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Got through to SOS IL and their title section needed to pass me along to another contact who while I got right through I needed to leave a message with. Once I get more details I'll pass them along --- again, so few EV's have been registered in IL I'm not really surprised that this process isn't more mainstream. The main contact did say that there is an application and certification that it's an actual electric powered vehicle (sounds more like for electric conversion vehicles but that's OK, the LEAF is really a breakthrough with so few Tesla's registered as well). As again we all have a few months, this should all be detailed here for future IL LEAF owner's to follow --- more later.

UPDATE -- hey, they called back a little while ago, apparently these plates are only available out of Springfield so they are mailing me an application. The IL Nissan dealer would give us a temporary license plate tag and then the plate would come direct from Springfield SOS office. They haven't gone past the 3-digit mark yet even though that series goes to 4-digits with the 'EL' suffix -- no vanity series are currently available and the plate is NOT required to register an EV. The contact I spoke with said that some owners want vanity tags and have opted to not get the series but of course regular fees + vanity plate fees apply to those 'regular' plates. The 'EL' plates are quite plain but definitely a low numbered series; they are good for two years and the end of the last two-year series is this December ($18/yr; $35/ 2 years); she had mentioned that the state will be increasing their stock of these with the LEAF being available soon so those who want one should be able to get it (this link shows a picture of EV series):

http://www.illinoistollway.com/portal/page?_pageid=73,2442212&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

If you're in IL and want one of these PM me and I'll send the SOS contact name and number as I believe they will probably only take an original form and not a photo copy -- this also answers the question about the Nissan LEAF I saw on cars.com -- they didn't NEED to use these plates so registered it under regular plates, of course they bought it from out of state and brought it in so they weren't eligible anyway (car needs to be purchased in-state from an IL dealer). Now we all know ... one more footnote, as these 'early adopter' LEAF's will arrive during the 4th Qtr, IL 'pro-rates' the annual plate to $9 + new title charge as well as requires an 'affirmation for EV' form to be completed; no question now as well as these plate forms are serialized (unique number scheme) so you need an original from SOS
 
Has anyone in Chicagoland spoken to their employers about charging stations at work yet?

Grainger says they will have 2 L2 (1 double headed?) stations installed at their Lake Forest offices by the end of the 3rd quarter.

They are still deciding whether they will require registration or membership fees for usage.
 
redLEAF said:
Got through to SOS IL and their title section needed to pass me along to another contact who while I got right through I needed to leave a message with. Once I get more details I'll pass them along --- again, so few EV's have been registered in IL I'm not really surprised that this process isn't more mainstream. The main contact did say that there is an application and certification that it's an actual electric powered vehicle (sounds more like for electric conversion vehicles but that's OK, the LEAF is really a breakthrough with so few Tesla's registered as well). As again we all have a few months, this should all be detailed here for future IL LEAF owner's to follow --- more later.

UPDATE -- hey, they called back a little while ago, apparently these plates are only available out of Springfield so they are mailing me an application. The IL Nissan dealer would give us a temporary license plate tag and then the plate would come direct from Springfield SOS office. They haven't gone past the 3-digit mark yet even though that series goes to 4-digits with the 'EL' suffix -- no vanity series are currently available and the plate is NOT required to register an EV. The contact I spoke with said that some owners want vanity tags and have opted to not get the series but of course regular fees + vanity plate fees apply to those 'regular' plates. The 'EL' plates are quite plain but definitely a low numbered series; they are good for two years and the end of the last two-year series is this December ($18/yr; $35/ 2 years); she had mentioned that the state will be increasing their stock of these with the LEAF being available soon so those who want one should be able to get it (this link shows a picture of EV series):

http://www.illinoistollway.com/portal/page?_pageid=73,2442212&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

If you're in IL and want one of these PM me and I'll send the SOS contact name and number as I believe they will probably only take an original form and not a photo copy -- this also answers the question about the Nissan LEAF I saw on cars.com -- they didn't NEED to use these plates so registered it under regular plates, of course they bought it from out of state and brought it in so they weren't eligible anyway (car needs to be purchased in-state from an IL dealer). Now we all know ... one more footnote, as these 'early adopter' LEAF's will arrive during the 4th Qtr, IL 'pro-rates' the annual plate to $9 + new title charge as well as requires an 'affirmation for EV' form to be completed; no question now as well as these plate forms are serialized (unique number scheme) so you need an original from SOS
Click to expand...


I had contacted the IL SOS some time ago through their web page. Here is the response I received yesterday.

Thank you for directing your questions to the Office of the Secretary of State via the Internet.

The reduced fee Electric Vehicle license plate is an optional license plate for vehicles that are powered entirely by electrical power. (batteries) The 2012 Nissan Leaf qualifies for an Electric Vehicle license plate. The plate is a 2 year plate, at a cost of $35. The fees are pro-rated depending on when you purchase the vehicle. There are no restrictions on the use of a vehicle with this license plate. You may apply for the plate through the dealership that you purchase the vehicle from. Let the dealership know that you are requesting an Electric Vehicle License plate. If you have further questions, please contact the Vehicle Services Department at 217/558-6148.

Thank you.
 
All true, but as it's doubtful any IL dealer has ever dealt with EV's (except Tesla) they will not know that you also (in addition to the EV plate application) need to include the Affirmation For Electric Vehicle form along with it. Hopefully, the people at the phone number you've listed have this; if not the single contact mentioned earlier at IL SOS may be the only one who can provide it -- with any government agency you would want to know about all the specifics prior to getting to the dealer so as not to delay getting your plates.

ILSOS026.jpg
 
Was anyone able to get a definitive answer regarding the IL state rebate for leasing?

I'll be at Soldier Field on Saturday at 10am.
 
Bzzzzz said:
Was anyone able to get a definitive answer regarding the IL state rebate for leasing?

I'll be at Soldier Field on Saturday at 10am.
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We need to have a little patience as the earliest we might see LEAF's out here will likely be late October or early November, but I did reach out again to the IL Manager in charge of this program as he mentioned that he was going to discuss this with their legal dept. as the text reads "purchased" vehicles -- my argument was that at least in IL, if you lease a vehicle you pay sales tax on the vehicle purchase price and not just the lease payments as in most states so why wouldn't the state also provide this rebate for leased vehicles -- at the very least it gave them something to think about! Hopefully, I'll get a follow up response and who knows, perhaps a rep from the state will be at this drive event as well -- I also noticed that the more general availability announcement went out on reserving a LEAF if you're in IL, doesn't mean you'll get it right away but looks like the 'early adopter' reservations advance notice to be the first is now history as it is in the other states where 'general availability' has been offered. My drive time is 10:30 am so may see you Bzzzzz ...

LEAF%20expands.jpg
 
RedLEAF, I noticed that your signature indicates a month of delivery. I am envious! My dashboard still says pending. Did you already have your home charging assessment or did you have it waived? Or is this just because you reserved and ordered a few days before I did?
 
lukati -- not sure if you were an 'early adopter' (put a $99 deposit down in 04/2010) or later but that's the only thing that I would think would cause you not to see the November delivery date -- Nissan has said that it would fulfill those orders first as we've been waiting for close to a year and half and then open it up to anyone else within the state; regardless they said 3 to 4 months from order to delivery so would assume you might still see it before end of the year. As far as the charging assessment, mine is scheduled for 9/9 but if I decide to go ahead with getting a LEAF (after this weekend's drive event) more than likely I'll ask for a waiver and get a modified OEM connector for 240V charging in addition to the connector that comes with the car; the AV unit + install is quite expensive for what it is as well as we just might be fine with the standard 'charger' anyway due to how much we'll drive it each day. I'm still excited about seeing the LEAF this weekend and finally being able to DRIVE one -- the weather appears to be perfect so should also be a great turn out!
 
I missed the sign-up window by a few months, so I don't qualify for being an early adopter despite having a LEAF account for what seems like an eternity. Definitely doing the waiver. I might get away with only L1 charging. If not, I am going to do the evse-upgrade as well.

Very much looking forward to finally getting to test drive. I am buying the car unless something is seriously wrong with it. Let's hope Nissan can make a few more believers over the weekend. They certainly seem to have put up some advertising dollars. You can't turn on the radio these days without getting some ad for the event. Don't watch much TV, so I have no idea if they are doing expensive TV ads as well.
 
Has someone in Chicagoland seen a bill of sale or a written quote with an out-the-door price? I have been told that all dealerships around here include a $100 Nissan Marketing Assessment charge. Is this just a markup by a particular dealer or are all local dealers charging this?
 
Nice to see some good press ...


http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nissan-leaf-coming-to-chicago-this-fall-128404163.html


On lukati's comment ... my dealer quote contains no such mention of an 'assessment charge' add-on fee ... they didn't discount but they also committed to sell as just MSRP. Any dealer can charge what they want and call it something such as this -- unless it's a doc fee (regulated) or the destination or actual IL title or plate fees or sales taxes, they simply shouldn't charge extra; it's a pure profit charge.
 
lukati,

I put down my $99 for a place in line 4/21/2010, and I still have a "pending" delivery date on my dashboard. The order confirmation from Nissan did suggest that my delivery would be November or December.

My signed paper purchase order with Liberty imports (signed after accepting in the dashboard), may include a $500 deposit. But, it was for MSRP only, plus tax, tags, and destination charge (TBD).
 
On another note about the upcoming drive event -- hopefully just a misquote for those just getting to reserve now:

'While the Leaf has been available in the U.S. to a few select markets, local Nissan dealers began taking orders on August 4th, with the cars showing up in buyer driveways in April of next year according to Ostezan.'

Complete article: http://theexpiredmeter.com/2011/08/nissan-leaf-tour-hits-chicago-this-weekend/

I plan to leave a comment that perhaps the author will correct ...

UPDATE: I'm sure there will be even more coverage but this was interesting:

'They had not planned to release the new electric Leaf car here until next fall. Now they are scheduled to get here in October. Already, 750 locals have put down deposits on the $35,000 car.

Complete article: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/7279269-418/nissan-leaf-blows-into-town-this-fall.html

Gives some indication on level of interest as possibly that the November deliveries may actually show up in October! Wonder how many of the 750 will go through with a purchase?
 
Actually, for me November would be better financially. Will allow me to get the rest of my downpayment put together. Still debating if I should get rid of the old 2000 Camry, which is starting to fail. Was thinking of keeping it for those rare instances where I think I will drive beyond the range of the Leaf. If it's October delivery I might be one of the 750 that might have to walk away.

I'll be at Soldier Field parking lot with a KU Jayhawk t-shirt on early in the morning. Maybe see some of you there.
 
I was born and raised in Chicago (in the city, not the 'burbs :) ) and the Leaf would be a great car there! Everything is so close together. The winter will be tough on the battery but I'm sure you all will manage.

150 charging stations per that SunTimes article?! Wow.

Here in Phoenix, which is a much larger area (in terms of land, not population) we have about a dozen, most of which are Nissan dealerships.

I'm envious.
 
redLEAF said:
'They had not planned to release the new electric Leaf car here until next fall. Now they are scheduled to get here in October. Already, 750 locals have put down deposits on the $35,000 car.

Complete article: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/7279269-418/nissan-leaf-blows-into-town-this-fall.html

Gives some indication on level of interest as possibly that the November deliveries may actually show up in October! Wonder how many of the 750 will go through with a purchase?
Click to expand...

I counted about 32 LEAF-certified dealerships in the state. At least that was the number of dealers that were listed within 100 miles when I made the selection. If we assume that each dealership has made 0-4 sales by now, we can expect up to 120 sold LEAFs.
 
How is that test drive going? I will be at the drive tomorrow. Looking forward to this!! :)
 
lukati said:
How is that test drive going? I will be at the drive tomorrow. Looking forward to this!! :)
Click to expand...

Couldn't ask for a better day for the event -- slightly cooler at the lake front but quite comfortable, easy to get to, good representation by Nissan and plenty of LEAF's to drive; only two downsides, they didn't have a Cayenne Red car (explanation was we need these for new customers -- that's OK by me) and we didn't get to take one home!

Our drive time was set at 10:30 today but as the crowd at the time was rather small, we were able to add my son as a driver and we went around twice, once I drove and then he drove. They have a short route around the museum's, etc. but you do get to get the car up to almost 40 -- tried it in ECO mode as well as U-turns, etc. and over a few bumps -- unbelievable how quiet it is. Seats are good, driving position and visibility as good as my Mazda3 GT. Back seat room better than the CT200h and more storage space as well (I like the deep well, should hold grocery bags in place). I could see one of these in my garage now! Even though it's been discussed, did confirm that MY 2012's heated seats, steering wheel, etc. will take it's power from the lithium batteries which could be preset for when the wife leaves for work while it's being charged -- this will work quite well as she has short commutes where a cold ICE would barely warm up on her way in (she always uses the heated seats on the Mazda3). This was a good shot showing the museum in the background -- I think they had 5 or 6 LEAF's; mostly silver and black, a white one a few blue (no red's as mentioned earlier). They were also offering a test drive of a new Nissan Versa (silver car in the background). I left the image full size for better detail, sorry in advance for those with a slow connection:

IMG_0313.JPG
 

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