My weekend test driving the Nissan Leaf

Sorry Sir, I don't like the look of leaf. Besides, always thinking of where is the power plug to get recharge, how long can I drive( though it's shown) and need to plug in for a long time at home and always thinking of plugging in is not my cup of tea. Prius will leave all thise out of my mind. That's why I still love, stick to Prius.

 

LOVED my test drive of the leaf in Corvallis, OR. 5 on the lot and saw 3 whilst out for a drive. What an awesome drive! and it looks great in person. I'm on the road to another step up from the Prius...

 

I was able to test drive the Leaf a few weeks back in Philly. I thought that Nissan did a terrific job - it drove well and I thought the entire package was first rate. However after seeing it I realized that I would never buy it - it is just way too expensive for what it is - were it in the high teens after tax refund perhaps, but high 20's no way.

It also made me realize just what a smart thing Toyota did with the Prius plug-in - it is just too bad that they decided to up-content it to the extent they did. Based on what I have read the $3000 or so in extra cost attributable to the battery is amazing - all of the other options they stuck in sour it a bit.

 

Is it really that important to not buy foreign oil? In a sense you've just decreased its consumption by a tiny degree, infinitesimal and infinitesimally lowering the price for others so that they can therefore consume more.

 

Do you want to send a donation to the Middle East dictators (some of which will inevitably find its way to terrorists) every month ?

 

It takes me 10 seconds to recharge. 5 to Plugin at night and 5 to disconnect in the morning.

Not having to visit foul smelling gas stations is priceless, though.

 

Unless your regular commute is long or it's going to be your only car I would consider not getting the wall mounted L2 charger.

Instead by a 2nd portable EVSE from the nissan dealer and have it modified and/or have the original modified. Either way having one or two your "portable" EVSE can be modified to plug into a 220V socket and charge at a decent rate much cheaper than buying the "proper" L2 EVSE.

see My Nissan Leaf Forum • View topic - Fast Low Cost Charging - All EVSE Questions Answered! for more details

You can choose at the time of upgrade if you want it to charge at 12a * 240V or at 16a * 240V

If you want it to charge faster you can do the 16a option. If you want to make your battery last longer (plan to keep the vehicle years down the road) you can charge at the lower amperage to charge slightly slower.

3.84 kW (240 x 16 amps = 3840 watts, a 16-amp L2 EVSE)
3.30 kW (220v * 15a = 3300 watts "nominal" EVSE description)
2.88 kW (240v x 12a = 2880 watts (L1/L2 EVSE)
1.44 kW (120v x 12a = 1440 watts standard L1 EVSE)

In other words by choosing your EVSE you can charge slow, medium, fast or low, medium, high.

If you plan to do short commutes or plan to keep the car long term I'd go for the 12a modified portable EVSE charging at 2.88 kW. Upgrade cost and some cords would be around $300

If you have long commutes I'd go for the 16a modified portable EVSE. It'd still be under $400 with all the cords you'd want.

If you really wanted to cover your bases you'd get one modded for 16a and buy one modded for 12a. The 2nd EVSE would cost you another $800 but then you could mount one at home and have one for the road. Take the 16a version on the road for quicker charging or have two at 12a if you prefer the slower charging.

Any way you go modified L1 EVSEs will be cheaper than the wall mounted permanent L2 EVSE Nissan suggests and it's a better option from a technical standpoint.

you'll still want a 240V socket in the garage and might have to get electrical work done but you won't have to deal with the same kinds of costs/hassles you would dealing with the Nissan EVSE program.

 

He lives in Canada, the sixth largest oil exporter in the World. So whatever money Canadians spend on gasoline stays largely at home.

Very different to us here in the US, whose profligate use of this limited resource leaves the US economy highly dependent on foreign sources, over which we have limited control.

 

Interesting data here: Oil - exports - Country Comparison
Shows Canada as 9th largest exporter of oil @ 2,000,000 bbl/day with USA 12th at 1,704,000 bbl/day. However USA is top importer at 11,310,000 bbl/day and Canada at 14th with 1,192,000 bbl/day.

I guess this explains why we in USA are buying import oil at world market price and even the same price for our domestically produced oil.

 

If you want to talk net use (consumption vs imports/exports) you might as well use the export land model.

[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_Land_Model]Export Land Model - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
The Oil Drum | Stories tagged with "Export Land Model"

but really such off topic posts should be split into a separate thread by the moderators or those who wish to discuss them. The Oil Drum welcomes new members so if you can't stomach moving to a different thread on priuschat consider going to the drum to discuss the export land model.

I'd much rather see this thread talk about the Nissan Leaf.

 

Yes

.Unfortunately true

 

Many people don't like the way the Gen II looks - and buy one anyway. That's what we did, because the utility was more important. Maybe the same is true with the Leaf. But if people find plugging in more frequently than when they have to pour the (more expensive) gas into the car ... your right. For you, it's better for you, that you pay more money for your carcinogenic toxic liquid explosive fuel, than to fuel with electricity. I suppose plugging in a cell phone is a hassle for some folks too, because you have to actually 'remember' something. That's ok. You have to have different values to be an early EV adapter.

Just as the sun was coming up, there were two people walking along a rocky beach after a horrible hurricane. There were literally thousands of starfish that had washed up onto the quickly drying rocks. As the two were walking, one of them would bend down and pick star fish up, and throw them back into the ocean, so that they wouldn't dry out and die..
Bothered by the sight of star fish being thrown back into the ocean the comment was made, "Do you really think that's going to make a difference?"
As the next star fish was being tossed back into the ocean, the other person replied, "It'll make a difference to THAT one"

Never mind ... I fear you may not get it.

.

 

I didn't get it because you didn't get my point.

It's hunting season. Total quota of kills is 1000. You used to hunt, now you feel guilty about the buck you get each year so decide this year you're going to save a life, you won't kill it. Well, the quota is still 1000, now somebody else will do it instead. So yeah you weren't the one who did it this time but you didn't actually impact anything.

It's clear that as fuel prices go down consumption goes up and vice versa, so if you want to ween off foreign oil you need to force people away from it by beating up their wallet. For your personal conscience and not be part of the problem you've bought yourself that, but you haven't reduced the problem, just reduced your personal share of it.

 

I test-drove a Leaf when my local Nissan dealer had one available, briefly, some time back. I quite liked it. Comfort, handling, and acceleration were all better than my Prius, although I never got to take it on the freeway to experience acceleration at freeway speed. The dealer, who likes sports cars, and therefore has a different baseline expectation than I had with my Prius, said that at freeway speed the acceleration is "okay." Didn't play with the controls at all because that was not going to make a difference in my buying decision, and with a new car I was more concerned with watching the road.

I told the dealer I liked it and would buy it when mine arrived. But then Nissan screwed up my order, and screwed it up again, having already screwed it up twice before that point, and I got sick of waiting, and angry at Nissan for the b.s. they were feeding me and the dishonesty, and bought my Tesla instead.

Hate Nissan now, but the Leaf is a fine car.

To the O.P.: Here in the U.S. we get a $7,500 tax credit for buying an EV. That only applies if you pay U.S. federal taxes. You mentioned the same amount. Make sure that your government has the same deal, because the U.S. government does not give that to just anyone who buys an EV here: it's only a tax credit, so only applies if you pay tax here. As for state rebates, that probably varies by state. In WA there's a sales-tax exemption, so buying an EV here you'd pay no sales tax. But that's not money back to you; it's only that they don't ADD the sales tax. In states that have rebates, I'll bet they would not apply to an out-of-state buyer. Also check your Canadian auto import regulations and duties. You might find there are fees to pay and regulatory hoops to jump through.

 

I drove a Leaf today.

First, it's puny and tiny in the backseat, much smaller than the Prius third gen and its trunk is far smaller also.

For the driver it felt at least as big, maybe bigger because it lacks the huge plastic thing that my knees constantly bang into.

While swerving it back and forth I noticed it sways like mad, though I haven't done that in the Prius for a while so cannot compare.

Its throttle response is truly marvelous, never been in a car with instant torque like that. Its power train feels beautiful to be frank and swaying aside it feels quite solid. I guess I know first hand now what people say when they talk about the EV driving experience. It's still nothing I'd sell my soul over, but I still appreciated it.

The air conditioning I think is much stronger than the Prius' (which is quite weak IMO).

 

But the local air in his area will be ever so slightly cleaner. If all his neighbours got a Leaf then the neighbourhood would be a nicer, fresher place to be too. Using hydro energy or personal solar PV will all have an effect too. So even if someone else in the World uses his quota of oil, the air in his local area will be good.

So using an EV makes a difference.