Quick Charging comes to Southern California

[Packet]

You guys should form a Mitsubishi/Nissan appreciation society, and present Mitsubishi with a plaque thanking them for the L3 charger along with some free publicity.

This actually would be a fairly awesome gesture, and would be a nice show of solidarity among the EV community. (Of course, I say this from up here in Seattle, but still. I love that Mitsubishi is willing to let non-Mitsubishi EVs charge at their station. That's a class act.)

 

[garygid]

Mike,
Do you have a name and mail or email address where we can send our THANKS (NOT gripes) for having the vision (beyond other auto companies) to install a QC station AND share it with others?

Perhaps we could send to your contact (or his staff), who could pass them on to the upper management when appropriate.

I would like to send an appreciation statement to them.

 

[mwalsh]

Mike,
Do you have a name and mail or email address where we can send our THANKS (NOT gripes) for having the vision (beyond other auto companies) to install a QC station AND share it with others?

Perhaps we could send to your contact (or his staff), who could pass them on to the upper management when appropriate.

I would like to send an appreciation statement to them.

Let me see what would be the best track to take. I don't know what is appropriate in Japanese culture....it could be that we should email Yoichi Yokozawa (current President of Mitsubishi, NA) directly.

 

[garygid]

Mike,
Thanks for your great insight in this matter.
I will watch for your results and suggestions, Mike San.

 

[hill]

Officially official....the DC quick charger is now available at Mitsubishi's headquarters!

Only during business hours (8-5 / M-F) for now, as we'd expected, but since they have 24 hour security they're trying to work it out so that it's available 24/7.

Mike, since you and Phil are "in" with Mr. Patterson - I'd suggest that leafers would be MORE than willing to pay for our new/great privilege ... especially since there's 24/7 security ... if they want to put up a box (even optional, based on user's choice) where we can throw a few bucks in ... that'd be great for good will and all ... just a thought. I'd sure like to see to it that we're all thought of as great rep's of Nissan. Bilateral good will is a good thing.

 

[Devin]

You guys should form a Mitsubishi/Nissan appreciation society, and present Mitsubishi with a plaque thanking them for the L3 charger along with some free publicity.

This actually would be a fairly awesome gesture, and would be a nice show of solidarity among the EV community. (Of course, I say this from up here in Seattle, but still. I love that Mitsubishi is willing to let non-Mitsubishi EVs charge at their station. That's a class act.)

This would actually be a nice idea. Similar to how newspapers, cities, or other local groups give out certificates to certain businesses we could give some certificates to organizations and/or individuals who demonstrate support of the EV community. The cost would be very low, mostly just making a certificate and perhaps a frame for it plus postage or somebody dropping it off (even better). We could make a little thumbs up page, list organizations that have been "nominated" and once they receive 5-10 thumbs up we could send a certificate. I'd be more than happy to help with such a project if people think it's a worthwhile idea.

A lot of times people don't care about monetary compensation but are just happy to help if people show appreciation for their effort.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Nissan just announced QC is standard on ALL 2012's. that pretty much seals the deal. looks like they are going ahead with it, approval or not

 

[hill]

Nissan just announced QC is standard on ALL 2012's .... snip

c'mon Dave - don't tease us . . . link a source!

 

[davewill]

Nissan just announced QC is standard on ALL 2012's. that pretty much seals the deal. looks like they are going ahead with it, approval or not

Isn't that just the SL trim cars? I'm pretty sure the SVs still don't (and can't) have the QC port.

 

[mwalsh]

I just sent the following message to my PR contact:

Many of the users from MNL have voiced the desire to show their gratitude to Mitsubishi for allowing use of the DC Quick Charger, and their continued support of the electrification efforts Mitsubishi is making. Even users from well outside the greater Los Angeles area!

It is, without exception, considered to be most magnanimous that Mitsubishi will be welcoming of all CHAdeMO equipped vehicles.

A number of small gestures have been put forward, from issuing a Certificate of Appreciation to simply sending individual emails containing a short note of thanks. However, in the case either (but particularly when it comes to the latter), I thought it best to check if such gestures would be appropriate and/or welcomed and to whom emails should be addressed if that is thought to be the best way to proceed.

Another subject to come up frequently in discussion is the availability of the unit after-hours. I have been asked to make it known that, while free use of the facility is extraordinarily generous, a fee for use would not find much objection if it would help make the unit available 24/7.

Regards,
MJW

 

[mwalsh]

Nissan just announced QC is standard on ALL 2012's. that pretty much seals the deal. looks like they are going ahead with it, approval or not

Isn't that just the SL trim cars? I'm pretty sure the SVs still don't (and can't) have the QC port.

Yeah, it's just the SLs.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Nissan just announced QC is standard on ALL 2012's .... snip

c'mon Dave - don't tease us . . . link a source!

okie dokie by now its probably all over the site

http://www.allcarselectric.com/news/1063372_2012-nissan-leaf-more-standard-equipment-higher-price

but one thing that caught my attention

from the article
An upgrade to the Leaf's built-in charger from 3.3 to 6.6 kilowatts, which would speed 240-Volt Level 2 charging, will arrive for the 2013 model year.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Nissan just announced QC is standard on ALL 2012's. that pretty much seals the deal. looks like they are going ahead with it, approval or not

Isn't that just the SL trim cars? I'm pretty sure the SVs still don't (and can't) have the QC port.

Yeah, it's just the SLs.

yep just SL, was sidetracked by another point in article referenced above

 

[Kelangst]

So should we call ahead to make an appointment for charging? This just made it viable for me to take my car to LA next week.

Agree we should send appreciation so count me in on that. And agree that I would pay for access.

This also puts LAX as an option for us finally.

I wanted to have an L3 charger put in at the office at our transit center which is less than a mile off of I5 in Oceanside, but we just could not justify the expense. At least our agreement for L2 is moving finally. Their solar install looks nicer than ours will- ah the low bid process for government.

This is so exciting to finally be able to use one of these- did anyone actually plug into the L3 yet?

 

[mwalsh]

So should we call ahead to make an appointment for charging? This just made it viable for me to take my car to LA next week.

This is so exciting to finally be able to use one of these- did anyone actually plug into the L3 yet?

I don't think it's necessary to call ahead and make an appointment. And actually it might be detrimental to the cause to have people do that.

We could actually come up with our own appointment system here, and at least reduce the potential for having to wait for others from MNL (and lets face it, it most likely going to be us showing up since it hasn't gotten massive press elsewhere and there aren't any Mitsubishis out there yet).

As for trying it....it's my first day off tomorrow and I was going to head over there and give it a try. Reporting the exercise here immediately following, of course.

 

[occ]

So should we call ahead to make an appointment for charging? This just made it viable for me to take my car to LA next week.

This is so exciting to finally be able to use one of these- did anyone actually plug into the L3 yet?

I don't think it's necessary to call ahead and make an appointment. And actually it might be detrimental to the cause to have people do that.

We could actually come up with our own appointment system here, and at least reduce the potential for having to wait for others from MNL (and lets face it, it most likely going to be us showing up since it hasn't gotten massive press elsewhere and there aren't any Mitsubishis out there yet).

As for trying it....it's my first day off tomorrow and I was going to head over there and give it a try. Reporting the exercise here immediately following, of course.

This is awesome! This would make LAX doable for south counties OC without needing to plug in at LAX, since the 2 Chargepoints there are now always occupied. In the 10-20minutes or so of charging L3, I would just go in and express gratitude, and also suggests that a payment for off-hours use would be a huge!, esp for weekends. Heck, payment for use anytime would still be way more preferable than no L3!

 

[z0ner]

I just sent the following message to my PR contact:

Many of the users from MNL have voiced the desire to show their gratitude to Mitsubishi...

Before we flood Mitsu, we should wait to see what kind of response Mike gets. We need to treat this gift with the sensitivity and respect it deserves.

Thanks again Mike for being the voice of MNL. I love all the suggestions but I think a money box would be much more of a hassle than it's worth. $50 a day won't even cover the administration, plus it comes with an implied expectation of service. The best thing to do is be unobtrusive, keeping the area neat, clean, and quiet. Get in, get out - no wandering the premisis.

Looking forward to Mitsu's response and Mike's first fill-up.

 

[Devin]

I just sent the following message to my PR contact:

Many of the users from MNL have voiced the desire to show their gratitude to Mitsubishi...

Before we flood Mitsu, we should wait to see what kind of response Mike gets. We need to treat this gift with the sensitivity and respect it deserves.

Thanks again Mike for being the voice of MNL. I love all the suggestions but I think a money box would be much more of a hassle than it's worth. $50 a day won't even cover the administration, plus it comes with an implied expectation of service. The best thing to do is be unobtrusive, keeping the area neat, clean, and quiet. Get in, get out - no wandering the premisis.

Looking forward to Mitsu's response and Mike's first fill-up.

Maybe we could get some sort of a guestbook or something and put it next to the charger for people to at least write their thanks or something in when they visit?

 

[mwalsh]

Maybe we could get some sort of a guestbook or something and put it next to the charger for people to at least write their thanks or something in when they visit?

Hmmm.....that sounds plausible. I wonder if it would last (ie: be left there by the Mitsubishi folks).

 

[TRONZ]

When I used Mitsu's L2 I could not help but notice all the iMiEV flyers in their lobby. They are shaped like kidney beans, green, etc. I took some and told them I would hand them out whenever someone approached me to ask about EV's. They seemed to REALLY like that.

May I suggest others do the same.