Greetings from New York...

[FredinNY]

Gtreetings Everyone,
We haven't made the jump yet...but we're close...

Located about 75mi north of NYC, we're in a area that has a mix of city/rual type driving. My whole family has been guilty of owning gas guzzlers. Between a pick-up truck, the soccer-mom caravan, and my son's muscle car from the early 80's that basically has a hole in the bottom of the gas tank, so he just drives from gas station to gas station to get where he wants to go. It's time to make a change!

I'm looking forward to spending time on the forum, and hopefully at some point I'll be able to contribute.

Thanks for listening!

Fred

 

[abasile]

Welcome! We're about 80 road miles east of Los Angeles, up in the mountains, and still enjoying our 2011 LEAF. I'm sure a family like yours with multiple cars could make good use of a LEAF. You can swap cars as needed to maximize the use of the EV among family members as we sometimes do. Yes, it's easy to get Tesla envy, but the fact is that the LEAF is actually more than adequate for most driving that people do, and it is fun to drive.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

Welcome!

I grew up in East Fishkill, NY which is not far from you. The whole Hudson Valley is full of steep hills, with severe blizzards in the winter. I would take a good look at your driving patterns. If you need to push the range in the winter, I would be a little concerned, but if you always have to option to take the minivan, it's not so bad. I say all this not to discourage you, but rather to make sure you make an educated decision if you make the jump to electric.

I wish you the best as you learn more about these cars. This forum certainly is a great resource!

 

[ERG4ALL]

Welcome. The 2013 LEAF with the heat pump heater would really help with your winter driving.

 

[FredinNY]

Thanks for the comments and words of encouragement...
Wappingers resident here...right anound the corner from East Fishkill.

My wife has a 15 mile and I have a 20 mile round trip commute, so I'm confident that even in the worst weather (and at maximum comfort settings ) we should be okay.

 

[GRA]

Welcome. The 2013 LEAF with the heat pump heater would really help with your winter driving.

As would the FFE with liquid heating and cooling of the battery, just to mention another option.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

Thanks for the comments and words of encouragement...
Wappingers resident here...right anound the corner from East Fishkill.

My wife has a 15 mile and I have a 20 mile round trip commute, so I'm confident that even in the worst weather (and at maximum comfort settings ) we should be okay.

Ah, Wappingers. My first guess was Kingston.

Sounds like both commutes are great matches for the Leaf. Your biggest problem may be the morning battle as to who gets to drive it!

 

[NYLEAF]

Greetings from Long Island...

Sorry to stray a bit off topic, but if you are getting a Leaf from Newburgh Nissan or Poughkeepsie Nissan, can you please confirm that they have charging stations that are open to the public, and what hours they are available? I am hoping to drive my Leaf from Long Island to Albany and back at some point this summer and would have to charge at one of those two dealers.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[FredinNY]

Greetings from Long Island...

Sorry to stray a bit off topic, but if you are getting a Leaf from Newburgh Nissan or Poughkeepsie Nissan, can you please confirm that they have charging stations that are open to the public, and what hours they are available? I am hoping to drive my Leaf from Long Island to Albany and back at some point this summer and would have to charge at one of those two dealers.

Many thanks in advance.

You bring up a good point that I've also been meaning to ask...
One of the websites that lists charging stations naturally lists every Nissan Dealer in the country...but how accurate is that? When I first saw the listing on the website, I felt optimistic that as least you had the dealers to support you while these public charging stations were being established...but I'm not so sure anymore.

Two weeks ago, during the President's Day weekend, I test drove the Leaf @ Newburgh Nissan. I specifically e-mailed them the day before to let them know I was planning on stopping by. To say the least...my first impression of their "Leaf expert" was not a great one. He spent the first 10 minutes of the conversation trying to talk me out of buying the car! Everything from the poor range, the long charging times, the cost of the home charging station, the possibility that your home can't handle an additional 240V line, etc. He clearly didn't want to bother taking me for the test drive..."I don't know if it's charged, we may only be able to get around the block one time, etc. When he finally went to get the key, I looked at my wife and said..."He is a salesman...isn't he?"

In his defense, I'm sure there's a lot of people who just want to drive the thing with no intention of buying...but that's probably true for many cars. During the course of the test drive he could sense from our conversation that we truly have a serious interest in the Leaf...and his attitude changed.

We did speak about the website I mentioned, and the Nissan dealers being listed as charging stations...but he made it clear that the amount of cooperation you're going to receive is going to vary dealer by dealer. It's going to need to be convenient for the dealer...only specific times of day, normal business hours, do they have a open charger that's not being used. I tried to make it clear to him that I wasn't looking to get "free gas", but was just interested in the availability, and that from a consumer standpoint that it would be nice to see all if the dealers support their Leaf owners.

I guess the fact is that what "Corporate" desires doesn't always make it down to the cunsumer level.

Sorry for the long-winded story. I will verify the availability of these two dealerships over the coming weeks and I'll let you know.

Thanks,
Fred

 

[tethior]

Fred,
I can tell you from my experience in NJ that each dealership is VASTLY different. Ramsey Nissan has 5 charging stations that you pull up to 24x7 - no hastle. The delaership I got my leaf from (Dennville Nissan) has two stations, only one of which is available to the public - but this weekend I went to use it and they had it blocked due to construction. So I went to "Hilltop Nissan" in East Hanover NJ. Those SOBs charged me $25 to plug in. I was in a pinch and stuck so I didnt have much choice ... but I felt that the charge outrageous.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

Greetings from Long Island...

Sorry to stray a bit off topic, but if you are getting a Leaf from Newburgh Nissan or Poughkeepsie Nissan, can you please confirm that they have charging stations that are open to the public, and what hours they are available? I am hoping to drive my Leaf from Long Island to Albany and back at some point this summer and would have to charge at one of those two dealers.

Many thanks in advance.

FYI, that is going to be a long journey, given your Leaf's 3.3kW charger. Neither of these locations have CHAdeMO, so by the time you get from the Island up to Newburgh or Poughkeepsie, you're going to need to sit there for 6-7 hours. Same thing when you get to Albany. If you do follow through with it, I wish you the best of luck! I would love to hear about your experience.

I still regularly travel down from Syracuse to East Fishkill, and have been keeping an eye on the infrastructure (particularly QCs). Unfortunately, it looks like it's going to be a long time before any EV outside of a Tesla will be able to make the trip

 

[FredinNY]

Fred,
I can tell you from my experience in NJ that each dealership is VASTLY different. Ramsey Nissan has 5 charging stations that you pull up to 24x7 - no hastle. The delaership I got my leaf from (Dennville Nissan) has two stations, only one of which is available to the public - but this weekend I went to use it and they had it blocked due to construction. So I went to "Hilltop Nissan" in East Hanover NJ. Those SOBs charged me $25 to plug in. I was in a pinch and stuck so I didnt have much choice ... but I felt that the charge outrageous.

Wow! I'd be looking to tell that story to someone of importance at Nissan...someone who wouldn't mind getting in that dealership's face and reminding them how important this car is to their future.

No one should expect to fill up for free, but if it's only averaging $400-$500 per year to charge these things...the math is easy enough...even for a dealership.

 

[NYLEAF]

Greetings from Long Island...

Sorry to stray a bit off topic, but if you are getting a Leaf from Newburgh Nissan or Poughkeepsie Nissan, can you please confirm that they have charging stations that are open to the public, and what hours they are available? I am hoping to drive my Leaf from Long Island to Albany and back at some point this summer and would have to charge at one of those two dealers.

Many thanks in advance.

FYI, that is going to be a long journey, given your Leaf's 3.3kW charger. Neither of these locations have CHAdeMO, so by the time you get from the Island up to Newburgh or Poughkeepsie, you're going to need to sit there for 6-7 hours. Same thing when you get to Albany. If you do follow through with it, I wish you the best of luck! I would love to hear about your experience.

I still regularly travel down from Syracuse to East Fishkill, and have been keeping an eye on the infrastructure (particularly QCs). Unfortunately, it looks like it's going to be a long time before any EV outside of a Tesla will be able to make the trip

I'm only going to attempt it if I upgrade to the 2013 with 6.6 charger, or if Nissan puts QCs at those particular Nissan dealers. I've made this spreadsheet to help me figure out how long the trip will take based on the different charging times. With the 2013 Leaf, the trip would be about 7 hours, 3.5 of driving, 3.5 of charging. Not ideal, but also not the end of the world.

I'd be staying with a friend in East Greenbush, where I would just plug into a 120 outlet for my stay.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

I'm only going to attempt it if I upgrade to the 2013 with 6.6 charger, or if Nissan puts QCs at those particular Nissan dealers. I've made this spreadsheet to help me figure out how long the trip will take based on the different charging times. With the 2013 Leaf, the trip would be about 7 hours, 3.5 of driving, 3.5 of charging. Not ideal, but also not the end of the world.

I'd be staying with a friend in East Greenbush, where I would just plug into a 120 outlet for my stay.

Nice spreadsheet; you've really done your homework! This makes me want to do the same for some of my own longer trips.

A subtle mistake I noticed in it - you have the charging speed (cell N6) set to 6.6kW. In fact, the 2013 Leaf's charger is 6.0kW. It's a little misleading in the advertisement, but the input power to the charger is 6.6kW, while the output power is only 6.0kW. This is a minor change, though, and will only add about 20-30 minutes to your trip.

 

[NYLEAF]

I'm only going to attempt it if I upgrade to the 2013 with 6.6 charger, or if Nissan puts QCs at those particular Nissan dealers. I've made this spreadsheet to help me figure out how long the trip will take based on the different charging times. With the 2013 Leaf, the trip would be about 7 hours, 3.5 of driving, 3.5 of charging. Not ideal, but also not the end of the world.

I'd be staying with a friend in East Greenbush, where I would just plug into a 120 outlet for my stay.

Nice spreadsheet; you've really done your homework! This makes me want to do the same for some of my own longer trips.

A subtle mistake I noticed in it - you have the charging speed (cell N6) set to 6.6kW. In fact, the 2013 Leaf's charger is 6.0kW. It's a little misleading in the advertisement, but the input power to the charger is 6.6kW, while the output power is only 6.0kW. This is a minor change, though, and will only add about 20-30 minutes to your trip.

I had considered that (and I've since gone and switched it to 6), but from what I've read, I'm not 100% convinced that will turn out to be true. Some people on this board seem to think that it really will be a 6.6 kW output charger. I guess we won't know until someone tests one of the new cars.