New Leaf Information

I was wondering the same thing. I'm not anywhere near an initial launch market and was wondering if you had to wait until the car was actually released in your market or if they'd allow you to purchase one from the initial launch market and then either deliver it to you locally (i.e. throw it on a truck that's going to your local dealership anyway with a bunch of Versas and Maximas) or let you trailer it.

 

looks like we should all lease the Leaf:

"Lease: $25,280 is the amount after a manufacturer incentive applied to a 36-month lease financed through Nissan-Infiniti LT ("NILT") resulting in an adjusted capitalized cost of $24,441 based upon estimates and a hypothetical offer subject to change at start of sale. Estimates include manufacturer incentive of $7,500 in lieu of federal tax credit available to NILT by law, assumed non-refundable $595 acquisition fee and assumed dealer contribution. Requires a $1,999 initial customer payment ($1,650 customer down payment and $349 first month's payment). Excludes tax, title and license. Security deposit not required. Subject to credit approval."

3 advantages:

Guranteed price: You WILL get the $7500 discount, even if you don't have enough of a tax credit to qualify, also no chance of triggering the AMT and also not gettting all of the $7500

Fixed finacial risk: $1999 down (first payment included in that #), 35 monthly payments of $349, total cash out for 3 years: $14214 or $394.83 monthly (averaged)

Issues: if it does turn out that there are problems, you can always return it at the end of the 36 months, and you are not out $25K, but only the $14.2K

If the Leaf is great, you can always buy it out at the end of the 36 month lease, of course we don't know the residual yet, or how many miles/year will be allowed. I asked this question more than once on the Twitter chat on #carchat, and it was ignored each time.

The only downside I can think of to leasing is, the total cost if you buy it out is going to be a bit higher, but it might be worth it, to mitigate the risk. and, Nissan could always pull a "GM EV1", the car turns out to be a total disaster or they decide they don't want to support them any longer, but has a loyal fanbase that doesn't want to give up the cars, and they refuse to re-lease or sell them to the Leasee's at the end of the 36 months.. Not too likely, but always possible. Everyone remembers the GM car crusher.

 

I'm thinking the same thing. I've never leased a car before, but if I do end up getting one as an "early adopter" I will most definitely lease the car for fear of it being a lemon, or at least not all it is hyped to be. Worse case scenario is I shell out the lease payments and hand them the keys after 3 years.

Question to all: Does anyone know if you make all the lease payments "up front" in cash, do you save the interest they would have charged you over 3 years?

 

I've always been under the impression that you're better off buying than leasing, unless you know you'll only keep the car for the lease period. But the local dealer said the financing is only 1.5% or something like that. So you could put the money in AAA corporate bonds at 4% and come out ahead.

But I'm going to pay cash, if I can get the car at all.

"If something goes wrong" they'll fix it under warranty. Remember that an EV is MUCH simpler than a gasoline car. The chances of getting a lemon are less than with just about any other car.

And if the car is as great as I expect it to be, the trade-in value in 3 years could be much more than the lease residual value. Either way, you're taking a chance. But it's quite possible that in 3 years the only other EV available will be the Tesla Model S at $50,000. That would boost the trade-in value of the Leaf.

 

Daniel, I don't expect a problem with the car itself, it's the $10,000 LiIo battery pack that concerns me. How will it be performing after 36 months? That's the main reason why I will probably lease it... If the resale value is higher than the residual, even if you lease it you can buy it out and then sell it at a profit, right?

 

I cannot directly answer your question ....
But several years back I had an experience where I "Pre-paid" monthly installment .... meaning I paid two (full payment - principle and Interest) at a time, for over a year. Later, I advised the lending institution I wanted to skip a payment (since in my mind I had already "pre-paid" it. I was informed there is no such thing as "pre-payment" and if I missed the payment I would be charged late fees et al. As it tuned out, I was not cheated, because the extra payment was applied to the principal ... but they wanted their monthly payment.

That was a loan and not a lease ... so there may be a difference.

 

Nissan will send out a reservation kit for anyone interested to reserve one for a $99 deposit.

For most CA residents, like me, our electricity bill is on Tier-III, which costs $0.23 per KWh. That is about 4X more expensive than some other states. True, our Tier-I is only $0.11, (Tire-II is $0.13). If buy a Leaf or Volt, the extra charge will be on Tier-III for sure. The cost benefit does not compute very well for me.

Anyway, like buying my Prius 5 yrs ago, buying a Leaf is only yo help getting rid of oil dependency. Cost saving alone cannot justify the purchase.

 

My understanding (and I asked this exact question a few years ago when leasing a Lexus, is that there is no way to pay early.
You owe the total amount (principal plus interest) from day 1, even if on day 3 you pay off 100% of the principal, you still owe 100% of the interest.

 

I'm not worried about the battery. Look at all the people who were scared of Prius because of the battery, yet the battery lasts the life of the car. In ten years you'll still be getting 80% range, at least, which is 80 miles.

No NEW car purchase can ever be cheaper over the life of the car than a late-model used economy car.

You spend your money on what you want. Some folks want a season pass to their favorite ball team. Some folks want a once-a-year visit to Pahrump, NV. I want an electric car. The cheapest transportation would have been to keep my '89 Civic instead of buying the Prius, and then the Xebra, and now the Leaf. I could have still been driving the Civic today.

If you need to save money, don't buy any new car.

 

Tier? . . . we don't need no stinkin' tier !!



Man ... I am going to be SO smug, when I get this car ... there'll be no dealing with me ~



.

 

ya ya ya... prime reason for leasing... no risk in case of failure...hmmm lets see who is really taking the risk...

Nissan is not releasing any Leaf's until Dec, but is breaking ground on a 1.4 Billion factory in less than 2 months (june something...forget the date??)

sounds like they are all in. they are the ones taking the risk, but look at the reward. if it works it will be iconic like the Prius did for hybrid tech. Nissan will have a huge jump on the market. i fully expect them to succeed. now its possible they will flop and go under (they were a hair's breath away from bankruptcy just a few years ago) sure its possible, but if glitches do come up, i think we will see a monumental effort to please their initial EV customer base.

battery technology when compared to other technologies, has progressed much slower...definitely no "Moore's Law" here. but at the same time, that means that maybe...just maybe, they are due.

ok, lets do the math... if gas prices stay at around $3. its only going to be slightly cheaper to charge your EV at tier 3 rates that is if you are getting 50 mpg in your Pri which is 6 cents per mile and assuming about 4 miles per kwh...

ok, so i will forget maintenance costs (since you have) and we will forget the $4.50 gas prices, etc. do it to BE GREEN!!! do it to protect the health of your children!! do if to flip off Al Quaida. or pick your valid reason (there are a dozen more if you dont like my suggestions)

if that does not convince u, read response below

AMEN BROTHER!!

 

The Leaf website has been updated, new PDF download of the specs

http://www.nissanusa.com/ev/media/pdf/specs/FeaturesAndSpecs.pdf

nice video also showing where the 48 battery modules go..

http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-elect...on#/leaf-electric-car/video/view/the_new_fuel

 

So the Leaf puts 100 miles worth of batteries under the floor and seats five. The Volt with at most 40 miles of range (probably less) has to put the batteries along the middle of the car, eliminating the center rear seat position. Sounds like GM got it wrong again!

 

daniel, are we really surprised by anything GM does, really?
They really blew their chances when the killed the EV1, they "could have been" the Nissan of 2010, back in 1997/1998, had they not been so myopic. I hope the Volt is a fabulous success, but I will not be buying one, I already have a Prius, which gets superior mileage for long distance trips, the Leaf as a commuter will be a perfect fit. I don't need a subpar series hybrid. If the Leaf works as well as I think, I will probably sell the Prius as well (within a year or 2), as I have an older stinker (94 Suburban) I use for plowing, and that will probably be good enough for 1 or 2 trips a year the Leaf isn't suited for.

 

also found this (old) link, while I was searching for what the "LA4 cycle test" was, and it shows the battery packs below the seats, under the car... also talks about what the LA4 test is..

Green Fuels Forecast

As most automakers and battery suppliers are doing, AESC has developed a flat, laminated cell design that can be packaged with greater density in a car. The cells in the LEAF battery pack are arranged into 48 modules and installed below the floor and rear seat of the car. The AESC cells have a rated power density of 2.5 kW/kg while the energy density is 140 Wh/kg. That is slightly less than the 150 Wh/kg claimed for the LG Chem cells used in the Chevrolet Volt. The total capacity of the pack is 24 kWh and Nissan claims the LEAF will run about 100 miles per charge based on the LA4 test cycle.

LA4 test cycle​

The LA4 cycle is an urban driving test that runs 7.5 miles and has an average speed of only 19.6 mph. The maximum speed is 56.7 mph on one short stretch but for the most part the driving is at 30 mph or less. The frequent starts and stops are likely to aid the range somewhat through the car's regenerative braking capability, but in real world conditions drivers are more likely to see less than 100 miles of range especially in particularly hot or cold weather conditions.

 

Funny the thread is calle "latest Information", as the beginning posts are a month stale. See how little it takes to intrigue me?


Ok . . . my sources say (GULP) there are over 100,000 people in the sign up list. Can you spell "LOG JAM" ? Some of you folks (NOT ME ) are going to be waiting a long, long, time. If they're only making a few thousand this first year? Whoa.
.

 

i heard 5700 for initial launch (was several months ago) daniel heard 50,000. the website says #'s assigned to launch is dependent upon demand and interest.

there is no doubt the price announced generated a lot of interest...oh wait!!

*checking email*

DAMN... now what was i saying??

 

I think all CA utilities (PGE, SDGE and SCE have one) have a special EV charging rate. You might need a special meter for it, but it will guarantee you the low rate for your car.

 

drees, I see you are in San Diego, did you sign up to reserve a Nissan Leaf? Just wondering if you have received the email yet.... San Diego is one of the 10 initial launch cities for the Leaf. My theory is, Nissan is sending the reservations to people in those cities first, since they could actually get a Leaf in December...

 

Just checked - still no email. 15min left before 6pm Eastern!