Leaf Comes Home

ya but you have all that wonderful weather!

 

dueling Leafs getting a boost at Younkers Nissan in Renton



here we are parked in front of Cafe. i am first, the last in line is a red Tesla you can barely see.



there is a total of 7 Leafs in Wa right now. here are 5 of them

 

another thing about the Leaf that i like is the Map views. there is the "birdeyes view" or 3D. it also has an adjustable angle and i find it to be MUCH easier to use especially in congested downtown areas because it allows turns and streets to be seen better and anticipated than the normal top down 2D that the Prius has.

 

i think the biggest reason i decided on buying a Leaf was due to the level of commitment Nissan has shown towards making the technology work. its not just lip service here. i have seen many other EVs "come" and go, well actually none of them actually got here.

i have also seen token efforts by everyone else, none of which instills a lot of confidence in me. if they are not confident of what they are doing, how can i trust them to do it right?

but Nissan announcement of the manufacturing facility in TN really says they are "all in" for EVs. here is the battery plant startup. in the background is the 5.2 million sq feet Leaf assembly plant where 150,000 Leafs will be built beginning fall of 2012. to support them the battery plant will put out 200,000 traction battery units.

 

bumper sticker alert; seen on a red Leaf in Encinitas, CA.

More Pious than a Prius

AWESOME!!

 

KING 5 TV article on installing EV charging stations in Seattle area

Seattle pushing for more electric vehicle charging stations | KING5.com | Seattle Area Local News

 

here is Carwings week in review for summaries;

on tuesday the day i took Prius for recall work. required dropping it off at dealer in morning, taking SO back home to get other Prius. then going back and paying for it (did oil change) and parking it in a place so i could pick it up after hours (they shut down lube lot at 5:30)

so a bunch of trips with boosts periodically during the day.

the real test was thursday and it turned out to not be much of a test. was commute to Centralia. was a bit longer because SO took co-workers out for a joy ride at lunch.

but trip was mid 20's in morning, ran heat all the way up and back. only drove 60-63 mph. 40 miles on freeway (exit 101 in Tumwater to exit 81 in Centralia) was concerned after hearing about lunch trips which only added a few miles

but RT mileage was 64.9 miles and had 17 miles of range left when returned so was not even a challenge as the Leaf handled it very well.

 

well... as u well know, i have talked about how quiet the Prius was. but after driving the Leaf for a few weeks now, i had to put gas in the Prius on 'Thursday. i am sad to say that the car seems to have gotten very loud, rattly and full of vibration somehow

but as to the Leaf, its not really that bad. its definitely quieter than the Prius and the road noise is not as noticeable as i thought it would be

 

i am not sure you could do a whole lot better. the headlights protrude from the hood like a pair of bug eyes. the reason; they create an air dam that channels air around the side view mirrors. not doing this caused a prominent whistling sound that was very noticeable in the car at highway speeds.