Visited the National Harbor Superchargers today with #CO2Fre and was surprised to see not any signage indicating the imminent closure. Spoke to one fellow Tesla owner as he returned to his vehicle and he had no idea about it. I took these pictures this afternoon which demonstrate there's absolutely nothing to indicate the garage will be closing this Wednesday!
Last Friday, a woman calling herself Amanda on the MyNissanLEAF forum posted an urgent request for help in organizing the distribution of one hundred Level 3 Charging Stations. Needless to say, this caused quite a local buzz as these would be the first L3 Chargers South of the Mason-Dixon Line East of the Mississippi, outside of Tennessee and certainly the first in the Mid-Atlantic region. Between that and my copy of the Diablo III Collector's Edition arriving it has been one incredible weekend for this EV Reporter!
Amanda reported that the stations in question will be the ChargePoint Level 3, CHAdeMO / SAE J1772-DC dual-gang equipment as pictured. While the QuickCharge Wars rage between TEPCO's CHAdeMO and the SAE's J1772-DC extension heat up, this unit hedges its bets by supporting both, making everyone happy. Great choice!
After a bit of digging I found more information about the company Amanda represents. Thier full name is actually EV Green Stream and they're a Baltimore-based company. I spoke with Zack at EV Green Stream and he confirms they're looking for homes for about 30 or so units, but nothing is concrete until contracts are signed. However, some urgency must be added because they need to have signed documents by 1 June so it behoves us all to help out and make sure those wonderful L3 stations find homes that our Nissan LEAFs and Mitsubishi iMiEVs would like to visit!
You are very astute or just read the comments and realized that we were in fact being taken for a ride. You see, on Monday, after I'd posted this, Amanda amended her request to say that in fact it was one hundred Level 2 stations being installed, not Level 3. Yes, she confirmed Level 3 on Friday even after someone posted a link to the unit pictured above, but what's done is done, and now we know the truth. Level 2, though great, is pretty common in Maryland and to a lesser extend in Virginia—less so in Washington D.C. since most of the units there are in garages that aren't even opened on weekends. None the less, we should all help to give these Level 2 stations homes even if they're not quick charging.
But there is a catch; the locations must conform to the following rules:
- They have to be installed in the State of Maryland somewhere.
- They have to be accessible to the public (this is supposed to be infrastructure buildout.)
- It cannot be in an automotive dealership.
- It has to be a commercial business.
- We will charge for the installation but the charger is free.
- We have to have a signed contract on installation by June 1st.
So, no locations in Virginia, Deleware, West Virginia or Pennsylvania! Also, note that Amanda estimates the cost of installation to be about $3,000. As for the electricity cost, we know the LEAF for instance takes about 20kWh to go from 0% to 80% on a quick charge (more like 16kWh according to some posts in the MyNissanLEAF forum) and at 13¢⁄kWh that's only $2.60 at Level 2, the Nissan LEAF draws about 3.8kW of electricity so in one hour that represents about 49.8¢ based on 13¢⁄kWh, the regional average rate. For the Ford Focus Electric with its 6.6kW charger, it comes to about 85.8¢ but most EVSEs can't put out more energy than that so at $1.00 per hour, you won't be making the LEAF and Volt (3.3kW) drivers happy but at least the Focus Electric folks are getting their money's worth. Overall not a huge loss for the free advertising you get on sites like PlugShare.
Now, for me, my main goal would be to see them put in at the National Harbor, where they held the first Nissan LEAF event in the area and as the perfect first rest stop on the I95 corridor in Maryland going North. I've also suggested Maryland House and Chesapeake House—need to contact HMS Host about that— but they don't really make sense for Level 2, only Level 3 as people don't stay there for hours. Others on the MyNissanLEAF forum have suggested the US Route 50 corridor and I would add the I270 / I70 corridor and a site around Bethesda. Finally, I'd suggest one in Silver Spring where we hold the EVA/DC meetings, though alas not the Library as the Library isn't a commercial business—and hopefully not The Blairs if they're gonna have the same connectivity problems the current EVSEs there do. What would you suggest?
Oooh! So excited! Squee!
No sooner do I hear from Herb Gordon Nissan than the wonderful folks at Brown's Sterling Nissan send me a kind note that has me all a twitter! Yes, now there will be a LEAF test drive in Virginia as well as the official one at the National Harbor and the drive at Herb Gorgon Nissan, you can now get behind the wheel in Sterling, Virginia, in Loudoun County, just off Pacific Blvd. I cannot thank enough both Aaron, Brown's General Manager, and Dmitry, their Internet sales specialist for being leaders in Northern Virginia among the Nissan LEAF Tier 2, Atlantic Coast, rollout. And I couldn't have said it better than Dmitry, so I'll let him take over from here:
Nissan Leaf available for test-drive no 03/16/2011
Great News!!!!
We are pleased to announce that we will have Nissan Leaf for customers review and test-drive on Wendsday 16th of March from 9am-6pm, here at Browns Sterling Nissan.
Our address is: 45155 Towlern Place, Sterling, VA, 20186
Phone Number (703)948-1100
As you may already heard Nissan Leaf is 100% electric, no-gas vehicle. It is projected the most affordable electric compact size automobile.
Designed to work specially with a lithium-ion battery-powered chassis, the Nissan LEAF comes as a medium-size hatchback which is able to seat five adults comfortably. The power train lacks a tail pipe found in its internal-combustion engine (ICE) equipped vehicles, resulting in zero emissions of all manner of greenhouse gases. The Nissan LEAF’s regenerative braking system will work well with its innovative lithium-ion battery packs to provide a driving range of over 160km on a single charge.For any additional information about the vehicle, please click on the link below: http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car/index?next=header.vlp.postcard.picture.thumbnail.#/leaf-electric-car/tags/show/360
Now, if the name of full discretion, I should point out that Brown's Sterling Nissan is my preferred dealer at the moment, so I am biased toward them. That said, they are legitimately the second dealership to inform me of this opportunity at this moment so I feel it only right that they receive all the proper recognition due!
One question remains: will there be other dealerships offering test drives in the Washington, D.C. area in the week leading up to the National Harbor event? I would speculate no, that these will be the only 2. My reasoning is simple: on Sunday, the Drive Electric tour leaves the Concord Mills event in Charlotte, NC, and it'll probably take a day to get everything up here to the D.C. area, which rules out Monday. On Thursday, they'll be setting up for the National Mall event on Friday so they'll need the cars then too. And after the event, the Drive Electric heads over to Nissan North America Headquarters in Nashville, TN and there'll be no more time to see the vehicle until perhaps deliveries begin in December, 2011. Of course, I could be wrong and let's hope so on both counts!
So rang out a wonderful surprise e-mail from Herb Gordon Nissan of Silver Spring, MD. Herb Gordon Nissan is one of the 30 area Nissan dealers I've contacted about promoting the LEAF on this site for free. Of all of those dealers, Herb Gordon Nissan was one of 7 that never replied to my e-mail inquiries — until now! And what was this e-mail about? Was it about a sale on a new Altima or Tundra? No, it was about a LEAF Test Drive! Sure, Nissan's allowing anyone to test drive the LEAF at their Drive Electric Tour event at the National Harbor the following Friday, but why wait when you could have a Test Drive Tuesday the 15th!
The message I received announcing this exciting event is as follows:
calling all visionaries
here's your chance to drive the 100% electric Nissan LEAF
history is being made and you can be a part of it. the Nissan LEAF is going on tour. you can see it up-close and get a chance to test-drive one. but be sure to sign up now so that we can reserve the time and date you want to schedule your drive. we can't wait to see you.
Visit Our Site
to schedule your test drivedrive electric tour
sponsored by Herb Gordon Nissandrive electric tour hours:
Tuesday, March 15 from 9AM - 7PM
Sign up to test drive the Nissan LEAF from Friday 18 March to Sunday 20 March at the National Harbor in Maryland. You can get to the national harbor via I495 toward I295. Keep left and follow the signs to the National Harbor. The National Harbor is all new constructions with a large hotel, shopping and dining. I'll be there at opening to get my test drive. Will I see you?
Nissan has announced the location of the location of the Washington, D.C. region Nissan LEAF test drive. It will take place the weekend of Friday 18 March 2011 at the National Harbor, which lies just East of the District border in Oxen Hill, Maryland. The National Harbor is easily accessible from the Capital Beltway (I495) at the I295 interchange. As I work very close to this location I will try to take some snaps and add it to this space.&nbps; In the meantime, Google is your friend — so is Bing.
