“No Charge to Charge” Program for New Leaf Buyers in Texas

Since September, NRG Energy has offered a “No Charge to Charge” program to new Nissan Leaf buyers in Texas. “No Charge to Charge” includes twelve months of unlimited charging at eVgo’s Texas Freedom Station network of public charging stations at no cost to new Leaf owners.

The Nissan Leaf has a range of approximately seventy-five miles on a single charge, which will get drivers most places they might want to get around a major metro area like Houston. It’s still nice to know there are places around town where an electric vehicle can get a bit more charge while out and about. It provides that little extra peace of mind. “Increased range confidence” is how Erik Gottfried, Nissan’s director of EV Sales and Marketing, puts it.

The Freedom Station network is comprised of twenty-three locations in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex and seventeen locations in the Houston area. Most of these locations are at HEBs (grocery stores), Walgreen’s, and Cracker Barrels, making them a convenient place to charge while shopping or dining. Park N’ Fly lots at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) are also included in the eVgo network and the free year of charging.

Two kinds of chargers are available at Freedom Station sites: DC Fast Chargers and Level 2 Chargers. DC Fast Chargers can charge a Leaf up to a range of sixty miles in less than thirty minutes. Level 2 Chargers charge at a rate of between twelve and twenty-five miles in an hour. Since most electric vehicle charging is done at home, public charging stations are mostly used to top off a charge.

With such a large and convenient network of public charging stations, it’s not surprising that Nissan Leaf sales in 2013 were up 500% from 2012 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The “No Charge to Charge” program is being given for free with new leases and purchases of Nissan Leafs in the Dallas Fort Worth and Houston markets until March 31.

Images Courtesy NRG