surfingslovak
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Move to Phoenix metro-area thread? 
Phoenix metro-area
- Thread starter SilverSL
- Start date
Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:
mn4az
Well-known member
greengate said:
Good idea.... I will look and see if there are campgrounds off I-17
surfingslovak - thanks for putting me in the right thread.
Has anyone in Phx tried this "adventure" - driving from Phx to Flag?
LEAFfan
Well-known member
mn4az said:
I haven't heard of anyone. I'm waiting on GoE3 or Blink to install QC on I-17.
shrink
Well-known member
Got this from Blink yesterday. $5 per quick charge for members, $8 for non members. Seems steep. Since they use a per charge, it costs the same to charge from 30% to 50% as it would to charge from 0% to 100%. 100% on a Blink QC also seems to end around a 90% (per the Blink anyway).
Our battery degrades faster in the desert and now we have to overpay for QC's.
As of June 3, we’ll be adding Blink DC Fast Chargers to our membership plans. All Blink members will be able to fast charge at an introductory rate of just $5 per session. Guests may also charge for $8 per fast charge.
Our battery degrades faster in the desert and now we have to overpay for QC's.
As of June 3, we’ll be adding Blink DC Fast Chargers to our membership plans. All Blink members will be able to fast charge at an introductory rate of just $5 per session. Guests may also charge for $8 per fast charge.
LEAFfan
Well-known member
shrink said:
Yeah, but that's only the Introductory rate. So they make it sound like it will be even more/higher later. At least with the 2013, it will charge on QC to 98%-99% (100% selected) without stopping no matter where it is to start.
Volusiano
Well-known member
Since there's the ability to see how much current has been drawn per charge, the fee should have been based on the amount of current drawn instead of a flat fee. The flat fee per charge method will discourage use of the stations unless absolutely necessary and in the longer term would hurt not just the users but Blink's revenue from the usage fees as well.shrink said:
turbo2ltr
Well-known member
They aren't a power company so apparently they can't have a fee based on power usage. This is also why you get charged per hour when plugged into a level 2 charger instead of only getting charged for the time you are actually drawing current.
I think $5 is high, but acceptable for emergencies. I did not catch that this is an "introductory" rate when I got the email. They may just say that in case they need to raise it in the future, but if they plan to raise the cost over $5, then I probably won't be using as often as I do now. Not that I use them much anyway, my drive cycle rarely requires use of any outside charging.
I think $5 is high, but acceptable for emergencies. I did not catch that this is an "introductory" rate when I got the email. They may just say that in case they need to raise it in the future, but if they plan to raise the cost over $5, then I probably won't be using as often as I do now. Not that I use them much anyway, my drive cycle rarely requires use of any outside charging.
I really wish the fast charging would stay free, but I also wish all charging, and everything in life, were all free.
It's actually not a bad deal though. I look at it two ways.
1. The business case requires around a hundred thousand dollars just for the quick charger, plus the capital required to run a high current circuit to it. It is going to take a lot of charging sessions to recoup all that investment. I think the cost for charging must still be subsidized looking at those numbers.
2. $5 would buy about a gallon and a half of gasoline. That would take you maybe between 40 and 60 miles in an efficient ICE car. It would also take you a similar distance in a LEAF on the freeway. This would make me tend to preference taking the ICE car for long trips except for one thing. I would only be paying for the electricity for the return trip, the outbound would still be from my charging at home during off-peak rates (under 7 cents/kWh).
It's also comforting to know the quick chargers are out there in case I would ever really need one. I give ECOtality and the businesses installing their units credit for taking steps leading into the future in uncharted territory.
It's actually not a bad deal though. I look at it two ways.
1. The business case requires around a hundred thousand dollars just for the quick charger, plus the capital required to run a high current circuit to it. It is going to take a lot of charging sessions to recoup all that investment. I think the cost for charging must still be subsidized looking at those numbers.
2. $5 would buy about a gallon and a half of gasoline. That would take you maybe between 40 and 60 miles in an efficient ICE car. It would also take you a similar distance in a LEAF on the freeway. This would make me tend to preference taking the ICE car for long trips except for one thing. I would only be paying for the electricity for the return trip, the outbound would still be from my charging at home during off-peak rates (under 7 cents/kWh).
It's also comforting to know the quick chargers are out there in case I would ever really need one. I give ECOtality and the businesses installing their units credit for taking steps leading into the future in uncharted territory.
GRA
Well-known member
Is the bolded section because AZ didn't amend a law to let them charge by the kWh? You can do it in California without being a power company.turbo2ltr said:
turbo2ltr
Well-known member
Not sure. Maybe I misspoke. I thought I remember reading that from one of the blink reps in one of the blink threads. The thread where people were complaining about the "charge by the time connected" policy...
LEAFfan
Well-known member
kovalb said:
1. The Blink QC's cost just for the charger is between $60K and 80K, not 100K.
2. Again, the $5 per charge is an Introductory rate so if any more than that I will use GoE3s for travel to Tucson and Flagstaff (when they get installed).
jspearman
Well-known member
Anyone know if there are chargers in Sedona? One hotel says they offer charging, but not on plug share, so I'm assuming its just a wall plug.
shrink
Well-known member
jspearman said:
Hey jspearman,
I owe you a phone call. I actually saw you driving in the RAV4 south on 16th St just north of Camelback a few weeks ago. I was driving the Volt en route back from Summer Winds Nursery finishing off some landscaping of that house remodel that had me crazy busy for a while.
Shoot me an e-mail if you're free this weekend.
Anyway, I went up to Sedona in 7/2012 in the Volt. At the time, there were no charging stations; however, we stayed at the Amara Hotel and Spa. It's mandatory valet there and they happily plugged us in overnight. At the time, they said it was the first Volt at their hotel.
shrink
Well-known member
kovalb said:
Well, it's easy to put 1.5 gallons or $5 of gas into an ICE car. The only way to get the full $5 worth of electricity from a Blink QC is to arrive at turtle and charge to 100% - which again is really only 90% per the Blink, and 9 or 10 charge bars on the LEAF. It would then cost another $5 to "top off" to 100%. At least it was like that the last time I QC'd. Did they update the software at all to get an actual 100% charge?
It's similar to prepaying for a tank of gas on a rental car and than watching your miles closely so you can return it on empty - or paying for a full tank of gas when you only need half a tank.
I just don't like the per charge pay structure, wish there were a way to meter it, and I still think this is way overpriced.
That $5 introductory rate is also for members only and $8 for nonmembers/guests. What does a membership cost? $30? So you'd have to QC 11 times within a membership year to save $3. If you do less than 10 QC's it's cheaper to be a nonmember and pay $8/QC.
E.G.,
Member:
(5 QC's @ $5/ea = $25) + $30 membership = $55
(10 QC's @ $5/ea = $50) + $30 membership = $80
(11 QC's @ $5/ea = $55) + $30 membership = $85 ($3 savings!)
Nonmember:
5 QC's/$8 ea = $40 ($15 cheaper than the member price)
10 QC's/$8 ea = $80
11 QC's/$8 ea = $88
To be fair, we do have a pretty good number of QC's in the valley and that's great in case of emergency. But this pricing structure will make me reluctant to use them.
Actually, I think $30 is for Blink Plus? What does Blink basic cost? Perhaps that's more cost effective.
LEAFfan
Well-known member
The 2013 will charge to 98-99% using QC without stopping no matter from where you start and the SoC% on the dash exactly matches the Blink's screen %. It's a nice improvement.
jspearman
Well-known member
Hey Shrink, I'm glad someone recognized that the RAV is electric, ha. Thanks for the tip on Amara, and I'll shoot you a line after I get this posted.
I found another hotel that actually has a Tesla charger, the L'Auberge, but no J1772. They did say I could plug it into the wall, but that would mean staying at their hotel for several days while it lazily made it's way to 100%, ha. Might be driving the Volt after all, or going to Tucson instead. The Arizona Inn in Tucson now has 6, count them, 6 Blink units! Maybe in the fall we take an EV train down to Tucson.
So upon further digging I found out that their Tesla charger is the twist and lock that was used on the roadster, so even the Model S is out of luck, I guess. I can't believe a new-agey place like Sedona doesn't have even one J1772 charger.
I found another hotel that actually has a Tesla charger, the L'Auberge, but no J1772. They did say I could plug it into the wall, but that would mean staying at their hotel for several days while it lazily made it's way to 100%, ha. Might be driving the Volt after all, or going to Tucson instead. The Arizona Inn in Tucson now has 6, count them, 6 Blink units! Maybe in the fall we take an EV train down to Tucson.
So upon further digging I found out that their Tesla charger is the twist and lock that was used on the roadster, so even the Model S is out of luck, I guess. I can't believe a new-agey place like Sedona doesn't have even one J1772 charger.
surfingslovak
Well-known member
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jspearman said:
The Roadster plug is pin-compatible with J1772, and there are adapters available, but they are not cheap. I believe I saw one on TMC for several hundred dollars. The easiest solution would be to replace the head with J1772 and have Roadster owners use the Tesla-supplied adapter cable. Most, if not all, Tesla level 2 host sites have done that in California. Good luck with your trip, hope you can make it work without burning (too much) gas.
TonyWilliams
Well-known member
jspearman said:
No, actually, Tesla sells a Roadster charging station to Model S adapter. You can buy one for the Rav4 and put a J1772 plug on it and use the Roadster station.
DougWantsALeaf
Well-known member
My guess is that in the end, charging stations will be at least as expensive as comparable gas ranges. The reason is that as electric owners can charge at home for 80+% of their need, its only the cross country trips in which you will need the repeated fill ups. Hence, volume for the same number of cars will be significantly lower. To support the pumps (quick chargers), the price will need to be higher. Even with the massively less expensive infrastructure costs 25K vs. a million or two for a gas station.
All of that said, as leaf drivers, we should try to occasionally frequent the non-free chargers. Else they will not be there for us when we need them. Though I understand that this partially defeats the cost saving aspect.
The $5 for a 30 min quick charge sounds about right.
All of that said, as leaf drivers, we should try to occasionally frequent the non-free chargers. Else they will not be there for us when we need them. Though I understand that this partially defeats the cost saving aspect.
The $5 for a 30 min quick charge sounds about right.
