Chicagoland area

[djkjmuoh]

I drove past 2 charging stations in my area, one was at a Wyndham hotel and one was a BMW dealer. It looked like you needed to access through chargepoint to plug it in. The BMW dealer was definitely free, I'm not positive of the Wyndham. I wish this is something the dealer could have told me about when getting the car. I thought it as easy as just plugging it in or swiping a credit card for the ones that charge. Oh well, not a big deal.

As for the charging station it's looking like a good idea since my wife has taken a real liking to the leaf. I've got to do some research, but the ones at homedepot got good reviews and are affordable.

I have the Schneider Electric EVLink home charging station and it has been great so far. If you have the SL, then you should have the 6.6kw charger in your LEAF and thus make sure you get a 30amp model to maximize how fast it charges. The 16amp ones are still fast and a little cheaper but the speed of charge is nice to have if you ask me. As for the dealers... honestly they know NOTHING unless you get lucky. I have noticed they are always accommodating if you call ahead and need a charge so that instantly increases the number of available charging stations (and free ones too!) Just never EXPECT it to be available, nor assume they should let you charge there. Good luck.

[brianchi73]

I drove past 2 charging stations in my area, one was at a Wyndham hotel and one was a BMW dealer. It looked like you needed to access through chargepoint to plug it in. The BMW dealer was definitely free, I'm not positive of the Wyndham. I wish this is something the dealer could have told me about when getting the car. I thought it as easy as just plugging it in or swiping a credit card for the ones that charge. Oh well, not a big deal.

As for the charging station it's looking like a good idea since my wife has taken a real liking to the leaf. I've got to do some research, but the ones at homedepot got good reviews and are affordable.

I have the Schneider Electric EVLink home charging station and it has been great so far. If you have the SL, then you should have the 6.6kw charger in your LEAF and thus make sure you get a 30amp model to maximize how fast it charges. The 16amp ones are still fast and a little cheaper but the speed of charge is nice to have if you ask me. As for the dealers... honestly they know NOTHING unless you get lucky. I have noticed they are always accommodating if you call ahead and need a charge so that instantly increases the number of available charging stations (and free ones too!) Just never EXPECT it to be available, nor assume they should let you charge there. Good luck.

That's true. The dealers are there to move cars out the door. I like the Tesla model much better where they also control the charging infrastructure, but I don't have $75,000 to drop on a car. As for charging station reliability...I use Plug Share to get user feedback, but I use ChargePoint to get real-time station status, and it's pretty reliable IF it's a station on the ChargePoint network. If the station shows up on the ChargePoint website or app I would only trust the information about that station if it's identified as one of theirs.

I have used the free ChargePoint stations at Abt Electronics, and I can always check the status before I get there to see if either of the 2 are available. Also there are 2 free ChargePoint stations at the Yellow Line Oakton stop in Skokie....just FYI.

[djkjmuoh]

I drove past 2 charging stations in my area, one was at a Wyndham hotel and one was a BMW dealer. It looked like you needed to access through chargepoint to plug it in. The BMW dealer was definitely free, I'm not positive of the Wyndham. I wish this is something the dealer could have told me about when getting the car. I thought it as easy as just plugging it in or swiping a credit card for the ones that charge. Oh well, not a big deal.

As for the charging station it's looking like a good idea since my wife has taken a real liking to the leaf. I've got to do some research, but the ones at homedepot got good reviews and are affordable.

I have the Schneider Electric EVLink home charging station and it has been great so far. If you have the SL, then you should have the 6.6kw charger in your LEAF and thus make sure you get a 30amp model to maximize how fast it charges. The 16amp ones are still fast and a little cheaper but the speed of charge is nice to have if you ask me. As for the dealers... honestly they know NOTHING unless you get lucky. I have noticed they are always accommodating if you call ahead and need a charge so that instantly increases the number of available charging stations (and free ones too!) Just never EXPECT it to be available, nor assume they should let you charge there. Good luck.

That's true. The dealers are there to move cars out the door. I like the Tesla model much better where they also control the charging infrastructure, but I don't have $75,000 to drop on a car. As for charging station reliability...I use Plug Share to get user feedback, but I use ChargePoint to get real-time station status, and it's pretty reliable IF it's a station on the ChargePoint network. If the station shows up on the ChargePoint website or app I would only trust the information about that station if it's identified as one of theirs.

I have used the free ChargePoint stations at Abt Electronics, and I can always check the status before I get there to see if either of the 2 are available. Also there are 2 free ChargePoint stations at the Yellow Line Oakton stop in Skokie....just FYI.

True about the ChargePoint app being nice to see if a station is in use or not... only other issue, that I encountered at ABT Electronics, is that neither of the stations appeared "in use" but both parking spaces were occupied and not in use! Still the app is nice, but have a backup plan.

[IrvingHarlem]

Just so you know, I've been to ABT at 10 p.m. on Sunday and the station is available. No problem with access or being blocked by ICE cars when the store is closed. I'm just sayin' if you're on the road in any emergency it's available.

[paulito99]

New owner from Schaumburg!! I picked up a white 2013 sl from woodfield Nissan last night. My wife tried looking for a charger station after we left the dealership through the navigation with no luck. I think she tried a walgreens and whole foods but they weren't there. They gave us a full battery so it wasn't a big deal. Just wanted to check out local stations.

Congrats! I'm in Schaumburg too, we got our red 2013 leaf from Greg at woodfield Nissan last year.

I bolted together my own openevse and had an electrician wire up the 240 volt circuit to the garage. Note: Illinois will rebate you some percentage of the charging equipment cost but: it must be a commercial evse, and you must have a 240 volt circuit installed, they won't rebate just one or the other and they won't rebate a DIY evse. In hindsight not sure if I still would have wanted a commercial unit, the openevse I think is superior to most out there and it was fun to build.

[OldQuadDog]

Perhaps in another dimension.....
My CARWINGS tells me there is a charging station at 2700 Lake Cook Road, Long Grove, Il..
It seems to be a false location.
It is a Menard's parking lot and the navigation will tell me I have arrived at my destination.
Anyone know anything about this?

There are 120 VAC outlets on a few islands in the lot if you hunt for them. Menard's has plugged some Holiday lights into them in December but I wouldn't call that a charging station.
Is there a place to report such things to Nissan?

[brianchi73]

Perhaps in another dimension.....
My CARWINGS tells me there is a charging station at 2700 Lake Cook Road, Long Grove, Il..
It seems to be a false location.
It is a Menard's parking lot and the navigation will tell me I have arrived at my destination.
Anyone know anything about this?

There are 120 VAC outlets on a few islands in the lot if you hunt for them. Menard's has plugged some Holiday lights into them in December but I wouldn't call that a charging station.
Is there a place to report such things to Nissan?

Try the PlugShare app or website. It is much more reliable.

[OldQuadDog]

I do use PlugShare and trust it more!
For reasons exactly like this.
Just want to help anyone who might use the Nav system from driving out to a non-existent charger and then potentially getting stranded. I sent an email to Nissan but who knows if it will get properly directed.

[r1234567]

I've found the dealers to vary greatly. M'Lady won't allow anyone but those who buy from them. I called ahead to Bill Kay in DG when I was out that way and they couldn't have been nicer. My friend had a similar experience at Arlington Nissan who also allowed her to top off her car.

Like everyone else in the thread, I wish there were more stations not charged to dealerships so I can venture out more on the weekends.

[brianchi73]

Please report outages here. http://www.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/electr ... tions.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have reported outages at this url, and I've had someone contact me about my report. I think that the CarWings info is driven off of updates from this source. I also was able to get two L2 chargers and one L3 charger activated (at Golf Mill Mall and PNC Bank) after reporting them on this website.

Good luck!