Nissan is to donate 400 electric car quick chargers

[Randy3]

It is not clear to me how important Quick Chargers will be to adoption of electric cars. First, the Leaf is the perfect commuter car but a very impractical road trip car since we would have to QC EVERY HOUR to travel any distance at freeway speeds. Second, QC is not good for the battery. Third, there will never be enough Quick Chargers to insure that there is no extra waiting time, so planning travel using QC will always be a gamble.

The Leaf is the perfect family second car for in-town commuting. I don't plan to ever use QC-- If I need to travel beyond the Leaf range I would take the ICE car. I think talking about QC does a disservice to the marketing of the Leaf-- customers are lead to believe that they should wait for the infrastructure that most of them don't need in the first place.

Sorry, but -1

There are SO many places I could get to in my LEAF with one or two quick charges. I live in the California Central Valley. The California Coast, the National Parks, even the south part of the San Francisco Bay Area would be opened up for easy driving with well placed Quick Chargers.

Also, if you're traveling from one end of the Bay Area to another end, or from one end of the LA Basin to another end, a Quick Charge makes that possible.

Yes, the LEAF is a perfect in-town car, but it's also a comfortable car to drive distances. We just need the QC stations.

 

[DrRocket]

How nice! Too bad they don't share the same commitment in the U.S.

Tom Barnard, Communications director of Nissan GB tweeted today "Nissan is to donate 400 electric car quick chargers to organisations and companies across Europe. We hope to get 65+ for the UK."

Maybe Nissan has noticed that the US has shown it’s own lack of “commitment” to the DC infrastructure, like:

Check out the map below to see a view of the commitment of Europe to DC charging, as compared with the US.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=210740974077298891697.0004ac7e66a8121c75d8e&msa=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That not really fair. While its true that the U.S. is in second place behind Europe, the U.S. has twice as many Chademos than any other CONTINENT, including Asia, Australia, and South America. Antartica has NONE.

 

[edatoakrun]

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=210740974077298891697.0004ac7e66a8121c75d8e&msa=0

That not really fair. While its true that the U.S. is in second place behind Europe, the U.S. has twice as many Chademos than any other CONTINENT, including Asia, Australia, and South America. Antartica has NONE.

You forgot Japan, on another map, though an island, part of "Asia", by most definitions.

Actually the map is not entirely up to date. Are both of the chargers shown in the US, Vacaville and Portland, now out of order? Aren't there public chargers in Texas and Tennessee, that are now available?

 

[TonyWilliams]

Soon, we will have even faster QC stations so we won't even need larger battery packs.
Maybe YOU don't need or want QCing, but you will be in the minority.

Not on the grid in California... unless you want to pay $100 to fill up (in 5 minutes).

 

[tps]

It is not clear to me how important Quick Chargers will be to adoption of electric cars. First, the Leaf is the perfect commuter car but a very impractical road trip car since we would have to QC EVERY HOUR to travel any distance at freeway speeds. Second, QC is not good for the battery. Third, there will never be enough Quick Chargers to insure that there is no extra waiting time, so planning travel using QC will always be a gamble.

The Leaf is the perfect family second car for in-town commuting. I don't plan to ever use QC-- If I need to travel beyond the Leaf range I would take the ICE car. I think talking about QC does a disservice to the marketing of the Leaf-- customers are lead to believe that they should wait for the infrastructure that most of them don't need in the first place.

For me, QC is not the black-and-white issue you seem to feel it is. I think the main way I'd use QC is for an occasional trip which required 1 QC along the way, as opposed to a longer trip which required multiple QCs "every hour". (Although I wouldn't rule out a road trip if infrastructure was available; I've made the trip from Philly to Cincinnati by plane (5 - 6 hr including drive to/frpm airport), car (10 hr straight through), and train (24 hr), so minimum time is not always the criteria.)

Right now, any public charging is a gamble since the infrastructure is woefully inadequate. Once upon a time (and at a few times during oil crises) the gasoline infrastructure was inadequate. I think it's a stretch to say public QC will never be adequate; over time the infrastructure will appear to satisfy the demand.

I don't feel that talk of QC is a problem. I will not be waiting for QC, but I will welcome it and it will probably increase the usability of the LEAF a bit as it evolves. I don't feel the average consumer is waiting for QC.

Many Humans in general and Americans in particular are followers of popular trends. The EV has not yet become a popular trend because the masses are still thinking in ICE paradigms. As more and more EVs hit the road, the paradigm will shift. Many people will see the evidence in front of their faces that the FUD is untrue. Of course, there will always be a few "flat earthers" who never get it.

 

[Herm]

For me, QC is not the black-and-white issue you seem to feel it is. I think the main way I'd use QC is for an occasional trip which required 1 QC along the way, as opposed to a longer trip which required multiple QCs "every hour".
I don't feel that talk of QC is a problem. I will not be waiting for QC, but I will welcome it and it will probably increase the usability of the LEAF a bit as it evolves. I don't feel the average consumer is waiting for QC.

The whole point of the Leaf in the US is the convenience of home refueling at low cost, thus the commercial viability of QC (and L2) is doubtful.. but in Europe with its $9 a gallon fuel and nasty fees&taxes people will see it as a permanent way around buying gas.. and in places like England very possible to do it with a small QC network, its not a big island.

 

[KevinSharpe]

in places like England very possible to do it with a small QC network, its not a big island.

that's very true... here's a rough map of our proposed Fast Charge network;

http://www.leaftalk.co.uk/showthrea...r-quick-chargers?p=11848&viewfull=1#post11848

The EV community proposes to finance and own this network... we will deploy both CHAdeMO and Mennekes (AC) at every location and Tesla DC at a few.... we are tired of the lacklustre government attempts to deploy a network and commercial entities who fail to deliver what we want or need.

 

[GreenPowerDP]

For me the use of a QC would be to effectively double my range. Currently I drive my leaf when I know I can go out and back on a single charge. However, if there were a convenient QC at my destination, I would easily consider it for longer trips.

 

[Valdemar]

Nissan is bringing lower-cost quick chargers to US, priced at $9,900 a piece. I'm not convinced it is going to help with the QC situation here.

NISSAN, SUMITOMO BRING LOW-COST ELECTRIC-CAR QUICK CHARGER TO U.S. MARKET

PS: turns out there is already a thread about it

 

[hill]

How nice! Too bad they don't share the same commitment in the U.S.

Tom Barnard, Communications director of Nissan GB tweeted today "Nissan is to donate 400 electric car quick chargers to organisations and companies across Europe. We hope to get 65+ for the UK."

Maybe Nissan has noticed that the US has shown it’s own lack of “commitment” to the DC infrastructure, like:

SAE manipulated by American manufacturers, putting CHAdeMO DC standard in doubt, while (so far) only producing vaporware alternative.

The failure of West coast government agencies to meet their commitments to install pilot program DC chargers, a year after LEAF sales began in these early rollout areas.

Previously donated charger (Vacaville) with perfect location to offer proof-of concept, shut down without rational reason, just as LEAF deliveries began.

And lets not forget the political risk of investing in a a country where a bat-ass-crazy-republican party, based on a fox-news version of reality, may increase subsidies to petroleum fuels after the next election.

Check out the map below to see a view of the commitment of Europe to DC charging, as compared with the US.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=210740974077298891697.0004ac7e66a8121c75d8e&msa=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

What ... nissan/mitsu can't fight back against a non-existent SAE format - used for non-existent U.S. ev's ??

 

[hill]

How nice! Too bad they don't share the same commitment in the U.S.

They have contributed quite a bit to EV Project.

Considering how abysmal the EV Project has been to Orange County (one of CA's top wealthy and high tech areas) there certainly ought to be a lot to spread around / contribute else where. (like Memphis ... yearly household income $35k ... one of the high crime capitols of the nation ... yea ... they'll sell a $h1tload of EV's there ... don't get me started)
:?

 

[garygid]

Eventually ...
E-Filling (some form of QC) will be roughly as common as gas stations.

Of course Big Oil will fight it.

Thus, we must strive to elect those who can see the future.

Many trips I could do with a couple extra QC sessions.

 

[hill]

As someone mentioned earlier in the thread, making a trip that depends on QC is a gamble until you have more than one QC EVSE in an area. What if you get to your first planned QC point with 20% battery charge left and it's broken? you have just bought yourself either renting an ICE car to continue or a 6 hour stop for L2 charging before you can either continue (hoping that it'll be fixed before you need to return) or (most likely) just head home.

oh boy ... welcome to the 21st century ... where we have smart phones, Ipads, tablets etc that show live maps ... and those maps interface with the infant charging structure we already have (and it's growing, remember?) ... whereby you can SEE whether a charger is down, or occupied ... and if it's available (this'll REALLY sound wacky) you can use your phone to reserve your time slot - if you fear that all 3 or 4 available spots (that you're driving towards) might be taken. So ... no need for the hand wringing ... it'll be alright.

I will be stopping every hour and a half, not every hour because I don't drive 75 mph like some do. 60mph is plenty fast enough and I like to rest a bit, eat a snack, use the restroom, etc., after an hour and a half drive. The LEAF is my PRIMARY car, not just a commuter car. I've already QCd three times and it's great! Your statement about QCing not good for the battery is just FUD. I've talked to several people that were here when these battery packs were QC tested for a simulated 8yrs./100K miles and all of them support the first person's report: "No more degradation of the battery pack than L2 charging with QCing up to 6 times a day." Taxis are being QCd in Japan more than once a day. Soon, we will have even faster QC stations so we won't even need larger battery packs.
Maybe YOU don't need or want QCing, but you will be in the minority.

+1 ... and thank you for being the voice of sanity.

 

[KevinSharpe]

I'm happy to report that we have formally submitted our proposals to Nissan for the 65 quick chargers to be donated to a community owned entity that will ensure EV drivers are central to the UK's national charging network.

If you think community ownership is worthwhile then you might like to tell Nissan

I'd like to thank David Peilow for his excellent work in creating this proposal on behalf of ZCW.

 

[Ingineer]

Congratulations Kevin! That's awesome!

I wish Nissan would have done the same thing here rather than stupidly giving money to the EV Project. :roll:

-Phil

 

[KevinSharpe]

I wish Nissan would have done the same thing here rather than stupidly giving money to the EV Project. :roll:

to be fair the UK Government has managed to waste at least £30 Million on 'Plugged in Places" which has delivered pockets of useless charging infrastructure all over the country...

My issue has always been that no-one is listening to EV drivers... I don't know whether we will be successful in securing the DC chargers, but it would be amazing if Nissan supported this community effort and allowed us to build a national network.

 

[nosuchthing]

Nissan would do well if it placed L3 charger it has developed and announced recently in every Nissan dealership. I'd go there for 10 min charge to make it home from work. As of right now, I can't drive my Leaf to work because it is 85-mile freeway commute. Leaf won't make it and it is a big disappointment. I was hoping that the original reports back before April 2010 that the car could do "100 miles" meant it was going to be tight but doable. I still love the car, it just doesn't get to be used as much as I have anticipated, and I am back in my 92 Accord for my commuting.

I am eagerly awaiting ANY electric with a bigger battery.
So, Nissan, Infinity, Honda, BMW... Who wants my money?

 

[KevinSharpe]

Nissan would do well if it placed L3 charger it has developed and announced recently in every Nissan dealership.

Nissan are rolling out L3 chargers to every UK dealership. However, this is no answer for people wishing to undertake road trips because they are only available during office hours (drivers have turned up to charge 15 minutes before closing and been turned away).

 

[Herm]

Have any UK dealers ever turned down any Leafers looking for a charge?

 

[edatoakrun]

Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi and 6 other Japanese companies to establish organization for membership-based EV quick charging services
24 November 2011

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC); Honda Motor Co., Ltd.; Mitsubishi Motors Corporation; ULVAC, Inc.; Kanematsu Corporation; Kandenko Co., Ltd.; Suzuyo Shoji Co., Ltd.; Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc.; and the Development Bank of Japan Inc. are establishing an organization to provide membership-based quick-charging services for users of electric vehicles (EVs).

The organization, named the Charging Network Development Organization, LLC, aims to encourage increased and widespread use of EVs by helping to expand the scope of charging infrastructure. As of the end of October, approximately 800 quick chargers have been installed in Japan, a number still viewed as insufficient from a users’ standpoint.

Up to now in Japan, quick chargers have generally been installed—at the owner’s expense—by businesses and private organizations for private use or as part of a government program. The lack of an effective method to recover costs has become a significant obstacle to widespread installation, the partners said.

Under the new membership service, quick-charger owners can register their chargers with the organization in a central database. The organization will then make charger information, such as number and location, available to EV users registered as members, thus facilitating convenient and efficient charging.

Membership fees will pay a portion of the installation and maintenance costs incurred by quick-charger owners, helping to promote the development of quick-charger infrastructure. The organization plans to start such services in fiscal year 2012.

The concept for the service is the result of investigations conducted by a working group formed at the request from the CHAdeMO Association to all its members in July 2010...

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/11/cndo-20111124.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;