ICEless in Seattle : Official Pacific NorthWest thread

[PracticingHuman]

So here's a question: For those of you who qualified for the Ecotality Blink charger program, how long was the turnaround to get it installed from when you found out you qualified?

 

[TLeaf]

I seem to recall that there was not too much of a lag from being told that we were accepted into the program to installation, but this was at the very beginning of the roll-out when there were only a couple of LEAFs on the road and they were still installing the Clipper Creek units (think December 2010). Our car didn't arrive until January 2011 and I'm certain we had had the charger installed for a few weeks by then.

 

[rdhauser]

My signature has the details, but this was also fairly early in the process. Why do you ask, just hard to wait?

 

[PracticingHuman]

My signature has the details, but this was also fairly early in the process. Why do you ask, just hard to wait?

It was when I first got the car and I hadn't learned how to coordinate charging times affectively. Now that I have a better understanding of charging time using L1 as well as what range I can expect I am a bit more patient.

I did have a temporary lapse of impatience yesterday. We were to have dinner with my mother and her husband up in Seattle last night. My wife asked if we could get there and back on a single full charge and I assured her we could. After a trip out to Puyallup Farmer's Market and back I was only able to get it up to 11 bars before we left. I figured if we could get from North Tacoma to 105th and Greenwood in Seattle on only 5 bars (and it seems mostly uphill to Seattle) I could easily make it back on one charge.

Well we had exhausted 7 bars by the time we got to the restaurant. That was going 60 on cruise control. Fortunately Walgreens was a mile and a half away. My wife says she has to remind herself that if we get low on juice we simply charge, that we don't need to make every trip on a single charge. Like she tells people that ask her "What do you do if you run out of power?" She replies, "Well what do you do if you run out of gas?" :lol:

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

My signature has the details, but this was also fairly early in the process. Why do you ask, just hard to wait?

It was when I first got the car and I hadn't learned how to coordinate charging times affectively. Now that I have a better understanding of charging time using L1 as well as what range I can expect I am a bit more patient.

I did have a temporary lapse of impatience yesterday. We were to have dinner with my mother and her husband up in Seattle last night. My wife asked if we could get there and back on a single full charge and I assured her we could. After a trip out to Puyallup Farmer's Market and back I was only able to get it up to 11 bars before we left. I figured if we could get from North Tacoma to 105th and Greenwood in Seattle on only 5 bars (and it seems mostly uphill to Seattle) I could easily make it back on one charge.

Well we had exhausted 7 bars by the time we got to the restaurant. That was going 60 on cruise control. Fortunately Walgreens was a mile and a half away. My wife says she has to remind herself that if we get low on juice we simply charge, that we don't need to make every trip on a single charge. Like she tells people that ask her "What do you do if you run out of power?" She replies, "Well what do you do if you run out of gas?" :lol:

i would have stopped off at the Discovery Center for a 10 minute boost for the drive home. no sense in pushing it if you dont have too

 

[PracticingHuman]

i would have stopped off at the Discovery Center for a 10 minute boost for the drive home. no sense in pushing it if you dont have too

Oh, is that where the QC is? Thanks for that tip! Fortunately over a 3 hour dinner the L2 gave us enough to get home with 4 bars to spare. However, that is good to know about for any future Seattle runs.

 

[Luft]

I heard that Blink is now charging for use of their DC QCs. Can anyone verify this and if so can you tell me how much it costs to use them?

Also does anyone have any information about when and how much AV fees will be?

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I heard that Blink is now charging for use of their DC QCs. Can anyone verify this and if so can you tell me how much it costs to use them?

Also does anyone have any information about when and how much AV fees will be?

No g on ether

 

[thisguyfel]

I heard that Blink is now charging for use of their DC QCs. Can anyone verify this and if so can you tell me how much it costs to use them?

The Blink DCFC at Lake City Way Fred Meyer was $FREE last week when my wife used it and the one at the South Lake Union Discovery Center was also $FREE when I used it on 10/01

They have implemented the pay-structure for their Level 2 chargers. I have paid at the International District / Chinatown L2, as well as at the Fred Meyer in Ballard (it was $1/hr, round up to the next hour.) I charged for 1hr58mins in chinatown and 1hr35mins at Fred Meyer ... both of them billed for 2 hours.

Wife confirmed that the Sears L2's near Central Market in Shoreline, also had the pay-for-use screen when activated via RFID card. She did not plug in.

 

[ALF]

When I look at the Blink Network 'BlinkMap', it shows the Lake City Way Fred Meyer DC Fast Charger Port status as:
0 Ready/ 0 Busy/ 2 Unavailable

This would seem to indicate that they are not in working order, right? After checking the status, I didn't bother going over there, but from this forum, it sounds like some of you have used this particular QC charger.

Have you found the BlinkMape status of Blink Network chargers to be accurate?

 

[mendenmh]

Have you found the BlinkMape status of Blink Network chargers to be accurate?

No, they are not accurate, but in the wrong direction. In Tennessee, where we have (in theory) a dozen DCFCs at Cracker Barrel restaurants, the Blink map shows about half of them alive. However, I know by experience that at least one of the ones shown alive is dead. I phoned it in last week, and they said the map would be updated in a few days (!), but even that didn't happen.

The person at Blink I called did say that the information you could get by phoning them is more complete, since they can look at trouble tickets and things. However, I am unimpressed with the quality of information Blink can provide. Fortunately, I only use the DCFCs to play around seeing how far out into the Tennessee back county I can get. For real use, I charge at home.

 

[thisguyfel]

When I look at the Blink Network 'BlinkMap', it shows the Lake City Way Fred Meyer DC Fast Charger Port status as:
0 Ready/ 0 Busy/ 2 Unavailable

This would seem to indicate that they are not in working order, right? After checking the status, I didn't bother going over there, but from this forum, it sounds like some of you have used this particular QC charger.

Have you found the BlinkMape status of Blink Network chargers to be accurate?

I think the Lake City one was accurate on the map on Tuesday, when I used it. The right port had a hand written "out of order" sticky-note on it, and when I tested it, it wouldn't read/recognize my card.

the left port was working and if I remember right, the Blink iOS app showed: 1 Ready/ 1 Unavailable

 

[camasleaf]

Did any Washingtonians have problems with the use tax being added to their lease payments?

When I leased the first Leaf and two months later bought the lease I did not notice any use/sales tax being added to the lease payments or the buyout amount. On the new Leaf I have a use tax and I cannot convince Nissan that it is not suppose to be there. They sent me to DMV which sent me to department of revenue which said that they will not give a waver since there is a law.

It will be especially beneficial if anybody has a service request# that I can refer them to.

Any ideas?

Thank you.

 

[QueenBee]

Did any Washingtonians have problems with the use tax being added to their lease payments?

When I leased the first Leaf and two months later bought the lease I did not notice any use/sales tax being added to the lease payments or the buyout amount. On the new Leaf I have a use tax and I cannot convince Nissan that it is not suppose to be there. They sent me to DMV which sent me to department of revenue which said that they will not give a waver since there is a law.

It will be especially beneficial if anybody has a service request# that I can refer them to.

Any ideas?

Thank you.

I've heard of this happening. Good luck getting this fixed Sounds like everyone is just playing the blame game. They are correct there is a law, and that the law says there is no use or sales tax on new EV leases or purchases. I'd try and escalate it up higher at Nissan/NMAC because this is a mistake.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Did any Washingtonians have problems with the use tax being added to their lease payments?

When I leased the first Leaf and two months later bought the lease I did not notice any use/sales tax being added to the lease payments or the buyout amount. On the new Leaf I have a use tax and I cannot convince Nissan that it is not suppose to be there. They sent me to DMV which sent me to department of revenue which said that they will not give a waver since there is a law.

It will be especially beneficial if anybody has a service request# that I can refer them to.

Any ideas?

Thank you.

dealer tried that with me too. i wouldnt sign until they removed it. they claimed the software automatically added it based on my residence. i said "fine, manually remove it and I will sign"

they spent over an hour typing in stuff, printing out leases and finally got one that did not have it in there. i signed it. then went home. was told the next day that it was no good and i had to sign another one. it was a mess.

but if you lease an EV, it is sales tax exempt. if you the original lessee, decide to purchase before the EV tax exemption expires, you are not liable for taxes.

if someone else buys your leased vehicle, they must pay sales tax because it is a used EV. this is something that is not commonly known and you will most likely have to battle a bit to get that taken off or refunded.

 

[camasleaf]

dealer tried that with me too. i wouldnt sign until they removed it. they claimed the software automatically added it based on my residence. i said "fine, manually remove it and I will sign"
they spent over an hour typing in stuff, printing out leases and finally got one that did not have it in there. i signed it. then went home. was told the next day that it was no good and i had to sign another one. it was a mess.

The tax is not in the lease agreement that I signed at the dealership, it was just added in bill from the Nissan/NMAC. If I could just make them read:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=82.08.809" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[HairyCairy]

So it's been two months since I have bought a tank of gas.
I was on my way home today and started to feel bad for all the ICE commuters. So I decided to stop at a shell oil station, picked them because they are drilling in the Arctic now. I pulled Ele, my leaf, up to the pump and parked. I got out and asked the young mom next to me if I could by her a tank of gas. She asked if I was crazy and I said no, obviously, and told her I was celebrating my two months without buying gas. I think this might be something I am randomly going to do again in the future. Just trying to do my part in getting people to Imagine America not being addicted to oil.

 

[klapauzius]

So it's been two months since I have bought a tank of gas.
I was on my way home today and started to feel bad for all the ICE commuters. So I decided to stop at a shell oil station, picked them because they are drilling in the Arctic now. I pulled Ele, my leaf, up to the pump and parked. I got out and asked the young mom next to me if I could by her a tank of gas. She asked if I was crazy and I said no, obviously, and told her I was celebrating my two months without buying gas. I think this might be something I am randomly going to do again in the future. Just trying to do my part in getting people to Imagine America not being addicted to oil.

Sounds like handing out free dope to the junkies...

 

[Reddy]

IS THIS THING OPERATIONAL?????? This just viewed on plug share:
Snoqualmie Pass, Quick Charge, EV Plug, 521 SR 906, Snoqualmie, WA

 

[Reddy]

IS THIS THING OPERATIONAL?????? This just viewed on plug share:
Snoqualmie Pass, Quick Charge, EV Plug, 521 SR 906, Snoqualmie, WA

This just in:

Thank you very much for your interest in AeroVironment and AV EV charging docks. Unfortunately, this unit is not operational at the moment. It should be up and running soon,but we have no defined activation date set. Sorry for any inconvenience.
Regards, AV Customer Service