Delivery date : Saturday december 11th

[garygid]

So, Gudy's charging "solution" for now:

It seems that he is planning to use the L1 (plug-in 120v) EVSE that Nissan includes with the LEAF.

At 20 to 25 miles usage a day that's only about 4 to 5 (or 6) hours of L1 charging a night.

 

[garygid]

What insurance company do you plan to use for your LEAF?

Please let us know when you get a real VIN. Thanks.

 

[gudy]

garygid : thanks for reminding me about insurance ... I plan to call safeco and see how much they'd charge me for the Leaf (that's the insurance company we use for my wife's Honda Fit).

I also need to call PGE ... I need to start making a list.

AV called me on friday (I was away for the WE), to ask me if I was interested in buying the charger alone. I asked how quickly they could send it to me, and she said that as "I was apparently one of the first delivery of the car, they'd make sure they'd ship it to me in time for my delivery". I never contacted AV, so Nissan must have done so, and they must have told them I wasn't happy about the pricing.

I'm now hesitating if I should get it or not ... that's going to be something like $1500, not cheap, but it'll be way more convenient to charge than to open my garage door every night, to unpack the L1 charger from Nissan from the trunk, and go plug it in on both ends... (I'm parking on the driveway, as the garage is used for storage).

If only I was part of the EV Project, I wouldn't have to ask myself all these questions ...

 

[tps]

it'll be way more convenient to charge than to open my garage door every night, to unpack the L1 charger from Nissan from the trunk, and go plug it in on both ends... (I'm parking on the driveway, as the garage is used for storage.

I'm plannning to park in my driveway, also. Nissan's "dashboard" has a message that this "parking space is not optimal", but I do have an outdoor 120 VAC outlet right by where I'll be parking. I plan to get a Leviton 16A 240 VAC EVSE; since I'm in the "forgotten 36", I'm sure the Leviton unit will be availabe in plenty of time, so the L1 charger will merely be my backup.

I would be lying if I said I'm not envious of those of you in the roll out states who get your cars months before I can order, however I put a positive spin on this by saying that by the time I order, most of the questions will have been answered by you brave pioneers who sometimes just have to trust that Nissan will do their best to make things as right as they can.

Good luck on your journey into the world of the LEAF!

 

[TRONZ]

garygid : thanks for reminding me about insurance ... I plan to call safeco and see how much they'd charge me for the Leaf (that's the insurance company we use for my wife's Honda Fit).

I also need to call PGE ... I need to start making a list.

AV called me on friday (I was away for the WE), to ask me if I was interested in buying the charger alone. I asked how quickly they could send it to me, and she said that as "I was apparently one of the first delivery of the car, they'd make sure they'd ship it to me in time for my delivery". I never contacted AV, so Nissan must have done so, and they must have told them I wasn't happy about the pricing.

I'm now hesitating if I should get it or not ... that's going to be something like $1500, not cheap, but it'll be way more convenient to charge than to open my garage door every night, to unpack the L1 charger from Nissan from the trunk, and go plug it in on both ends... (I'm parking on the driveway, as the garage is used for storage).

If only I was part of the EV Project, I wouldn't have to ask myself all these questions ...

Thats all good stuff Gudy! We have the same driving habits as you for our "city" car which is 22ish miles a day. We also have a nice 120v outlet right in the headwall of our garage about three feet from the nose of where a LEAF should go. Since we should have no less than THREE cars through April I am NOT having ANY range anxiety issues! I want to get our L2 solution done right and at a good price. Congratulations! Glad to hear Nissan is taking good care of you.

 

[planet4ever]

I'm now hesitating if I should get it or not ... that's going to be something like $1500, not cheap, but it'll be way more convenient to charge than to open my garage door every night, to unpack the L1 charger from Nissan from the trunk, and go plug it in on both ends... (I'm parking on the driveway, as the garage is used for storage).

I'm in the same situation you are, both on mileage and parking location. I'm planning to get a second L1 cord so I can leave one plugged in at home and keep the other in the car. I haven't gotten a price on one yet, but it should be cheaper than the L2 charging dock, and there will be no installation charge or permit fees!

My plan is to mount an inexpensive water hose rack around the corner from the front of the garage, where it won't be too obvious or ugly, and loop the L1 cord on it. I'm not worried about anyone "stealing" electricity from me, because no one would be able use that J1772 adapter except fellow EV drivers, and all of you are welcome to it any time you're in the neighborhood.

 

[sdbonez]

If only I was part of the EV Project, I wouldn't have to ask myself all these questions ...

Have you tried asking them? Might as well put your status to work for ya'.

"'I'm the first Leaf delivery and would love to be part of the EV Project. Have any room left?"

 

[planet4ever]

There is no EV Project in the Bay Area.

 

[DarkStar]

Have you tried asking them? Might as well put your status to work for ya'.

Except that there aren't any Blink EVSEs available yet... Here in Oregon, nobody that is an EV Project participant has anything other than "Pending" in our dashboards, no month, nothing...

 

[WWBD]

If only I was part of the EV Project, I wouldn't have to ask myself all these questions ...

Pretty sure you wouldn't be the first one picked if you were. EV Project is apparently causing some (slight) delays for buyers. They need to have their chargers set up before we start using our cars, and they're running behind with their installations.

 

[garygid]

If your LEAF was "sequenced" for production over 2 months ago, it is unlikely that Nissan will let it sit in some parking lot in Japan waiting for you to get an EVSE installed.

It seems more likely that it will be arriving as scheduled back then, like the old "Here it Comes, Ready or Not".

 

[Jimmydreams]

If your LEAF was "sequenced" for production over 2 months ago, it is unlikely that Nissan will let it sit in some parking lot in Japan waiting for you to get an EVSE installed.

It seems more likely that it will be arriving as scheduled back then, like the old "Here it Comes, Ready or Not".

I disagree. Nissan might trickle out cars to people who told them they drive only 10-20 miles a day, but for someone like me (with 63 mile round trip commute) Nissan would be stupid to give me a car with no EVSE. I'd never be able to get enough juice through L1 charging and might start publically bad-mouthing the car. I'm sure Nissan is using the info we initially gave them to 'qualify' for the car. They're going to do what they have to do to make sure you're happy once they hand you the keys.

 

[turbo2ltr]

I have yet to see any proof that the EVP is causing delays. At least one person here in phx has an appointment for an install and still does not have a confirmed delivery date. I'm with gary, I would be very surprised if nissan let cars sit just because they didn't have a charger. I think they would more likely do whatever it takes to make sure the EVP gets the chargers installed in time.

 

[gudy]

Next call / email I get from Nissan, I'll ask them how much would be an extra L1 EVSE. Honestly, at this point, I doubt they have any sense of pricing on that, and that they would have supply and / or ordering / delivery set up already. But we'll see.
I don't have any plug outside, and I might actually need to run a (fairly) long extender cord from the garage ... and the unit on top of the garage is rented to someone else, and he may not be happy with me charging my car with "his" electricity
and finally, I usually leave before my wife, and come back home after her, which means that my car would be better off behind hers, which means even further away from the garage door ...

Damn, I almost have as many arguments for installing this L2 EVSE, as I have against it ...

 

[WWBD]

If your LEAF was "sequenced" for production over 2 months ago, it is unlikely that Nissan will let it sit in some parking lot in Japan waiting for you to get an EVSE installed.
It seems more likely that it will be arriving as scheduled back then, like the old "Here it Comes, Ready or Not".

This is sort of a fanciful notion of how the production/delivery process works. None of the cars are marked as yours or mine. What would have originally been my car is going to be sold in Japan in the next couple of weeks because the exchange rate isn't working in the U.S.'s favor at the moment. It's a very fluid situation. Nissan is going to get a small number of cars to the U.S. in December, and it's only logical that they will follow the "queue" order as much as possible. But there are a lot of complications. And one of them is that the EVProject guys want their data from day 1 (this is part of their charge as laid out in the stimulus funding). This is straight from Ecotality's mouth. They have not been able to stay on schedule with their installations (they are trying to prioritize the August people but many of the installations are non-standard). They are in a tough situation because they are REQUIRED to spend all of their funding. Anyway, I doubt EVProject participation will delay anything beyond the December deliveries as they will be able to use the extra month to get on track with the installs.

 

[garygid]

Probably difficult to sell left-hand drive EVs in Japan?

But, you are correct, they could have re-sequenced the production line.

 

[LEAFfan]

Nissan is going to get a small number of cars to the U.S. in December, and it's only logical that they will follow the "queue" order as much as possible. But there are a lot of complications. And one of them is that the EVProject guys want their data from day 1 (this is part of their charge as laid out in the stimulus funding). This is straight from Ecotality's mouth. They have not been able to stay on schedule with their installations (they are trying to prioritize the August people but many of the installations are non-standard). They are in a tough situation because they are REQUIRED to spend all of their funding. Anyway, I doubt EVProject participation will delay anything beyond the December deliveries as they will be able to use the extra month to get on track with the installs.

Nissan has recently said that there will be TWO Dec. shipments. Fifty cars in the first one and more than 50 in the second one. So I guess 'small' is a relative term.

 

[planet4ever]

Next call / email I get from Nissan, I'll ask them how much would be an extra L1 EVSE. Honestly, at this point, I doubt they have any sense of pricing on that, and that they would have supply and / or ordering / delivery set up already. But we'll see.

I doubt seriously if they are themselves making the ones they are putting in every car, so they must know what their own cost is. That doesn't mean they have figured out how much markup they want to use for retail sales. I did ask Nissan, and was told to check with my local dealer. I sent my dealer an email, but he hasn't responded yet; I'll be following up soon by phone, though I expect he'll just say he's "researching it".

Of course we don't have to get it from Nissan, either. They should be interchangeable with Volts and Codas and iMievs and Focus EVs and pretty much everybody else.This is going to be a commodity item - people will be losing them, or accidentally slicing through the cord, or driving over the EVSE section, or ...

usually leave before my wife, and come back home after her, which means that my car would be better off behind hers, which means even further away from the garage door ...

I don't have that problem, but I think the L1 cords are (or can be) 25 feet long, so, assuming she's not driving a limo, even that might be possible.

 

[garygid]

The L1 EVSE "brick", the cord, and the "nozzle" are supposed to survive being driven over by a "normal" car.

 

[garygid]

The "included" L1 EVSE is apparently made for Nissan by Panasonic Co., Ltd.
The USA version is labeled Model 29690 3NA0A for 120 volts, 12 amps.

Anybody with contacts there?
Perhaps a quantity purchase for "spares"?

Or, investigate the possibility of getting a slightly different model made?

1. A L2 (240v 16A) version, should be essentially what is already made for EU and UK.

2. A "universal" L1/L2 version (120/240 volt, 12/16 amp, 50/60 cycle, with at least one socket adapter).

If you have a contact, I will be happy to discuss the technical details.

Note: If I could see a schematic, or even talk to a person who knows the schematic details, I could probably determine how many changes are necessary. Could be just a few "minor" changes and additions.