DFW Metroplex

[vrwl]

My first drive in snowy weather in my Leaf today. My only issue was that the windshield wipers froze up really fast and made a LOT of noise because the rubber was frozen, and that's WITH the defrost running at 80 degrees. Driving in ECO was a dream, especially when I had to slow down for the stop lights. Didn't have to use the brake nearly as much and was able to slow-coast into many of the lights, much less dangerous than in an ICE.

 

[Stanton]

Well... I pulled the trigger on TXU free nights today. We've had Green Mountain forever but... I felt like I was leaving too much dough on the table. Tried to get GrnMtn to match the deal, they couldn't. So I pulled out the manual and, after 21 months, I'm finally trying the delayed charging. We'll see how it goes.

You should be able to get by with an "end only" timer if you're using L2 (I've never seen mine start before midnight). Plus, you'll help your car in the summer (it will be able to cool down before charging).

 

[adric22]

I'm actually glad we drove the Volt yesterday. We almost took the Leaf. We had to drive from Kennedale to Keller and back. Normally we can make this trip on a good day with about 20 miles remaining. I don't think that would have been the case yesterday. Here's a photo I took when we were getting ready to come home:

 

[Stanton]

I basically "shelved" my Leaf since the snow hit here (very rare). It's just not worth getting it hit, and the extreme cold drains the batts anyway. It's been sitting in my garage with 4 charge bars since last weekend.

 

[dfwcre8tive]

We got caught in the crazy Christmas weather as well.

Left with a full charge (and no cord) thinking we'd have plenty to return home, but the cold temps, rain and fierce wind knocked us out. Luckily we located a Kroger Blink station (Hickory Creek Plaza, near the road) and parked for a few hours while doing Christmas with relatives... and returned to an ice-covered car (the plug frozen to the power port). But thanks to pre-heating, the windows were clear!

 

[dfwcre8tive]

The new Perot Museum of Nature and Science in downtown Dallas has 2 (unbranded) charging stations. These are available for any visitor, but they are located in the parking lot reserved for special guests right in front of the building (behind barricades). To use these, you must enter the parking lot via River Street behind the museum and dial the call box. Tell them you have an EV, and they will open the gate. http://www.perotmuseum.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[dfwcre8tive]

Stanton is right, they are through the valet service at DFW airport. ANY valet at ANY of the terminals will take your car to charge. They stations are developed by PEP (http://www.pepstations.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false. They don't require any access card, and, even when I inquired to PEP they don't publish any of their station locations.

You can ask them to charge your car at a specific time, but, personaly I would trust them only as much as you would trust a valet person. I have never used the Valet service at DFE and don't know how reliable they are.

Valet service charged it without problem. I've also heard that there will be self-service charging stations in the reconstructed terminal parking garages (now under construction).

 

[Stanton]

Valet service charged it without problem. I've also heard that there will be self-service charging stations in the reconstructed terminal parking garages (now under construction).

I was told something similar the day I was checking out the valet parking EVSE in Terminal D; I would consider using a self serve EVSE in a pinch--even if I had to pay for it. The question is will they put them in the "1 hour parking" (pickup) area or in "general population"? If it's the latter, they are almost guaranteed to get ICE'd unless there is visible signage with strict enforcement.

Also, thanks for the Perot Museum EVSE tip; I plan on checking that out!

 

[vrwl]

Today, we tried to get charges from 4 Blink chargers, and out of the 4 chargers we tried, NONE of them worked properly. This left us in a very precarious situation, without enough “juice” in our car to get home. The 4 chargers were located at:

2 Chargers at Twin Peaks, Frisco: The one facing east/west was not fully functional. They were powered on, but when I used my card to access my account and had to input the zip code, the east/west one would only register “9” for every keypress on the numeric keypad, so there was no ability to input the proper zip code. The other Charger at Twin Peaks, Frisco (the one facing north/south) would not accept ANY keypress on the number keypad, so again, I was unable to start charging my car due to the inability to input a zip code, and this charger is effectively unusable. BTW, one of the spots was ICE'd but the other spot was open.

BOTH chargers at the Kroger grocery store at Kroger Store #598 9700 Coit Rd, Plano, TX 75025 are non-functional today. Neither one of these chargers are turned on, so I couldn’t get it to read my card to initiate the charging process at either of the two chargers at that location. Both spots were ICE'd, but one car pulled out just as we were pulling up so I was able to grab the space. There was no distinctive EV Parking Only marking in the spaces, just the Blink Chargers there.

Thank goodness Chargepoint had a charger located near the Best Buy in Frisco, very close to the Twin Peaks location. It was functional, and they’re the ones who got our charging money today, not Blink. Reported all 4 charger failures to Blink.

 

[adric22]

Thank goodness Chargepoint had a charger located near the Best Buy in Frisco, very close to the Twin Peaks location. It was functional, and they’re the ones who got our charging money today, not Blink. Reported all 4 charger failures to Blink.

That stinks. I have also been very disappointed in the reliability of these charging stations. I hope they get the issues fixed.

 

[Stanton]

Thank goodness Chargepoint had a charger located near the Best Buy in Frisco, very close to the Twin Peaks location. It was functional, and they’re the ones who got our charging money today, not Blink. Reported all 4 charger failures to Blink.

That stinks. I have also been very disappointed in the reliability of these charging stations. I hope they get the issues fixed.

I agree. Unfortunately, I don't think Blink will EVER get these issues fixed because it's a BAD DESIGN; whatever touchscreen panel they chose to use obviously can't withstand the elements (no way they even get heavy use). This is another reason I chose not to "join" the Blink network; if I was going to depend on an EVSE, it would be Chargepoint (the downtown TXU stations also seem to be reliable--but there's only a few and I don't know who manufacture's them).

 

[Pipcecil]

I agree the blink chargers are very unreliable. In the cedar hill uptown ceter (outdoor mall) with three chargers, usually 2 of the three are working at any one time. In fact, there has been a "glitch" at these stations that they default to free charging instead of the usual payment (not that I am complaining about that glitch). I honestly think some of it has to do with the lack of use. My blink ones at work (there are 2) I switch around the station I use and once the original glitches were gone I haven't had one go bad in a very long time. Maybe the software is unstable? Reminds me of old windows OS that crashed all the time. If you peek into the california thread a bit, you will see many post of the unreliability of Blink and some people going to locations that had 10+ chargers only to have 1 working.

FYI the TXU chargers are done by Aerovironment, the same ones that eVgo uses.

 

[vrwl]

I also had an exchange with Blink's support staff about the fact that charging stations which are not even turned on are listed as "Ready" on their map. Here's the response I got:

"We sincerely apologize for the difficulties you faced; the availability of units such as these on the BlinkMap is an issue our web team is currently working to resolve."

"... the availability of units on the BlinkMap reported as problematic or inoperable is an issue our web team is working to resolve. At present, however, we are unable to mark the units as “Unavailable;” the units will only display as “Unavailable” if they experience a specific set of errors. "

So if they are not turned on, or the key pad doesn't work, they are "Ready" in Blink's eyes. Very frustrating. And even more so, because we bought stock in that company over a year ago.

 

[shay]

Has anyone had the brake fix applied: NTB-12-086? It is always interesting trying to find if the dealer has the software for the Leaf fixes.

 

[vrwl]

Has anyone had the brake fix applied: NTB-12-086? It is always interesting trying to find if the dealer has the software for the Leaf fixes.

Not yet, but I need to.

 

[Pipcecil]

Hmm I never got any information on this update (apparently Nissan never sends me info on software updates) - worse part, I just took my car in for the 30,000 mile service and didn't hear anything about the update to my vehicle (one would assume it was in the system!). Uggh...the only way I know about any software updates for my car is actually seeing them posted on this board. I guess I need to call my dealership and have the update applied.

 

[adric22]

Ugh... I got a giant crack across my windshield this morning. Any suggestions who I should call to get it replaced?

 

[Stanton]

Ugh... I got a giant crack across my windshield this morning. Any suggestions who I should call to get it replaced?

Your insurance company, for starters. Sounds like it's beyond the "drill/repair" stage, but most every insurance company has glass coverage and may point you towards a covered shop (I only know the companies/shops in Dallas).

 

[Pipcecil]

DFW Map Updates:

Removal:
Let's Do Lunch (Blink)

Pictures:
YMCA McKinney
Hickory Creek Plaza

Additions:
CBRE Parking Garage 1
Blink – Four Level 2 (J1772)
5801 Tennyson Parkway
Plano, TX 75024

Cowboy’s Stadium
GE – Four Level 2 (J1772)
1 Legends Way
Arlington, TX 76011

Perot Museum of Nature and Science
Independent – Two Level 2 (J1772)
2201 North Field Street
Dallas, TX 75201

EV Car Co
Independent – Two Level 1 (NEMA 5-15R)
7703 Sand Street
Fort Worth, TX 76118

Other:
Corrected various locations for exact station location

 

[adric22]

I took my Leaf to Mansfield Paint & Body today. I'm going to have them replace the windshield and repaint the door that was scratched up really bad in the parking lot of Target recently. What is interesting is that there was a white leaf parked in the parking lot there. I asked the guy about it but he said it was not there for body work but belongs to a martial arts instructor that works in a nearby building. I wonder if anyone knows who that is.

Anyway, a new windshield is going to cost me around $270 installed. Not sure on the paint work yet.

I was also pleased the body shop knew something about it. I asked him if he planned to bake the car after painting the door. He immediately said he could not bake it because of the lithium battery. Before that point, I wasn't entirely sure if he even knew it was an electric car. So I guess he knows.