Chicagoland area

[bigtlb]

I thoroughly enjoyed the drive event.

I am a very big guy (6'1" north of 400lbs) and wanted to make sure I was going to be able to even fit in the car (it was my main concern). I currently drive a VW Beetle. You would be surprised how much driver's side space Germans put in their cars!

The LEAF has more headroom than I currently have in my Beetle, which may be the reason they didn't see the necessity for a vertical seat adjustment (or if one exists, my rep didn't know how to do it). Leg room is a little tighter than in the Beetle, a few more inches and I would have called it a no go because my knees would have been too high. With the tilt steering wheel all the way up, it was a little tight to slide my right leg under the wheel. I am sure I will find a less awkward way to get in and out with practice.

In all other ways the car is very nice. It "feels" put together. The ride was as smooth and controlled as silk on rails. The fold down seats were easy to operate and the trunk was more spacious than I imagined. I had occasion to flip the car into reverse when we got stuck behind porta-potty trucks :lol: (getting ready for Lollapalooza). And my ride-along Drew said, "Oh look at the reverse camera on the screen!" Drew left the event saying, "I wasn't sure about the car when you were describing it. But that is a nice car!" He's not an EV guy, and he is sold.

 

[davewill]

A couple of people have mentioned fabricating adapters to move the seat back a bit.

 

[prolix74]

I was excited to get my assessment completed tomorrow when I got a call tonight saying they have to cancel. I called to reschedule and their next available date was not until September 23rd! When I said I couldn't make that date, the next date was October 5th. I told them that both dates were unacceptable and they were going to see if I could get an expedited exception. Has anyone else had their assessment canceled? I don't know why Nissan is asking us to go through a company that can only schedule one appointment a month.

 

[redLEAF]

I was excited to get my assessment completed tomorrow when I got a call tonight saying they have to cancel. I called to reschedule and their next available date was not until September 23rd! When I said I couldn't make that date, the next date was October 5th. I told them that both dates were unacceptable and they were going to see if I could get an expedited exception. Has anyone else had their assessment canceled? I don't know why Nissan is asking us to go through a company that can only schedule one appointment a month.

Sent you a PM; I just cancelled my own home assessment so you may see it as an available date (assume you're in the Chicago metro area by posting here) as I plan to get the 240V modified OEM connector and simply have a 240V receptacle installed in my garage; much lower cost, it will be portable and most on this forum have had very good luck with it. Be sure to check all the alternatives listed on this forum before you reschedule and if you do decide to not go with the AV unit, ask Nissan CS (through live chat on your ordering page) for a waiver to opt out of the home assessment and AV 'charger' install.

 

[lukati]

I just cancelled my own home assessment so you may see it as an available date (assume you're in the Chicago metro area by posting here) as I plan to get the 240V modified OEM connector and simply have a 240V receptacle installed in my garage; much lower cost, it will be portable and most on this forum have had very good luck with it. Be sure to check all the alternatives listed on this forum before you reschedule and if you do decide to not go with the AV unit, ask Nissan CS (through live chat on your ordering page) for a waiver to opt out of the home assessment and AV 'charger' install.

I agree. I am also going with a 240V outlet and the EVSE upgrade. I cancelled my assessment and had Nissan CS give me a waiver. That took about 5 minutes on the phone and was totally painless.

 

[prolix74]

I just cancelled my own home assessment so you may see it as an available date (assume you're in the Chicago metro area by posting here) as I plan to get the 240V modified OEM connector and simply have a 240V receptacle installed in my garage; much lower cost, it will be portable and most on this forum have had very good luck with it. Be sure to check all the alternatives listed on this forum before you reschedule and if you do decide to not go with the AV unit, ask Nissan CS (through live chat on your ordering page) for a waiver to opt out of the home assessment and AV 'charger' install.

I agree. I am also going with a 240V outlet and the EVSE upgrade. I cancelled my assessment and had Nissan CS give me a waiver. That took about 5 minutes on the phone and was totally painless.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I will definitely do some further research and look at alternatives. My house was built in 1992 and while we don't have an electric dryer, I don't think it will be difficult to get a 240V port installed.

 

[dutchinchicago]

I have my assessment tomorrow. I probably should have canceled.

I am planning to stick with 120 volt for now. I am hoping that there will be a L3 or L2 charger available soon in my neighborhood (old town) to cover the very rare occasions that a overnight L1 charge will not work for me.

I probably will use an electrician to install a 120 volt socket outside where I park my car. I might be OK to use an extension cord for the first couple of weeks.

 

[YashuV]

Hey guys I am new to this site, but read a lot on here before. I might be the youngest here too 23year old
I have already ordered my Pearl Nissan SL, arriving late November/ early December.
I have read that a lot of people have problems with dealers. Star Nissan in Skokie was very helpful to me, this guy named Paul (he is polish btw). Go my quote for 38, 260 inluding all fees and delivery. So if anyone needs advise I would go to them.
On the other hand, I live in a condo, so I skipped the home ass. option. I called Nissan took no more then 5 min, had to sign electronicly a form and was ready to roll.
One hint to all of you that own houses. There is an option of buying just the dock (around $700.00), and just hire electrician to install it for you. My sister will soon buy the dock itself, and I will call my bud to install it, in case I visit them lol.

Btw if you see Nssan Leaf Pearl SL in Des Plaines, that's me

 

[Dino]

Have you Chicagoland Leafers looked into the ComEd "real time priceing" http://www.thewattspot.com/ ?
You can see todays hourly rates in the Today link on the green bar. If you enroll you can also get "load gaurd" which will cycle your home A/C when the rate gets above a point that you can specify. Looks like the way to go if you charge at night.

 

[redLEAF]

Have you Chicagoland Leafers looked into the ComEd "real time priceing" http://www.thewattspot.com/ ?
You can see todays hourly rates in the Today link on the green bar. If you enroll you can also get "load gaurd" which will cycle your home A/C when the rate gets above a point that you can specify. Looks like the way to go if you charge at night.

I had checked into that and decided to go with with one of the flat fixed rate alternative suppliers (in my case Champion Energy) to ComEd at 6.6 cents/kwh -- until we upgrade our old A/C unit (it takes a very long time to cool down the house when it's in the 90's if it's in set back mode) I don't need to hasten it's death. I'd be curious exactly how much you could save during a heat wave when everyone is running A/C and you're paying much more (14 cents versus the fixed 6.6 or even ComEd's regular rates) to try to keep cool! As long as I get a flat rate well under the 'average' I'm OK with it. As the 'real time price' will fluctuate quite a bit I'm not sure how much overall it will actually work -- just like adjustable rate mortgages, it's whatever you're the most comfortable with as well as what real savings you can actually get. With a new house and/or new A/C system it might be worth it but not in my own case.

 

[lukati]

Have you Chicagoland Leafers looked into the ComEd "real time priceing" http://www.thewattspot.com/ ?
You can see todays hourly rates in the Today link on the green bar. If you enroll you can also get "load gaurd" which will cycle your home A/C when the rate gets above a point that you can specify. Looks like the way to go if you charge at night.

I have been in this program for about a year now. Until today it hasn't saved me much because ComEd charges a capacity fee that is based on the highest consumption during the highest rate periods of the previous year. These periods occur typically during late afternoons of very hot days when everybody has the A/C units drawing full power. When you sign up, ComEd assigns a starting capacity charge and then adjusts it annually based on actual capacity used during these high load periods. Currently I pay more for capacity than for actual energy use, but this will change as soon as the adjustment is made.

Real time pricing is my main motivator to want to go to L2 because I can narrow the charge window to a few hours during the night when rates are very low, sometimes even zero.

 

[bigtlb]

...Until today it hasn't saved me much because ComEd charges a capacity fee that is based on the highest consumption during the highest rate periods of the previous year. ... Currently I pay more for capacity than for actual energy use, but this will change as soon as the adjustment is made.

lukati: Thanks for the info.

So, are you saying it hasn't saved you much because ComEd assigns an artificially high capacity fee for the first year? And, that anyone who starts the program shouldn't expect much savings during that first year? Also, do you have the feature where ComEd can cycle your air conditioning based on rates?

I am eager to hear how much you start saving once your capacity fee gets adjusted.

 

[lukati]

So, are you saying it hasn't saved you much because ComEd assigns an artificially high capacity fee for the first year? And, that anyone who starts the program shouldn't expect much savings during that first year? Also, do you have the feature where ComEd can cycle your air conditioning based on rates?

ComEd assigned a capacity charge of about 4kW (need to check this on my bill). I don't know how they arrived at that number. Maybe it has to do with how much energy I used during previous summer months.

I have been aggressively reducing my electricity consumption. I installed a monitoring system (TED5000, http://www.theenergydetective.com/store/ted-5000" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false and replaced all my incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents. Lately I have been transitioning to LEDs. (Costco is now selling a great 2 light bulb set with beautifully warm light for under $20.) TED allows you to see in real time how much each appliance or light is consuming. As a result my energy consumption is much lower than in previous years and also more of it happens during the night (e.g. the dishwasher). The Leaf will be the ultimate night-time appliance.

I think I don't currently save money (some months I even spend more than last year!) because my electricity use is now so low that the capacity charge and some other fixed fees dominate and drive up my overall cost per kWh. Both the Leaf and the upcoming capacity adjustment will make a big difference here.

I don't know if my case is typical. You may want to talk to ComEd and tell them you will be charging your car during the night. Maybe the capacity charge is negotiable.

I signed up for A/C cycling this spring. You need to sign up for cycling before you can become part of the 10c/kWh guard program. I can't tell you if the system works because I never run the A/C when the price is above 10c/kWh anyways. I do get the $5 rebate though.

 

[Amary]

Oops -- not a real good debut in Chicago, you would have thought Nissan would have already performed the software update for the 'non start w/o AC on' recall for their press cars ... hopefully the reporter gets a second shot at driving one; at least he didn't blast it las bad as others have but still a bit of a shame

http://www.suntimes.com/news/steinberg/7202025-417/blowing-about-town-in-a-new-nissan-leaf.html

Sounds like nobody explained the difference between Accessory Mode and Ready Mode to the reviewer. This is exactly what happens when you turn the car on without your foot on the brake pedal. The (long-since-resolved) A/C issue had different symptoms.

http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1366&doc_id=232922

 

[scottf200]

Have you Chicagoland Leafers looked into the ComEd "real time priceing" http://www.thewattspot.com/ ?
You can see todays hourly rates in the Today link on the green bar. If you enroll you can also get "load gaurd" which will cycle your home A/C when the rate gets above a point that you can specify. Looks like the way to go if you charge at night.

IL ComEd hourly rate plan is working well for me. I switched before I got my Volt and swapped over to even more CFLs in areas of the house we use a lot (ie. bathroom (mainly morning), garage lights, kitchen floods). I pay less now than before I got the car. My last 5000 or so miles I've mainly driven all on electricity/battery. I charge starting at midnight when the car wakes up to do it for typically < 3 hrs.

I paid $0.12 kWh for the past 18 months. My last five bills 3/15 - 7/15 on the hourly plan was about $0.09 kWh (ie. total bill / total kW used ... so it included fees, taxes, etc).

http://www.thewattspot.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
PDF from that site: http://www.thewattspot.com/pdf/RRTPGuide200903.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

FrugleNerd's: Introduction to ComEd hourly electricity pricing
http://www.frugalnerd.com/blog/2010/02/comed-rrtp-intro/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

FrugleNerd's: Tools for seeing hourly rate (taxes, fees, and watts it seems)
Click [below] for an iGoogle gadget and links to a ComEd electricity price dashboard
http://www.frugalnerd.com/app/comed/comedpages.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Another iGoogle gadget to show hourly rate (watts only)
http://www.jaynick.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Dino]

I don't know if my case is typical. You may want to talk to ComEd and tell them you will be charging your car during the night. Maybe the capacity charge is negotiable.

I asked if there was any penalty for increased usage for charging a car at night and they said no.

But now I see what you're talking about with the capacity charge. http://www.thewattspot.com/faq_bc.php#top" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

4Kw is the average “ Capacity obligation” which is multiplied by the “Capacity Charge Rate” which changes “as the market price of capacity fluctuates”
So you can possibly improve your “capacity obligation” but who knows what the rate will do.

Am I right in assuming you capacity charge is the same every month or does it change with usage?

I also found out that my older meter socket would have to be upgraded to participate in RTP

 

[Dino]

Have you Chicagoland Leafers looked into the ComEd "real time priceing" http://www.thewattspot.com/ ?
You can see todays hourly rates in the Today link on the green bar. If you enroll you can also get "load gaurd" which will cycle your home A/C when the rate gets above a point that you can specify. Looks like the way to go if you charge at night.

IL ComEd hourly rate plan is working well for me. I switched before I got my Volt and swapped over to even more CFLs in areas of the house we use a lot (ie. bathroom (mainly morning), garage lights, kitchen floods). I pay less now than before I got the car. My last 5000 or so miles I've mainly driven all on electricity/battery. I charge starting at midnight when the car wakes up to do it for typically < 3 hrs.

I paid $0.12 kWh for the past 18 months. My last five bills 3/15 - 7/15 on the hourly plan was about $0.09 kWh (ie. total bill / total kW used ... so it included fees, taxes, etc).

http://www.thewattspot.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
PDF from that site: http://www.thewattspot.com/pdf/RRTPGuide200903.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

FrugleNerd's: Introduction to ComEd hourly electricity pricing
http://www.frugalnerd.com/blog/2010/02/comed-rrtp-intro/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

FrugleNerd's: Tools for seeing hourly rate (taxes, fees, and watts it seems)
Click [below] for an iGoogle gadget and links to a ComEd electricity price dashboard
http://www.frugalnerd.com/app/comed/comedpages.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Another iGoogle gadget to show hourly rate (watts only)
http://www.jaynick.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Good info. Thanks

 

[Caracalover]

National Plug In Day, taking place on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011, is an unprecedented nationwide observance drawing global attention to the environmental, economic and other benefits of plug-in electric vehicles through simultaneous events staged in at least one dozen major cities nationwide.

Plug In America, the Sierra Club, and the Electric Auto Association are teaming up to plan for this effort, which will sound the bell through plug-in parades, tailpipe-free tailgate parties, test-drives and other grassroots activities in Santa Monica, Seattle, Sacramento, Washington D.C., Austin, Charlotte, Detroit, New York City and others.

If you're interested in helping to organize a National Plug In Day event in your city, otherwise participating or learning more, please email [email protected], with PlugInDay in the subject line.

 

[YashuV]

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1160" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I just did this fun and easy thing. It is just to see where you all come from and when you ordered your Nissan Leaf and when do you expect to get it

BTW When I was on the electric tour in August, I was talking to guys from corporate and I told them how come Nissan Leaf didn't show nearby electric stations. While one of them remained silent, the other one said something like this: "Haha, well the company that is in charge of updating it, isn't doing their job. I think, well... I actually know that Nissan will break the contract with this company and already has a back up plan. But I can promise that in time Nissan Leaf rolls out in Chicago, this problem will be solved".

 

[lukati]

Am I right in assuming you capacity charge is the same every month or does it change with usage? I also found out that my older meter socket would have to be upgraded to participate in RTP

The capacity is always the same (4 kW), but the rate changes. ComEd replaces the meter when you sign up.