Are there no Chevy charging stations in the LA area?

That really grinds my gears to quote Peter G...

How can they sell EVs and have no charging stations, level 2 or 3, at any dealership in Los Angeles well at least in my area which is all of LA...

I mean come on Chevy, I know you are owned my the Government now and all but a little effort would be most helpful...

I mean even KIA's got them and they just came out with their EV...

Of course they wont let anyone charge there without a KIA and a $15 fee + permission ahead of time..

Such a hassle

Don't bother talking to the KIA dealer reps about charing, if a spot is open in front of the charger, just go in and charge like you know what you're doing. I visited a Kia dealer in Cerritos and just pulled up, activated the charger using the Green Lots app and was never bothered by any staff (other than a couple that were curious about my car). I have no idea how they can get away with charging you, when you're already paying through the greenlots app; they want you to pay twice? Also, that's complete BS they won't let you use the station unless you have their EV, KIA corporate put in dual standard stations for a reason, and I think the salespeople really have no idea.

I haven't personally checked but from Plugshare and random field reports elsewhere, it seems a # of Chevy dealers at least have L2 stations, originally put there for Volts.

But yep, I'm unaware of any Chevy dealers w/DC fast chargers, at least in California. Unfortunately, I doubt that'll change w/any GM dealers until GM becomes serious about making and selling DC FC-capable vehicles.

sparkenvy said:

I mean come on Chevy, I know you are owned my the Government now and all but a little effort would be most helpful...

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I mean come on Sparkenvy, for more than a year, since 9 Dec 2013, GM has been free of US government ownership. I agree dealers ought to have chargers but, please, there's enough misinformation about electric cars in general and the Spark in specific so let's not spread misinformation.

emv said:

sparkenvy said:

I mean come on Chevy, I know you are owned my the Government now and all but a little effort would be most helpful...

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I mean come on Sparkenvy, for more than a year, since 9 Dec 2013, GM has been free of US government ownership. I agree dealers ought to have chargers but, please, there's enough misinformation about electric cars in general and the Spark in specific so let's not spread misinformation.

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Thank you for responding to this; I was just about to do the same.

cwerdna said:

But yep, I'm unaware of any Chevy dealers w/DC fast chargers, at least in California. Unfortunately, I doubt that'll change w/any GM dealers until GM becomes serious about making and selling DC FC-capable vehicles.

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Article on '16 Volt and its specs at http://insideevs.com/next-generation-2016-chevrolet-volt-debuts-full-spec/ indicats no DC FCing for it either.

One would think the Bolt will have it, whenever we hear more details on that.

Well, a Volt really doesn't "need" a fast charger. Throw in some gas and go. Though it would be a bit more "green" to have it.

Whoa! The 2016 Volt is a nice looking car! But, if they haven't changed the interior dimensions, I still won't fit in it. The only glimmer of hope I see is this: "Chevy says that rear seating will also be a new option on the car.". Rear seating an "option"? That would imply a 2-door coupe/hatch-back, but the spec list doesn't say anything but 5-door hatchback. If they have a 2-door coupe I have hope to be able to not be sitting in the back seat and actually be able to look left out the windows.

ezryder said:

Well, a Volt really doesn't "need" a fast charger. Throw in some gas and go. Though it would be a bit more "green" to have it.

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Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV has CHAdeMO inlet. I'd imagine it's standard in Japan. Not sure about everywhere else it's sold. If they only brought it to the US.

(BTW, if one didn't know, http://insideevs.com/five-millionth-car-produced-at-mitsubishis-okazaki-plant-is-outlander-phev/ mentions they're approaching 50K units sold of the above.)

If GM actually shipped more vehicles w/DC FCing, perhaps we'd see further growth in DC FC infrastructure and some at Chevy/GM dealers? The Spark EV ships in puny numbers, in only 2 states and is GM's only DC FC-capable vehicle w/that inlet as an option. If they were serious, all of their EVs/PHEVs would have it at least as an option...

emv said:

sparkenvy said:

I mean come on Chevy, I know you are owned my the Government now and all but a little effort would be most helpful...

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I mean come on Sparkenvy, for more than a year, since 9 Dec 2013, GM has been free of US government ownership. I agree dealers ought to have chargers but, please, there's enough misinformation about electric cars in general and the Spark in specific so let's not spread misinformation.

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I know I know I am just joking, hence the

But really the point is if you sell electric cars you should supply a charging station of some level at your dealership to be part of the movement and to add to the charging network...
....I am sure they would qualify for a federal tax break...Wait for it... Ahh yes

On another note, I would have nothing against a government run electric car company... If there was a government made electric vehicle that was as fun as the SparkEV and gave even deeper tax breaks I would be the first in line..
I think it should happen and we call it the "Obama Car-E"... E for electric of course...Then everyone could blame the traffic on it
or the "W-E Car" since we are the government(well kinda)...
Personally I don't really care who makes the car but being that the two most fun to drive spirited all electric vehicles are both American made is a bonus in my book....

sparkenvy said:

the two most fun to drive spirited all electric vehicles are both American made is a bonus in my book....

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And those are?

sparkenvy said:

How can they sell EVs and have no charging stations, level 2 or 3, at any dealership in Los Angeles well at least in my area which is all of LA..

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Rydell Chevy in Northridge has level 2 charging stations in the back lot, probably only accessible during business hours if you asked politely. I would expect any Chevy dealer selling the Volt or Spark EV to have at least one level 2 charging station for their new car inventory or for cars in service.

cwerdna said:

sparkenvy said:

the two most fun to drive spirited all electric vehicles are both American made is a bonus in my book....

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And those are?

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Tesla and the Spark EV!

ezryder said:

cwerdna said:

sparkenvy said:

the two most fun to drive spirited all electric vehicles are both American made is a bonus in my book....

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And those are?

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Tesla and the Spark EV!

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Spark EV is manufactured in South Korea, not the US. This is true even of the '15: https://media.gm.com/media/us/en/chevrolet/vehicles/spark-ev/2015.tab1.html. Here's the equivalent for the '14: http://media.gm.com/media/us/en/chevrolet/vehicles/spark-ev/2014.tab1.html.

OK, well then the Tesla Roadster and the Model S.

The Bolt will probably have CCS standard. Battery packs that size just won't be able to practically recharge from public L2 charging stations in 2017. This will require some kind of DC-FC push by GM. I can't imagine them selling it at a dealership without DC-FC by then. Whatever marketing push they make will be more effective with a network already in place, so the installs should start sometime next year.

It doesn't surprise me that the dealerships don't have more L2 chargers. An L1 will work for verifying a Volt's charging system works. A Leaf can't get home without enough battery charge, so options are much more limited.

I would be very surprised if every BMW dealer selling i3s nationwide doesn't have a new Bosch unit in the next 18 months. GM should be licensing that tech in advance of the Bolt launch. They certainly won't find a better priced unit.

Chevy does not even have much L2 charging spots in their own dealerships.

My local dealer in Hallie WIS has 5, all outdoors. It is a very nice place.

cwerdna said:

...Spark EV is manufactured in South Korea, not the US. This is true even of the '15...

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But the Drive Unit is made in Maryland and the battery pack is assembled in Detroit. These are the meat of the matter, no matter what the window sticker 'Content %' says.
YAY, American Made Power !!!

My Chevy dealer has 3 L2 chargers on the outside of the building.

The J1772 EV connector is a universal standard for EV's.
There are no "Chevy" chargers.
DCFC is a different deal and there are two competing standards: SAE Combo,CCS -Chevy, BMW, VW, Mercedes and ChadeMo - Nissan, Mitsibushi. The DCFC stations where I live have both.

NORTON said:

DCFC is a different deal and there are two competing standards: SAE Combo,CCS -Chevy, BMW, VW, Mercedes and ChadeMo - Nissan, Mitsibushi. The DCFC stations where I live have both.

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Mercedes is shipping NO vehicles in the US with ANY DC FC capability.

For CHAdeMO (in the US), you left off Kia and Tesla via http://shop.teslamotors.com/products/chademo-adapter.

There are three competing DC FC standards in the US, not two. This has been discussed a lot here, in the past. Tony has an overview at http://www.mychevysparkev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10421#p10421.