I went by Bell Ford yesterday and used the DCFC for a couple of minutes just for fun. Didn't have my clamp meter on me. I have a feeling they are going to wait to add these to the map until they start charging money.
Phoenix metro-area
- Thread starter SilverSL
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Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:
jspearman
Well-known member
Just saying hello from a Leaf driver in Phoenix. We moved from Ohio to Phoenix back in August, and have had the car since September, but haven't had much time to get involved with any other EV drivers until now. We just installed our solar system, so I thought it was time to get connected and see what other Leaf drivers are up to and find out where new chargers are popping up. I met a guy named David down at Monti's in Tempe as he was charging his Leaf, but he's the only person I've chatted up about the car besides the Blink folks at their headquarters. Hope to run into some of you around town. Cheers. James
SilverLeaf
Well-known member
jspearman said:
Welcome to the Forum, and to the Phoenix metro area.
I got my LEAF in April 2011 (a year ago today) and Installed my Solar System in February 2011 and upgraded the system in February 2012, I charge daily to 100% and charge on-peak, which makes the cost $0.00.
I've met lots of LEAF owners here in the Phoenix Area. At the Premier of Revenge of the Electric Car at the Camelview in Scottsdale, there were about a dozen of us.
Post your Solar Production in the Our Solar Production section. We'll be interested to see how you do.
jspearman
Well-known member
SilverLeaf said:
Congrats on a year of gas-free driving. Are you with APS or SRP? Our solar installation was just finished and is awaiting APS to certify the system and put in the second meter. Silly that it just sits there for weeks. Anyway, just wondering what plan you are on with rates. I'm trying to decide whether or not to stay on the 7-12 time advantage plan and wondering what your experience has been. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
SilverLeaf
Well-known member
jspearman said:
I am with APS and am on the Time Advantage 9pm-9am, and EPR-6 Net Metering. Unfortunately, the 9-9 plan is frozen. My system replaces 125% of my ON-PEAK Usage, so I want my on-peak to be when I generate the most electricity. The APS inspector arrived within 48 hours of completion of the installation.
I am also with APS. I am on, Time Adv 7pm-Noon, EPR-6, plan.
I was on RATE SCHEDULE ECT-2 RESIDENTIAL SERVICE TIME-OF-USE WITH DEMAND CHARGE COMBINED ADVANTAGE 7PM-NOON. This plan is not an optimal choice for people with PVs.
I choose to recharge during daytime when my AC is not on all day. But when temperatures require AC on all day, I will switch to recharge after 7PM because I will need all the On-Peak credits to offset the AC power demands during the On-Peak times.
APS wasn't real helpful when I asked for guidance on plan choice two years ago. They insisted they needed 1 year of data before they could make a recommendation. I wonder if they are more supportive now that so many homes have PV systems installed.
I was on RATE SCHEDULE ECT-2 RESIDENTIAL SERVICE TIME-OF-USE WITH DEMAND CHARGE COMBINED ADVANTAGE 7PM-NOON. This plan is not an optimal choice for people with PVs.
I choose to recharge during daytime when my AC is not on all day. But when temperatures require AC on all day, I will switch to recharge after 7PM because I will need all the On-Peak credits to offset the AC power demands during the On-Peak times.
APS wasn't real helpful when I asked for guidance on plan choice two years ago. They insisted they needed 1 year of data before they could make a recommendation. I wonder if they are more supportive now that so many homes have PV systems installed.
shrink
Well-known member
Glad this discussion about PV and APS rates came up. I was actually going to post about this and get some feedback from the forum.
Anyway, I have a 6.9kWh PV system (10 south facing panels and 20 west facing panels) with EPR-6 and APS Time Advantage 7pm to noon. I also have a Smart Meter. As is, on-peak usage is 0 ( I currently have a 972 kWh on-peak credit) and we only pay for off-peak. I hope that stays true in the summer, especially since this house has two A/C units. This system went online in 12/2011. I had a 5.1 kWh PV system at my old house, too, and my highest bill in August was $140.
I called APS to inquire about the EV rate:
http://www.aps.com/main/green/choice/EV/ev_4.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
We always charge at night, so charging from 11pm to 5 am would not be an issue for us. APS told me that to qualify for the EV rates, I'd have to switch to EPR-2, which I don't want to do. They also told me the Time Advantage SuperPeak (which charges a super peak rate from 3pm to 6pm) is not available with EPR-6. In my situation, I think the SuperPeak would be ideal, since I have 20 west facing panels, but has anyone else heard the SuperPeak plan is not available with EPR-6? Is anyone with PV on EPR-2? Just curious if there are some advantages to the latter.
Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, a Smart Meter is required for the EV rates.
Looks like I'll be keeping my plan as is, but that EV rate with the SuperPeak plan would have been ideal.
Anyway, I have a 6.9kWh PV system (10 south facing panels and 20 west facing panels) with EPR-6 and APS Time Advantage 7pm to noon. I also have a Smart Meter. As is, on-peak usage is 0 ( I currently have a 972 kWh on-peak credit) and we only pay for off-peak. I hope that stays true in the summer, especially since this house has two A/C units. This system went online in 12/2011. I had a 5.1 kWh PV system at my old house, too, and my highest bill in August was $140.
I called APS to inquire about the EV rate:
http://www.aps.com/main/green/choice/EV/ev_4.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
We always charge at night, so charging from 11pm to 5 am would not be an issue for us. APS told me that to qualify for the EV rates, I'd have to switch to EPR-2, which I don't want to do. They also told me the Time Advantage SuperPeak (which charges a super peak rate from 3pm to 6pm) is not available with EPR-6. In my situation, I think the SuperPeak would be ideal, since I have 20 west facing panels, but has anyone else heard the SuperPeak plan is not available with EPR-6? Is anyone with PV on EPR-2? Just curious if there are some advantages to the latter.
Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, a Smart Meter is required for the EV rates.
Looks like I'll be keeping my plan as is, but that EV rate with the SuperPeak plan would have been ideal.
phxsmiley
Well-known member
This article says that there is a Phoenix area Costco with a J1772 charger. I thought there weren't any in the valley? Does anyone know which Costco this is talking about?
http://www.neontommy.com/news/2012/04/electric-vehicles-charge-consumer-behavior
http://www.neontommy.com/news/2012/04/electric-vehicles-charge-consumer-behavior
That's a new one to me. Costco notoriously about a year ago issued a memo to it's stores in California to remove non-working charging equipment and a lot of stores did remove them, including a lot of functioning units. There are a few left, but not many. In the 90's most of the Costco stores here had the large paddle inductive chargers, but they all pulled them out in the early 2000's except the Peoria store at 83rd Ave and Bell and this one had a different setup, it had a large paddle inductive and a box with a NEMA 5-20 and 14-50 outlets! I was using this with my converted Saturn as often as I could just to try and show them some usage. I even had it where the parking lot cart people would move the garbage can out of the way for me when I pulled up some times. One day a few years ago I went to charge and they mysteriously were gone to my dismay. I talked to management and it turns out someone thought it was a handicapped spot, drove through the garbage can they kept in the space and right over the top of the chargers so they removed them. The conduit is still there, it would be incredibly easy for them to unbury it and re-install something. I was specifically told by Mark Solberman at Ecotality that Costco would not be participating in the EV Project so if a Costco does have an EVSE still this is an interesting about face.
The more likely scenario is that it's an existing location near a Costco, the picture is of a Nissan/Aerovironment EVSE. I'm looking at the maps side by side and it looks like the closest charging to a Costco would be at Ellitot and Priest which is walkable from Power Nissan, but it would be a good walk, especially with Costco size items in tow.
I'd also like to mention I went back to Riverview Toyota on Friday and used the DC fast charger without issue again and it was very nice because I put about 80 miles on the car that day, starting out with an 80% charge. I'm going to try and monitor it closer, but it did start out at 121 amps again, but quickly dropped to about 80-90 amps. I'm not sure whether this is the car saying slow down or the power supply just isn't able to make enough power when it's over 100 out. The power supply certainly has a large amount of air flow during fast charging, and it was not much warmer than ambient. The only way to know would be to have two cars lined up charging one after the other and measure the initial input the the second car when it starts.
The more likely scenario is that it's an existing location near a Costco, the picture is of a Nissan/Aerovironment EVSE. I'm looking at the maps side by side and it looks like the closest charging to a Costco would be at Ellitot and Priest which is walkable from Power Nissan, but it would be a good walk, especially with Costco size items in tow.
I'd also like to mention I went back to Riverview Toyota on Friday and used the DC fast charger without issue again and it was very nice because I put about 80 miles on the car that day, starting out with an 80% charge. I'm going to try and monitor it closer, but it did start out at 121 amps again, but quickly dropped to about 80-90 amps. I'm not sure whether this is the car saying slow down or the power supply just isn't able to make enough power when it's over 100 out. The power supply certainly has a large amount of air flow during fast charging, and it was not much warmer than ambient. The only way to know would be to have two cars lined up charging one after the other and measure the initial input the the second car when it starts.
Volusiano
Well-known member
I have used the Riverview QC twice before, and can you confirm my understanding that if there were 2 cars there, both plugged in, the QC station will not charge both cars simultaneously. The second car that's plugged in later will have to wait until the first car to finish charging before the QC station will switch over to charge the second car, right? So in effect, there's really 1 QC station there charging up to 2 cars sequentially.RickS said:
Volusiano said:
I assume you are talking about the ECOtality Blink DC-FC. That unit has two CHAdeMO plugs but can only charge one car at a time. The second car is supposed to be able to plug-in and have its charge begin when the first car's ends - enabling the driver to go do something else. I have never tried it with two cars though, so I don't know if there are any tricks like needing to preset the settings. That might be a good question to ask ECOtality on http://blinkshare.blinknetwork.com/blink
LEAFfan
Well-known member
The Riverview DCQC needed a software update to function properly. It was done Friday, April 13 and has been working properly ever since. The Bell Ford DCQC was having the same software problem last week and I don't know if it has been fixed.
If you connect to the second plug while one is in progress, you do all the inputs, then it starts (if car's timer is set to charge) when the first one finishes. The car's BMS, not the charger, limits the amps.
If you connect to the second plug while one is in progress, you do all the inputs, then it starts (if car's timer is set to charge) when the first one finishes. The car's BMS, not the charger, limits the amps.
Right, I was suggesting having two cars charge one after the other and measuring the initial charge current on the second car. I'm wondering if the default "80%" charge that the Blink will shut off at is intentionally a bit low because the current seems to drop quite a bit above roughly 2/3. I was wondering if the unit had sufficient cooling to provide enough power or not as I recall Nissan was saying their lower cost DC fast charger would come in a couple different flavors, one of which was for hot climates.
It's probably my car telling it to slow down, but it intrigued me. One would think since they have an office here and as far as I know the first Blink DC fast charger installed that they would have designed it specifically for our hot summers.
On a separate note I'm sitting here contemplating a crazy move. Has anyone considered driving from Phoenix to Prescott in their Leaf? It would require a stop and full charge at the Anthem outlet mall and from there it's about 65 miles to Lamb Nissan, which would hopefully have a level 2 I could use for a couple of hours. The only problem is it's about 3,500 feet of elevation gain and I'd prefer if I could hold no less than 60mph on the road, and could find a slow truck to stay behind on the worse part of the climb. If only there was somewhere around Cordes to charge I'd feel more comfortable with it. What do you guys think? Am I completely crazy? Coming back should be doable on a full charge.
It's probably my car telling it to slow down, but it intrigued me. One would think since they have an office here and as far as I know the first Blink DC fast charger installed that they would have designed it specifically for our hot summers.
On a separate note I'm sitting here contemplating a crazy move. Has anyone considered driving from Phoenix to Prescott in their Leaf? It would require a stop and full charge at the Anthem outlet mall and from there it's about 65 miles to Lamb Nissan, which would hopefully have a level 2 I could use for a couple of hours. The only problem is it's about 3,500 feet of elevation gain and I'd prefer if I could hold no less than 60mph on the road, and could find a slow truck to stay behind on the worse part of the climb. If only there was somewhere around Cordes to charge I'd feel more comfortable with it. What do you guys think? Am I completely crazy? Coming back should be doable on a full charge.
nrgrevolution
Member
Hello RickS,
The wife and I recently (last Dec) drove up to Prescott to buy a handgun, and scope out the possibility of driving the leaf up there some time. My plan was to stop at the RV/campgrounds at the Cordes Junction. They have 40 to 50 amp service in some spots and using ingineer's adapted 110v to 220v charger with appropriate pigtail one would be able to top off at L2, get a bit to eat at their restaurant and make it to Prescott.
We stopped at the park, looked around, then quickly got approached by the owners, nice couple wondering if we had questions/needed help. A long and positive discussion ensued with the owners being very open to installing L2 blinks and possibly an L3. After which we arrived in Prescott, went to Lamb's to see the NON existing chargers. They had none and no plans to install at that time. Upon returning home, I was disappointed by the 2 lane 80 mph traffic and LARGE, and seemingly never ending hills I vaguely remembered from my last trip to Prescott some 20 years earlier.
This emptied any aspirations I had of the trip with the leaf. If I had the entire road to myself the entire way and a full charge at Anthem, I'd love to try it, and I know I'd make it. But, that ain't gonna happen :| Good luck if you try, and if want, call the owners of the park and hook em up with Blink.
The wife and I recently (last Dec) drove up to Prescott to buy a handgun, and scope out the possibility of driving the leaf up there some time. My plan was to stop at the RV/campgrounds at the Cordes Junction. They have 40 to 50 amp service in some spots and using ingineer's adapted 110v to 220v charger with appropriate pigtail one would be able to top off at L2, get a bit to eat at their restaurant and make it to Prescott.
We stopped at the park, looked around, then quickly got approached by the owners, nice couple wondering if we had questions/needed help. A long and positive discussion ensued with the owners being very open to installing L2 blinks and possibly an L3. After which we arrived in Prescott, went to Lamb's to see the NON existing chargers. They had none and no plans to install at that time. Upon returning home, I was disappointed by the 2 lane 80 mph traffic and LARGE, and seemingly never ending hills I vaguely remembered from my last trip to Prescott some 20 years earlier.
This emptied any aspirations I had of the trip with the leaf. If I had the entire road to myself the entire way and a full charge at Anthem, I'd love to try it, and I know I'd make it. But, that ain't gonna happen :| Good luck if you try, and if want, call the owners of the park and hook em up with Blink.
shrink
Well-known member
Tried the L3 @ Riverview Toyota today. Right side was out of order and left side would not read my card. Called Blink and was told there was an open service ticket for the right and that she could not remotely turn on left side.
I was able to charge at the L2 there, but had planned on the L3. Grabbed a beer across the street @ Famous Dave's and watched some NBA basketball for a 1-1/2 hour charge so I could get home.
I was able to charge at the L2 there, but had planned on the L3. Grabbed a beer across the street @ Famous Dave's and watched some NBA basketball for a 1-1/2 hour charge so I could get home.
LEAFfan
Well-known member
shrink said:
It has developed some more problems. It was working last week after the software update, but some new issues have arisen. That must have been your Glacier Pearl one at the L2 I saw today. The Bell Ford DCQC isn't working now either and has the same two screen problems as Riverview's.
shrink
Well-known member
LEAFfan said:
Yes, that indeed was mine. I live a little north of central Phoenix in midtown, but had some things to do in Chandler and Gilbert this morning. I had only charged to 80% overnight but figured I could do the L3 on the way back. I was down to one bar @ Riverview with a low battery warning.
1-1/2 hours of L2 charging got me to 4 bars and I made it home with 2 bars via the 202 and 51 (i.e., mostly highway).
Good thing there are lots of shops and restaurants across the street!
First time poster, long time lurker.
I've had my leaf for a year now and I love the car. Unfortunately my wife and I are separating and neither one of us can keep the car. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to get rid of it? Should we just bite the bullet and take the loss as a trade in? I'm not sure what type of market there would be for a used electric car if we tried to sell it privately.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I've had my leaf for a year now and I love the car. Unfortunately my wife and I are separating and neither one of us can keep the car. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to get rid of it? Should we just bite the bullet and take the loss as a trade in? I'm not sure what type of market there would be for a used electric car if we tried to sell it privately.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
shrink
Well-known member
keyman said:
Very sorry to hear about both of your imminent partings. Take care and I hope it all works out for the best.
RE: The LEAF, boy I don't know. I imagine you'll have to price it keeping the tax credit I assume you claimed in mind. I would guess there's a market for a private sale, as I imagine a lot of people would love to be able to get around gas-free. Yours would be a substantial discount without sales tax as compared to buying new and waiting for a tax credit for which the buyer may or may not qualify.
I would suggest starting with a local enthusiast group that knows EV's:
http://phoenixeaa.com/classifieds/main.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Hopefully, you're preaching to the choir there and would find an eager and knowledgeable buyer.
Good luck with everything!
