Nissan to take three prong approach – Dealers, Workplaces and Neighborhoods
Nissan announced a partnership with NRG Energy, along with its subsidiary company eVgo®, to install 40 DC quick charge stations in the Washington, D.C. area. This will be the first quick charge network in the area. This installation will be the first of a planned 500 unit installation over the next 18 months across the country.
As can be seen in the above graphic courtesy of PlugShare.com, the nation’s existing network of an estimated 160 quick chargers is concentrated on the West Coast, primarily in the Northwest. While the PlugShare graphic is not comprehensive, it does give a good representation of the current geographic distribution of the existing quick charge network, such as it is. An additional 500 quick charge stations will be a welcome contribution to this network.
Nissan provided no indication of the allocation of quick charge stations to Nissan dealerships, workplaces and neighborhoods, other than to say that their goal is to place them where people spend most of their time and do most of their driving. With The EV Project’s promise of a large network of DC quick chargers falling flat, it will be interesting to see if Nissan can actually implement this aggressive launch plan.
DC fast charge ports will be standard on the 2013 LEAF SL trim level, and optionally available on both the S and SV trim levels.
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I thinly all Nissan dealers should have them, there are enough dealers around to make it an effective start.
Robert – Welcome to Living LEAF. It would be great if all Nissan dealers offered the DC quick chargers, but we don’t see that happening anytime soon. They are very expensive and in large metropolitan areas the dealers are so close together that it really does not make sense to require their installation in every location – at least not yet. When LEAFs are everywhere – which the new 2013 lease program will help with – we will likely see more Nissan dealerships offer to install these units. But this Nissan corporate program is a good start.
Bumped into an NRG guy. That 40 stations is 40 total, not 40 CHAdeMo. Of course, any new public installation is progress.
finecadmin – Welcome to Living LEAF. Our thinking is that the NRG guy that you bumped into wasn’t aware of the facts. Nissan’s release states “Nissan supplying 40 fast chargers to NRG’s eVgo network in greater Washington D.C.” The only fast chargers that Nissan has are CHAdeMO units. It goes on to state “Each Freedom Station site will have a Nissan fast charger that can provide EVs such as the Nissan LEAF with up to an 80 percent charge in less than 30 minutes.” These Freedom Stations will also include level 2 charging capabilities.
This is nice to see, it’d be even better if Nissan could list where and when, but this will be very helpful. The more of these that are around the suburbs, the more practical the Leaf becomes for more people.
Nissan should make the Quick Charger port standard on the Leaf no matter the model. It can help alleviate the range anxiety in potential customers minds.
They have been putting in the quick chargers in Southern California. At least 4 dealers now have quick chargers and the AQMD in Diamond Bar has 2 also. I am going to try and find the one in Downtown LA soon. This is great that they are committing to the electric vehicle. I am driving up to 150 miles a day when necessary.
Jeff – Glad to hear it. The idea of knowing that you can charge quickly if you need to is a great relief. I’m looking forward to having many more units in SoCal.
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