Poll : Are you getting the DC Fast Charge (L3) option ?

[garygid]

EVSEs can be "adjusted" to "limit" their max-current value, and provide 8-hour spaces and 4-hour spaces. But, the "parking" or "use" fee might be a lot more than the e-fuel cost.

For now, a QC spot (for example, on a freeway) will be a "necessity". If you stop there, you generally will not have enough charge to go to another e-station. You will be essentially "captive" ... or possibly go looking for L1 or L2 charging at some kind farm/home nearby.

On the LA to Phoenix trip, there are long stretches of NO nearby "e".

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I have wanted Electric vehicle For more than 6 years And have been tracking My auto usage During that time.

I found that i could Except a vehicle That had a reliable 70 mile range. This would put the prius In the garage 90 percent of the time.

I am lucky in that I live near a major City so that the need to drive farther is relatively rare.

But if that range was increased to about 160 miles then the prius
would be parked 98 percent of the time.

My leaf will be the the main source of transportation. Granted they are times When both cars must be used. Estimated mileage Without fast charging;

LEAF; 14000. PRIUS; About 12,000

With quick charging

Leaf; 17,000 Prius; 9000

Currently gas is running Almost 6 Cents per mile Along with other maintenance costs total cost is about 8 cents a mile. With an estimated EV expense 03 cents a mile. The difference is 5 cents per mile or 150 dollars Per year

My dealer is offering Free charging It just so happens to be perfectly PositionEd 4 charge On trips to the seattle area Because of that The 607 dollars For the opportunity to Do a quick charge Will pay itself back.

The other thing is... i'm getting the car 4 a grand less then i expected to pay after the quick charge cost was added.

So is it possible that. These discounts under MSRP Might have been encouraged Due to the feedback from this forum about the additional charge?

On the question of "forcing" one to purchase in upgrade package to get something else.... every car company does the exact same thing so going elsewhere will not change the results.

For examples of this, go to priuschat.com can listen to them bitch about the exact. Same thing

 

[cdub]

Well I finally got accepted into the EVproject... so it looks like I'm getting the L3 option. Now if they can finally come out soon and do an assessment so the website would let me order the darn car!

 

[TimeHorse]

Well I finally got accepted into the EVproject... so it looks like I'm getting the L3 option. Now if they can finally come out soon and do an assessment so the website would let me order the darn car!

<rant>

Dang it, someone tell Ecotality they need to set up shop in the MD-DC-VA region! We want free EVSEs too! :mrgreen:

</rant>

 

[Yodrak]

Kudos to the CA PUC for that move! It's nice to see a PUC keeping up with changing times (and it's good to see the CA PUC making a good move rather than a disasterous one).

For less enlightened states, I can't see the loophole you suggest getting very far. Sooner or later someone will complain to the commission pointing out the obvious, and the commission will either act reasonably and amend regulations as you say California has done or stick their head in the sand and put an end to the practice. Hopefully the former.

The CA Public Utility Commission just passed a "rule" that one does
NOT need to be a PU to sell electricity for EV charging (in CA).

But, other areas might sell "parking" (or some such) rather than e-fuel.

 

[Yodrak]

Good discussion points, TimeHorse. Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Gary, good point on selling "Parking"! I like that presentation of a loophole!

In the long term, where as commodity prices are regulated because we consider things like Electrification and Heating of households a basic need in this country and thus it's is the general consensus that it must be a regulated market to keep the potential monopoly power of a utility from gauging customers for the basic commodity. I'm not here to argue for or against such regulation, but I will state for the record that I support it.

However, charging an EV at a "private" charging facility (as opposed to a "public" one, which, as publicly funded should be, IMHO, free) would be better served by allowing market forces to dictate price. Since away from home charging should hopefully be a luxury and not a need for most EV drivers, it would be fair to allow any private charging facility to charge any price they see fit. If the price isn't reasonable, people won't use the service so there is incentive to set a reasonable price, and this will keep costs down. If multiple merchants build charging facilities, like multiple gasoline stations, then they will compete against each other to get business to again lower costs. The danger would be if only 1 business got exclusive rights to supply electricity at a rest area on the highway. But we don't generally allow exclusivity to a specific petrochemical provider at most rest areas, and if we do, they will, as a monopoly provider be regulated as part of the highway commission of that state. Generally, though, it's easier for a state to just give 2 petrol providers contracts to provide service at that station, and so too should they just ensure that 2 separate private EVSE providers should be commissioned to provide service at a given facility, again creating competition.

This, of course, is not how it is -- Yodrak has explained how it probably really is -- but it is how I personally wish it to be. The Free Market isn't always the answer IMHO, but in this case I think it perfectly fits.

 

[daniel]

I have wanted Electric vehicle For more than 6 years And have been tracking My auto usage During that time.

I found that i could Except a vehicle That had a reliable 70 mile range. This would put the prius In the garage 90 percent of the time. [...snip...]

Hey, Dave. What's with the weird capitalization??? Your posts were easier to read when you didn't use capitals at all. :?

 

[LakeLeaf]

Hey, Dave. What's with the weird capitalization??? Your posts were easier to read when you didn't use capitals at all. :?

I *think* that is his voice to text interface - and if so, it's getting better.

 

[daniel]

Hey, Dave. What's with the weird capitalization??? Your posts were easier to read when you didn't use capitals at all. :?

I *think* that is his voice to text interface - and if so, it's getting better.

I wish he'd go back to typing!

 

[guywithleaf]

I know the bulk of the conversation here is where and how to charge the Leaf with the L3, but I'll just chime in why I did not select it (although I waver somewhat over the decision). I have an older SUV (it's a ULEV Acura so don't curse me) which I'll be using for the more-than-70-mile trips where I would need distance and cargo capacity; for the other usual run-of-the-mill day activities, the Leaf with normal L2 charging is just fine. I live east of Sacramento CA so my decision was based on the facts that it wouldn't be worthwhile being forced to get to Interstate 5 to take advantage of L3 chargers for a road trip with a Leaf, that a $700 Leaf option is economically better put into gasoline for the SUV for the fewer trips I'll be using the SUV, and the bulk of our daily activities are considerably less than 50 miles a day (more than enough for AC running on a mixed freeway/city driving in hot Sacramento weather). Also, it sounds like the L3 charging interface is not necessarily standardized so it sounds like a misplaced investment. Anyway, that's my thought process.

 

[kolmstead]

SL ordered, only because Nissan says that availability of SVs will be "extremely limited". No L3 port.

Why?

1. I need to baby the batteries. Daytime temps here hit 110F frequently, and the car will sit out in the sun five days a week. L3 charging is hard on batteries. With no L3 port, I can be sure that the dealer won't abuse my batteries before I even get the car.
2. I may never see an L3 charger. Too far from Los Angeles. Which is a good thing! By the time L3 chargers become common, my Leaf will be due for replacement.
3. The port that comes on the Leaf will probably not be the standard selected by SAE, so the $700 will be wasted.
4. Highly unlikely that Nissan will install the new standard L3 port free of charge.

So I'll spend the money on an L2 charger from Leviton instead.

-Karl

 

[guywithleaf]

Karl, thank you for your post. I checked out http://www.evrgreencharger.com (Leviton) after viewing other posts and watched their video. Leviton's video says they are offering a 10-year warranty and, when I called, says it will probably be setting appointments for a site-review/quote within 1-3 weeks from now. I would suggest calling 877-338-7473 to sign up for Leviton's update/info email and Leviton will call you when it is ready to begin the quote process which includes using one of its certified installers. The big plus is that its unit plugs into an outlet unlike AV's which is hard-wired so as technology changes over time, just the charging unit would change and one would not have to yank out the entire unit. I live east of Sacramento so our weather is not as severe as yours in Bakersfield but I also came to the same conclusions as you concerning not ordering the L3 charger (distance from I-5, the strain on the battery pack with L3, no need for distance commuting or road trips with a single vehicle). Again, thanks for your post and setting me on a better choice for L2 charging.

-- Jerry

 

[Yodrak]

I agree with Karl's thinking and conclusion. I don't expect that in my area I'll ever see an L3 charger, and I wouldn't want to use one anyway to minimize abuse of my battery pack.

SL ordered, only because Nissan says that availability of SVs will be "extremely limited". No L3 port.

Why?

1. I need to baby the batteries. Daytime temps here hit 110F frequently, and the car will sit out in the sun five days a week. L3 charging is hard on batteries. With no L3 port, I can be sure that the dealer won't abuse my batteries before I even get the car.
2. I may never see an L3 charger. Too far from Los Angeles. Which is a good thing! By the time L3 chargers become common, my Leaf will be due for replacement.
3. The port that comes on the Leaf will probably not be the standard selected by SAE, so the $700 will be wasted.
4. Highly unlikely that Nissan will install the new standard L3 port free of charge.

....

-Karl

 

[kolmstead]

Thanks, Jerry. I just called Leviton. As you said, they plan to have prices and more information within a week or two, and product by early December. Definitely worth getting on their email update list.

-Karl

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

My posting issues are speech to text conversion. I tried the corrections But can only see 2 lines of text At a time So i do the phrases In short bursts Which frequently capitalizes the first word. Trust me my my typing is much worse thing

The other thing. I am sending this from entry line at disney so keyboard. Is unavailable

 

[garygid]

No problem, your voice-to-text comes through amazingly well.