Charging at Nissan Dealers

[GreenFoot]

Here's a Leaf charging story I wrote for a green car magazine.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1062750_2011-nissan-leaf-free-recharging-at-dealers-except-when-they-balk

 

[mossyleaf]

Great article. I just have to chuckle and shake my head as I read it. Glad you named a name so if I ever see a resume come across my desk with that name on it I would have an idea what to do with it...

 

[BrendanDolan]

Great article. I just have to chuckle and shake my head as I read it. Glad you named a name so if I ever see a resume come across my desk with that name on it I would have an idea what to do with it...

:lol: I love the circular file.

I still don't understand dealership employee's pious attitudes when it comes to helping people who may have not purchased with them. Not helping people is a great way to ensure they never spend money in your store.

 

[davewill]

I have to put blame on Nissan's shoulders, too. They make promises when they tout dealer charging and put the dealers into Carwings as charging stations. They should have known it would be necessary to compel some dealers to follow a reasonable charging policy. I realize that it's too late to jeopardize their LEAF certification, but Nissan should at least require them to provide charging, or be delisted from Carwings.

 

[TomT]

And offering charging access only when the dealership is open also severely limits the point and utility of having chargers in the first place. Nissan Corporate should have also addressed this issue! Finding a dealer in Carwings just to find out, once you get there, that they are closed and you can't charge is worse than not having the dealer listed at all!

I have to put blame on Nissan's shoulders, too. They make promises when they tout dealer charging and put the dealers into Carwings as charging stations. They should have known it would be necessary to compel some dealers to follow a reasonable charging policy. I realize that it's too late to jeopardize their LEAF certification, but Nissan should at least require them to provide charging, or be delisted from Carwings.

 

[JPWhite]

A Car Dealer being a Car Dealer.

Who would have thunk it?

Until very recently the chargers at the dealer I got my LEAF were not 'in use', but inaccessible due to parked vehicles for sale. Same kinda situation. 3 LEAF's came in last week including mine, and the charging spots were free of parked cars. I hope it stays that way.

The salesman did say I was welcome to charge at their location anytime I needed to.

 

[Phoenix]

According to my dealer, there are also Leaf owners behaving badly, ruining it for others. One lady parked/charged her Leaf at their lot all day while she went to work a block away without leaving her key. They have since turned off the electricity and require everyone to check in before turning it on. And, reportedly, they don't allow non-customers to charge, which hopefully will change. On the other hand, many dealers have been very gracious. This only increases the versatility of Leafs and would result in more sales.

 

[JPWhite]

According to my dealer, there are also Leaf owners behaving badly, ruining it for others. One lady parked/charged her Leaf at their lot all day while she went to work a block away without leaving her key. They have since turned off the electricity and require everyone to check in before turning it on. And, reportedly, they don't allow non-customers to charge, which hopefully will change. On the other hand, many dealers have been very gracious. This only increases the versatility of Leafs and would result in more sales.

That's a real shame someone would be so selfish. The reaction of the dealer though isn't that great either. Why not speak with the one offender and ask them to back off a little. I imagine that would be effective. Punishing everyone else because of a minority is always the 'easy way out'.

I like the 'wall of shame' concept. Simply photograph the vehicle and post the picture, just like the local Chinese take-away does here with returned checks.

Technology could also come to the rescue, have the stations be activated by an RFID card. If there is an offender that won't quit being selfish, blacklist their RFID card.

 

[Herm]

I'm sure dealers have dollies to move a parked car, but its a good idea to leave a contact number AND the keys.. this stuff will be sorted out as time goes by.

Next step?.. Nissan forces dealers to install L3 chargers.

 

[JPWhite]

Next step?.. Nissan forces dealers to install L3 chargers.

Like they have in England?!!!?

http://mynissanleafstory.blogspot.com/2011/06/500-mile-trip-in-my-nissan-leaf.html

I believe the dealers in Japan have L3 chargers as well. It seems very short sighted of Nissan not to install L3 chargers in the US. Even though they don't own the dealerships as they do in other countries, having sunk billions into developing the LEAF, couldn't they have sunk a few extra million to subsidize the installs of L3 chargers at dealerships?

 

[Stoaty]

I am sure the Nissan dealer loved that little bit of publicity from the article and the call from Nissan corporate. :lol: Next step: can someone who lives near that dealer do a follow-up and try to charge there?

 

[jkyu99]

Thanks for a great article. It addresses many of my concerns about random charging at dealerships.

While I have never used a Nissan charger, I know my dealer profit on the original purchase was not all profit. The extra money I paid over Nissan's manufacturing costs go to pay for the cost of 'free' chargers and 'free' electricity for all manufacturer brands that stop by for a charge. I recall a dealership photo, on this forum, of a Volt charging next to a Leaf. While I cannot say I paid that particular dealer for the free electricity, I know the dealer is not losing money either. Some other customer paid for the cost of dealer charging via the ubiqitous 'dealer prep' charge on their new car.

p.s. I feel the same about my free rebate. Some schmuck paid a lot of work hours to send that much tax money to the treasures department and then forwarded the money to me.

 

[tps]

Nissan Japan likely did not even contemplate dealers who refuse to allow a LEAF to charge. It strikes me as something that is so foreign to their culture that they probably have a hard time comprehending what must be going through the minds of the refusing dealer...

 

[kovalb]

By law auto companies do not have a lot of control over their dealers. Automakers can suggest, incentivize and penalize, but in the end the dealer can do what they want. They are independent companies. Hopefully they will recognize that keeping good relationships with the EV community leads to stronger profits in the long run.
I do wish they would keep their charging stations open 24/7, but I can see where some have a legitimate reason not to. Some have their stations in the middle of their lot and to access it also provides access to their inventory of vehicles. They should have thought of security when planning it out, but this is new for pretty much all of them.

 

[TomT]

Actually, auto manufacturers do have one big hammer in their arsenal: control of allotments. Lexus has used it successfully a number of times in the past.

By law auto companies do not have a lot of control over their dealers. Automakers can suggest, incentivize and penalize, but in the end the dealer can do what they want. They are independent companies. Hopefully they will recognize that keeping good relationships with the EV community leads to stronger profits in the long run.
I do wish they would keep their charging stations open 24/7, but I can see where some have a legitimate reason not to. Some have their stations in the middle of their lot and to access it also provides access to their inventory of vehicles. They should have thought of security when planning it out, but this is new for pretty much all of them.

 

[TEG]

And this too:
http://www.hoopdi.com/guide/index.php/Invoice-Net-Cost-and-Holdback/Dealer-Holdback.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[davewill]

According to my dealer, there are also Leaf owners behaving badly, ruining it for others. One lady parked/charged her Leaf at their lot all day while she went to work a block away without leaving her key. They have since turned off the electricity and require everyone to check in before turning it on. And, reportedly, they don't allow non-customers to charge, which hopefully will change...

Total over-reaction to a single incident. Completely unjustified. Require people to check in, sure, but refusing non-customers is just being a bad dealer.

 

[Reddy]

I have had excellent service from our only Nissan dealership in town! I've only charged twice (quick top off), emailing in advance both times for permission. There are only eight cars in the area, so this isn't a huge market yet. Don't know when more cars will be available for selling out here in the sticks. I don't expect there to be many other options for charging in the near future.

Reddy

 

[Vitor]

My son has a picture of the charger for the Puente Hills Nissan dealer chargers.
They are installed on a wall, next to the showroom. Outside the showroom there is a "sidewalk" where they place their "hot cars", it is the outdoor showroom.
You have to drive up a curb and push one of the show cars off the pad to get to the chargers.
I asked about charging my Leaf there and first, they said it was not public. I told them to check with the manager.
Next day I got a call from the manager stating it was free and available for Leaf owners, so I paid them a second visit with my son.
That's when he took the picture. Impossible to use.

The other side of the coin is Downtown LA Nissan, the charger is on a lot besides the building, no hassle to get to, and nobody around to tell you yay or nay.
Now, if I could get Downtown LA Nissan to make good on their mistake and refund me the "Smog fee" they charged me when I purchased my Leaf.
Now that I think of it, this will be a topic by itself. They will love the free publicity.

 

[davewill]

...Next day I got a call from the manager stating it was free and available for Leaf owners, so I paid them a second visit with my son.
That's when he took the picture. Impossible to use. ...

Did you actually ask them to let you use it when you got there? They probably have a temporary ramp to get cars up the curb...or they may have a charging station that's less public, but more accessible.