Nissan Expanding Free Charging Stations to Markets Across the U.S.

Nissan announced Wednesday that it will be significantly expanding a program that provides free charging stations for new buyers of its Leaf electrical vehicle.

Nissan is not building a new network of charging stations, rather it is partnering with several already existing networks. The new partners include ChargePoint, Blink Network from Car Charging Group, AeroVironment, and NRG eVgo.

New Leaf owners will be given an EZCharge card which allows them free use of the charging stations for two years. The rollout of the new program will begin in ten markets on July 1. The first ten markets include several in California: San Francisco, Sacramento, and San Diego. Other cities rounding out the rollout include Seattle, Portland, Nashville, Phoenix, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, and Washington, D.C.

Nissan has already committed to expanding the program to an additional fifteen markets next year but has not announced which ones will be selected.

Autoblog reports that a similar free charging promotion which was offered in two Texas metro areas led to a significant boost in sales of the Leaf.

Tesla Motors, whose Model S has become a best-selling luxury model, already offers a network of free “Supercharger” stations spaced across the country. Buyers of the 85kWh Model S get free use of the stations. Buyers of the 60kWh model can choose to pay $2,000 for unlimited access. Though there are just 85 stations in operation today, that number is scheduled to grow substantially by next year.