Dealer Charging Stations

Are the charging stations at the dealers free?

Do all Nissan dealers sell/service the Leaf?

Can one who bought their car at dealer A go to Dealer B for a charge?

This would seem to me to be a good policy for Nissan to have..always having a place for a charge, free or not.
(Maybe they do? I'm new to this board and topic...and really appreciating all of the information that's posted here. If I have overlooked the answer to these questions, I apologize.)

greengate said:

Are the charging stations at the dealers free?

Do all Nissan dealers sell/service the Leaf?

Can one who bought their car at dealer A go to Dealer B for a charge?

This would seem to me to be a good policy for Nissan to have..always having a place for a charge, free or not.
(Maybe they do? I'm new to this board and topic...and really appreciating all of the information that's posted here. If I have overlooked the answer to these questions, I apologize.)

Click to expand...

Not all Nissan dealers sell or service the Leaf. When you go into Nissan's website and check for a dealer in a specific area, the dealer's name will have the sideways "e" symbol (as used in their "Zero Emission" logo) to indicate that they do.

I was told by my salesman that Nissan dealers that are "Leaf-certified" are supposed to let any Leaf charge at their charging stations for free, even those that were purchased elsewhere, but someone posted in this forum that at least one dealer (in the San Diego area) won't let Leafs purchased elsewhere to charge at their station.

to answer all your questions; call the dealer in question.

Nissan has committed to hundreds of charging stations at dealers in the next 18 months. these will be free and available to ANY car that has a chademo port.

There are also dealers who (at their expense) put in their own charging stations. therefore they control who can use it and when. We have a dealer in the Seattle area who recently installed quick charge stations for one example

I have a major problem with this issue right now (see my signature). The dealer I bought from keeps theirs off and locked. They have always been great about charging when they are there, but if they're closed you're out of luck.
The dealer nearest to me is going to be selling Leafs this year and installed a charger. It has been turned off.
Nissan had better get on this issue. These people are so narrow minded I can't believe it. How can they expect to sell these cars and convince people on the idea that they will have convenient charging in the future when the future they are showing is one that you not be able to find charging when you need it???

In Central Kentucky, Glenn Nissan in Lexington and Frankfort kill power to their L2 EVSE after hours, but so far no locks. I assume this means they would rather you didn't charge, but if you REALLY need a charge, you may. Gates in Richmond leaves their L2 EVSE on all the time, and I have charged after hours in Richmond while waiting for a dinner party to arrive. I do believe that leaving the EVSE powered up will encourage more EV purchases.

I keep thinking that someday the dealers are going to get a brain and realize something. Leaf owners almost never come back to the dealership for anything. Unlike the gas cars that they can keep bringing in for oil changes. In fact, they don't even make money on oil changes. They only do them to get you into the dealership so they can sell you something else. At some point they will realize that having charging stations and especially quick chargers will bring customers in. Let them sit in the waiting room and use the Wi-Fi while they are charging. Some dealers have really fancy waiting rooms where they sell coffee and all sorts of things. Take an opportunity to walk by the cars and look at the tires or windshield wipers and see if they are interested in getting them replaced. Ask if they'd like their washer fluid topped off, or to check and see if there are any software upgrades or recalls on the car while they wait.

Right now the market is just too small for them to care. But I think 10 years from now, this will be the standard practice.

One dealer I talked to on the phone said "we even had a guy in a Volt that wanted to charge here" as if that's a problem. I was telling this to another dealer and the point I made was that if they think about how much advertising is wasted on people that will never set foot on their lot. Now you have someone who is clearly able to spend $30,000+ for a car wanting to spend time on their lot and showroom and you want to chase him away??

Nissan was a bit dodgy on the subject but was adamant in stating the "goal" was 24/7 access to EVERYONE...but keep in mind these are fast chargers so its MiEVs and LEAFs and anyone else who has chademo adapters. But they also said some chargers would not be accessible off hours due to fact that the lot is locked up at night. Not all lots lock up at night the oly lot is ok but only because the auto mall has its own security patrols

Why do they lock up the lot? Oh I know, because people come in and steal gas and calalytic converters from the ICE vehicles. I have a new 4runner because I was on the Toyota lot with a broken Sequoia. I can't go to a car lot without looking at cars. That is how I ended up with a Jeep Patriot a few years back, I was getting an oil change in a company vehicle. If I'm charging on a Chevy lot, you better bet I'd be checking out the Volt. And I might want to do business with someone that was glad I was visiting their lot, even if I'm only there for a little juice in the Leaf. If I'm lusting for a new car, it is because I'm at the dealer's lot checking it out in person. Period.

Metalman said:

One dealer I talked to on the phone said "we even had a guy in a Volt that wanted to charge here" as if that's a problem. I was telling this to another dealer and the point I made was that if they think about how much advertising is wasted on people that will never set foot on their lot. Now you have someone who is clearly able to spend $30,000+ for a car wanting to spend time on their lot and showroom and you want to chase him away??

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Exactly! The EVSE is a magnet, selectively drawing people of means to their dealership, and they wring their hands. :lol:

They lock up lots mostly for insurance purposes in high crime areas. I worked at one ford deer that locked up their lot so no cars were stolen but we had a dozen NAV/stereo heads swiped one day.

I've been trying to talk to the local dealers about having their chargers turned on. Does anybody have any good info that I could print off and supply to them? Maybe some good links I could send them too?

How they manage to site the chargers on their lots will influence availability after hours. The logic of the installations will be as varied as the level of interest dealers have with doing intallations in the first place. Some will suck and some will be amazing. Nissan will get a lot of very good technical and marketing data from all this. If they do it right, these stations "should" provide a relaxed sense of place where EV owners can browse the latest Nissan products.

It might also be very helpful if LEAF owners lighten up a bit when visiting Nissan dealers. After chatting with service managers and salesmen (including an EV specialist) it was mentioned more than once that LEAF owners are very "high maintenance". I had to nod and laugh but asked why they were telling me all this? They said, because for a LEAF owner, I was "normal". So please everyone, while enjoying free fuel at Nissan dealers, don't slap some random salesman with a phone book of Carwings data or lecture them about using foam cups for the free coffee. Turn on the charm, be friendly and thankful. It might surprise everyone how many more EVSE's will be left on overnight in response.

I don't view it as a matter of free fuel. I view it as almost essential to try to sell these cars to more than just a few non normal people.
How can a salesman say that in a little while there will be more charging available , it will be easy and convenient and range won't be an issue. Oh, by the way if you want to use our charger you better make sure we're here or you're walking home. So plan all your driving between 9AM and 6 PM. Yes, that's right it's 30+ thousand for the car, but budget for a good pair of shoes.
They have to at least make people think that it may not be so inconvenient to own this car and that charging will be more available. They should be setting an example of how it will done at the local stores and restaurants.
The future that these dealers are showing is a future with no electric cars.

The way it was explained to me is that security at car dealerships generally consists of:

• 1. Leaving the lights on.
  2. Assuring the local cops that anyone hanging around after closing is a bad guy.

If the police get used to seeing people hanging around at night, they stop being suspicious. Add in the fact that allowing people to charge their cars after hours brings in no direct revenue, and possibly opens them to additional liability... and they just aren't motivated to do it.

To do this right, they would have to cordon off a special charging area so that there's no excuse for people wandering around the lot, and/or have on-site security. I think we're better off concentrating on friendly charging policies while they're open.

Around here no one would plug in at a dealer. Too many other plugs within a mile of the dealers to hang out there.

Now if they'd put a ChaDEmo then maybe.

ksnogas2112 said:

Around here no one would plug in at a dealer. Too many other plugs within a mile of the dealers to hang out there.

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Wow! For my two closest dealers:

Gilroy: A pair of J1772's 2.5 miles north, a single one at a Ford dealer 11 miles north, and one way off the beaten path 14 miles south.

San Jose (Premier): A set of 3 J1772's 3 miles south, one with limited hours 4 miles north, 2 more 5.5 miles north, plus a number 5 to 6 miles north downtown in pay parking garages and lots. Nothing in the city west for about 6 miles, and nothing in the 8 miles of city southeast of there. And this is supposed to be the heart of Silicon Valley?

I will say there has been some progress, though. A year ago there was nothing except two of us with private plugshares in the 29 miles between the Premier and Gilroy Nissan dealers, despite what I would guess to be about 200,000 people living in that area.

Ray

Metalman said:

I have a major problem with this issue right now (see my signature). The dealer I bought from keeps theirs off and locked. They have always been great about charging when they are there, but if they're closed you're out of luck.
The dealer nearest to me is going to be selling Leafs this year and installed a charger. It has been turned off.
Nissan had better get on this issue. These people are so narrow minded I can't believe it. How can they expect to sell these cars and convince people on the idea that they will have convenient charging in the future when the future they are showing is one that you not be able to find charging when you need it???

Click to expand...

It sounds like you are on the right track by talking to your local dealers about changing their practices regarding EVSE access, but you might want to reconsider how much of that issue to project onto Nissan, the manufacturer. Dealerships are independent businesses, as this article explains, the manufacturer has very little power to hold over the head of dealerships, because dealers have been successful in getting favorable franchise laws in place for themselves.

I don't know anything about the contracts that will enable Nissan (the manufacturer) to pay for and install QC equipment on the premises of numerous independent dealer businesses, but I suspect it is complicated and may not enable the efficient deployment one might expect from a "single" company.

Personally, a dealership (or the area typically surrounding dealerships) is the last place I would like to spent 20-30 minutes waiting for a quick charge (let alone longer for Level II). I can see the motivation to invite a captive audience on the lot, but I think Nissan (the manufacturer) could actually do their drivers a better service and bring more favorable awareness of their brand by siting their QC network in more desirable visible locations that don't already have their logo on a big pole. Many cities/towns would probably be willing to host a QC (provide a patch of public side walk or parking lot, and maybe even subsidize electricity) in their business district to get some more traffic and good will toward their businesses. I think Nissan would be wise to explore that route rather than their unwieldy network of independent dealers.

Howdy

My town was interested in a quick charger, but with the cost was over $30k. So we got a level 2 Blink...

Philip

Just my 2 cent concerning charging at dealerships... Driving to parents house and I had to make one stop to get there (~110 miles interstate, 130 total this trip). I stopped by Cronic Nissan to charge up on a friday evening and they were quite happy to see me... they didnt try to sell me anything, allowed me to use their L2 EVSE, told me the best places to eat around there, showed me where i could watch tv / get internet in the dealership, and showed me how to get out of the lot once they locked up. One sales rep also gave me his business card and told me to call him if the cops came to harass me or if I had any other problems. On top of that, another sales rep gave me a ride to the restaurant of my choice when they were closing. Cronic. is. awesome. I've been planning to get splash guards for the leaf and I will likely buy it from these guys. The only bad part of all this is the dealership is well off the interstate and the nearest restaurant was over a mile and a half away (I got to walk back).

On the return trip, I wanted to try another route with a different dealership. They shall remain anonymous, but they were none too helpful when I called to ask about charging there. In the end I just stopped by Cronic again. So I think it really depends on which dealership you want to charge at.