Nissan installs 1,000th 30-minute charger, beating Tesla to the punch

It's a nice achievement by Nissan. I'm glad to see them staying committed to advancing the EV cause. It's silly to compare the Nissan quick-charge network with Tesla's (although I realize having the word Tesla in the headline increases clicks). Driving a Tesla means I only need to charge at home or on a road trip. That's because it has a real range of 200+ miles on the freeway, under all conditions. So, Tesla owners require far fewer charging stations. My LEAF is closer to 55+ miles of real range. Plus, in the U.S. when I want to QC at a NIssan dealership, I'm faced with the prospect that the dealer is closed and/or has some restriction about who can use the QC (some restrict to their customers). Tesla just completed a coast to coast trip in 3-days using only free Superchargers. I don't expect any sane person to bother with such a trip in their LEAF. The point of a QC network is to allow an EV owner to never need an ICE car. Tesla has achieved that. Nissan has a ways to go still.

Misleading Title "30 Minute Charger"

Nissan Leaf, 24 Kwh 75 mile total range 30 min. Chademo charge fills 80% => 60 MILES
Model S, 85Kwh 265 mile range 30 min. Tesla Supercharger fills 80% => 212 MILES
Model S 60 Kwh 205 mile range 30 min. Tesla Supercharger fills 80% => 164 MILES

Apparently, most of you Tesla lovers missed my main point: why does the Model S use a proprietary system for charging AND THEN CHARGE YOU THOUSANDS TO GET ADAPTERS so you can use another system? After all, there are FAR MORE chargers out there using the J1772 and CHAdeMO system than there are proprietary Tesla chargers. Wouldn't it add to the convenience of ownership to have access to all those other plugs without having to pay the cost of a home charger and installation to get them?

Nothing misleading here, Sal. Nissan installed 30-minute chargers in a network across Europe faster than Tesla did. Just because they don't have to be "Superchargers" doesn't mean it's not beaing Tesla to the punch. All you're doing is comparing **** sizes.

I would agree with Sal say it's a bit misleading and an apples to oranges comparison. The 30 in "30-minute chargers" is arbitrary. To make it more accurate, Tesla has 12-minute chargers, vs. Nissan's 30-minute charges, since that's about how long each would take to add 60 miles of range.

Also, the article makes a strongly inferred comparison with Tesla, stating, "As Tesla Motors ... [accommodates] long-distance driving, Nissan focuses on ... everyday driving." But this is another apples to oranges comparison, since it doesn't explain that with a Tesla there's no need for a charging network to support everyday driving.

Overall, it doesn't read as a balanced article.

exactly Sal this article is comparing apples to oranges. To do the same 80% charge on a Tesla with those Nissan chargers you'd have to stay put for 2 hours!
I don't know where the author got his information about the price of the conversion plug but it is completely wrong, every Model S gets comes standard with a mobile connector and a public charging station adapter.

It's Tesla's superchargers that are a paid option on the lower Model S versions

No, the CHAdeMO charging cord is STANDARD on the Nissan LEAF in Europe. No charge.

OK, everyone. I'm sorry if I offended anyone's sensibilities about their Tesla and if I'm unable to grasp your math in terms of the charge times and power. The point of my story was pretty straight-forward and shouldn't have required any advanced math or over-thinking. Nissan has built more charging stations in Europe than has Tesla and those Nissan stations are capable of charging the LEAF (or similar car) quickly (within 30 minutes) and allow travel across the continent. Tesla has not completed their 30-minute network. So Nissan beat them to the punch. Period.

I did get a little over-wrought in my comments here and have edited those to remove anything that seemed to be offensive. I apologize for that. You all should have access to edit anything you've written as well, if you wish to.

The fact is, in Europe, the Nissan equipped with the supercharging capability (i.e. all but the base model, which frankly doesn't sell well, just as the base Model S didn't either) comes standard with a CHAdeMO plug. The Tesla Model S does not come with that plug, as far as I could find, and its price (listed here in USD since I couldn't find anything about European sales) is over-and-above the premium cost of the Model S.

Sure, the Model S can travel 200-some miles per charge versus the ~70 miles of the LEAF. However, one thing many EV proponents continually say is that "the average commuter only needs 40 miles or less", which is why so many EV makers are aiming for about twice that as their goal. It makes the car affordable (sub-$50k before incentives). In order for electric cars to get somewhere, Tesla or not, they have to have access to infrastructure - just as a gasoline car needs gas pumps, a diesel car needs diesel pumps, etc. In Europe, Nissan has beat Tesla to the punch in terms of that infrastructure. The point of the article.

Thanks for reading.

I used my 2013 Leaf's CHAdeMO port for the first time at a new level-3 charger at my local dealer in NC recently. The charger's connector was huge, unwieldy, and difficult to connect properly. On the other hand, it was quite fast of course.

Charging on level-2 at home is really all I need though, even though I've put 16k miles on it in just one year.

For others stumbling on this thread that may not know. Tesla "patents" are now completely open, available and free to use by anyone. Go Tesla!

I think the big 3 think it's a scam, because that's how the 'lil' 3 operate. It's a shock to think that someone like Elon, a billionaire auto/space/internet mogul, could be genuinely sincere in an industry as large and corrupt as the automotive one is. Doesn't make it any less true. That being said, no one's even tried yet. And as they say, you never know until you try.