Florida CHAdeMO DCQC news

[jrreno]

Hey all, I just shipped my Leaf from Dallas to So. Flo and I am happy to see the amount of quick charge stations popping up but I do have a few complaints that I'd like to share with Nissan.

The complaints I have are:

1) The QC stations installed at Nissan dealerships are accessible ONLY during business hours. Because of this, there's a good chance that the QC station will be blocked by a non-electric vehicle and we cannot charge at night, when most of us need to charge our vehicles.

2) Some of these QC stations installed at Nissan dealerships can only be accessed by those with a CharePoint account (Key Fob). Some Nissan dealers even CHARGE Nissan Leaf customers to use these stations.

I feel that this is not right for those of us who went ahead and invested in a Leaf. Nissan does want to encourage Leaf ownership right? It seems that with the 2 problems I addressed above, they have put up "obstacle blocks" to electric car ownership.

Does anyone have an address to the head "Leaf People" at Nissan?

I have not run into the dealerships that charge yet. I totally agree with your complaint regarding hours of operation.
I do not have an address but I have talked to Leaf Customer Relations at (877) 664-2738. Maybe they can give you the address.

Welcome to Florida!

 

[Weatherman]

Hey all, I just shipped my Leaf from Dallas to So. Flo and I am happy to see the amount of quick charge stations popping up but I do have a few complaints that I'd like to share with Nissan.

Remember that these charging stations at independent Nissan dealerships are not public charging stations. They are private stations owned by private businesses whose job is to make money. If you bought a car at one of these dealerships, you might expect a little extra courtesy. Otherwise, they don't owe any of us anything.

 

[Anonymous]

Independent huh? Well they may as well rip off the Nissan Logos from the cars that they sell and sell "independent cars".

 

[keydiver]

Plugshare is showing a Chademo charger at PGA National Resort and Spa near West Palm Beach.

Just an FYI for anyone intending to use this DCQC: don't panic if there is an unplugged LEAF blocking the DCQC. I needed a quick charge last week while my wife was at the doctor, and found it blocked, and thought I was going to get stuck. All the L2 units were iced also! But, when I asked the valets if they knew who owned the LEAF, or if he had left the key, they assured me it was actually a rental car that they keep on the premises, and they gladly moved it. 20 minutes gave me 6 kWh, according to the screen.

 

[cwerdna]

Hey all, I just shipped my Leaf from Dallas to So. Flo and I am happy to see the amount of quick charge stations popping up but I do have a few complaints that I'd like to share with Nissan.

The complaints I have are:

1) The QC stations installed at Nissan dealerships are accessible ONLY during business hours. Because of this, there's a good chance that the QC station will be blocked by a non-electric vehicle and we cannot charge at night, when most of us need to charge our vehicles.

2) Some of these QC stations installed at Nissan dealerships can only be accessed by those with a CharePoint account (Key Fob). Some Nissan dealers even CHARGE Nissan Leaf customers to use these stations.

1) Yes, this sucks.
2) See http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15867&p=353976#p353976" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for context, esp. Paul Scott's posts.

BTW, you do know that that the average cost for hardware and installation at dealers for the DC FC is $49K, right? (From http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=14669&p=332063&hilit=%2449K+average#p332063" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false. http://nissanqc.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; alone is $15.5K. I'm unclear how much Nissan corporate covered of the total cost to install at a dealer, esp. given the job postings I posted at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=12277&p=281799" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

This doesn't include the cost of electricity and demand charges the dealer might be hit with nor repairs if the station goes down, the CHAdeMO handle breaks, etc.

Remember that these charging stations at independent Nissan dealerships are not public charging stations. They are private stations owned by private businesses whose job is to make money. If you bought a car at one of these dealerships, you might expect a little extra courtesy. Otherwise, they don't owe any of us anything.

Yep.

Independent huh? Well they may as well rip off the Nissan Logos from the cars that they sell and sell "independent cars".

Due to state franchise laws, apparently, in the US, automakers cannot own dealerships. Thus, it's unfortunate Nissan can only do so much to control dealerships which they don't and cannot own.

I only learned of this after hearing all the news about Tesla's battles maybe in this area about 1.5 to 3 years ago... Google for tesla franchise laws.

 

[eshapir]

Just a friendly reminder that Pinecrest Gardens has a free DCQC station available to the public. It's posted on Plugshare and is available anytime the Gardens are open. Instead of sitting at a Nissan dealership, plug in and charge and stroll around the botanical gardens, read a book from the library, go work out at the gym, take the kids to the playground, go for a walk along Red Road and much more. We need more DCQC stations in proper locations similar to the Gardens. How many of us want to sit around in a car dealership for 30 min.?

 

[spike09]

Bill Siedle Nissan has a DCQC installed but the handle was padlocked and the unit was off.

 

[spike09]

South Florida CHAdeMo update:
PGA National Resort and Spa (free)
AutoNation Nissan of Delray (free)
Weston Nissan (free)
Palmetto57 Nissan (free)
Bill Seidles Nissan ($5 charge)
AutoNation Nissan of Miami (free)
Pinecrest Gardens (free)
AutoNation Nissan of Kendall (free)

These have all been verified as working quick chargers on PlugShare.com

 

[nelsonh]

Latest South Florida CHAdeMo update based on PlugShare.com with ratings:

PGA National Resort and Spa (free) (rating = 7.2)
AutoNation Nissan of Delray (free) (rating = 0.3) **not working as of 4/17**
Weston Nissan (free) (rating = 9.0)
AutoNation Nissan of Pembroke Pines (free) (rating = 9.0)
Palmetto57 Nissan (free) (rating = 7.8)
Bill Seidles Nissan ($5 charge) (rating = 2.0)
AutoNation Nissan of Miami (free) (rating = 6.9)
Pinecrest Gardens (free) (rating = 10)
AutoNation Nissan of Kendall (free) (rating = 9.3)

These have all been verified as working quick chargers on PlugShare.com
Note; some require a ChargePoint card to activate. Confirmed at AutoNation Nissan of Miami and AutoNation Nissan of Delray.

 

[spike09]

Latest South Florida CHAdeMo update based on PlugShare.com with ratings:

PGA National Resort and Spa (free) (rating = 7.2)
AutoNation Nissan of Delray (free) (rating = 0.3) **not working as of 4/17**
Weston Nissan (free) (rating = 9.0)
AutoNation Nissan of Pembroke Pines (free) (rating = 9.0)
Palmetto57 Nissan (free) (rating = 7.8)
Bill Seidles Nissan ($5 charge) (rating = 2.0)
AutoNation Nissan of Miami (free) (rating = 6.9)
Pinecrest Gardens (free) (rating = 10)
AutoNation Nissan of Kendall (free) (rating = 9.3)

These have all been verified as working quick chargers on PlugShare.com
Note; some require a ChargePoint card to activate. Confirmed at AutoNation Nissan of Miami and AutoNation Nissan of Delray.

Thanks for adding the PlugShare ratings.

Most all of the Level 2 ChargePoint stations also require a ChargePoint card to activate.

I think all the Nissan DC Quick chargers require a ChargePoint card so you can tell if the charger is offline or in use.

 

[nelsonh]

OK, your're welcome. I checked the ChargePoint map and so far for South Florida they only have the Penbroke Pines and Kendall DCQC stations available on their map where you can see if they are available or in use etc..

 

[spike09]

OK, your're welcome. I checked the ChargePoint map and so far for South Florida they only have the Penbroke Pines and Kendall DCQC stations available on their map where you can see if they are available or in use etc..

Honestly I have never even bothered to see which DCQC show up on the in-car Nav System. I mostly rely on PlugShare and CarStation for my info.

Along with Google Maps and the government website (http://www.afdc.energy.gov/locator/stations/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false it is sad that all the vendors (ChargePoint, SemaCharge, BlinkNetwork, etc) require separate access cards.


I hope the situation improves with Nissan EZ Charge and BMW ChargeNow coming online even though BWM DCQC is not a CHAdeMO connector!

 

[nelsonh]

Yes, I agree, PlugShare is probably the most accurate and usable source. ChargePoint maps are only updated when the local sponsors complete their activation/registration with them, so its not as accurate. So far I had to open two problem tickets on their support web site to try and have them update their map for missing stations.

Thanks for the post and let's hope that through social media and ratings used in PlugShare dealers start paying more attention to the EV driver community.