Nissan EV Focus Group

[quote="DaveinOlyWA, post: ........
anyone have a question, comment or concern you would like me to bring up?[/quote]

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Ask: What is the status of the EV sports car concept named: ESFLOW?? I'd love to add this EV by Nissan to my Collection. We have 31,000 trouble free miles now on our LEAF ;-) I really desire an EV sports car without a back seat(no kids in our family).

 

After reading on MNL about how Chelsa's questions (forwarded from owners who were screaming about their various/numerous issues) were not addressed. Because of that, I am SO glad I didn't make the trek over there to attend. What a disappointment, even though there was a miniscule amount of favorable progress made. The issues' constipated rate of progress towards fixes is exasperating. But what can one do ... for the money, the Leaf still remains the only game in town for EV's.

 

Can you provide details and what you wanted the answers to be.

What are your big issues with the car?

 

Disagree, although it is one of the few games in town.
It also depends what you mean by 'for the money'.
However, the first alternative that comes to mind is the Mitsubishi MIEV.

 

Here's the list she had from owners:

The list was ignored. My particular pet peeve was/is the issue of battery / warranty work. It's been made clear that "still-good, but used" cels will be inventoried and made into warrany replacement packs. So ... how crappy can used cels be? No one's saying. Second in line of importance for me is/was WHY can't Nissan be as forward with their (largest market) So. Cal. QC infrastructure as Mitsubishi is. Mitsu's headquarters not only has a half dozen L2 spots (run by big ol' PV solar array) at their corporate office, they generously allow free Leaf usage. The Nissan Corporate locations here in So.Cal? (crickets) Geez - that's so embarrasing. But like I say - one can't complain too loud. For the money - their offering is the only game in town.
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I think Nissan has botched the warranty. They did recently give an express one for 5 years for depleted packs, that it sounds like in the near future will cover previously sold cars. IMHO 5 years is too short, given their previous statements. We know it will cost Nissan money but they need to sack up to get the issue off the table. They also need to put out a price for battery pack repair, which they have not done.

That was addressed in their recent interview with the NYT. They are going to provide free to leaf owners quick chargers at many of their California dealerships. More details should be coming soon.

 

How about put the ball on their court? Ask Nissan what were the top 5 concerns raised by the owners.

 

One of the Nissan folks at the meet up, while talking about BMS made a comment regarding air cooling versus liquid. The gist was something like;

"air cooling is good too . . . after all, that's what cools us humans down"

My eyes bugged out and jaw dropped when I heard this. Apparently the speaker never considered "sweat" in his air-cooled humans analogy. Maybe he doesn't know what happens to humans that get over heated for so long that they stop sweating. Maybe someone will point that out so Nissan can re-think the analogy.
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Yep. The list was at My Nissan Leaf Forum • View topic - Questions for Jan 8th Town Hall Mtg in AZ and the meeting didn't go in the format that I (nor many of the attendees) expected. Some issues were addressed but many were not. They opened it up to the floor after addressing some issues. The reaction was pretty mixed by people who attended (I didn't, Phoenix is quite far for me).

If you have almost 2 hours, the video of the entire meeting is up at My Nissan Leaf Forum • View topic - Meeting with Nissan, Phoenix, Jan 8, 2013, 6pm, drinks prior. I don't know that poster's affiliation so I don't know how long it will remain up...

 

"for the money" - in the case of the iMiev would relate to size. As great a car as it is, it's a shame Mitsu didn't consider giving it a bit roomy interior. Most folks don't like the idea of driving vehicles that small ... and when coupled with how small it is, it's still a bit pricy evidenced by the low volume of sales. There's serious debate on whether Mitsu will continue to produce it. I hope they simply re-tool, and make it (or other EV) bigger.
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