In a few hours 2013 will be history and 2014 promises to be fraught with new setbacks, challenges, status quo's and legacy somethings and whatever. But its also the end of December which means this is the December 2013 Drive report.
Lots of changes to report. I have added a 1999 Corolla for journeys my LEAF cannot make. The cost was $2573.47. It came with half a tank of gas and I did do an oil change on it for $23.92 so hoping to justify the price of the car based on its primary purpose of driving it for work.
But that was not the only change made. I terminated the lease on my 2011 LEAF with less than 400 miles left of its 45,000 lease (with a month to go) and promptly leased a 2013 S trim with charge package, floor mats and mud flaps. There was no down payment and its $245.75 a month all of which I expect to pay for with my mileage allowance from work (along with the Corolla's cost)
The LEAF(s) drove 1216 miles for at a cost of $29.83 and that included no paid public charging but did have 67 kwh from eight fast charge and two L2 events. 488.7 of those miles came on the 2013 bringing the odometer to a ripping 526 miles (it had to be imported from another dealer to get my color so it came with 28.3 miles on it)
The Corolla, thanks to two trips to the Olympic Peninsula and a few to the far end of Highway 18, logged 948 miles which is more than I expect to normally drive the car BUT... In closing out the driving log for the 2011 LEAF, the one thing I realized is that I put over 17,000 on the LEAF in 2013. Now, considering my increasing my LEAF driving for work did not happen until nearly the end of February means the Corolla might have to be driven more simply to keep me within a reasonable distance of my 15,000 mile per year lease. Gas cost (remember I started with half a tank for free) was $63.69.
Mileage reimbursement from work (tax free) was $331.83 keeping in mind that this is logged not as I drive it but as I get paid for it. The reimbursement is based on local gas prices so it changes a lot. It just recently went down based on the price drop we saw here about 5 weeks ago. Gas is back on the rise so as usual, work is behind the times...
On both cars, I will be tracking a total TCO which will include all costs (not including bling items...) to operate the vehicles with the exception of insurance since coverage's are not equal so will be interesting to see how the cents per mile converge as we get a few more miles on the cars. Just for kicks; after a month, my Corolla's TCO is running at $3.88.6 cents per mile.
So, I guess by now you are wondering how do I increase my gas mileage? The Corolla's last tank of gas came in at 41.8 MPG which is great in the best of circumstances but in the middle of Winter?? especially with over a week with temps in the teens? Well the reasons are easy. The Corolla ONLY does freeway driving. So its expected to be on the high end of the spectrum. To compare; the 2012 Yaris which is rated higher by the EPA (using same test) is running around 33-36 mpg in mixed driving.
So to get better gas mileage, get an EV!!
Happy New Years All!
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Nissan's 500 Charger Promise?
Last Friday, I picked up my 2013 LEAF S trim with the charger package. The dealer had to get the car from Tacoma so it was about a 2 hour wait for the car. The Dealer, Olympia Nissan was blameless in this since I was scheduled to work Friday but due to bad weather, the job was cancelled. (would have been nice to hear about the cancellation before getting to the front door of the business but oh well, still got 2 hours pay plus drive time plus mileage allowance, so not complaining). So instead of getting there around 5 PM, I got there at 11 AM. So during the time I was waiting for my car to show up, I was talking with my salesman who is the internet sales guy (I went thru my Corporate intranet to get an EPP discount worth a few grand!) he mentioned they had a fast charger!
I said "What??" How come no one has heard about this? How come Nissan isn't bragging about this like Tesla does? First thing I did was put feelers out on Facebook (sometimes with my work load I tend to miss stuff) to see if anyone else had heard about this. No one said they did. In fact, it spurred inquiries from LEAFers in the area to check with their local dealers who returned varying responses (some correct, some not) and it was verified that several dealers had recently got fast chargers! So many that Steve Coram did a quick road trip to verify their existence finding only one (Tacoma Nissan) who said they did, but didn't.
The thing that concerns me is that he checked on 7 and one didn't have one (Tacoma), one we already knew about (Magic in Everett) but the other 5 were completely unknown. (except maybe Renton) Better yet, 2 of the newest ones; Olympia and Puyallup are true 24/7 access, not locked up at night and no FOB required!
Now, maybe its my "cave-like" lifestyle (I don't have cable which means I live "commercial free") that is why I have not heard about these new chargers which are so vital to boosting consumer confidence when looking at limited range EVs
But then again, all my Facebook friends (most of them anyway) do have TV and I should know, they ruin just about every cliffhanger episode there is (didn't say I did not watch TV shows, I do. just 6 months after they air on Netflix) Either way, it looks like (once again!) its up to us to update the fast charger map so this is where you guys come in. We need help verifying whether the dealer has fast charge or not. Now, you could call them but be careful. I received an email response from Tacoma who said they did, but Steve went there and they did not. And because all these installs are so new, I would not rely on your personal visits in the past unless they were in the very recent past. So best bet, is swing by and ask them. If they say they don't have one but plan to get one soon, get as much info as you can (site, time frames, etc)
so chargers verified;
Bellevue
Burien
Edmonds
Everett
Olympia
Puyallup
Renton
Ones to check on;
Auburn (rairdon's)
Bellingham
Bremerton
Burlington
Fife
Longview
Pasco
Port Angeles
Spokane
Spokane Valley
Sunnyside
Vancouver
Walla Walla
Wenatchee
Yakima
I said "What??" How come no one has heard about this? How come Nissan isn't bragging about this like Tesla does? First thing I did was put feelers out on Facebook (sometimes with my work load I tend to miss stuff) to see if anyone else had heard about this. No one said they did. In fact, it spurred inquiries from LEAFers in the area to check with their local dealers who returned varying responses (some correct, some not) and it was verified that several dealers had recently got fast chargers! So many that Steve Coram did a quick road trip to verify their existence finding only one (Tacoma Nissan) who said they did, but didn't.
The thing that concerns me is that he checked on 7 and one didn't have one (Tacoma), one we already knew about (Magic in Everett) but the other 5 were completely unknown. (except maybe Renton) Better yet, 2 of the newest ones; Olympia and Puyallup are true 24/7 access, not locked up at night and no FOB required!
Charging at Olympia Nissan at 1:30 AM while connected to their wi fi uploading job I had just finished. Two birds with one plug!
But then again, all my Facebook friends (most of them anyway) do have TV and I should know, they ruin just about every cliffhanger episode there is (didn't say I did not watch TV shows, I do. just 6 months after they air on Netflix) Either way, it looks like (once again!) its up to us to update the fast charger map so this is where you guys come in. We need help verifying whether the dealer has fast charge or not. Now, you could call them but be careful. I received an email response from Tacoma who said they did, but Steve went there and they did not. And because all these installs are so new, I would not rely on your personal visits in the past unless they were in the very recent past. So best bet, is swing by and ask them. If they say they don't have one but plan to get one soon, get as much info as you can (site, time frames, etc)
so chargers verified;
Bellevue
Burien
Edmonds
Everett
Olympia
Puyallup
Renton
Ones to check on;
Auburn (rairdon's)
Bellingham
Bremerton
Burlington
Fife
Longview
Pasco
Port Angeles
Spokane
Spokane Valley
Sunnyside
Vancouver
Walla Walla
Wenatchee
Yakima
Monday, December 23, 2013
My 2013 LEAF Review
I personally don't like car reviews. They are first impressions which can frequently change over time and are loaded with personal observations very much tailored to the reviewer which I often find to be misleading in the real world. It is, in most cases personal preferences on review.
But this review is really critiquing my 2013 introductory S model against my top of the line (for the time) 2011 SL with QC. I have only had the car 3 days and due to several holiday celebrations, none of which is more than 15 miles away, I will only get a few opportunities to even come close to testing the range or anything like that but that has been done by several very competent people who are very good at recording data, etc so not going to do that either. Instead I will list observations and how important they are to me. Its up to you to determine how important it is to you.
**** Range No surprises here. This morning, I left with a near full charge (only a 3 hour layover from one job to another) did a 48.2 mile round trip, mostly freeway between 55-62 mph. Ended the journey at 4.1 miles/kwh and 39 miles on a supposedly much improved GOM. (LEAF Spy said 37.3 miles to a 5% reserve which seems to be as low as it goes, but I will double check that...) This is a significant improvement over my degraded 2011 but it also had less efficient tires on the front as well. 2013 wins this but will also reserve the right to change my mind. Unlike the 2011, the 2013's degradation will be documented from day one and so far, its done well. My first ahr reading was 67.24 (typical is 66ish) and so far, that number has gone up slightly every day. I expect that to stop soon and many reports of 2013'ers losing a big chunk in the first 30 days or so. The list is not in any particular order.
Seats Black interior which is better than the light cream interior of the 2011. Much more of a "cloth" feel which is fine by me but at the same time, the 2011 seats were more comfortable. I am still playing with the seat adjustments but seems like the microfiber seats of the 2011 were more padded, softer, and a bit more cushy... 2011 with a slight edge but then again, maybe the 2013 just needs a break in period.
Eco Mode Gave it 5 stars because I consider it very important. The LEAF drives so smoothly that a slight bit of inattention can see me exceeding my target speed by 10+ mph. Big plus for the 2013 remembering my preferences between D and ECO. But after nearly 3 years of double shifting, it is not an easy habit to break, but I hope to take advantage of the single shift to ECO at least 10 times within the next week or so. # of times I found myself in drive; about 50. # of times, I remembered and shifted just once to get to ECO; one. Big plus to the 2013 here.
Interior lighting 2013 LEAF has a wimpy rear lamp with a single LED lamp pointing to each of the front seats. WAAAY TOO DARK!! I track my stats daily and reset my MPK (miles per kwh) meter and ODO A daily then record it into my drive log. The ability for my old eyes to see well is critical and the only reason I did not assign it 5 stars is that I hope to simply change the back seat light to something brighter. Also a clip on light would work as well, so there is a light at the end of this tunnel.
Options The S is the basic package so its not supposed to have as much and for the most part, I am ok with that. For those of you that do not recall; on the 2011, if you wanted a chademo port you had to pay for the top of the line SL, PERIOD. But that also required paying for a lot of stuff I did not really care about including NAV among others. Getting my S with the charge package which includes chademo and 6 KW AC charging without the frills is a huge money saver and not much of a compromise in features. Not hard to see why it's a popular configuration choice. Although my TCO on the 2011 was pretty good, I expect to be under 20 cents a mile on the 2013, a HUGE financial benefit. Now, to be fair, I really miss cruise control and without experiencing it, I really wont know how much I miss the much more efficient (and warmer!) heat exchanger on the SV and SL's and that leads me to
Cabin comforts I have not seen a real cold day since getting my LEAF although it did get into the upper 30's the day I picked it up but the seat heaters and steering wheel warmers make a huge difference in how comfortable I feel. Putting heated seats in the back was a great idea on Nissan's part. To be fair; the sunglass storage on the 2013 is smaller and I can't fit all my charging network cards and sunglasses like in the 2011. The defrost on the 2013 seems to work MUCH faster and even heavy condensation clears up very quickly. MUCH improved over the 2011.
Controls I guess I could have added Eco shifting to this but my LEAF is undering a retro makeover. One thing I hated was turning down the radio on the 2011. I had to press and hold the volume button for what seemed like an inordinately long period of time. This borders on a safety issue. Well, whether its a money saving decision or not, it does not matter because all the dials and knobs are back. Now, I simply lean over and with a quick twist, I can turn it from way loud to way quiet. Nice!
Fit and Finish This I hesitate to say but my 2013 seems quieter. Now the 2011 was never loud by any means. It did not have even the beginnings of a rattle at any speed. But the 2013's road noise seems much quieter than the 2011, but maybe after 40,000 miles my 2013 will catch up so will have to see on that but so far so good. Other than that, the only thing I have noticed is the rear hatch does not seem to swing closed as smoothly as the 2011 but could just need to be loosened up. The weatherstripping on the 2013 seems a bit bunched up right at the latch and this has caused the hatch not to latch a few times already. I think at this point, I was accustomed to gently tugging the 2011's hatch and having its weight and momentum gently clicking into place. Pulling a tad firmer should be enough to close it and this may also resolve itself as the weatherstripping gets worn in a bit. Not a big deal by any means and no leakage or moisture I can detect.
So, in a nutshell, so far so good! The only thing I really miss is the cruise control and it remains to see how well I can adapt to it but my Corolla doesn't have it either so, at least I will get a lot of practice. I think just checking my speed a bit more often is what I will end up doing. The heating issue I have to say is not that critical to me so I de-emphasized it but this is where the real tough decision will be. Because of year end deals on the S, a bump to an SV would have been more than $100 a month higher on the payments. I have done well to battle the cold in the 2011 and with the seat heaters in the 2013, I should be much more comfortable but I do live in a mild climate.
The faster charging will help. I mentioned that last night I only charged a few hours due to tight work schedule and this required me to stop in at Bruce Titus Olympia Nissan to charge. This was convenient since a test of the fast charge access at night was in order anyway and that went well so grabbing an 18 minute boost allowed me to go home and plug in for a few hours at 12 amps. As it was, I got home with enough charge to turn around and go back to the office. So, I sent off my EVSE to Phil (www.evseupgrade.com) to get it modified for 240 volts with programmable amperage. Should receive it back in a week or so.
As far as this review? I think I mentioned everything but as always, I probably forgot a few things and hopefully not too important and remember, like all reviews, this is subject to change
**EDIT** Ok, remembered that I did not mention Carwings. The ability to start heat remotely was cool but it operated so slowly and sometimes in my garage (which has a metal door) it would not work at all. It also did not update status although it knew the status had changed. I would start remote heat, get a text confirming its start. Then I would go out, unplug and leave. I would get a text advising preheat is off. But the next time I accessed Carwings, my first step would be to send message to car to stop preheat! This doubled the time it took to get the heat going. My house is not a mansion. It literally takes 20 seconds to walk out and turn the car on and that is what I had to do about 30% of the time anyway.
The other thing about Carwings I liked is notifications when charge was interupted or complete. But since the 2013 has locking charger port, the thought of someone unplugging me and I not finding out has been eliminated. The only issue with this is the unreliability of outlets at campgrounds. Been a few places where 2-4 resets were required before the car would charge... but then again, it only takes me to glance at the car every once in a while since we were always right there anyway
**EDIT** Knew there was stuff I forgot
Something that was brought to my attention was the fact that the S does not have headlight aiming like the 2011 did. But then again, the 2013 headlights seem a lot brighter than the LED 2011's and that is really illustrated when the high beams are on! But was easy to forget because on my 2011, I set the headlights up as high as they would go and then other than showing off, that is where it stayed.
But one of the BIGGEST improvements was the ability to take control over the climate controls. Here in the Pacific NW, humidity is a problem which causes fogging on the windshield which meant using the 2nd largest (after the traction motor) power hog in the car; the dreaded "Defrost" a lot. In previous versions there was no way to turn off the A/C or heat usage. This did not work well for my area. Olympia is the foggiest city in America! but chants of "We are #1" is not very popular here for some reason...
Notice the "Heat" and "A/C" buttons at the bottom? This allows "Air Only" mode directed at the windshield. Here in the mild Pacific NW (or Early Spring anywhere else) the Winters are frequently mild meaning no heat is ok. This means only the power for the fan is sucking up my available range. How important is this? Phil from EVSE Upgrade actually markets a mod to do the exact same thing.
But this review is really critiquing my 2013 introductory S model against my top of the line (for the time) 2011 SL with QC. I have only had the car 3 days and due to several holiday celebrations, none of which is more than 15 miles away, I will only get a few opportunities to even come close to testing the range or anything like that but that has been done by several very competent people who are very good at recording data, etc so not going to do that either. Instead I will list observations and how important they are to me. Its up to you to determine how important it is to you.
**** Range No surprises here. This morning, I left with a near full charge (only a 3 hour layover from one job to another) did a 48.2 mile round trip, mostly freeway between 55-62 mph. Ended the journey at 4.1 miles/kwh and 39 miles on a supposedly much improved GOM. (LEAF Spy said 37.3 miles to a 5% reserve which seems to be as low as it goes, but I will double check that...) This is a significant improvement over my degraded 2011 but it also had less efficient tires on the front as well. 2013 wins this but will also reserve the right to change my mind. Unlike the 2011, the 2013's degradation will be documented from day one and so far, its done well. My first ahr reading was 67.24 (typical is 66ish) and so far, that number has gone up slightly every day. I expect that to stop soon and many reports of 2013'ers losing a big chunk in the first 30 days or so. The list is not in any particular order.
Seats Black interior which is better than the light cream interior of the 2011. Much more of a "cloth" feel which is fine by me but at the same time, the 2011 seats were more comfortable. I am still playing with the seat adjustments but seems like the microfiber seats of the 2011 were more padded, softer, and a bit more cushy... 2011 with a slight edge but then again, maybe the 2013 just needs a break in period.
Eco Mode Gave it 5 stars because I consider it very important. The LEAF drives so smoothly that a slight bit of inattention can see me exceeding my target speed by 10+ mph. Big plus for the 2013 remembering my preferences between D and ECO. But after nearly 3 years of double shifting, it is not an easy habit to break, but I hope to take advantage of the single shift to ECO at least 10 times within the next week or so. # of times I found myself in drive; about 50. # of times, I remembered and shifted just once to get to ECO; one. Big plus to the 2013 here.
Interior lighting 2013 LEAF has a wimpy rear lamp with a single LED lamp pointing to each of the front seats. WAAAY TOO DARK!! I track my stats daily and reset my MPK (miles per kwh) meter and ODO A daily then record it into my drive log. The ability for my old eyes to see well is critical and the only reason I did not assign it 5 stars is that I hope to simply change the back seat light to something brighter. Also a clip on light would work as well, so there is a light at the end of this tunnel.
Options The S is the basic package so its not supposed to have as much and for the most part, I am ok with that. For those of you that do not recall; on the 2011, if you wanted a chademo port you had to pay for the top of the line SL, PERIOD. But that also required paying for a lot of stuff I did not really care about including NAV among others. Getting my S with the charge package which includes chademo and 6 KW AC charging without the frills is a huge money saver and not much of a compromise in features. Not hard to see why it's a popular configuration choice. Although my TCO on the 2011 was pretty good, I expect to be under 20 cents a mile on the 2013, a HUGE financial benefit. Now, to be fair, I really miss cruise control and without experiencing it, I really wont know how much I miss the much more efficient (and warmer!) heat exchanger on the SV and SL's and that leads me to
Cabin comforts I have not seen a real cold day since getting my LEAF although it did get into the upper 30's the day I picked it up but the seat heaters and steering wheel warmers make a huge difference in how comfortable I feel. Putting heated seats in the back was a great idea on Nissan's part. To be fair; the sunglass storage on the 2013 is smaller and I can't fit all my charging network cards and sunglasses like in the 2011. The defrost on the 2013 seems to work MUCH faster and even heavy condensation clears up very quickly. MUCH improved over the 2011.
Controls I guess I could have added Eco shifting to this but my LEAF is undering a retro makeover. One thing I hated was turning down the radio on the 2011. I had to press and hold the volume button for what seemed like an inordinately long period of time. This borders on a safety issue. Well, whether its a money saving decision or not, it does not matter because all the dials and knobs are back. Now, I simply lean over and with a quick twist, I can turn it from way loud to way quiet. Nice!
Fit and Finish This I hesitate to say but my 2013 seems quieter. Now the 2011 was never loud by any means. It did not have even the beginnings of a rattle at any speed. But the 2013's road noise seems much quieter than the 2011, but maybe after 40,000 miles my 2013 will catch up so will have to see on that but so far so good. Other than that, the only thing I have noticed is the rear hatch does not seem to swing closed as smoothly as the 2011 but could just need to be loosened up. The weatherstripping on the 2013 seems a bit bunched up right at the latch and this has caused the hatch not to latch a few times already. I think at this point, I was accustomed to gently tugging the 2011's hatch and having its weight and momentum gently clicking into place. Pulling a tad firmer should be enough to close it and this may also resolve itself as the weatherstripping gets worn in a bit. Not a big deal by any means and no leakage or moisture I can detect.
So, in a nutshell, so far so good! The only thing I really miss is the cruise control and it remains to see how well I can adapt to it but my Corolla doesn't have it either so, at least I will get a lot of practice. I think just checking my speed a bit more often is what I will end up doing. The heating issue I have to say is not that critical to me so I de-emphasized it but this is where the real tough decision will be. Because of year end deals on the S, a bump to an SV would have been more than $100 a month higher on the payments. I have done well to battle the cold in the 2011 and with the seat heaters in the 2013, I should be much more comfortable but I do live in a mild climate.
The faster charging will help. I mentioned that last night I only charged a few hours due to tight work schedule and this required me to stop in at Bruce Titus Olympia Nissan to charge. This was convenient since a test of the fast charge access at night was in order anyway and that went well so grabbing an 18 minute boost allowed me to go home and plug in for a few hours at 12 amps. As it was, I got home with enough charge to turn around and go back to the office. So, I sent off my EVSE to Phil (www.evseupgrade.com) to get it modified for 240 volts with programmable amperage. Should receive it back in a week or so.
As far as this review? I think I mentioned everything but as always, I probably forgot a few things and hopefully not too important and remember, like all reviews, this is subject to change
**EDIT** Ok, remembered that I did not mention Carwings. The ability to start heat remotely was cool but it operated so slowly and sometimes in my garage (which has a metal door) it would not work at all. It also did not update status although it knew the status had changed. I would start remote heat, get a text confirming its start. Then I would go out, unplug and leave. I would get a text advising preheat is off. But the next time I accessed Carwings, my first step would be to send message to car to stop preheat! This doubled the time it took to get the heat going. My house is not a mansion. It literally takes 20 seconds to walk out and turn the car on and that is what I had to do about 30% of the time anyway.
The other thing about Carwings I liked is notifications when charge was interupted or complete. But since the 2013 has locking charger port, the thought of someone unplugging me and I not finding out has been eliminated. The only issue with this is the unreliability of outlets at campgrounds. Been a few places where 2-4 resets were required before the car would charge... but then again, it only takes me to glance at the car every once in a while since we were always right there anyway
**EDIT** Knew there was stuff I forgot
Something that was brought to my attention was the fact that the S does not have headlight aiming like the 2011 did. But then again, the 2013 headlights seem a lot brighter than the LED 2011's and that is really illustrated when the high beams are on! But was easy to forget because on my 2011, I set the headlights up as high as they would go and then other than showing off, that is where it stayed.
But one of the BIGGEST improvements was the ability to take control over the climate controls. Here in the Pacific NW, humidity is a problem which causes fogging on the windshield which meant using the 2nd largest (after the traction motor) power hog in the car; the dreaded "Defrost" a lot. In previous versions there was no way to turn off the A/C or heat usage. This did not work well for my area. Olympia is the foggiest city in America! but chants of "We are #1" is not very popular here for some reason...
Notice the "Heat" and "A/C" buttons at the bottom? This allows "Air Only" mode directed at the windshield. Here in the mild Pacific NW (or Early Spring anywhere else) the Winters are frequently mild meaning no heat is ok. This means only the power for the fan is sucking up my available range. How important is this? Phil from EVSE Upgrade actually markets a mod to do the exact same thing.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Eulogy for my 2011 LEAF; Goodbye #258, You Were Wonderful!
The Basics;
35 months and 2 days
44,598.2 miles
$1083.05 with $28.38 public charging
10,996 kwh 4.05 miles/kwh from the wall
average ending GID count 236
ahr 57.10 Hx 57.16 SOH 87%
2.4 cents per mile.
Payment total; $15,508.68
Maintenance; $361.38
TCO; 38 cents a mile.
It was VIN # 258 delivered with 3 other LEAFs (One went to Patrick, the other to Sam and the 3rd was shipped to Arizona) and I was the first one to pick mine up on January 18th, 2011. I remember the day like it happened yesterday for but all the wrong reasons.
First off, I had originally said I was purchasing but then changed my mind in the last few weeks before delivery (keeping in mind, my purchase decision had been made over 4 months earlier) going for a lease instead. I picked Rairdon's Nissan of Auburn for two reasons; one they had cheapest sale price and my local dealer was not an option when the sign up process began.
We start the paperwork and the price comes in way higher than expected. I look it over and advise there is no sales tax for EV purchase which is the rub. They don't enter in the sales tax. Its put in automatically by their finance software. They don't know how to take this out (Remember I am customer #1, there is no precedence, no other dealer to call for advice, etc) So they hammer it out with Corporate and determine a workaround which essentially is guessing what the payment would be without the dollar figure of sales tax (about $3300!) and come up with a number. Still pretty high and found out it was the MF which was higher than Nissan's Corporate which I later found out could have been negotiated downwards. I wish I had known that.
So to make it "close" to the total I would have paid (without considering other investment options) I reduced the "rent" charge (essentially interest) by writing a check for the largest amount I had in my account (I had set aside $2,000 for the expected down I was paying) for $10,000 lowering my payments to $162.02 a month. Later, everyone told me this was a bad idea in case the car was wrecked, I would lose my equity but I called my insurance company before doing this and they advised I would get "replacement" value no matter what was owed to NMAC.
But despite the ominous beginnings, the car was better than I had hoped for. I had no illusions of getting 100 miles in all anything but ideal conditions. I drove an EV for 3 ½ years before getting the LEAF so was very familiar with EV range promises. Soon, I got one of the first EVSE upgrades from Phil and was soon blazing down the charging path at 240 volts and a massive 12 amps!
Now, don't know if I simply got a better LEAF or just got lucky but I had ZERO issues with the car. I got the brake SW update but didn't need it. I got the charger compatibility update but didn't need that one either and got the A/C "fix" but again, didn't need that one either.
I had no rattles, no vibration, no A/C issues, but did have some tire issues. I did hit a semi truck tread on an I-5 on ramp which took out both tires on the left side. That was a $260 repair (with alignment) and had a 3/4 " bolt in a tire that was fixed at firestone for $21.97 (will NEVER go there again!) I also acquired a bubble on one of the tires (I think it was from cutting the corner on a roundabout...) and went to get it replaced at dealer and they did without charge (I was standing there with credit card in hand...) but have to admit, I cheated a bit. the wheel cover on that tire was scuffed, so I swapped it with one on the other side... I feel guilty about that and I hope I get over it soon.
Finally, I paid $78 for the brake fluid flush at first battery inspection. I did this only because I had taken the cap off the reservoir dozens of times for some reason I am not quite sure of when showing other people the LEAF. Then later I found out that moisture in the braking system could be an issue so probably didn't need to but thought it good to replace fluid anyway. Obtw; never removed the cap anymore.
So that is it in a nutshell. Oh one other thing. My office is in Tacoma so its a 22-23 mile drive there and in Feb 2013 one of the vans was wrecked (not really that bad) but was not replaced. So after that; I was able to use my LEAF a lot more for work. They pay mileage tax free and this year it ran from 33 to 46 cents a mile (based on regional gas prices) My mileage reimbursement will be near $5,000 with about $800 coming from using the gasser, the rest from the LEAF.
All in all; the only real question in a customer service satisfaction survey is
"Knowing all that you know now and if given the chance to do it all over again; Who you still have gotten the LEAF?"
My answer?
You will have to wait for my next blog entry!
Merry Christmas all!
35 months and 2 days
44,598.2 miles
$1083.05 with $28.38 public charging
10,996 kwh 4.05 miles/kwh from the wall
average ending GID count 236
ahr 57.10 Hx 57.16 SOH 87%
2.4 cents per mile.
Payment total; $15,508.68
Maintenance; $361.38
TCO; 38 cents a mile.
It was VIN # 258 delivered with 3 other LEAFs (One went to Patrick, the other to Sam and the 3rd was shipped to Arizona) and I was the first one to pick mine up on January 18th, 2011. I remember the day like it happened yesterday for but all the wrong reasons.
First off, I had originally said I was purchasing but then changed my mind in the last few weeks before delivery (keeping in mind, my purchase decision had been made over 4 months earlier) going for a lease instead. I picked Rairdon's Nissan of Auburn for two reasons; one they had cheapest sale price and my local dealer was not an option when the sign up process began.
We start the paperwork and the price comes in way higher than expected. I look it over and advise there is no sales tax for EV purchase which is the rub. They don't enter in the sales tax. Its put in automatically by their finance software. They don't know how to take this out (Remember I am customer #1, there is no precedence, no other dealer to call for advice, etc) So they hammer it out with Corporate and determine a workaround which essentially is guessing what the payment would be without the dollar figure of sales tax (about $3300!) and come up with a number. Still pretty high and found out it was the MF which was higher than Nissan's Corporate which I later found out could have been negotiated downwards. I wish I had known that.
So to make it "close" to the total I would have paid (without considering other investment options) I reduced the "rent" charge (essentially interest) by writing a check for the largest amount I had in my account (I had set aside $2,000 for the expected down I was paying) for $10,000 lowering my payments to $162.02 a month. Later, everyone told me this was a bad idea in case the car was wrecked, I would lose my equity but I called my insurance company before doing this and they advised I would get "replacement" value no matter what was owed to NMAC.
But despite the ominous beginnings, the car was better than I had hoped for. I had no illusions of getting 100 miles in all anything but ideal conditions. I drove an EV for 3 ½ years before getting the LEAF so was very familiar with EV range promises. Soon, I got one of the first EVSE upgrades from Phil and was soon blazing down the charging path at 240 volts and a massive 12 amps!
Now, don't know if I simply got a better LEAF or just got lucky but I had ZERO issues with the car. I got the brake SW update but didn't need it. I got the charger compatibility update but didn't need that one either and got the A/C "fix" but again, didn't need that one either.
I had no rattles, no vibration, no A/C issues, but did have some tire issues. I did hit a semi truck tread on an I-5 on ramp which took out both tires on the left side. That was a $260 repair (with alignment) and had a 3/4 " bolt in a tire that was fixed at firestone for $21.97 (will NEVER go there again!) I also acquired a bubble on one of the tires (I think it was from cutting the corner on a roundabout...) and went to get it replaced at dealer and they did without charge (I was standing there with credit card in hand...) but have to admit, I cheated a bit. the wheel cover on that tire was scuffed, so I swapped it with one on the other side... I feel guilty about that and I hope I get over it soon.
Finally, I paid $78 for the brake fluid flush at first battery inspection. I did this only because I had taken the cap off the reservoir dozens of times for some reason I am not quite sure of when showing other people the LEAF. Then later I found out that moisture in the braking system could be an issue so probably didn't need to but thought it good to replace fluid anyway. Obtw; never removed the cap anymore.
So that is it in a nutshell. Oh one other thing. My office is in Tacoma so its a 22-23 mile drive there and in Feb 2013 one of the vans was wrecked (not really that bad) but was not replaced. So after that; I was able to use my LEAF a lot more for work. They pay mileage tax free and this year it ran from 33 to 46 cents a mile (based on regional gas prices) My mileage reimbursement will be near $5,000 with about $800 coming from using the gasser, the rest from the LEAF.
All in all; the only real question in a customer service satisfaction survey is
"Knowing all that you know now and if given the chance to do it all over again; Who you still have gotten the LEAF?"
My answer?
You will have to wait for my next blog entry!
Merry Christmas all!
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Christmas 2013 and my Cool Blue Present!
One of the key things coming from a supervisor's meeting earlier this week was that from December 27th to January 20th. There was no days off and that could be extended to mid February. My 2011 lease ending on January 18th meant very little time to get that kind of thing done. In my job, I have the ability accept or decline any job but declining jobs where I am supervisor costs me a ton of money so I only generally decline ones (I rarely turn down work of any kind...) where I am not the supervisor or am not driving. (driving is very lucrative especially in a LEAF!)
The other thing was that we had a company car that was wrecked in February 2013 that had still not been replaced. This has made using a personal car more readily available and needed in most cases. This is fine by me since it does put more money in my pocket but does put wear and tear on my vehicles as well. But this also allowed me to maximize the mileage on my 2011 LEAF. Before the company van was wrecked, I was on pace to turn in my LEAF with about 38,500 miles of my 45,000 mile allowance used. As it was, I turned in the vehicle with 44,598 miles (Damn, let 402 miles get away!) and only after a concerted effort to drive the LEAF less from Mid November on.
So I had a opportunity to get a good deal on a (very well) used Toyota Corolla and I bought it the first week of December. It was only 2200 and change. The deal I offered the lot was $2500 cash out the door and they took it. The car had a lot of miles on it but had never been wrecked, drove straight down the road and it would only be used for freeway miles anyway, so hoping to get 40-50,000 miles out of her.
So using my employee discount, I processed a request online to send a bid sheet to 4 dealers; (my portal only listed 3 so adding the 4th was like pulling teeth!) Olympia, Puyallup, Tacoma and Fife. I did meet a salesman at Oly but was not sure how the Employee discount worked and whether I could get it thru him. Probably should have called him to see if he could work it but...didn't think of it at the time.
I wanted S with charge package and floor mats in Blue with Red as 2nd choice. In my email, I advised I was shopping multiple locations and was price shopping right now. Only one of the four came back with a price without a few rounds of email tag; Olympia, and at $179.08, it was over $100 cheaper than the next best price. So I immediately responded to them with "Is this price firm?" and for kickers as about an SV with charge package and got a price I expected soooo...
Anyway, based on comments at MNL, I thought a lease turn in inspection would be quick and easy, so due to snow in the valley up North, my job for yesterday was cancelled so I was looking at nearly whole day in front of me with no commitments! So i swung by Oly Nissan (after all, they did give me a quote right off the bat without having to play email tag to get any info out of them) and it was then I found out that the dealer does not do the inspections. They are done by a 3rd party. So had to schedule an appointment. Well this really put my plans of picking up my LEAF next week on the 26th in a major bind. ( this is reason I left those 402 miles on the odometer!)
But my salesman did a once over and thought that the $500 allowance on damage/excessive use would cover the issues I had (broken antenna for one!) so they agreed to "ground" the vehicle there to have the inspection. I was not real comfortable doing that because I wanted the chance to fix whatever first. It was also not ready to be turned in The interior was pretty dirty...crackers, chips, cookies, etc from my Son!! Now it wasn't real bad. I did a vacuum and wash for Steve's 100,000 mile event just a few days ago but somethings just don't take very long.
To get my color, Oly had to do a dealer trade with Tacoma (meaning supplies getting tight) and closest they had in blue included mud flaps. I was ok with that. so that jumped the quote a bit. But my salesman had problems getting the numbers go thru and finally determined a price higher in the mid 2's. Now I went from way cheap to a bit higher than I had anticipated. He also could not find the $1,000 loyalty cash offer. This took a bit of time but they did have a VERY nice espresso machine in the lobby so waiting around was not too bad. Plus my car had not arrived yet from Tacoma anyway. And I was about 7 hours earlier than planned.
Eventually they figured out that I was never put on the loyalty list (at least that is what they said) so they called someone in Nissan who verified I had gotten a LEAF (I personally thought it was easier to look out the window at my LEAF sitting in the service drive ;) ) and I was added to "the list". Now this does not explain why I received an email early last Spring with the offer but anyway, I got it. This made my payment $245.75 a month. I was expecting 220ish but this was still better than any other quote (2nd place was Puyallup at $289 a month) So I took it.
The details;
Price; $29,000.00 (includes destination, $150 fee
acquisition fee $595
MF .00008
"down payment" $9150 (which is $7500 fed tax thingy, $1000 loyalty cash and $650 for "something"
Residual; $12,179.70 (39%)
Rent Charge; $35.95
FYI; paperwork says first payment is "due now" so wondering if they will be calling for a check. there is also no tab fees listed here so don't know if that was all combined in the $29,000 price (I had not included it and came up with $28,800 without mudflaps so...) Normally, tab fees are nothing to worry about since they run about $35 in my area (no rapid transit tax here!) BUT its an EV with $100 tab fee... so, guessing they might be asking for a check on that too... but for now!
Ok; good deal, ok deal or bad deal?? As always, I have reserved space "just for you" to respond!
I will be writing up my thoughts on the S verses SL debate soon or at least as soon as I drive the car enough to get an impression anyway! Only have 30 miles on it so far and most of that was around town errands yesterday. Have only one 7 mile freeway jaunt, so need to take it on the road for the "wind and rattle" check.
so stay tuned!
The other thing was that we had a company car that was wrecked in February 2013 that had still not been replaced. This has made using a personal car more readily available and needed in most cases. This is fine by me since it does put more money in my pocket but does put wear and tear on my vehicles as well. But this also allowed me to maximize the mileage on my 2011 LEAF. Before the company van was wrecked, I was on pace to turn in my LEAF with about 38,500 miles of my 45,000 mile allowance used. As it was, I turned in the vehicle with 44,598 miles (Damn, let 402 miles get away!) and only after a concerted effort to drive the LEAF less from Mid November on.
So I had a opportunity to get a good deal on a (very well) used Toyota Corolla and I bought it the first week of December. It was only 2200 and change. The deal I offered the lot was $2500 cash out the door and they took it. The car had a lot of miles on it but had never been wrecked, drove straight down the road and it would only be used for freeway miles anyway, so hoping to get 40-50,000 miles out of her.
So using my employee discount, I processed a request online to send a bid sheet to 4 dealers; (my portal only listed 3 so adding the 4th was like pulling teeth!) Olympia, Puyallup, Tacoma and Fife. I did meet a salesman at Oly but was not sure how the Employee discount worked and whether I could get it thru him. Probably should have called him to see if he could work it but...didn't think of it at the time.
I wanted S with charge package and floor mats in Blue with Red as 2nd choice. In my email, I advised I was shopping multiple locations and was price shopping right now. Only one of the four came back with a price without a few rounds of email tag; Olympia, and at $179.08, it was over $100 cheaper than the next best price. So I immediately responded to them with "Is this price firm?" and for kickers as about an SV with charge package and got a price I expected soooo...
Anyway, based on comments at MNL, I thought a lease turn in inspection would be quick and easy, so due to snow in the valley up North, my job for yesterday was cancelled so I was looking at nearly whole day in front of me with no commitments! So i swung by Oly Nissan (after all, they did give me a quote right off the bat without having to play email tag to get any info out of them) and it was then I found out that the dealer does not do the inspections. They are done by a 3rd party. So had to schedule an appointment. Well this really put my plans of picking up my LEAF next week on the 26th in a major bind. ( this is reason I left those 402 miles on the odometer!)
But my salesman did a once over and thought that the $500 allowance on damage/excessive use would cover the issues I had (broken antenna for one!) so they agreed to "ground" the vehicle there to have the inspection. I was not real comfortable doing that because I wanted the chance to fix whatever first. It was also not ready to be turned in The interior was pretty dirty...crackers, chips, cookies, etc from my Son!! Now it wasn't real bad. I did a vacuum and wash for Steve's 100,000 mile event just a few days ago but somethings just don't take very long.
To get my color, Oly had to do a dealer trade with Tacoma (meaning supplies getting tight) and closest they had in blue included mud flaps. I was ok with that. so that jumped the quote a bit. But my salesman had problems getting the numbers go thru and finally determined a price higher in the mid 2's. Now I went from way cheap to a bit higher than I had anticipated. He also could not find the $1,000 loyalty cash offer. This took a bit of time but they did have a VERY nice espresso machine in the lobby so waiting around was not too bad. Plus my car had not arrived yet from Tacoma anyway. And I was about 7 hours earlier than planned.
Eventually they figured out that I was never put on the loyalty list (at least that is what they said) so they called someone in Nissan who verified I had gotten a LEAF (I personally thought it was easier to look out the window at my LEAF sitting in the service drive ;) ) and I was added to "the list". Now this does not explain why I received an email early last Spring with the offer but anyway, I got it. This made my payment $245.75 a month. I was expecting 220ish but this was still better than any other quote (2nd place was Puyallup at $289 a month) So I took it.
The details;
Price; $29,000.00 (includes destination, $150 fee
acquisition fee $595
MF .00008
"down payment" $9150 (which is $7500 fed tax thingy, $1000 loyalty cash and $650 for "something"
Residual; $12,179.70 (39%)
Rent Charge; $35.95
FYI; paperwork says first payment is "due now" so wondering if they will be calling for a check. there is also no tab fees listed here so don't know if that was all combined in the $29,000 price (I had not included it and came up with $28,800 without mudflaps so...) Normally, tab fees are nothing to worry about since they run about $35 in my area (no rapid transit tax here!) BUT its an EV with $100 tab fee... so, guessing they might be asking for a check on that too... but for now!
Ok; good deal, ok deal or bad deal?? As always, I have reserved space "just for you" to respond!
I will be writing up my thoughts on the S verses SL debate soon or at least as soon as I drive the car enough to get an impression anyway! Only have 30 miles on it so far and most of that was around town errands yesterday. Have only one 7 mile freeway jaunt, so need to take it on the road for the "wind and rattle" check.
so stay tuned!
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
100,000 Mile LEAF!
December 16, 2013 will go down as a banner week for the Nissan LEAF. Not only did Nissan sell its 40,000th LEAF sometime last weekend, but it also heralded the first American LEAF to exceed 100,000 miles by none other than WA's own Steve Marsh.
He pulled into the Tumwater DCFC shortly after 9 AM with exactly (well exact a mile increments can be) 100,000 miles on the odometer achieving the feat in just over 30 months of ownership.
On hand was WA State Governor Jay Inslee, Erik Gottfried; Director, Electric Vehicle Sales & Marketing, Tonia Buell; WA Manager of West Coast Electric Highway and Project Development for WSDOT among many others. And (the important people!) as requested, LEAFers were asked to come display their cars
Pictured (l to r) is Seattle LEAF owners Ryan Wallace (in blue) John Harris and Dr. Thomas Smith; the world renowned author of WSDOT's Hybrid Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Report. Notice the patriotic arrangement of our LEAFs?
The festivities started in earnest with Lynn Peterson (a fellow LEAFer!) WA Transportation Secretary introducing Erik Gottfried who is Director, EV Sales & Marketing for Nissan based in TN. who awarded Steve a plaque
Bill Taylor, owner of Taylor Shellfish Farms also spoke acknowledging Steve's issues getting back and forth to work and was more than happy to install the charging station at the office. It has worked out so well that he has installed another charging station at one of their harvesting beds farther up the coast. WTG Bill!!
Then it was WA Governor Jay Inslee's turn at the podium. Inslee has been a strong advocate for EV adoption in the state and also supports distributed energy storage . He announced support for creating and completing an East/West charging corridor to complement the North/South corridor installed by the West Coast Green Highway Program, which was one day before his release of his supplementary budget proposal. He also awarded Steve the honor of "Washingtonian of the Day"
Steve was also given a chance to speak and said something that I had not thought of but is very much true when talking about the time waiting while his LEAF was charging, he related reading a story in the paper about people who waited several hours to buy gas for $1 a gallon during a special promotion. Compared to his previous car that got over 30 MPG, he was paying 85 cents a gallon equivalent in his LEAF so he was outdoing the promotion!
All in all, I had a great time. Met some great people, put some faces to names and all that kinda stuff! Lets hope that Steve's achievement sheds more light on EVs and generates more interest in creating the legislation to allow them to flourish.
Pictured (l to r) Lynn Peterson, Bill Taylor, Erik Gottfried, Gov. Jay Inslee, and Steve
He pulled into the Tumwater DCFC shortly after 9 AM with exactly (well exact a mile increments can be) 100,000 miles on the odometer achieving the feat in just over 30 months of ownership.
On hand was WA State Governor Jay Inslee, Erik Gottfried; Director, Electric Vehicle Sales & Marketing, Tonia Buell; WA Manager of West Coast Electric Highway and Project Development for WSDOT among many others. And (the important people!) as requested, LEAFers were asked to come display their cars
The festivities started in earnest with Lynn Peterson (a fellow LEAFer!) WA Transportation Secretary introducing Erik Gottfried who is Director, EV Sales & Marketing for Nissan based in TN. who awarded Steve a plaque
Steve's Plaque color matched to his LEAF
Bill Taylor, owner of Taylor Shellfish Farms also spoke acknowledging Steve's issues getting back and forth to work and was more than happy to install the charging station at the office. It has worked out so well that he has installed another charging station at one of their harvesting beds farther up the coast. WTG Bill!!
Then it was WA Governor Jay Inslee's turn at the podium. Inslee has been a strong advocate for EV adoption in the state and also supports distributed energy storage . He announced support for creating and completing an East/West charging corridor to complement the North/South corridor installed by the West Coast Green Highway Program, which was one day before his release of his supplementary budget proposal. He also awarded Steve the honor of "Washingtonian of the Day"
Steve was also given a chance to speak and said something that I had not thought of but is very much true when talking about the time waiting while his LEAF was charging, he related reading a story in the paper about people who waited several hours to buy gas for $1 a gallon during a special promotion. Compared to his previous car that got over 30 MPG, he was paying 85 cents a gallon equivalent in his LEAF so he was outdoing the promotion!
All in all, I had a great time. Met some great people, put some faces to names and all that kinda stuff! Lets hope that Steve's achievement sheds more light on EVs and generates more interest in creating the legislation to allow them to flourish.
Pictured (l to r) Lynn Peterson, Bill Taylor, Erik Gottfried, Gov. Jay Inslee, and Steve
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