How to reduce anxiety over finding "functioning" Charging Stations?

[wtdedula]

Hello All;
I am about to plan a fairly long trip - Well longer than I usually take (Ie. 120 miles) and I am in the process of plotting my route to visit a charging station say every 40 miles along my route. I have at times visited a charging station that wasn't functioning. Since there is a lack of charging stations "Between" large cities in Ohio, I get nervous that one of the charging stations I plan to visit will be non-functioning when I get there. Is there any way to determine if a station is functioning prior to leaving on a trip so that I can alter my route if a station is out of order ? What do you fella do ? Can you give me some tips to plan smarter? Thanks.

 

[salyavin]

Look at all the chargers you plan (probably via https://abetterrouteplanner.com/ ) in plugshare https://www.plugshare.com/ to see if there are recent charge problems. Also I recommend installing and checking the apps for each charge network you might use as they sometimes update a problem before plugshare. I have done very long trips this way with no issue. I would recommend getting RFID cards in case you are in an area with poor signal but in your case I take it you will still be urban.

I take it you have an older LEAF, does it have CHAdeMO or are you stuck on l2 charging? That will make a big difference in your time. Winter helps you as repeated fast charges can really heat up the battery which can make later charges much slower.

 

[cwerdna]

^^^
Yep on all of the above.

Also, for some networks, they will indicate if they know the a given handle or charger is offline. EVgo sometimes does, but not always.

For ChargePoint, you can see when it was supposedly last used (lists the registered vehicles of the last few users) but that may/may not be accurate or helpful.

Otherwise, the only alternative is take another vehicle (e.g. PHEV or ICEV) or one w/longer range on a charge... I can easily go well beyond 120 miles on a full charge on my Bolt.

Per https://mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=31809, OP has a '16 S trim. Sure hope he has the charge package which adds the CHAdeMO inlet and upgrades the OBC to 6.6 kW. Unclear if his is a 24 kWh '16 original S or a 30 kWh "S 30" (https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1106593_nissan-leaf-s-quietly-gets-30-kwh-battery-upgrade-higher-price).

 

[wtdedula]

Thanks all;
Luckily I have CHAdeMO so can do fast charging if one is available on my route .

I just got this car to get my feet wet in EVs. I love it so much (Except the range) that I am saving up for a new generation EV late this year or early next. Then I'll use my current Leaf for just local stuff.

Tim

 

[PrairieLEAF]

If your routes are short on charging stations, you might try a private charging map like evmatch.com to see if there are any additional options.

Carrying the EVSE along (if you don't already) gives me additional confidence on longer trips--it opens up a lot of charging possibilities. You might also acquire and carry a 220 V EVSE so you have the option to stop at a business or garage and ask to borrow a 220 V outlet for a few hours if you get in a jam.

Have you seen Arkady Fiedler's Africa crossing with a 30 kWh LEAF? Most of his energy came from asking locals to borrow an outlet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caAksZ-enDs

I find myself using almost entirely level-2 chargers on longer trips. The speed can be surprising (about 1.5 hours for 40 miles) and I like to explore a bit along the way.

Safe travels!

 

[Steelcity]

My Nissian dealer has 2 chargers , do all Nissian dealers have chargers ? And would Chevy dealers have chargers due to the bolt? Other dealers/manufacturers? Or would all these be mapped already?

 

[LeftieBiker]

No, but most do.

Yes.

Yes, usually.

 

[PrairieLEAF]

Although I purchased the LEAF from a GM dealer, their charger says "GM only." I think Nissan dealerships are trying to limit use of their chargers to only their customers.

There are two Ford dealerships in this area that seem to allow anyone to use their free L-2. Attitudes seem to vary quite a bit. The user comments for each charging station on plugshare.com are often insightful regarding how open businesses are to letting others charge.

 

[cwerdna]

Not all Chevy dealers sell Bolts.

Can post more about it later, but a guy on TiVoCommunity on PA coal country has posted about it a few times. As of a few years ago, the Chevy dealer he'd been going to for decades was unwilling to make the investments (more around training and service) to sell Bolt.

IIRC, the dealer I bought my Bolt from doesn't have any charging available to the "public". The closest Chevy dealer let's just say is useless for charging. Will write more later.

I've been to a Nissan dealer that had no DC FC, AFAIK. Didn't matter as the Leaf I went there with at the time didn't have CHAdeMO anyway.

Some guy on a Bolt group pointed to https://www.offleaseonly.com/used-cars/type_used/make_chevrolet/model_bolt/sortby_price_asc/ for cheap Bolts. He said that he used them before and they shipped a car (not Bolt) to WA for $1500. I looked at two cars and they had no charging inlet pics to be able to confirm DC FC or no.

https://www.chevybolt.org/threads/dc-fast-charging.35619/#post-562394 supposedly can tell you though. Supposedly, 1st pic is no DC FC while the 2nd one w/the extra cabling near the front == with DC FC. From that pic, https://www.offleaseonly.com/used-car/chevrolet-bolt-ev-lt-hatchback-fwd-1g1fw6s01h4182359.htm probably has DC FC and it's also listed in the options. I checked some cheaper probably no DC FC ones and they don't have it listed in options.