Level-3 Charging Stations in NY?

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

FredinNY

Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
23
Location
Dutchess County, NY
Greetings from Hudson Valley NY,
We'll most likely make the jump into a 2013 Leaf later this year, but I'm questioning the value of the additional cost for the quick-charge port. I understand the argument for making an investment in the future, but I fear that by the time level-3 charging stations are truly plentiful enough to make an impact in driving habits, we'll all be driving 2nd and 3rd generation EV's.

It makes sense that the push for level-3 charging stations will first be in the metropolitan areas...NYC, Albany, Buffalo, etc., but what about the outer suburbs?

I can see large private organizations gradually installing Level-2 chargers at your malls and movie theaters, but does anyone know of any formal (committed to) plans to install Level-3 charging stations on a larger scale?

 
Not in NY or NE for the near future.

If you lease, skip it and wait. L2 is the best you're gonna get for now.

There are Tesla QCs, but Leafs can't use them.

Closest ones to you are the DC area, TN, and possibly Montreal.

You'd think Nissan would as proactive as Tesla here, but no. Very bad marketing strategy.
 
I got the L3 port on my car, just on the off chance that one does get installed in NY, I can at least try it out. I'd hate to encounter a L3 charger in the wild and NOT have the port. But, as was already stated, there are NO L3s in the entire Northeast, unless you count the nearby Canadian provinces as part of the NE! The NY Thruway Authority claims its hands are tied, because they have contracts with oil companies for all "fuel" services at the Thruway service areas, and it is up to those companies to provide charging for EVs, since electricity is a fuel. NYSERDA refuses to allow anyone interested in installing CHAdeMO stations to apply for the money they have been giving out, because CHAdeMO was not chosen by the SAE as North America's Quick Charging standard. However, because there are no cars on the road in NY that can use the SAE's "Frankenplug", you can't apply for any funds to install one of those chargers, either! In effect, NYSERDA is only giving out money for standard Level 2 stations. For example, ChargePoint is installing 80 such stations in the NYC area, virtually all of which will be in private, for-profit parking lots. In addition to the cost for parking, most of these stations charge upwards of $3/hour. They are mainly geared towards NYers who live in apartments and would therefore have no other way to charge an EV, not for people driving into the city with an EV for the day. I think it's a bit ridiculous that they are using NY's money to install these chargers, and then are charging such high rates to charge.

</rant>
 
I opted not to spend the money on the port, since I doubt I'll see a CHAdeMO charger within the life of my lease.

Honestly, I think it makes more sense to put DCQC in the exurbs like Dutchess County than it would in the city. Or maybe half-way, like in Westchester, for the hoards of long-distance commuters.

I have been in contact with both the Thruway Authority and NYSERDA on this topic, and NYSERDA has funds set aside for DCQC, but they "want to wait and see which standard becomes popular". Well, neither if you don't support them. Alternatively, they could install something like this, and please both camps: <http://www05.abb.com/global/scot/scot344.nsf/veritydisplay/f2beb5ed22eeca47c1257a750020c6bf/$file/4EVC203201-LFEN_TerraSCDuoChargeStation.pdf>.


I implore you (and any other readers in NYS) to contact them and put some pressure on them. We need them to know that it's not just one vocal guy upstate calling for this.
 
GetOffYourGas said:
I opted not to spend the money on the port, since I doubt I'll see a CHAdeMO charger within the life of my lease.

Honestly, I think it makes more sense to put DCQC in the exurbs like Dutchess County than it would in the city. Or maybe half-way, like in Westchester, for the hoards of long-distance commuters.

I have been in contact with both the Thruway Authority and NYSERDA on this topic, and NYSERDA has funds set aside for DCQC, but they "want to wait and see which standard becomes popular". Well, neither if you don't support them. Alternatively, they could install something like this, and please both camps: <http://www05.abb.com/global/scot/scot344.nsf/veritydisplay/f2beb5ed22eeca47c1257a750020c6bf/$file/4EVC203201-LFEN_TerraSCDuoChargeStation.pdf>.


I implore you (and any other readers in NYS) to contact them and put some pressure on them. We need them to know that it's not just one vocal guy upstate calling for this.

I'll have to add that to my to do list. Has anyone contacted their local state representatives about the thruway and pressuring/insentivising action? At least in NY, with Cuomo's talk of electric infrastructure improvements, I would think something could be done.

That being said, I wouldn't suggest leasing a Leaf in the North East with a QC port unless you don't have any options. I Doubt you will see a QC in the lease period, or even if you did, I doubt you would get enough use to validate the cost. If you're buying and plan to keep it for a while, it may be a different story (although, I doubt it).

When I leased my car I didn't have the option of getting anything but the SL with the QC port.
 
I've been tempted to figure out a way to drive to Canada just to use the QC port on my Leaf because I would hate to drive the car for three years and never use it. On second thought, don't get the QC port if you live in the North East because it will make you think of doing crazy things. :)
 
Publius said:
I've been tempted to figure out a way to drive to Canada just to use the QC port on my Leaf because I would hate to drive the car for three years and never use it. On second thought, don't get the QC port if you live in the North East because it will make you think of doing crazy things. :)

I'm considering driving down to DC to test out their QC network once eVgo has it up and running. A bit crazy? Maybe. Road trips are fun, though!

My honest hope is that Nissan sees that they need to install QCs in major metro areas, and starts to do so. Many of their dealers are already located very close to the Thruway. They could cover virtually the entire state with less than 30 QCs installed at dealers.
 
I bought a 2012 SL which included the QC port. I would not have paid for it separately, since I seriously doubt there will be any QC stations in upstate NY during the life of the car.
 
2 new QC units in NYC. 1) 186 Clinton St, Manhattan; 2) 5820 Francis Lewis Blvd, Flushing. Both currently free. I visited the Flushing location. Near a 7-11 and a number of other stores. Parking space was open but I did not need to charge.
 
charlie1300 said:
I bought a 2012 SL which included the QC port. I would not have paid for it separately, since I seriously doubt there will be any QC stations in upstate NY during the life of the car.

Funny how options are different in Canada...

I just bought a 2012 SL and the quick charge was an option. I bought it (last one Nissan had) in the hopes of more level 3's in the future. So far there is one nearby.

The Quebec government is pushing for more by the Fall. Fingers crossed.

For now I hope I don't regret the smaller 3.3 onboard instead of the 6.6 on the 2013. The rebate in the 2012 was huge, made it worth the compromise :)
 
freemolo said:
2 new QC units in NYC. 1) 186 Clinton St, Manhattan; 2) 5820 Francis Lewis Blvd, Flushing. Both currently free. I visited the Flushing location. Near a 7-11 and a number of other stores. Parking space was open but I did not need to charge.

i checked out the one near 7-11 too. awesome :D
 
Last night I did a 'confidence run', taking my Leaf from the suburbs of NJ 34 miles away along the turnpike and into NYC, with the purpose of seeing if I could make a round trip on one charge as well as check out the level 3 charger at 186 Clinton street in Manhattan.

I was extremely disappointed to find out one must have a special key fob to unlock and activate it the L3 CHAdeMO charger. Based one what I've read online, it might be only available to the test fleet of NYC Leaf taxis.

At least there were some level 2 Chargepoint chargers at the same location that worked just fine with my Chargepoint key card.
 
I have the DCQC port, and recently have had the opportunity to use it!
In addition, The Pennsylvania Turnpike is installing 2 DCQC's in each of its service areas.
I think they are coming.
It's not going to get worse.

In New Yourk, looking at the charger maps, you actually have crappier infrastructure North of the city than we do (which I thought was impossible)

There is a DCQC (Free!) at 186 Clinton Street, New York, NY, and one at 5820 Francis Lewis Boulevard, Flushing, NY.

We just got a Blink Chademo on the Jersey side of the Delaware Bridge, which allows me access to Northern Delaware for shopping.

There are also those among us that are working on "home" versions of DCQC.
It's not exactly Brain Surgery, but the plugs are outrageously expensive at this point.
 
KillaWhat,

That charging station at 186 Clinton is the one I just mentioned that required a special key fob to use. Have you personally used this DCQC? How did you get it to unlock?
 
Hmm. I tried my card and it wouldn't accept it. It worked on the L2 chargers though. I'll have to try it again the next time I am there.
 
I believe it was ElmoBob that reported the AV unit at 186 Clinton didn't require any sort of keyfob to get started. He posted pics on Plugshare of him using the unit. I wonder if this is a new change? Perhaps the taxi drivers complained that too many Leaf drivers were using it and they couldn't? The other 2 units that were installed as part of the program are not accessible to the public, only the drivers of the Leaf taxis, so it would be really unfortunate if they locked up the only public one. I wonder if we could order an AV keyfob from Oregon/Washington and see if that works on the NY one?

As for the QC in Queens, the story there is even more depressing. There are reports on Plugshare that the employees of the 7-11 are not allowing people to use it, saying it's "not ready", even though it works. According to one report, they went so far as threatening to call the police if the driver attempted to charge. When the unit is actually being used, however, it appears to be limited to just 8.9kW output. CHAdeMO units are usually 50kW, so this is considerably slower. In fact, Teslas normally charge at 10kW on a J1772 (AC) plug, so it's really ridiculous that this CHAdeMO unit is slower than that. I understand they're trying to avoid demand charges, but jeez!
 
Upstate NY does truly Suck for charging. I already knew this from two-wheeled EV experience (I once gave someone running a garage sale $5.00 to charge, and was refused permission to plug into a gas station outside outlet on the same ride), but it looks a lot better on paper now than it actually is. The hotel in Saratoga Springs with a Chargepoint station won't tell you about it, and it's for their guests only. A major supermarket announced charging stations at five of their stores, but only two of them actually have them, with no timeline for the rest to get it... you get the idea. I got a good deal on my 2013 SV because it doesn't have the QC option; people are looking for it here, and Boy, are they going to be disappointed when they try to use it! But hey, since I only have 120 volt charging at home, when/if I eventually find a level II station I can actually use, *that* will be "fast charging" for me. ;-)
 
Back
Top