LEAF in Kansas City

[eclecticflower]

Sounds like a fun outdoor potluck?! My schedule is open. We should gather before the weather turns nasty. Any newbies to the thread, please chime in your availability, as well. If there are other ideas or places to consider, let us know!

Starting a potluck dish list:

Meats (hot dogs, brats, Italian sausage, burgers, etc.):
Breads or buns (hotdog, hamburger, corn bread, etc.):
Sides & veggies:
Casseroles (potato, green bean, etc.):
Chips & dips:
Drinks (bottled water, 2-liter bottled sodas, etc.):
Desserts (cookies, pies, cupcakes, etc.):
Napkins
Paper plates
Cups
Plastic Utensils
Foil

Of course you know this should all be low fat fare (OK I tried :lol!

Tom, are there grills there and do we want to reserve a shelter and cook or do we just want to bring ready-made? I'll leave the grill-mastering to the guys! Taking suggestions...

Kathy

 

[eclecticflower]

And so I have joined your ranks as of yesterday evening. Charged the car to 100% for an evening errand to Academy Sports to pick up weight plates. Started the car and she lit up with only 11 capacity bars. I had 25,139 miles on her after more than 3 years. I didn't feel any sorrow...was expecting it at any time. It has been displaying funky for awhile - some 80% charges occasionally got me 9 bars instead of 10...software-challenged?? Lol! Guess it has recalibrated properly. Still a very useful car and happy with it.. Time for a 5K tire rotation... Happy cruising!

 

[ericvoll]

An interesting article in this morning's New York Times:

In California, Electric Cars Outpace Plugs, and Sparks Fly - The New York Times

https://apple.news/AwT9TuhJJTYeiqA0OcinDdA

 

[ericvoll]

Speaking of charging to charge, I parked and charged at the Kauffman Center today and subsequently got a nastygram from ChargePoint about my form of payment not being current in the account. I guess I didn't read the fine print on PlugShare (http://api.plugshare.com/view/location/5706) and the station when I plugged in: $1 per hour with a $1 minimum. Not as big a deal as the $8 event parking, but as I was opportunity charging (I had plenty to get home), I could have avoided that.

Just interesting that the free charging is not a given, even at ChargePoint stations. On the bright side, the spaces were not ICEd or filled with plug-in vehicles not charging. I suppose that's one benefit of charging to charge.

On another note, is KCP&L done with their EVSE installation? I haven't seen many more stations pop up lately.

Happy autumn!

Karl

Yes, Kauffman has been $1/hr forever, and its kind of annoying, given the fact we paid to get in, in the first place. I think it was an underhanded attempt by the developers to make sure that the EVSE's were not being used there so that they could later justify removing them.

As for it not being ICE'd, well that's good that you had that experience. They were ICE'd just about every other time I have been there. I suspect that there is a certain clientele there that is not too much into renewable energy..... Sadly....

I too have not seen many more new EVSEs. Still a lot better than it was!!!!!

I am now working mostly at St Luke's on the plaza. Wish they had an charging station like the one I could use at Truman in the UMKC parking lot. Oh well..... I do have good proximity to the Quickcharge on the Plaza from SLH though.....

I have Symphony season tickets, so I try to use the stations at the PAC as much as possible. They cost money, but I like supporting the infrastructure. I agree with Dave, they are often ICE'd. The garage is owned by the city, and they are well aware of the ICEing problem. Maybe three years ago, I spoke with the parking manager and he indicated that there had been a lot of complaints from the "hard core electric vehicle community" about the ICEing problem. They had referred it to the city attorney, but since there are no ordinances regarding it, there they weren't sure what they could do. I think part of it is they don't want to create any drama.

Most of the cars I've observed ICEing the spots are vehicles with handicapped placards. I once confronted someone, a middle aged man who had just parked, and was told angrily, "Well, we're handicapped!!" before he walked off. I didn't argue it further, but was rather annoyed because there are handicapped spaces on every level ... believe me there are plenty of handicapped spots in that garage, but I digress.

 

[ericvoll]

DANGER

Prepare to be gouged. The SemaConnect stations (the ones at Walgreens' locations in town) appear to have changed their pricing structure again. Get this, it looks like they are now $8.00 per hour with a $2.00 minimum.

My email to their customer service tonight:

I've been a loyal customer for well over three years. Uhm...charged $2.00 for charging 7 minutes and using 0.000857 kWh of energy? I don't think so! Please close my account and refund my credit balance of $7.49 to my credit card on file. Thank you.

I don't mind paying to charge, but really??? Considering the one station in Liberty has been broken for well over a year, and the state of the units, I wonder if SemaConnect might be circulating the drain.

So, I don't know if this changed again or what, but now they look like they are $2.00 / hour with a one hour minimum. What concerns me about these SemaConnect stations the most is not the price but how poorly their stations and network are managed. The station at the Walgreens in Liberty has been broken for over a year, and has been reported multiple times. If you visit their website, the information is more often wrong than correct; according to their website I've been doing a lot of charging in Kansas City, KS apparently. That's interesting because I don't ever visit those neighborhoods. Also, my request for a new card a few months ago took about 3 phone calls and about 1 1/2 months to fix. My latest request to close my account has been out for several weeks now, still with no resolution. I'm not sure if/when it is going to be taken care of. I guess I'll have to call them. The ChargePoint network, in contrast, really has their act together.

What an odyssey!! I finally was able to get my account closed with SemaConnect. It only took me several months and multiple phone calls. At the end of the conversation the lady, who was very nice and seemed to know what she was doing, asked me why I was closing my account ... if there was anything they could improve on their end. I very politely told her that the main reason I was closing my account wasn't because I was miffed about the unexpected rate increase (well perhaps that was part of it.) I told her the main reason I was closing my account was that I had lost confidence in SemaConnect's ability to conduct business reliably, and I was concerned about them having my credit card and other PII data on file. It shocks me how poorly and unprofessionally their business has been run over the past few years. Their website has inaccurate information, their billing is screwed up, the first contactless activation card I had with them had the wrong phone number printed on it, and as my recent experience trying to close my account shows, their customer support is abysmal. I wished her company the best, but I reached the limit of my patience; it's sad and unfortunate.

 

[ksnogas2112]

@Kathy - that puts you almost a full 14 months after I lost my first bar

but still 12k fewer miles than my current

 

[IraqiInvaderGnr]

Do any of you know if the HyVee ChaDeMO charger in St. Joseph operational yet? I've tried it with the Tesla adapter and it continually gives me an error. It starts for 5 seconds then stops and spits the error out. We've used one in Kansas City and it works there so not the car.

 

[MobileEV]

The last PlugShare entry is positive with a BMW i3: http://api.plugshare.com/view/location/61549

Do any of you know if the HyVee ChaDeMO charger in St. Joseph operational yet? I've tried it with the Tesla adapter and it continually gives me an error. It starts for 5 seconds then stops and spits the error out. We've used one in Kansas City and it works there so not the car.

 

[MobileEV]

Since my stock LEAF horn died, I installed a FIAMM El Grande dual-tone horn per the advice on MNL http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=4000

Now it sounds like a 1968 Buick with a bit more oomph than the stock horn. :shock:

A Google photo album with some detail shots is here: https://goo.gl/photos/CBrfxFp53ywPgdPT8

... and a video with a sound test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H2Xy7-MXD0

Shameless Amazon plug: http://goo.gl/5U6zoB

-Karl

 

[CarlaJ]

Not sure where to post this. My wife (Carla) is strongly considering buying the Leaf. We would like to talk pros/cons with other owners. What is the best way to go about doing this?
Thanks,
Bill (PriusV owner)

 

[GRA]

Not sure where to post this. My wife (Carla) is strongly considering buying the Leaf. We would like to talk pros/cons with other owners. What is the best way to go about doing this?
Thanks,
Bill (PriusV owner)

While you'll probably get answers here, probably the best sub-forum would be "New Members and Newbie Questions": http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewforum.php?f=6

There's a good chance her questions (and yours) have been answered already there, but if not it's sure to be seen by more people.

 

[MobileEV]

The Walmart at 72nd and North Prospect Street in the Northland of Kansas City Missouri is getting EVSEs. They are installed but not yet connected. They are in the southwest corner right behind the Walmart sign.

 

[eclecticflower]

Happy to hear that, Karl, thanks! Competition for Hy-Vee across the street, maybe? :lol:

I noticed a week ago the Walmart at 8551 N. Boardwalk in the Northland also has them in, but I don't know if they are activated - probably not, as the area was a bit messy and looked to have just been finished/not yet marked for EVs only. There were 3 EVSEs serving 6 spaces at the far end of a row of parking spaces, near the north parking entry, straight out from one of the building entrances.

 

[cdherman]

Hey Kansas City friends --- maybe I missed this discussion, but what have you all been doing at the 3 year mark? Fenton Nissan has been bugging me via their autodialer that I need my 3 year checkup. So I finally answered today.

The service department quoted me $199 for a "full checkup". What are they smoking????!!!!

I tried to find answers online about what is truly required for warranty purposes, but I could not really find that, at least not quickly.

Anyone know more?????

 

[ksnogas2112]

McCarthy Nissan - Olathe - quoted $60 for annual battery check, $20 for tire rotation (might have been with coupon for tires)

http://www.mccarthynissan.com/ - currently offline but they have an online service appt generator and chat utility to confirm costs.

 

[eclecticflower]

I got the same urgent messages from Fenton, as well, and haven't yet scheduled service, although after 5K miles, I need my tires rotated. My mileage is just over 25K and I go by the less severe maintenance schedule. Some of the schedule is for number of service months, not mileage, as mentioned below. Regarding changing the brake fluid @ 24 months & 36 months (I've done neither), there was an EV article in the KC Star noting that Consumer Reports advised it's done because water from condensation may have accumulated in it (it's a regen brake usage vs. not as much regular brake usage & heat; non-evaporation side effect). I imagine there's a cheap dip strip test that could identify if this is a problem - my dealer (barely) admitted that as a possibility (if you want to save money). According to the LEAF maintenance service manual:

30,000 MILES OR 24 MONTHS
SCHEDULE 1 AND 2 MAINTENANCE
Replace brake fluid
Replace in-cabin microfilter
Rotate tires
Inspect the following:
Axle & suspension parts
Brake lines & cables
Brake pads & rotors
Charging port
Charging port sealing cap
Drive shaft boots
<EV Battery Usage Report>1
Front suspension ball joints
Reduction gear oil
Steering gear and linkage
Steering linkage ball joints
<This check must be performed based solely on the number of service months, not mileage>

For the ultimate in preventative maintenance, ask your Service Advisor for a complimentary Multi-Point Inspection every time you visit your participating Nissan LEAF certified dealer. See page 11 for more information on Multi-Point Inspections.

1 Review of the EV Battery Usage Report is required as a condition of EV battery warranty. Refer to your 2012 LEAF warranty information booklet for details. Both the
12 month and 24 month inspections will be performed by your Nissan LEAF certified dealer at no cost to the vehicle owner.

37,500 MILES OR 30 MONTHS
SCHEDULE 1 (MORE SEVERE)
Rotate tires
Inspect the following:
Axle & suspension parts
Brake pads & rotors
Drive shaft boots
Front suspension ball joints
Steering gear and linkage
Steering linkage ball joints
SCHEDULE 2 (LESS SEVERE)
Rotate tires

45,000 MILES OR 36 MONTHS
SCHEDULE 1 (MORE SEVERE)
Replace brake fluid
Replace in-cabin microfilter
Rotate tires
Inspect the following:
Axle & suspension parts
Brake lines & cables
Brake pads & rotors
Charging port
Drive shaft boots
<EV Battery Usage Report>1
Front suspension ball joints
Reduction gear oil
Steering gear and linkage
Steering linkage ball joints
SCHEDULE 2 (LESS SEVERE)
Replace in-cabin microfilter
Rotate tires
Inspect the following:
Brake lines & cables
Brake pads & rotors
Charging port
Drive shaft boots
<EV Battery Usage Report>1
Reduction gear oil

<This check must be performed based solely on the number of service months, not mileage>

For the ultimate in preventative maintenance, ask your Service Advisor for a complimentary Multi-Point Inspection every time you visit your participating Nissan LEAF certified dealer. See page 11 for more information on Multi-Point Inspections.

1 Review of the EV Battery Usage Report is required as a condition of EV battery warranty. Refer to your 2012 LEAF warranty information booklet for details.

 

[eclecticflower]

Also found this snippet in the Warranty manual:

"You are required to perform annual EV Battery Usage Report at intervals of 12 months, 24 months, 36 months, 48 months, 60 months, 72 months, and 84 months. These EV Battery Usage Reports can be performed by a Nissan LEAF certified dealer or any qualified repair shop facility. The 12 and 24 month EV Battery Usage Report will be performed at no charge to the customer, provided the work is done at a Nissan LEAF certified dealer. Any damage or failure resulting from a failure to have these required services performed, or that could have been avoided had these services been performed, is not covered under warranty."

 

[eclecticflower]

I also just got quoted $199 @ Fenton for a Complete/comprehensive Battery Check and it's supposedly going to take 5 or more hours, I'd have to leave it, but I'd get a free loaner car. Really. Don't understand why my first 2 checks didn't take as long and Richard at Fenton claimed it was a comprehensive and time-consuming. I'm at a loss for words. Plus, their hours are only week days M-F (7-6) when their 2 "LEAF experts" are there 8-4:30 and no service on weekends? Can anyone make another dealer recommendation besides Olathe?

Kathy

 

[eclecticflower]

Tom, I requested a quote from McCarthy service for the 36 month battery check and a tire rotation - here's what I got:

"From: Jesse Rangel [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 2:24 PM
To: Mussurici, Kathy D
Subject: 36k LEAF service price at McCarthy Nissan

Kathy,

Thank you for emailing about the Nissan LEAF service. The 36k service you requested is $399.95 plus tax. This includes tire rotation. Let us know what day/time works for you!

Regards,

Jesse Rangel
Sales Consultant
McCarthy Olathe Nissan"

:shock:

For that ridiculous price, I expect room service, caviar and a deep tissue massage (not a proctology exam). Apparently this person is not a Leaf "Expert," since he quoted 36K (miles not months).

After I responded politely, I got this:

From: Jesse Rangel [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 2:50 PM
To: Mussurici, Kathy D
Subject: RE: 36k LEAF service price at McCarthy Nissan

This also includes In-cabin microfiliter, alignment check, brake fluid flush and complete electrical test along with that tire rotation. I don't see in our records where we have performed at 36 month service for Mr. Skelton.

Jesse Rangel

After I explained my case for just satisfying the warranty requirement and a tire rotation, I just got this:

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 4:43pm
To: [email protected]
Subject: 2012 NISSAN LEAF

KATHY, YOU REQUESTED AN ESTIMATE FOR YOUR 2012 NISSAN LEAF FOR A 36K MILE BATTERY CHECK AND TIRE ROTATION.

BATTERY CHECK $60.00 PLUS TAX/SHOP
TIRE ROTATION $19.95 PLUS TAX/SHOP

TOTAL @ $93.00

RICH HUBER
MCCARTHY OLATHE NISSAN
SERVICE
(913) 324-7377

McCarthy Nissan

 

[cdherman]

Well, I called Fenton Nissan again and asked for JUST the Battery check price. After some himming and hawing, they decided that would be $125. Ouch. They are not getting business.....

So I called Hendrick Nissan in Merriam KS. That is geographically the closest for us up north.

The initial person did not know, but said to hold. A few minutes later I was talking to someone who seemed pretty knowledgeable. He looked up the time listed per book -- 30 min. Said their labor rate is $129/hour (wow, but OK), and thus the price for just the battery check would be $64.50 plus tax. So at least a more fair (and commensurate price with McCarthy in Olathe).

He proceed to ask just why I wanted the battery check. We proceeded to discuss the issue of Leaf battery warranty. While he clearly did NOT want to say that the battery check was not necessary for the warranty, he did say that in his experience, Nissan has not been asking many questions -- if the battery gets to 8 bars, you get a new battery. They have replaced battery packs on two Leafs so far and he said they got new (as opposed to remanufactured) packs each time.

The discussion ensued about why I wanted it done, we discussed the mynissanleaf site and Kansas City Forum thread. He then said, that if I was calling calling for a number of people, to put the price up at $60 flat rate. He said that he wouldn't really be making money, but he figured he might get some battery replacement business someday and "that makes us some good money".

That's when I asked for his name -- Chris Ellemann, and he identified himself as one of the owners......

We had a long discussion about warranty issues. he clearly was NOT too worried about Nissan being difficult about battery warranty.

We did however discuss the other warranty issue on my mind -- the brake fluid. He said Nissan was having more brake system claims a few years ago, and decided to institute the brake fluid change recommendation. Specifically, he thought the vehicle stabilization systems are picky about fresh brake fluid and Nissan wanted to have less problems with them.

Of course, if you are Nissan, and you have a very intense brake fluid change recommendation, you make dealers happy and you avoid lots of brake system warranty claims, if for no other reason than that Nissan can deny many claims since the owner did not adhere to the recommended brake fluid change intervals..... This last paragraph is my opinion, not what Chris Ellemann said.

I did not ask what a brake fluid change would cost. Might do that later....