Has the novelty worn off yet?

[TomT]

I apparently am in the minority as I have yet to see another Leaf in the wild. I travel frequently from the Valley to the Westside so I am actually a little surprised that I have not.

Also, in the three months that I have owned it, only two people have noticed the car in my travels (now about 3,000 miles worth). One of those two WAS very exuberant though, stopping in opposing traffic at a light to roll down his window and ask me about the car.

 

[TangoKilo]

The novelty definitely has NOT worn off... It has only just begun... I saw another LEAF out in the wild for the first time while I was zipping along the 118 freeway from the San Fernando Valley. He was doing 60 in the slow lane and I was exceeding the speed limit by a decent margin in the fast lane. I dont think he ever saw me

 

[Jimmydreams]

I can sometimes read the lips of the people in the cars behind me. Usually they point and say "Oh look there is one of those electric cars".

+1. My license plate is ZROGASS, and that's a pretty easy lip-read as well when they see it and point. :lol:

 

[danmeljeff]

I saw another LEAF out in the wild for the first time while I was zipping along the 118 freeway from the San Fernando Valley. He was doing 60 in the slow lane and I was exceeding the speed limit by a decent margin in the fast lane. I dont think he ever saw me.

Ha, if it was a white LEAF, it was probably me. I have a 70 mile round trip commute with lots of freeway and a decent hill at the end...so I stick to the slow lane. I haven't seen a LEAF in the wild, which apparently means they're there, but I'm just missing them. Perhaps we can draft off each other, improve our mpk.

 

[UkrainianKozak]

I'm seeing more and more leafs every week... I see 2 leafs in my neighborhood, one of my coworkers got one last week...
I'm actually starting to get worried about charging stations...
I thought that 4 slots at Lincoln square in Bellevue (WA) was plenty, and 2 weeks ago my leaf was the only one over there charging, past Saturday when we got there for lunch 3 slots were occupied by other Leafs and I took the last one!!

NEED MORE CHARGING STATIONS!!!

 

[TimLee]

Still grinning ear to ear!!!! :lol: :lol:
I haven't spotted another one in Chattanooga yet, but there are at least three or four other ones here. Two of these are in the TVA electric vehicle test fleet that also has one Volt.
They are rare enough that TVA engineer that works on electric vehicle program was excited to see mine at ATM drive thru, and was interested in knowing my interest / need for charging stations in downtown Chattanooga. (Not too necessary with my 40 mile round trip commute, but if I can get free electric charging downtown I'll be real excited. )
A lot more scarce than in CA. 63% of spreadsheet orders are in CA.

 

[Leafittome]

We live on a small street with a culdesac at both ends and our neighbor down the street just got theirs, so two Leafs on this street is amazing to me.

My wife works at a retail storefront and across the street are homes, and directly across, the house has a Leaf and a Prius.

My wife says she sees Leafs driving around regularly, but I haven't.

 

[uwskier20]

It's only been a week, and we love it. Drives well, meeting 95%+ of our needs. We get all sorts of looks, curious stares, and smiles, and everybody I know wants to see and ask questions. One person has already committed to make an EV his next family car, which says my work is done (or at least is going in the right direction by raising awareness). Very cool.

Not at all sure when I'll be handling a gas pump next. Used to be a semiweekly-to-weekly chore, even with my moderately fuel-efficient car. That's the best part. I have driven 350 miles, and only spent about $5-6 on electricity (80%+ of which comes from hydro).

 

[abasile]

We have had our LEAF for one month and have driven it more than 1000 miles. It makes us *want*to drive! The only place we have seen other LEAF owners with their cars is at Fontana Nissan when charging.

It might be quite a while before we are no longer the only LEAF owners in the San Bernardino Mountains. Especially on weekends, we see many, many Prii up here; no doubt some of those drivers are surprised to see a LEAF at 5000' - 7000' altitude!

 

[gascant]

They are wondering where I can plug in, and how hard it is to charge at home. They want to know how much the car costs and and how long it will last. These are the sorts of things I would expect from people starting to take the car seriously.
Ray

I tell people that I find charging the LEAF easier than charging my cell phone--I have to put on my glasses to see the micro-USB slot on the phone, whereas I can just "grab and jab" the J1772 connector on the LEAF.

 

[Packet]

I thought that 4 slots at Lincoln square in Bellevue (WA) was plenty, and 2 weeks ago my leaf was the only one over there charging, past Saturday when we got there for lunch 3 slots were occupied by other Leafs and I took the last one!!

Aren't there some just across the street, too? (At least according to ChargePoint's map, there's a bunch in Bellevue Square.)

 

[uwskier20]

I thought that 4 slots at Lincoln square in Bellevue (WA) was plenty, and 2 weeks ago my leaf was the only one over there charging, past Saturday when we got there for lunch 3 slots were occupied by other Leafs and I took the last one!!

Aren't there some just across the street, too? (At least according to ChargePoint's map, there's a bunch in Bellevue Square.)

Are these spots reserved for EV use only, or can they be ICE'd?

 

[aqn]

Still grinning ear to ear!!!! :lol: :lol:
I haven't spotted another one in Chattanooga yet, but there are at least three or four other ones here.

Austin is probably similar to Chattanooga in LEAF density. The first Austin LEAF must have been Lance Armstrong's. I think there were maybe one or two delivered before mine. Yet, on the very day that I picked up my LEAF, I saw a blue LEAF at an intersection, first in line of the cross street's traffic! I honked and waved wildly out the open window as I passed, but I think he was too engrossed by his LEAF's energy display and didn't see me.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

i would not worry about charging locations. just as Leafs have now started to appear more than occasionally, charging stations are as well.

more Leafs= more charging stations. i think its a great long term finance model that city and state governments should investigate. put in the charging stations at their own expense and manage them like parking meters. allow registration for accounts using RFID//magnetic or whatever.

it greens the city, gives them points towards the "best city" polls, etc.

only possible wrench in that scenario is Better Place. they have a great idea that will take dozens of billions to pull off, but they are starting to get some real money behind them

 

[Anonymous]

I thought that 4 slots at Lincoln square in Bellevue (WA) was plenty, and 2 weeks ago my leaf was the only one over there charging, past Saturday when we got there for lunch 3 slots were occupied by other Leafs and I took the last one!!

Aren't there some just across the street, too? (At least according to ChargePoint's map, there's a bunch in Bellevue Square.)

Are these spots reserved for EV use only, or can they be ICE'd?

I looked at them last week (didn't have the Leaf with me) and ALL of them were occupied by ICE vehicles. The signs say "EV Charging Station" or something to that effect, they do NOT say that they are RESERVED for EVs, so while you might call those ICE drivers rude, it didn't appear to me that they were completely out of line.

I still say that the EV spots shouldn't be the "prime" parking spots. They should be "average" spots, not the best in the lot. Making them the best in the lot has two negatives:
1) Non-EV drivers may look at EV drivers as "holier than thou" people
2) More likely for these spots to be ICE'd

Especially while these chargers are free, isn't that a good enough benefit? Do we really need THE best spots in the garage? I say they should be in the middle of the lot. Not the farthest, not the closest.

 

[Deleted member 1464]

The novelty has not worn off for me - I've had the leaf for almost two weeks and driven close to 400 miles. I haven't seen any in the wild yet -

Every morning on my way to work, I see this huge Nissan Leaf billboard on 80 east -

(traffic was bumper to bumper)

It's right before the 4th st exit in San Francisco, the last exit before you enter the bay bridge to Oakland.

 

[UkrainianKozak]

I thought that 4 slots at Lincoln square in Bellevue (WA) was plenty, and 2 weeks ago my leaf was the only one over there charging, past Saturday when we got there for lunch 3 slots were occupied by other Leafs and I took the last one!!

Aren't there some just across the street, too? (At least according to ChargePoint's map, there's a bunch in Bellevue Square.)

Yes, there are few more charging spots nearby, but the point was that It was a first time I saw a "full" 4-point charging station.

 

[UkrainianKozak]

Aren't there some just across the street, too? (At least according to ChargePoint's map, there's a bunch in Bellevue Square.)

Are these spots reserved for EV use only, or can they be ICE'd?[/quote]

I looked at them last week (didn't have the Leaf with me) and ALL of them were occupied by ICE vehicles. The signs say "EV Charging Station" or something to that effect, they do NOT say that they are RESERVED for EVs, so while you might call those ICE drivers rude, it didn't appear to me that they were completely out of line.

I still say that the EV spots shouldn't be the "prime" parking spots. They should be "average" spots, not the best in the lot. Making them the best in the lot has two negatives:
1) Non-EV drivers may look at EV drivers as "holier than thou" people
2) More likely for these spots to be ICE'd

Especially while these chargers are free, isn't that a good enough benefit? Do we really need THE best spots in the garage? I say they should be in the middle of the lot. Not the farthest, not the closest.[/quote]

I haven't seen ICE parked at Lincoln square in charging spots (except for occasional contractor car), and they are well "hidden" - you need to make an unobvious right turn when all the traffic turns left following the curve.
Also those spots are in 30 min parking zone, but the 30 min rule does not apply for charging electric cars.

 

[intrepion]

I say they should be in the middle of the lot. Not the farthest, not the closest.

I say put them in all three: Closest, middle, and farthest!

 

[Ingineer]

There are a lot of them! I went to run an errand and:

Just kidding! We had 25 LEAFs show up at our last BayLEAFs meeting. I suspect it's the largest private gathering of LEAFs in the US other than a Nissan lot. All colors and options were represented.

We are having our next meeting on the 4th of June in San Francisco.

-Phil