Nissan Dealership DCQC charging survey - misses the point?

[DeaneG]

Of course my dealer is 50 miles from someone else; all else being equal, I'd much rather have QC placed somewhere interesting instead. But if we are talking about incremental QC installations, certainly more charging opportunities could only be an improvement.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Of course my dealer is 50 miles from someone else; all else being equal, I'd much rather have QC placed somewhere interesting instead. But if we are talking about incremental QC installations, certainly more charging opportunities could only be an improvement.

i much rather have them placed in a 5 mile grid all over whether the place is interesting or not

 

[camasleaf]

i much rather have them placed in a 5 mile grid all over whether the place is interesting or not

10 miles will also work, you would always be witnin 7 miles from one. And chances are you will be even closer before you actually really need it.

 

[EVDrive]

This is my favorite thread of the week. I appreciate the spirited debate with the occasional occasional slap in the face to one another.

Back on topic. More quick chargers = more Leaf EVs on the road and that is awesome. The Leaf will never succeed if the average owner and the average buyer on the market can't charge quickly or believes they wont be able to charge quickly when the unexpected need comes up.

 

[EVDrive]

This is my favorite thread of the week. I appreciate the spirited debate with the occasional slap in the face to one another.

Back on topic. More quick chargers = more Leaf EVs on the road and that is awesome. The Leaf will never succeed if the average owner and the average buyer on the market can't charge quickly or believes they wont be able to charge quickly when the unexpected need comes up.

 

[EricH]

The "Dealership" QC model isn't my favorite, but it sounds way better than today's model (zip, unless you pass by Mitsubishi with a low SOC). Not sure the dealers will want to write an invoice and send you to the cashier for a $7 fee, but if Nissan can pressure their dealers into offering this, I'd use it. Nissan dealers are usually next to freeways (Cerritos, Monrovia, and Thousand Oaks pop to mind, plus Fontana), making them ideal, easy-to-spot en route stations. They have restrooms, vending machines, and usually a TV, and are secure. Downsides: not 24/7, they won't get them in all dealerships, and history suggests Nissan will never be able to enforce consistent pricing, hours, or access the way we customers would like (how does McDonalds make fries come out the same in 4,000 restaurants, but Nissan can't make 10 dealers offer consistent L2 access??).

I'd prefer imperfect QC's to non-existent ones.

 

[cwerdna]

The "Dealership" QC model isn't my favorite, but it sounds way better than today's model (zip, unless you pass by Mitsubishi with a low SOC). Not sure the dealers will want to write an invoice and send you to the cashier for a $7 fee, but if Nissan can pressure their dealers into offering this, I'd use it. Nissan dealers are usually next to freeways (Cerritos, Monrovia, and Thousand Oaks pop to mind, plus Fontana), making them ideal, easy-to-spot en route stations. They have restrooms, vending machines, and usually a TV, and are secure. Downsides: not 24/7, they won't get them in all dealerships, and history suggests Nissan will never be able to enforce consistent pricing, hours, or access the way we customers would like (how does McDonalds make fries come out the same in 4,000 restaurants, but Nissan can't make 10 dealers offer consistent L2 access??).

I'd prefer imperfect QC's to non-existent ones.

FWIW, some dealers (not necessarily Nissan ones) even have restaurants and cafes. See http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1077244_car-dealerships-you-staying-for-dinner" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Lexus Escondido (http://www.lexusescondido.com/AboutUs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false is pretty over the top. Take a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7XsdZu3QsI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySW5ZtzbwgA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. I'd imagine they don't have the lowest prices on Lexuses...

Now that I think about Nissan dealer locations, yep, many of them are next to freeways and most of the others I can think of aren't that far from one.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

FWIW, some dealers (not necessarily Nissan ones) even have restaurants and cafes

My local Nissan dealer is part of a large complex called "Driver's Village". It is actually an old shopping mall that was re-purposed as a conglomerate of car dealerships. They have a cafe, even a model train exhibit. Heck, just walking from Nissan to the end of the mall and back is enough time to grab a quick charge. Plus, it's right by the intersection of two major highways (I-81 and I-481). Anyone coming to Syracuse from Oswego, Rochester, Utica, even Cortland have easy access. I know there are other cases less ideal, but a QC at Driver's Village just makes sense.

Oh, and it doesn't matter to me that it's less than 5 miles from my home. Maybe I would never use it, but it sure would help Nissan sell more Leafs.

 

[Twiggy]

Buried in that survey is a blockbuster idea, if only a Nissan dealer wants to sell more LEAF's which I am not sure is the case.

Offering a loaner Nissan (Versa or Altima) to LEAF owners when they need to take a long road trip is a fantastic idea. Imagine, you want to take a long weekend trip: drop of your LEAF at the dealer on a Friday afternoon, pick-up the loaner, they wash and charge your LEAF while you are gone and you pick it up on Monday on your way to/from work. They charge a reasonable mileage fee, so the dealer doesn't lose money, but the customer doesn't balk.

As a former marketing person, this has such potential--eliminates one of the limitations to the all electric, test drive other Nissan products, getting the LEAF into their service shop (mine hasn't see the dealer yet).

Is anyone from Nissan listening?

 

[edatoakrun]

Buried in that survey is a blockbuster idea, if only a Nissan dealer wants to sell more LEAF's which I am not sure is the case.

Offering a loaner Nissan (Versa or Altima) to LEAF owners when they need to take a long road trip is a fantastic idea. Imagine, you want to take a long weekend trip: drop of your LEAF at the dealer on a Friday afternoon, pick-up the loaner, they wash and charge your LEAF while you are gone and you pick it up on Monday on your way to/from work. They charge a reasonable mileage fee, so the dealer doesn't lose money, but the customer doesn't balk...

Crown Nissan Redding Ca has a rental service for ~$35 a day. Same cars used in their loaner car program. Check your local dealer.

During the one repair my LEAF has had, the TCU replacement, I was given a brand new Versa as a loaner.

It took longer than anticipated to repair, ~5 days. I was out of town (driving the Versa to the SF bay area) when my car was finished, and Crown was nice enough to "comp" me for the extra day it took me to return the Versa, with ~750 miles on the odometer.

I will make the same trip later this year, and will probably rent from Crown, unless the Vacaville DC actually is up and running by then.

 

[Phoenix]

Santa Rosa Nissan has solar panels to offset its DC QC energy. I would gladly donate/pay for solar panels at a Nissan dealership in exchange for "free" DCQC-ing. If enough of us do so at friendly dealerships we are likely to use, we could cover their roof with solar panels and thereby create our own Tesla-like supercharger network.

 

[caffeinekid]

I went ahead and answered this survey. I like the idea of having QC at the dealerships. We already have eVgo Freedom Stations, but they are not spread out enough for me to not have to plan my routes with them in mind. Having QC at dealerships would fill in the gaps nicely here in Houston. What I saw as promising was the fact that the survey had $200.00/year as the maximum choice on the "how much would you pay for unlimited" portion. I currently pay ~ $40/month. And many dealerships have already started catching on to the "leisure center" gambit. Having a nice clean place that makes people WANT to be there is a good policy.

 

[Electric4Me]

FWIW, some dealers (not necessarily Nissan ones) even have restaurants and cafes

My local Nissan dealer is part of a large complex called "Driver's Village". It is actually an old shopping mall that was re-purposed as a conglomerate of car dealerships. They have a cafe, even a model train exhibit.

That's cool that they have an exhibit of outdated technology on site. Now we need to get them to add ICE cars to the exhibit! :lol:

 

[GetOffYourGas]

FWIW, some dealers (not necessarily Nissan ones) even have restaurants and cafes

My local Nissan dealer is part of a large complex called "Driver's Village". It is actually an old shopping mall that was re-purposed as a conglomerate of car dealerships. They have a cafe, even a model train exhibit.

That's cool that they have an exhibit of outdated technology on site. Now we need to get them to add ICE cars to the exhibit! :lol:

:lol:

At least the trains are electric vehicles