Dodge Truck Electral

Auto Clubs Prepare Support Systems for EV Owners

With more electric vehicles taking to the roads, auto clubs that offer roadside assistance are taking notice, with some beginning trial periods for mobile charging services, building charging stations and offering special insurance rates for E.V. owners.

Europe’s largest auto club, the Germany-based ADAC (Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club), has installed 50 charging stations at clubs around the country. As part of this trial introduction, the club is offering free charging for electric cars and scooters throughout 2011, Christian Buric, the head of test and engineering services for the club, said in an e-mail. ADAC also plans to offer discounted insurance rates for members with cars powered by alternative-energy sources.

In Japan, Nissan and the Japanese Auto Federation recently announced a partnership to demo a service vehicle that could provide a roadside charge for members. The trial began earlier this month in Kanagawa prefecture, one of JAF’s districts in greater Tokyo.

The federation anticipated that E.V. owners should expect the same service levels as members with gasoline-power vehicles. For E.V. owners requiring a battery charge, the group plans to offer roadside service calls that should last no more than 20 minutes, versus the average 30 minutes for a typical call. The top-ups provide 40 kilometers of range to a flat-lined E.V.

Toshitake Inoshita, a Nissan spokesman, wrote in an e-mail that while the project had generated additional buzz for the purely electric Leaf, the roadside service was compatible with other E.V. makes and models.

In the United States, AAA intends to provide services and response times for E.V.’s similar to those offered for gasoline-power cars. The owners club is outfitting six service trucks with roadside E.V. charging equipment for regional chapters in California, Washington, Oregon, Florida and Tennessee.

According to Christie Hyde, the AAA spokeswoman, the regions were primarily selected based on their interest and on their existing levels of E.V. infrastructure.

Testing will begin this summer, she said in a telephone interview. Like the JAF service, AAA is planning to offer a partial roadside charge, enough to get the E.V. home or to a full charging system. E.V.-related services will be included in regular club membership, without any additional fees, Ms. Hyde added.

AAA did not have data on how many of its members drove E.V.’s, but Ms. Hyde said that the club wanted to be ready to serve members as they adopt the technology.

Electrical Meltdown or Overlooking the Obvious? - The Dodge Truck ...

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today ! In the past we've had issues with the brake lights (faulty tail amp boards possibly) but last weekend we were driving and the radio cut out a couple of times and then the odometer and gear selector lights shut off. The truck continued to drive fine, A/C kicking, headlights working and the the motor had no apparent hiccups either. Eventually the turn signals also failed to respond as well. I get the proper key in the ignition/door ajar dings, and the normal lights are all still working, but when turning the key over none of the gauges are responsive and even more curious the little box around the gear indicator is no longer lighting up. For a while it would show reverse (for park) but now it won't even show that. We've checked voltage on all the fuses and switches in the under hood fuse panel and we have checked the battery and ground at numerous points. My mechanic (who specializes on race cars, not street cars) was even able to get it to crank by manually jumping the solenoid, but of course it wouldn't start because it was getting no fuel/spark from the rest of the system.

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