Nissan Leaf - checking it out tonight

I will agree with you on that. It's money well spent, but I think the test should include a real cold weather market. There is a charging station here in nyc that's dedicated to the mini-E project.

 

Yup, I mentioned that in the other thread on the "EV Project" (that I started)

http://priuschat.com/forums/ev-elec...electric-vehicle-project-nissan-leaf-doe.html

 

I went down to the local Nissan dealer today. I asked, "ok, WHAT day in April will you take my $100 ... tomorrow, the first ??"

He said, "probably around the 15th".

.

 

I thought we'd be able to do that online?

 

The website said starting on "April 20th"

Nissan LEAF Electric Car | News | Nissan USA

As low as $25,280 ($32,780 MSRP minus up to $7,500 federal tax credit)
Lease world's first mass-marketed EV for $349 per month
FRANKLIN, Tenn. (March 30, 2010) - Nissan North America, Inc. (NNA) today announced U.S. pricing for the 2011 Nissan LEAF electric vehicle, which becomes available for purchase or lease at Nissan dealers in select markets in December and nationwide in 2011. Nissan will begin taking consumer reservations for the Nissan LEAF April 20.

 

.. Waiting for the pundits to throw out numbers how much Nissan is subsidizing each car. I'll just call it "a lot" for now. I'm not in the mood to be on the bleeding edge, and my Prius is good for hopefully many, many more years to come, so I will sit back and watch the show. I've got my fingers crossed for near future owners. Good luck!

 

I might keep the 2010 Prius, even after I get a Leaf, to see how it does, I would probably go for the $349/month lease, if it has issues, the commitment is far less than buying it outright (about 1/2 the price), of course it's only for 36 months, and who knows how many miles, if it did well, you could buy it for the residual in theory.

If it does work well, I would probably eventually sell the 2010 Prius, I have a backup car (ok, well it's a Chevy Suburban that I plow the driveway with), I would hope to not have to resort to it though. I have a feeling that anyone outside of the 5 target markets isn't even going to be able to get a Leaf, at least initially, it will probably be well into 2011 or beyond for them to be offered in the "non target" markets, and I'm not sure I want to be the first one in a "cold environment" to test how well the batteries work (or don't).

 

i dont consider the price of the Leaf to be extreme or that Nissan is subsidizing the cost either . there is a LOT of money saved by not using a fossil fuel power plant. engine, tranny, cooling system, etc. probably reduces glider costs by nearly $5,000.

what has been the primary factor for EV's

1) range
2) COST of batteries which i had a hard time understanding why they cost so much. but at the same it was always a question of emerging technology. i look at my now 14 month old blackberry i got for $299 (which now has version 2 of the same thing going for $99) and its easy to see why the cost of batteries WILL go waaay down from the current price.

Nissan is essentially the first to mass market an EV on a large scale. sure GM is in place to do so with their battery plant, etc and i fully believe that Nissan is marketing the car that will be profitable

 

Pricing seems to be around the Ford Fusion hybrid. I would wait a couple of years to see how reliable the li-ion battery is.

 

well, depending on where u are and the fact that primary production wont start in US until TN plant is online, u may not have a choice on that

 

Official website say 1st delivery on Dec 2010, but I heard it could be as early as August 2010? Has anyone else heard the same?

I need to purchase additional vehicle and can wait for till August but not till December~

 

some areas have pilot programs where a very limited release will happen but the numbers i've seen barely hit 100 nationwide and most are corporate customers.

 

I called the Leaf customer service line again, to ask how the list is going to work, and I got some different information than last time.

This time I was told Nissan is going to make 50,000 cars for this December's roll-out, and that I need not worry about being unable to get one in this early run.

How it will work:

People who are on the mailing list (you can sign up on their web site) will get an email with a coded link some time between April 20 and May 15. They'll be spread out, with the first on the email list being the first to get the email. The link will take you to a page where for a refundable $100 deposit you can get on the waiting list. On or after May 15, anybody will be able to go to the web site and get on the waiting list.

Some time this summer they will announce what cities and dealerships will sell the car. You can buy one outside your area or market if you get on the list, but service will be a problem if you do not buy locally, and if there is not a trained Leaf dealer close to you. [I speculate that if you buy out of town, they will not pay for transportation for service.]

Also this summer, those on the waiting list will have the opportunity to place a firm order. The first cars will arrive around the middle of December, but those who are further down the list might not get their cars in December. She said she did not know how late the last cars in the initial offering would arrive.

I'd be interested to hear if other people phone them and get different information.

 

Yes, that is sp,ewhat different than what they posted. They said if you signed up on their website, you would be able to preorder and pay the $99 deposit on April 20th. apparantly they changed their minds on that...

 

The first people signed up will be able to pre-order on April 20. My guess: There are so many people signed up that their web site would not be able to handle the traffic of all of them going on to pre-order on the same day. I'm concerned because I was late signing up, so I'll be one of the later ones to get the email. She said, not to worry, everyone who wants one will get one, but her promise of an initial run of 50,000 sounds a little fishy to me. That is so many more than the 900 to 1,000 in each of 5 or 6 markets that they told me before, that I wonder if she got it wrong. Could they have upped the initial run by that many units between then and now?

Meanwhile, my guy here says he'll have my Porsche running before the Leaf comes out, but he's expecting the Leaf to be delayed.

If it wasn't for my trusty little Xebra I'd be going insane.

 

The production capacity is reported to be 150,000 Leafs per year, when they get ramped up, so I don't see how they are going to build 50,000 in less than 4 months, and that is with the Tennesee plant fully opertational. I suspect some would have to wait as long as March/April or even longer if you are near the end of the 50,000 initial run, and of course that assumes things go to plan. Of course if production starts in late August that gives them more time to work the kinks out. I think part of the preorder process is so they judge the demand, and have "waiting" customers to sell them to right away, and not have to store them, but just start shipping to the local delaers as they come of the line. They would rather send them to waiting customers than fill their dealers showroom/lots.

 

i am sure it will be like any other roll out. "selling" with start in December, but manufacturing will start earlier than that. 50,000 does sound like an ambitious beginning, ( i am pretty sure i saw a figure of 4700 for the roll out, but maybe that is my region only??) but i do remember earlier info on Twitter or facebook (its all a blur to me) that stated that initial production #'s would only be determined after the level of interest is gauged. apparently the interest level is preceived to be high. i am sure after their pricing was announced, the website was probably swamped

 

Dave, the "4700" number is for the The EV Project » Home participants, of course they have to buy the Leaf... Originally they stated they would produce those 4700, and wait for about a year, for some initial results of the EV Project, but I think now they will be making a lot more, due to interest, and will have a much larger (and more substantial) initial test data set. Some of us are even in colder regions (like me), so they will get some real world cold region test data as well (not that they will ask, but I'm sure many will be very vocal if issues do pop up)

 

maybe we should start a poll. what is the minimum acceptable range?

 

I really do not believe the 50,000 number I was told over the phone. I think they are hiring people who don't know beans to answer phones due to the large number of calls. Earlier I had been told 900 to 1,000 in each of 5 or 6 markets. If the interest is high they may try to push that higher, but manufacturing capacity is an issue.

Their plan was a limited roll-out in December, supplied with cars built in Japan. Then a year's delay while they get the plant in TN operational, and gather real-world information from the limited-edition units. If you didn't make it onto the pre-order list maybe you'd get first crack at the standard production run at the end of 2011. But that's an additional year's delay.

Please do not take the 50,000 number from my post above as authoritative. I don't think the woman who told me that knew what she was talking about. But if you see that number (or any other) on a Nissan web site, please post a link.