DFW Metroplex

[Stanton]

Here's my post about the results of my P3227 update: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=13273&p=309333#p309333" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Posted mine right after Vicki's in that same thread...but I used 100% charge screen shots to get max GIDs, etc.

 

[Stanton]

Despite these instrumental errors, the range has now settled back to its normal self with no additional boost like it was previously. It makes me wonder if the recalibriation messed stuff up and the car had to "relearn" its capacity back all over again and readjust the fuel bars and GOM.

That appears to be what's happening. What we don't know is WHAT this "fixed" or HOW it will impact gauge/capacity information down the road. Remember, they made this a MANDATORY update to receive any (battery) warranty service, which I assume you will be claiming in the next year or so?

 

[Pipcecil]

Most likely next year. I am down 2 bars and right on the cusp of 3. We have be more than fortuante with the abnormal lower temperatures this year compared to years past (its July and some highs are only in the 90's its usually 100+ straight up by this time everyday), so the degredation may be slower. BUT on a side note, I will hit that max of 60k in June of next year (I average about 20k per year), so if I haven't reached the 4th bar by then I will be kindof dissapointed since, well it may look that replacements would be better than just a 3 bar loss pack (there isn't many used leaf packs out there!). To me, the capacity waranty should have covered what was promised up front: 70% capacity remaining in 8-10 years (or 100,000k). If I reach it at 65,000k in 3.5 years thats still too short and I think I should be compensated for buying into their false statement that help sell me the car. But, hopefully, I won't have to fight that battle....

Anyways - Friday updates:

Two modifications and three new stations:

Modifications:

Pratt & Whitney - Grand Prairie (Blink): One of the two stations is restricted, changed marker and text to reflect the restricted status
Bass Pro Shop (Garland) (Blink): DC Fast Chargers where removed from this location, changed icon to reflect only Level 2 and removed restricted status


New stations:

2121 Flora St. – Public Parking
Blink – Two Level 2 (J1772)
2121 Flora Street
Dallas, TX 75201

This station was added previously, but it was always greyed out and never became available. It was removed sometime later. I guess they decided that it may become online. Its currently still listed as unavailable (greyed out).

TI Kilby West
Blink – Two Level 2 (J1772)
13592 North Central Expressway
Dallas, TX 75243

TI DM5 North
Blink – Two Level 2 (J1772)
13592 North Central Expressway
Dallas, TX 75243

 

[vrwl]

Bass Pro Shop (Garland) (Blink): DC Fast Chargers where removed from this location, changed icon to reflect only Level 2 and removed restricted status

Wasn't this the DC Fast Charger that you just reported on a month or so ago? The Blink one I was so happy to see?? And now it's gone?? Grrrrrrr

 

[Pipcecil]

it was added a couple of weeks ago. It may have been that Blink jumped the gun on posting it online. From my co-worker that visited it, he said it looked complete (almost - there seemed to be some wiring around), but hadn't been looked at for awhile (it looked weatherworn and not nice and new).

My personal thought:
Blink built it but didn't get all the permitting done for it. Being exposed a bit as to how these negotionations go (seeing that my work helps), its extremely difficult to get these permitted. Cities don't have any "normal" permit for these installations. Almost all work done through city code has a specific supporting code to make permitting easier. These have none and, therefore, must do a complete individual type permit - something that usually takes a very long time. I know my work has been trying to get cities to adopt some type of code to make installation quicker, but I don't know how that is going. Usually once a city approves one, they more are easier to get through since they know what is being done (remember this EV thing is pretty new to city governments). This would have been Garlands first DC fast station by any company, so they are probably going through the pains of getting the permit done.

Now I could be way off, it could be Blink ran out of money for this area or that bass pro shop backed out on the deal. There are plenty of reasons and we may neve know the actual one. Hopefully they get their act together and it gets turned on and ready to go.

 

[jhm614]

Getting my reprogram done at Don Davis this a.m. They have new SLs on the lot, two with the Premium package. Wow! The White one looks great. The 17" wheels look much better in person than in pictures.

J.

 

[vrwl]

Getting my reprogram done at Don Davis this a.m. They have new SLs on the lot, two with the Premium package. Wow! The White one looks great. The 17" wheels look much better in person than in pictures.

J.

Agree on both counts, that white car is gorgeous and I really do like the 17" wheels after seeing them on the car up close.

 

[mkjayakumar]

Yesterday I tried a Blink successfully on the Nissan corporate office a few miles near DFW airport. That place as you might all know has 20 Blink stations and everytime I go there I see no more than 1 Leaf charging.

Next I went to the Kroger station in McAurthur blvd and successfully charged my Leaf. Interesting thing is the two parking spots where these Blink chargers are located were ICE free, even though it was in a prime spot very close to the entrance and the parking lot was nearly full. There was sign that said 'EV charging' and nothing else. Though I would have preferred, 'EV charging only'.

Anyway is that a sign of progress that the public is getting educated?

 

[vrwl]

Yesterday I tried a Blink successfully on the Nissan corporate office a few miles near DFW airport. That place as you might all know has 20 Blink stations and everytime I go there I see no more than 1 Leaf charging.

Next I went to the Kroger station in McAurthur blvd and successfully charged my Leaf. Interesting thing is the two parking spots where these Blink chargers are located were ICE free, even though it was in a prime spot very close to the entrance and the parking lot was nearly full. There was sign that said 'EV charging' and nothing else. Though I would have preferred, 'EV charging only'.

Anyway is that a sign of progress that the public is getting educated?

One can hope, but every time I try the Kroger store off of Coit and 121, they are iced.

 

[Pipcecil]

I think its just random - it comes in spurts. Sometimes I see prime spots with chargers that are not ICED and then the next time I visit they are ICED. My mark of if the public has really turned is two places with chargers because of their high density of traffic and the groups of people that frequent these areas seem to be more likely to ICE (from my experience):

West Village - despite the stations being on the 4th floor of a 5 floor garage, they are ICED constantly. Parking is pretty packed and by the time you get to the 4th floor no one wants to park on the roof so they get nabbed.

Chilis @ Knox Henderson - parking is awful there and they are very close to the enterance (although by the trash bins). I don't think I have ever seen these non-ICED, even during non-crowded times.

Once I can reliably use these without being ICED then I will call it good! Its interesting in these areas since others I have frequent, although with low parking availablity, high volume of people, and great up front spots don't get ICED that often. Bishop Arts District is like that - very few times it gets ICED.

Also, I don't know if y'all read the other boards but jhm614 lost his 4th bar in June and is getting his pack replaced. He said he was the second at Don Davis Nissan (no clue who was the first). Interesting, his car is 2 months older than me, but I do put more miles on mine. From that comparison, it looks like I might loose my 3rd bar at the end of this month (since he lost his at the end of may) and loose the 4th in August if the trend holds the same. I am curious if the battery software update delays this change. For all purposes I should be loosing capacity the same if not quicker than him:

I have more miles
I don't charge to 80%
I QC frequently, sometimes multiple times a day and top it off
My car sits outside during the day
My car sits inside a hot garage (not opened) while charging with a Volt also creating extra heat

We shall see if the pattern holds...

 

[vrwl]

Yesterday I tried a Blink successfully on the Nissan corporate office a few miles near DFW airport. That place as you might all know has 20 Blink stations and everytime I go there I see no more than 1 Leaf charging.

Next I went to the Kroger station in McAurthur blvd and successfully charged my Leaf. Interesting thing is the two parking spots where these Blink chargers are located were ICE free, even though it was in a prime spot very close to the entrance and the parking lot was nearly full. There was sign that said 'EV charging' and nothing else. Though I would have preferred, 'EV charging only'.

Anyway is that a sign of progress that the public is getting educated?

One can hope, but every time I try the Kroger store off of Coit and 121, they are iced.

Well, I had to eat my words yesterday, sort of. When I first pulled in, all 4 spots were iced, but then as I circled to go down the next row, one of the spots opened up and so I was able to pull in and get a charge. I put Blink's ICE'D notices (http://www.plugincars.com/sites/default/files/Blink-Notices.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, the green ones) on the remaining 3 cars.

I figure those ICE notices are a good way to help educate the public (at least the mild version, green ones, are).

 

[mkjayakumar]

Are you referring to the Kroger at 121/Coit ? I live very close to that place and I go to that plaza for some reason or other several times a week (Bank, Korger, Subway, hair cutting salon...) and I planning to watch out for any ICE cars in that spot and leave the notice on their windshields.

It is bound to have an effect over time.. hopefully..

 

[vrwl]

Are you referring to the Kroger at 121/Coit ? I live very close to that place and I go to that plaza for some reason or other several times a week (Bank, Korger, Subway, hair cutting salon...) and I planning to watch out for any ICE cars in that spot and leave the notice on their windshields.

It is bound to have an effect over time.. hopefully..

Yep, that's the one I'm talking about. There was a red Leaf parked in one of the EV spots (but not charging) when I left. I was at the Subway picking up a sandwich, so I didn't see who was driving it, and was in a hurry so couldn't wait afterwards to meet the driver. But yeah, that's the one I was talking about.

 

[Jim]

I just updated Google Maps (Android phone) and found out that Google removed My Places, along with other things like Labs and Latitude. With My Places removed I could not access the charging locations map that pipcecil created. I uninstalled Maps to revert to the stock version that the phone came with and i can now access the charging station map again. If you use My Places or Labs don't update.

 

[Pipcecil]

unfortunately the update does remove the my map stuff. The only way to access the map is to go through the mobile web browser instead of the google maps app

 

[Pipcecil]

Small updates this week:

2121 Flora St. Public Parking (Blnik) - removed, its not longer listed by Blink
Whole Foods - Dallas (ChargePoint) - added a Level 1 to this location, its a dual station (level 2/level 1)

 

[vrwl]

Saw another LEAF in the wild yesterday evening.... White LEAF driven by a very friendly, blond-headed gal going north on Preston Road in Frisco with her kids. We waved and rolled down our windows and had a brief conversation while driving up the road. She's had her car for about 4 months. Afterwards, I was kicking myself for not yelling "mynissanleaf.com" out the window to her, but hopefully I'll see her again sometime while driving around town and I'll be sure to mention it if I do.

 

[Stanton]

Cowboys Stadium (I know it's now called "AT&T") GE WattStation charger update :x

My attempt to charge at the (4 free) EVSE's @Cowboy's Stadium last week was an unmitigated disaster. I'm not going to bore you with the details, but the reason I'm posting is that I already got a call from GE this morning (put in a "complaint" via the same website I set an account up at last week) explaining ALL of the problems I encountered and that I will be called when they are "fixed" (beware: one of them is their iPhone app, so don't expect it to work until you see an update). They are nice units and easily accessible (as long as there isn't a football or baseball game), but don't do anyone any good if you can't charge.

I will post an update when I get the "all clear" so someone can try them out (again). Oh, I charged (not free) at a Blink nearby to get home that night.

 

[Staque]

Cowboys Stadium (I know it's now called "AT&T") GE WattStation charger update :x

My attempt to charge at the (4 free) EVSE's @Cowboy's Stadium last week was an unmitigated disaster. I'm not going to bore you with the details, but the reason I'm posting is that I already got a call from GE this morning (put in a "complaint" via the same website I set an account up at last week) explaining ALL of the problems I encountered and that I will be called when they are "fixed" (beware: one of them is their iPhone app, so don't expect it to work until you see an update). They are nice units and easily accessible (as long as there isn't a football or baseball game), but don't do anyone any good if you can't charge.

I will post an update when I get the "all clear" so someone can try them out (again). Oh, I charged (not free) at a Blink nearby to get home that night.

Does GE actually operate the GE WattStations at the stadium?

I mean if I went to Hertz and they rented me a Toyota Camry with 4 flat tires, I wouldn't complain to Toyota.

 

[adric22]

Cowboys Stadium (I know it's now called "AT&T") GE WattStation charger update :x

My attempt to charge at the (4 free) EVSE's @Cowboy's Stadium last week was an unmitigated disaster. I'm not going to bore you with the details, but the reason I'm posting is that I already got a call from GE this morning (put in a "complaint" via the same website I set an account up at last week) explaining ALL of the problems I encountered and that I will be called when they are "fixed" (beware: one of them is their iPhone app, so don't expect it to work until you see an update). They are nice units and easily accessible (as long as there isn't a football or baseball game), but don't do anyone any good if you can't charge.

I would actually like to hear the boring details. I actually drove by and took a look at those stations and took a photo for plugshare. But I never actually plugged in. I do have a GE card so I should have access to them.