DCFC stations at dealerships

Is there an incentive Chevy could provide to its dealers to install DCFC stations (maybe as many four plugs) so I could feel comfortable driving my car beyond my community. It would be a beacon of comfort and also would allow me to browse new cars (for the family) as I waited the 30 minutes to charge. Thank you.

I would add that they need to ensure these spots are accessible after hours. They’re of little use behind a locked gate.

I assume you mean non-Bolt dealers? because they are already required to have a DCFC station. They aren't required to have it available after hours, though. You might have better luck asking EVGo to open a combo SAE & Chademo station in your area.

Yeah, Chevy has publicly announced that they aren’t interested in supporting charging infrastructure, so you can forget multiple DCFCs at dealerships. It’ll be a rare Chevy dealer that installs one outside, unblocked, available 24/7. But it’s not just Chevy, it’s similar at other brands, promoting EVs erodes their core ICE business.

DNAinaGoodWay said:

But it’s not just Chevy, it’s similar at other brands, promoting EVs erodes their core ICE business.

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Since the core business is service, dealers are struggling with how to survive selling EV's. Take away their major revenue source, and making $1000 +/- on the sale of a new car is not sustainable without the additional downstream revenue.

kerrynbc said:

Is there an incentive Chevy could provide to its dealers to install DCFC stations (maybe as many four plugs) so I could feel comfortable driving my car beyond my community.

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There is a universal incentive that will almost always work......$$$$$

LeftieBiker said:

...because they are already required to have a DCFC station..

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They aren't required to make them accessible during business hours either.
My local dealer has one, but it's in one of their bays behind a garage door.
So they have one, but its for their use... Not owners..
Now, especially since I bought my car from them, they probably would let me in and use it if I asked, and if that bay wasn't being used.
But they have L2 chargers that are publicly available, and I am sure that's what they would prefer people use..

And I might from time to time, if there was a food place in walking distance.. ;-)

desiv

Chevy already refers to the Bolt EV as an "urban vehicle" probably for this very reason...

Also having public use chargers at dealerships can invite unwanted conflict...

Bolt EV rentals for Lyft driver's and Maven already include free charging sessions at certain DCFC locations; expanding this to FUTURE customers is the most likely "free charging" scenario although I believe it's doubtful...

DNAinaGoodWay said:

Yeah, Chevy has publicly announced that they aren’t interested in supporting charging infrastructure, so you can forget multiple DCFCs at dealerships. It’ll be a rare Chevy dealer that installs one outside, unblocked, available 24/7. But it’s not just Chevy, it’s similar at other brands, promoting EVs erodes their core ICE business.

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The closest Chevy dealership to me has TWO fast chargers installed (and a salesperson happily told me where both of them are located - and that they re available "if not in use"). Now, they aren't available 24/7, the dealership locks the gates about an hour after it officially 'closes' (I know because the only time I was there to charge, I *needed* a charge {my wife forgot to plug in when she got home} and I was charging past closing and the manager came out to tell me {very politely} that the gates would be locked in about 15 minutes, after the last employee left). He was really very nice about it. THAT is the sort of 'customer service' (or 'public face') that gets customers to come back. (In fact, I've told quite a few friends about it and that they should go there first if they want to buy a Chevy - I also tell them to mention that the reason they are there is because a friend with an EV told them that *this* dealership values customer service, since when I needed a charge they let me plug in - and for free.)

As I was signing the paperwork, I asked my dealer about occasionally being able to plug in at their Level 2. I was told NO it's not for public use. He kinda had an attitude about it, but I was too excited about getting my new car to care.

Charging the Bolt is definitely a daily concern. At first I charged off 110v at home at night. Unfortunately that only gave me about 40 miles of range and my commute is closer to 50 miles. Plus it added about $30 a week to my power bill and likely much more if I used it all month because I'm on tiered power pricing. My temporary solve has been to drop the car off at Lowe's in the morning, charge all day for free, and pick it up after work. Thankfully there's a brand new Lowe's about a mile away from my work, with 14 free Level 2 chargers that not many people know about yet. The only real problem with that is the burden I'm putting on my coworker who ferries me back and forth before and after work 2 or 3 times a week.

My boss is allowing me to install a 240 volt 14-50 plug near the back door. I'm going to buy a JuiceBox and plug it in there. Then I'll have free Level 2 charging at work. That's my long term solution since this car is primarily for commuting anyway. Just waiting for the $500 rebate from PG&E before ordering the Juicebox.

SmokingRubber said:

My temporary solve has been to drop the car off at Lowe's in the morning, charge all day for free, and pick it up after work.

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Maybe your Lowe's has so many charging stations that this would never inconvenience another driver...but otherwise, good EV etiquette is to move your car as soon as it's finished charging. Don't want to be a scold, just figured I'd give you a heads-up before someone slips a nastygram under the windshield wiper. Maybe pick it up at lunch?

There's a dude on youtube with a similar dilemma. In his case, the nearest free charger to his work is at a Chevy dealer. So drops the car off there in the morning to plug it in, pulls a folding bicycle out of the trunk, and bikes to work and back!

HotPotato said:

SmokingRubber said:

My temporary solve has been to drop the car off at Lowe's in the morning, charge all day for free, and pick it up after work.

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Maybe your Lowe's has so many charging stations that this would never inconvenience another driver...but otherwise, good EV etiquette is to move your car as soon as it's finished charging. Don't want to be a scold, just figured I'd give you a heads-up before someone slips a nastygram under the windshield wiper. Maybe pick it up at lunch?

There's a dude on youtube with a similar dilemma. In his case, the nearest free charger to his work is at a Chevy dealer. So drops the car off there in the morning to plug it in, pulls a folding bicycle out of the trunk, and bikes to work and back!

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First, this Lowe's only opened about a month ago. It must not be on everyone's charge map yet because no one uses the charging stations. There are 14 plugs available but the most I've ever seen used is TWO at a time (including mine).

Second, I only charge every three days so the battery requires about 7 hours to top off. I'm charging right now and My Chevy predicts the charge will be complete at 3:15. Coincidentally, I get off work at 3:30 so that will work out perfect!

Long term, as soon as I get the $500 PG&E rebate I'll purchase a JuiceBox Pro 40 and install it at work. My boss already gave me the thumbs-up. Then I'll be able to charge up at work any time I want and it won't cost me a penny.

I would not leave the car at Lowe's, taking up a tit, if it wasn't using that tit.

Next door to Lowe's is Costco. Costco is also brand new, and it has stub ups for about 30 chargers. Hopefully they'll finish the work soon and we'll have almost 50 charging stations available. I hope they're free like Lowe's is, but I'd pay if they had a DCFC available.

No Chevy dealers, Lowes or Costco near me.

There are 7 free ChargePoint L2 chargers located 3 miles from my house but they're too far away to be convenient to use and there's nothing near there that would cause me to use them for more than an hour at a time.

However, a Sprouts in a shopping center located just 1/2 mile from my house just installed 2 free L2 Volta chargers that I've used to top off a couple of times already.

I've tried to be a good citizen and limited my charge times to 2 hrs as posted (about 50 miles of added range).

One day there was a black Bolt using the other charger at the same time.

Haven't had to use my Clipper Creek charger at home for over 6 weeks, since those chargers were installed, and still have over 110 miles of estimated range w/over 300 miles already traveled on the display.

Point is, more and more FREE chargers are being installed and, as the infrastructure expands, the need to pay for charging at home or at DCFC stations may (for normal usage) become entirely unnecessary.

I'll keep my Clipper Creek charger just in case but it's nice to not to have to pay anything to recharge my car.

sgt1372 said:

Point is, more and more FREE chargers are being installed and, as the infrastructure expands, the need to pay for charging at home or at DCFC stations may (for normal usage) become entirely unnecessary.

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I agree more and more free chargers are being installed, but you see this at a much greater rate in California. It's a glacial pace here in Colorado. When normal usage includes travel along highways and CCS chargers to allow for it, then EV's will start to be able to truly compete. That's not possible for most of the U.S. unfortunately.

RE: stations at dealerships, there's a stark contrast between Nissan, who gives (gave?) two years of free charging with new Leaf's and has free fast charging at a large number of dealers that is usually available 24/7, and GM. But, GM clearly doesn't care.

sgt1372 said:

Point is, more and more FREE chargers are being installed and, as the infrastructure expands, the need to pay for charging at home or at DCFC stations may (for normal usage) become entirely unnecessary.

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Interesting..
There are a lot of chargers/evse's in Salem Oregon where I work. Plenty..
But I'm not aware of any free ones... (Well, other than at some of the car dealerships)
We have lots of Blink L2 chargers in town.. Some SemaConenct. All charging (not free) tho..

desiv

I have used two Chevy dealership DC fast chargers, in PA, but they were only 25 kW devices, and it took twice as long as an EVgo fast charger to charge my Chevy Bolt EV. Other Chevy dealerships I know only have level 2 chargers. I did not have any trouble charging after hours at these dealerships. However, on long-distance driving, twice the time to charge is a BIG deal, so I only use one of the EVgo, Greenlots or ChargePoint chargers these days.

A couple of Kia dealerships around here have free 50 kW chargers. They are Greenlots CCS/CHAdeMO. Sad that I can visit the Kia and get a faster charge than from Chevy.

Not sure if anyone saw a recent press release but GM did say it would be investing into charging infrastructure...They gave zero details to what that means yet just the context feels like they're INVESTING in various charging projects vs offering an incentive or rebating dealerships who buy chargers or offering a no charge to charge plan like Nissan/BMW...

I do believe its a great idea to offer a incentive/rebate for the dealers to install fast chargers as its a win for the customer...