stations near LAX.  I would suggest the Blink Network ones at Loyola Marymount University.  There are about fifteen that show up and cost between $1-$2 an hour to charge depending on the plan that you have.  The address to LMU is 1 LMU Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90045.

For those that want to appeal the decision – parking@lawa.org is the email address for the folks at LAX Parking.

National Plug in Day 2012… Part 2… The Cypress event for Orange County.

Part two of my 2012 Plug In Day experience was down in Cypress.  The Orange County event was held at the Mitsubishi North America headquarters and there was plenty of test drives around.  This was an opportunity to try out the Mitsubishi i (formerly the MiEV) and see their Level 3 ChaDEmo charger in action.

One of the first things that I saw after I parked at the OC event was a Sparrow.  Prior to my ActiveE, I was familiar with the Nissan Leaf, GM EV1, Chevy Volt, the Tesla Roadster and that was pretty much it.  As I waited to be allocated my ActiveE, I started reading up on previous EVs and the Sparrow was one that caught my eye.  It would never be a vehicle I would be getting, but it harkens to some of the trials and tribulations of EV predecessors to the current generation, after all, as George Santayana has written, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

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A Sparrow at OC's National Plug In Day event!

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The Orange County event had more EV conversions than the Los Angeles County event.

A converted Geo Metro –
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A homebuilt 3 wheeler –
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A converted Miata –
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A converted VW Pickup Truck –
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There was some speeches and now Congressman-elect, and former GM EV1 Driver, Allan Lowenthal was there to meet with his constituents.

The Orange County event provided me with the opportunity to test drive the Mitsubishi i (formerly the MiEV) and a Honda Fit EV (from Toan Ngo). I also let a few interested parties test drive my ActiveE.

The Fit EV –
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Here’s a shot of the Mitsubishi i from previous trip to the same site in Cypress –
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In all it was a successful day, filled with EV enthusiasts and curious folks who, hopefully, will become EV enthusiasts.

Little Milestones reached today…

19,000 miles and 5 miles per kWh…

Here is 18,999 miles…

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And now 19,000 miles…

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I was parked at AAA Main Office in Downtown LA and used their charger while I did my business. They have you sign in to use their charger and I parked beside Toan’s Fit EV which I have still to write about for my Plug In Day event experience (here’s Part 1, which does NOT include the Fit Experience.) It was interesting to be parked beside someone’s car that I have actually test driven a month or so earlier. So, Toan, if you’re reading this. I accidentally interrupted your charging when I thought that the Aerovironment chargers worked like others (without RFID scan needed), I restarted the charge when I got the guy at AAA’s Smog Center to scan the RFID on both chargers for us!

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It’s a nice ride… I like my ActiveE more, but his car is pretty good as well.

So. After my mid-day charge while I worked, I needed to run a quick errand and went flat for about a mile and change and noticed that I achieved a rate of 5.0 miles per kilowatt hour… This is insane. But I guess when you go between 20-25 mph and use regen to brake it could happen…

Los Angeles-20121101-00159.jpg

and further proof

Los Angeles-20121101-00158.jpg

Well, what do you know… Bumper to bumper traffic for about 20 miles after these shots ALSO allowed me to maintain the same rate!

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Charge It! – Great food near public chargers #6 in an ongoing series – Valley Road, Montclair, New Jersey – Nauna’s Bella Casa and ActiveE #1

I still owe you guys my first National Plug In Day experience.  However, to be a little more timely, I figure to update my Charge It! series.

As many of my readers know, I’ve been writing on a series of great restaurants to go to while you charge. Today’s post is a little different. It’s nowhere to be found in the Los Angeles area. It’s in Northern New Jersey, approximately 30 minutes (with no real traffic) from New York city – Nauna’s Bella Casa. No, I didn’t take several weeks to go from Los Angeles to New Jersey to go to lunch with my ActiveE. For this trip, I rented a Nissan Leaf from Hertz on Demand. Hertz car sharing subsidiary which allows members the opportunity to rent either a Nissan Leaf or SmartEV in the New York city area.

Nauna’s Bella Casa can be found at 148 Valley Road, Montclair, New Jersey, 07042.  (973) 744-3232.


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So, what takes me from New York City to Montclair, New Jersey. Frankly, I wanted to meet this guy, Tom Moloughney, aka Mini-E #250 and more importantly to me, Mr. ActiveE #1 and the top mileage leader that I foolishly challenged to try to “catch up” on top mileage use for all of the other ActiveE Electronuts.  As of the writing of this posting (in-flight from JFK to LAX) my ActiveE is waiting for me at LAX Lot 6 with 17,902 and Tom’s listed mileage on wotnogas.com is 27,795…  Needless to say, this is a TOUGH challenge.

Here’s a picture of Tom Moloughney and me in front of Tom’s New Jersey EF-OPEC (AKA Active E #1).

Had a good lunch and great company with fellow @BMWi evangelist @tommolog Nauna's Bella Casa in Montclair NJ

So, how’s the food. It was good, home-style Italian food at a great value. I had the lunch special which was Soup, Entree, soft drink, coffee (or tea, I believe) and dessert for $9.99. As opposed to other posts in this series, I have NO picture of the food. I was too busy enjoying the discussions between Tom and myself on the Active E, EVs, new BMWs, Teslas, Energy Independence, etc.

For my choice of soup, I picked the Pasta Fagioli. There were other choices, but I really like Pasta Fagioli so I had that. For my entree, I went with the Fusilli e Pollo which is the spiral pasta with grilled chicken & spinach. I really enjoyed the Fusilli e Pollo, but since I went out to Nauna’s in Day two of my trip to the East Coast, the meal was biologically breakfast for me, so the portion size was a little larger than I could finish, so I brought the rest to go. I skipped coffee and had ice cream for dessert (chocolate).  The meal was very good and felt home-cooked.

How about the chargers?  Nauna’s has two J1772 chargers, one on Chargepoint and the other on the Blink Network.  If you’re eating here, the charging is gratis, otherwise, the network fees would apply, I believe that the Chargepoint is free, but the Blink is based on your membership plan, so to get that charging at no cost, check in with the restaurant before you plug in.

How did I do getting to Nauna’s.  Well, I picked up the Nissan Leaf (was hoping for a SmartEV, but that will have to be a different post) from Hertz On Demand’s location at 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014.   This drive was approximately 20 miles away, but my consumption is closer to 35 miles from the range.  This was my first time driving a Leaf for ANY extended period and I must say that it was not as fun as my Active E, at least it seemed to perform better than the Coda that I test drove a few months ago.

So, if you find yourself anywhere near Montclair, NJ.  Even if it isn’t that near, give Tom a call and see if he’s available and you can enjoy a tasty lunch and have some fun “talking EV and stuff”.  I’ll probably get around to plug in day 2012 (Part 1, Part 2 to follow) and my Hertz on Demand SmartEV rental fiasco.

National Plug in Day… Pre-event planning.

If you were sent here by this month’s BMW Electronaut Newsletter, welcome to my blog.  I am STILL drafting my Real Goods post and need to come up with how to handle calculating cost per kWh over the solar array.  Since Sunday, September 23, 2012 is National Plug In Day, I figured to write about that first.  I was inspired to look into this event by a post on the Active E Forums by Keith Davidson and so I figured to participate.

One of the benefits in living in the southernmost city in Los Angeles County is that it is very efficient to go behind the Orange Curtain to Orange County for things.  When I used to drive my Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) cars more often, I would often fill up at the Costco in Cypress as it is often significantly cheaper in gasoline to buy my gas there than at a Costco in Los Angeles County and the location is somewhat convenient to home.

My gasoline border incursions have gotten to be fewer and farther in between as I don’t often have to purchase petrol as I have taken to carpooling with the better half on many days as I attempt to catch up to Tom Moloughney and his challenging 100 mile a day average (sadly still behind).

This Sunday, September 21, 2012, is National Plug In Day.  What can I say, I’m an Electronut and want to check out others cars and have the opportunity to be an EVangelist for electric vehicles, so I scheduled myself to visit BOTH the Los Angeles and Orange County Plug In Day festivities. (Recap of LA Plug In Day Experience here)

The one in Los Angeles will be held in El Segundo at 610 Lairport St, El Segundo, CA 90245 and this is approximately 25 miles away from home and the one in Orange County is at the Mitsubishi of North America’s Headquarters (a few blocks East of the aforementioned Costco at Cypress) at 6400 Katella Ave, Cypress CA 90630.

The Los Angeles County event goes from 11am to 3pm and the Orange County one goes from 1pm to 3pm.

So, if you wish to come down and say hi, come on over.  I will have sufficient charge to get around and home, so may take a few interested parties out for a spin.  Just leave me a comment and I’ll set that up.  I plan on being at the Los Angeles County event from 11am (the start) until approximately 12:30 pm and at the Orange County event from 1:30pm to 3pm.

See you there!

The Los Angeles County one at El Segundo –


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The Orange County one at Cypress –


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California EV enthusiasts or soon to be EV enthusiasts, make it easier on yourself! – Free EVSE charger offer

So, I’ve been meaning to post this offer on the ActiveE forum, but several of my fellow Electronuts have already done that…

So, I figure why not post it on the blog!

I received the attached email a week ago and promptly forwarded it to my office manager to forward to our new landlord.  I also sent it to my wife for her people to send it to their landlord.

From: Lynette Mandal <lynette.mandal@chargepoint.com>
Date: September 12, 2012 1:21:25 AM PDT
To: Dennis
Subject: ChargePoint offer to: home charging station owners

 

Hello Dennis,
We have great news! For a limited time only, ChargePoint is giving away electric vehicle (EV) charging stations for the workplace. ChargePoint is making available one FREE charging station to any workplace location that doesn’t already have a ChargePoint station in their parking lot.


ChargePoint’s ‘JumpStart’ program is designed to assist you with encouraging your employer to install a FREE ChargePoint station. Any California employer with more than 50 employees is eligible! This is the perfect opportunity for anyone with sustainability agendas, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) programs, new construction and renovation programs.

 

To assist your employer in making workplace EV charging prevalent, ChargePoint can also assist in finding a low cost installation provider.

 

Why are we doing this?

With the ChargePoint JumpStart program, we want to help EV drivers like you get EV charging services at your place of employment. Some of the most progressive and forward-thinking organizations in the world including Google, SAP, 3M, Facebook, Dell and Adobe, provide ChargePoint charging stations for their employees. With ChargePoint JumpStart we’re putting the power to charge in the hands of drivers!

How do you apply?

You can either take the attached offer to the appropriate decision-maker inside your company or apply through the ChargePoint website by October 15, 2012.

Click HERE to apply online.

 

The free ChargePoint stations are available on a first come first served basis.

 

Sincerely,

 

Team ChargePoint

 

P.S.

This is not a secret. If you know of an employee that needs a free ChargePoint station at their workplace, please let them know about this great offer.

 

 

 

Seems like a pretty straightforward offer, but there is still resistance to installing EV chargers at people’s workplaces.

I am hopeful, but pessimistic that either my office’s landlord or my wife’s employer’s landlord will bite, but why not try.

Some of the concerns that I have heard directly and indirectly through others that folks have over installing public charging stations in their facilities:

  • Concern over the increase in their electric bill
  • The cost of the EVSE and installation of the charging station.
  • Loss of use of parking space
  • Commitment length for some of the “free” public EVSE installation.  i.e. 7 year agreement of exclusivity for any EVSE installs on the property.

Granted this offer only covers concern 2.  As much as you can explain that the cost to charge an EV is only $.10 per kWH (national average), this is still an incremental cost that the landlord/employer currently does not have.  Others have said that an individual could volunteer to pay for this and it may well behoove you to do so, however, the nice thing about the Chargepoint offer is that it’s on network and there IS a way for the landlord to participate in what Chargepoint will cost per hour.

As for concern 3 on the loss of use of parking spaces, that’s just silly.  I know that my EV takes up exactly the same amount of parking space as any other car.  So, that’s an argument that can be discussed.  Additionally, other solutions have been put in place, such as the one at the Electric Lodge in Venice.  Their solution is to restrict EV only parking between certain hours and allow the spots to be ICEd at other times.

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Either way, the spots get used and you don’t have to worry about under-utilization of a precious commodity like parking spaces.

As for commitment length.  I would gather that it’s all up to negotiation.

So, if you’re interested in getting a free EVSE for your office and live in California.  Make use of the offer above.

Charge It! – Great food near public chargers #5 in an ongoing series – Mateo Street – East side of Downtown Los Angeles, CA (Arts District)

This update on Charge It! is a case of great food and Leaf/MiEV – CHAdeMO – Level 3 (L3) envy…

Huh?

Well, I love my ActiveE.  It gets me almost everywhere.  However, since the J1772 Level 3 standard is yet to be published, BMW released the car with Level 1 and Level 2 charging capability.  Level 3 gets most L3 capable cars to 80% state of charge (SOC) in 30 minutes.  Yes, you read correctly, you get up to 80% of your range in 30 minutes.  Mitsubishi and Nissan support a Japanese standard called CHAdeMO.  BMW, GM and others all decided to go with extending the J1772 format for L3 and that is not quite done yet.

Lucky for you that the food at Church and State is SO great and the wine selection is SO good that you want to stick around for several hours ANYWAY to wait for the L2 charger to finish.

So, what makes it Great! It’s definitely the food in one of the best French Bistro’s in Los Angeles.

We started our meal with the Beef Marrow and Bread. It was AWESOME.

Moelle de Bœuf - Marrow

Moelle de Bœuf - Bread

You get some of the marrow and spread it on your bread and munch. No need for the butter, also as you can tell, it’s definitely carnivore food for that course!

To go with the Moelle de Boeuf, I went with the Tarte Flambee and it was a very good flat bread.

Tarte Flambée 2

Since we were dining in the summer and it was a nice, hot day, figured a Riesling was in order and the one recommended by the Sommelier was very refreshing.

A nice summer Riesling

For our Mains we went with Scallops and Pork, the other white meat. Both were exquisite! I ordered the Pork, but swapped meals with the better half!…

Scallops, Potato Strings and Asparagus

Roasted Pork and Figs

The scallop was tender and plump. It went well with the wine that we chose as well the asparagus on the plate. The Better half let me take a bite of her, formerly my, pork dish and that was great! The Figs and Pork made great accompaniment with each other.

The dessert was scrumptious. We chose a nice, sweet chocolate tarte and paired it with a glass of the 2005 Prieure D’Arche Pugneau Sauternes that was on the menu.

Tarte for Dessert 2

I would say that Church and State rivals another of my favorite French Bistros in Southern California and gives Bouchon in Beverly Hills a run for its money.

Now the negatives, the Sommelier was very good and helpful, however, our server was not as interested in taking care of us.  The restaurant had a lot of people, however, the restaurant also had adequate staff to cover all tables. Our server had a disinterested demeanor about her when she did get around to following up with us. Luckily, it’s a French bistro, so such behavior makes me think of other bistros I have been to in Paris…  Wait, that’s not right, I’ve had better, attentive service in Paris.

However, the biggest negative for me is really the location. It’s on the scary Arts District on the way East side of Downtown Los Angeles. Fine in the summer, really dark in the Fall/Winter. The neighborhood directly between the restaurant and charging station parking lot is well lit, but the rest is really dodgy.

Here is the Google Map to the restaurant


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Here is the Google Map to the Parking Lot, it’s across the street from the restaurant.


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That being said, Church and State does have great food, well-lit blocks between it and the parking spot and charging stations. The parking spot is $5 to park, lots of ample parking on the street for free. Blink Network chargers and this was free to charge at the time that I used it, however, a lot of these have gone to whatever plan you’ve signed up for with Blink!

Coming up next on the blog will be my post on Real Goods Solar and how they won my business from Solar City with the partnership with BMW and good timing on the deal announcement as it related to my Solar City installation.  I’m figuring out my math (and getting a whole new napkin to do that calculations with.)