Networking the free DCQC chargers at Nissan dealers

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PaulScott

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 9, 2010
Messages
196
Location
Santa Monica
We received a notice from Nissan that our first year of free charging may be coming to an end here at the dealer. They are giving us three choices. Please see the following and give me your opinion. We are on the fence, but currently leaning toward the Chargepoint option at our store (Nissan of Downtown LA). We can set a price with Chargepoint for users, but we can't with EVGO. EVGO has a better warranty of 4 years vs. 1 year with Chargepoint.

What do users of these stations prefer?
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First off, congratulations for participating in the Nissan DC Quick Charger Program. With your installation complete the second part of our program is to offer Dealerships the opportunity to Network these Chargers. Currently you activate your Quick Charger using an RFID key fob. Both options presented here would replace your current means of operating the Charger.

Benefits of Networking are:
1. Allows EV Drivers to find, locate and determine Quick Charger Status
2. Attracts existing and potential new Customers to your Dealership
3. Provides real time metrics on health and usage of the Quick Charger
4. Allows Dealers to monetize each Quick Charging event and create a revenue stream

These are options you have to choose from:
Option 1 – Choose NRG eVgo as your network provider. Free to the Dealer
Option 2- Choose Charge Point as your network provider. Free to the Dealer
Option 3- Choose neither and continue to provide free charging to EV drivers. Caution – should you elect to choose this option then decide later you want to be able to network this Charger, Nissan will not pay for this. Approximate cost to install at a later date is $2,000.

Free Network installation offer, over $2,000 value, expires on March 31, 2014.
 
I'd vote for chargepoint IF that includes email notices when a Chademo you've use in the past, goes DOWN. Nothing worse than relying on a DOA Chademo. I knonw it'd be WAY beyond expectation to actually be notified on when restoration is done.
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option three. you are building a brand and that is part of the cost.

i cant believe 2k as a capital expense is even an issue in the decision-tree.

this from someone who has turned down offers to qc instead of L2 at my dealership. I didnt need it to get home.
 
thankyouOB said:
option three. you are building a brand and that is part of the cost.

i cant believe 2k as a capital expense is even an issue in the decision-tree.

this from someone who has turned down offers to qc instead of L2 at my dealership. I didnt need it to get home.
I understand and agree that it's good for the brand to offer free charging, and if it were up to me, I'd want to do that, however, these machines are not fail proof, and there are occasional outages, and the everpresent threat of a mechanical failure for which we would be responsible. Given the costs involved to repair, the dealer may just have the charger pulled out.
 
Chargepoint's network is pretty good, and most EV drivers already have a card. ANYTHING to stop having to go inside to get the fob would be nice!! :)
 
I prefer ChargePoint. More important would be making these stations available 24-7.

Edit- As WalterBays points out below, EvGo is subscription based. I do not want to be forced into paying a monthly fee to have access to QCs at dealers. Also, want to be sure that if they take over these QCs, they will not be counted towards the numbers required to be deployed by their settlement with the State of California.
 
1st answer: pick either. I have both cards. Dealer DCQC was a big and necessary infrastructure improvement. Though I've not used it yet, its very existence reassures me I won't be stranded, which makes Leaf a viable choice over PHEV. Both Chargepoint and EVgo are well run and well maintained networks. Going on either will be a further improvement. No more running around the dealership trying to find the magic fob, and trying to persuade uninformed employees that you're entitled to charge. No more waiting on a driver ahead of you who doesn't really need the charge but wants to save $1 of home electricity. Just like other Chargepoint and EVgo stations, you have the card, you quickly and easily start the charger, you pay for your charge, and you're entitled to charge, no questions asked.

Personally I'd prefer you pick EVgo. That's because I'm in San Diego where EVgo is on the verge of building a viable network for which I'd pay a subscription fee. The more stations which join EVgo the greater the value of my subscription. Especially valuable would be stations in Los Angeles where EVgo barely has a toehold, whose presence would facilitate "in network roaming".

If I lived in Los Angeles where Chargepoint is ubiquitous I'd hope for San Diego dealers to pick Chargepoint for the same reason.

From a public policy standpoint I'd hope that dealers everywhere would pick whichever network has the lesser presence in their area, to promote competition. With Blink seeming not very interested in maintaining and running their network, whatever competition there is will be between Chargepoint and EVgo. It would be unfortunate if they ended up with a de facto division of the market, like cable TV companies, with no restraint on price increases and service decreases.
 
First choice, of course, would be option 3. Second choice would be option 2. Option 2 would be much more palatable if the cost was set low and it insured better access to the charger.

PaulScott said:
Option 2- Choose Charge Point as your network provider. Free to the Dealer
Option 3- Choose neither and continue to provide free charging to EV drivers. Caution – should you elect to choose this option then decide later you want to be able to network this Charger, Nissan will not pay for this.
 
TomT said:
First choice, of course, would be option 3. Second choice would be option 2. Option 2 would be much more palatable if the cost was set low and it insured better access to the charger.

PaulScott said:
Option 2- Choose Charge Point as your network provider. Free to the Dealer
Option 3- Choose neither and continue to provide free charging to EV drivers. Caution – should you elect to choose this option then decide later you want to be able to network this Charger, Nissan will not pay for this.

Well, they don't have to be exclusive. I much prefer the ChargePoint network, and since you get to set the price with them, you could set the price to "free".
 
If you must monetize, please choose Chargepoint, they have been a class act. Evgo's pricing sucks badly. Basically unless you are willing to pay monthly, you pay through the nose. Make sure that whatever choice you make, you're able to offer free charging at least on an ad hoc basis. If someone comes in late (or is towed in), would be stranded without a charge, and has no membership, you don't want to have to turn them away.
 
Well, they don't have to be exclusive. I much prefer the ChargePoint network, and since you get to set the price with them, you could set the price to "free".[/quote]
We are leaning in this direction. We like the ability to set the price, and we were assured we could charge per kWh which I like a lot. We can also use it to incentivize customers by letting our customers use it for free, but a nominal charge for those who bought or leased from competing dealers.
 
I talked to my dealer about this topic and I also opted for ChargePoint and I said to them if the cost was $5 per use that would be totally fine for me.

I would use it maybe twice a month. $10 a month is nothing to save me 3 hours.


24/7 access is a must. No lock boxes with breakers turned off please
 
PaulScott said:
We are leaning in this direction. We like the ability to set the price, and we were assured we could charge per kWh which I like a lot. We can also use it to incentivize customers by letting our customers use it for free, but a nominal charge for those who bought or leased from competing dealers.

Sounds like a great plan! I hope the other Nissan dealers follow suit.
 
One of the Selling Points the dealer used in selling (leasing) the Leaf was the ability to charge for "FREE" at any Nissan dealer whenever we drive outside of the local area. It was not something written in a contract so they can change it, but it is counter to good customer relations to start charging after the purchase. As it is I never go to an outside charging station unless I am out of area. The last time I went to the dealer for the DCQC I spent about 10 minutes there and got what would have cost me $1 at home. It is just not worth the time to go out of my way to get it "free".

If the price remains free and chargepoint will accept that, then why not. Otherwise the dealer could just keep the DCQC themselves and either keep the FOB or disable it so it can be used 24/7.
 
Graffi said:
If the price remains free and chargepoint will accept that, then why not.


The dealer still has to pay for the electricity.


I think the system should be like Tesla's Superchargers. If you pay Nissan for the QC then you should get access. I don't mind paying $5 per session. then the dealers can at least pay the electrical costs.
 
I am for the solution that will keep these stations as operable and reliable as possible.

If eVgo gives you a 4-year warranty on the charging station (the warranties aren't just for the payment/networking systems) I would probably go that way for the hardware support alone even though I much prefer Chargepoint's ability to set fees any way you like. eVgo does let you pay a-la-cart for DCQC - the cost is $4.95 + $0.20 / minute, no membership required.

Hopefully this also encourages dealers to make their stations available 24/7 - and perhaps install additional stations as well?
 
I vote for #2.
Graffi said:
One of the Selling Points the dealer used in selling (leasing) the Leaf was the ability to charge for "FREE" at any Nissan dealer whenever we drive outside of the local area. It was not something written in a contract so they can change it, but it is counter to good customer relations to start charging after the purchase.
Gotta love it when dealers make promises on behalf of other dealers and ones they don't have to keep, since it's some other random dealer.

Keep in mind that dealers are not owned by the automaker itself due to the pesky franchise laws we have in the US. I only became aware of this fact due to all the battles Tesla's been fighting on this on a state-by-state basis. (Google for tesla franchise laws.)

Paul, thanks for filling us in and giving us some insight. This might explain why at least 2 dealers in my area recently got Chargepoint equipment installed on their Nissan CHAdeMO DC FC.
Lasareath said:
24/7 access is a must. No lock boxes with breakers turned off please
Problem is, the DC FC might already have been placed somewhere that doesn't facilitate that. :( And, as we've discussed numerous times here on MNL, dealers would likely rather not have random people hanging out after the dealer's closed.

Sure, I'd love the above but also can see their POV.
 
Paul, another important consideration: is ChargePoint going to charge a network fee at some point? I know they do that with level 2 stations, and it's an integral part of their business model. I like ChargePoint, and I hope you pick them, but this could be an important factor to consider. eVgo is too new in this area, and I don't have much experience with them. That said, it's good to see alternatives arise.
 
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