June-30 Nissan Mail

[EVDRIVER]

NIssan is doing a better job at this then anyone ever. The dealerships techs are just getting trained and locations are being reviewed for chargers, I saw this first hand. I think people are being a bit overly critical but I would not expect more info until the end of the summer. Also, I hope Nissan is making changes based on some of their learnings in this process, most likely and yes they are a bit behind but that is expected.

 

[scottwilcox]

I will need to get a car of some kind by a certain time. Getting the LEAF earlier than I needed it would not be a problem. Ideally I would like to just wait until the LEAF is ready and save myself some trouble. If I can't get it in time I would need to either rent a car or buy a car and then trade it in. I would really like to avoid all that. If I already had a car and was going to trade it in there would not be any issue with the lack of information.
I doubt anyone on the blogs are wanting to sell their LEAF when they get it. Unfortunately there are some people who saw the fact of being in the roll out area as a quick way to make a buck. I am not in a roll out area and I have been contacted by people wanting to sell their LEAF to me.
I have read a ton of wrong information now and I am now at the point where I can't remember what is fact and what is fiction. I heard the original numbers for the first year production were based on the fiscal year which I think ends in March of 2011 for Nissan. Which fits in better with the production capability in Japan. I recall they expect to be able to produce 50,000 units in Japan per year. So with the 19,000? reservations between the U.S. and Japan you are looking at about 6 months to meet demand after they are up to speed. One thing that makes me somewhat optimistic is that they already have what I would call production or near production LEAFs out there. If they are not handmade and are the first ones through the production line then Nissan could be ahead of schedule. I have limited knowledge in this area and less insight into how Nissan operates. The Ford plant near me used to run a few vehicles down the line and find out what needs to be changed and in a few weeks the line would be ready to go full speed. Granted a completely new model would be longer to tune the line. I know with the LEAF there are other factors like the battery that will also come into play.

Here is another strange twist. I was hoping that the number of reservations would go higher after the first sign up. I figure the more demand the faster Nissan will ramp up the production. Why I was hoping for the numbers to go up after the first sign up was because I assume anyone in a roll out area in the "early hand raiser phase" would be put ahead of non roll out areas even though I signed up the first day.

I have looked at the other EVs and the possibility of the conversion and I think the LEAF is so far ahead that it is worth the wait. Yes it is even worth buying a beater and driving it for a couple of months. Even if the wife has a nervous breakdown with all the paperwork hassles from all that. :lol: I saw the used RAV4 go for I think $84,000 just before Nissan announced the LEAF price.

 

[scottwilcox]

Nissan is doing a great job. I can only imagine what a nightmare it is to try to deal with electrical codes in every county and city in the nation. The fact that Nissan is spear heading that for the customer is a huge help. In the backwards part of the world that I live in most people have not heard of the LEAF. There were no LEAF tours and the vehicle was not at the "International Auto show" in my area. It is completely under the radar. I could just imagine, me Joe user going to get a permit saying I wanted to put a charging station in my garage.
To show how on the ball Nissan is the dealer in my area is certified and I have talked with the new car manager and he is chomping at the bit to get one in. With the lack of publicity in my area he thinks once people see the car they will sell. He is happy to have a hopeful buyer. He said he would rotate the tires for free and detail the car and give me a loaner so he could park it in the lot for a day. He works with my Brother-In-Law so I would more than likely take him up on the offer.

 

[Azrich]

I stopped at my Nissan dealer to see if the LEAF specialist knew anything about why we didn't get any new information. He knew nothing more. In fact, he has reserved a LEAF and got the same email and was also disappointed. He told me that 5 people at the dealership have reserved a LEAF, including the General Manager. That was good to hear because it means they also have an investment in making this new vehicle work.

He also told us some stories about when AeroVironment came to the dealership to access the installation of their chargers. The people at the dealership had decided that they wanted the 4 chargers in three different areas. The lady from AeroVironment made a big deal how this was going to cost them BIG Bucks having them away from each other.

He also let us know that when the people come out to do the assessment for the installation and give us a price, that we are not bound to their estimate and having them do the installation. He said we can get our own certified electrician to do the installation who would need to contact AeroVironment to purchase the charger for about $720.

He thought we would know something soon.

 

[scottwilcox]

I am still hoping Nissan is still under promising and is ahead of schedule. Maybe that is why the email was delayed.

Just remember you give a man a fish you are building a customer base. You teach a man to fish and you have a competitor. :lol:

 

[sjfotos]

I stopped at my Nissan dealer to see if the LEAF specialist knew anything about why we didn't get any new information. He knew nothing more. In fact, he has reserved a LEAF and got the same email and was also disappointed. He told me that 5 people at the dealership have reserved a LEAF, including the General Manager. That was good to hear because it means they also have an investment in making this new vehicle work.

He also told us some stories about when AeroVironment came to the dealership to access the installation of their chargers. The people at the dealership had decided that they wanted the 4 chargers in three different areas. The lady from AeroVironment made a big deal how this was going to cost them BIG Bucks having them away from each other.

He also let us know that when the people come out to do the assessment for the installation and give us a price, that we are not bound to their estimate and having them do the installation. He said we can get our own certified electrician to do the installation who would need to contact AeroVironment to purchase the charger for about $720.
He thought we would know something soon.

That is very interesting information and I especially like the $720 idea and my own installation possibility. My local township would be fine with that.

 

[Nubo]

I'll join the chorus and voice my disappointment with the mailing, especially since I didn't even get it. I inquired and they said I still show as registered, so I'll just chalk it up to a glitch.

But in any case the content is disappointing especially considering the buzz they are trying to generate. Why waste the biggest asset of the project -- which is enthusiastic buyers? Along the same lines was the discontinuance of the "Ask Nissan" representative. At the very time when they should be increasing dialogue with the community they seem to be clamming up. When you factor in that people have put down real money, I'd say Nissan needs to step up considerably.

 

[Dav]

Me? I think Nissan put too much faith and credence in the promises of politicians and utility companies.

Aren't almost all the roll-out areas promising new EV rates (mostly "experimental")? Have any of them delivered yet? Do any of them tell you factual things about how to get a permit, a meter, a rate, or anything?

Nissan is probably far more frustrated with its "partners" gumming up the process than we are at the lack of communication from Nissan. They just don't know how to explain to us without endangering their partnerships.

 

[mwalsh]

But in any case the content is disappointing especially considering the buzz they are trying to generate. Why waste the biggest asset of the project -- which is enthusiastic buyers? Along the same lines was the discontinuance of the "Ask Nissan" representative. At the very time when they should be increasing dialogue with the community they seem to be clamming up. When you factor in that people have put down real money, I'd say Nissan needs to step up considerably.

I've got to say that I agree with you.

Jess, BTW, works for the PR company hired by Nissan to work the launch. From what she tells me, they think it is the wrong time to involve forum members. I personally don't know the real reason why, but I do suspect that we scared them off somewhat with both the technical level of many questions asked and our request for specific details about both car and everything else accompanying it.

My counter to this, of course, is that we're just 4 or 5 months away from having vehicles at retail (theoretically). If the details aren't available pretty soon, then when are they going to be? When the car is sitting in my driveway? :?

I suspect it's far easier to hand the keys to "know-nothings", and feed them exactly the information you want delivered, rather than having people ask infinitely more valid (and intelligent) questions than you're prepared to answer.

 

[AndyH]

But in any case the content is disappointing especially considering the buzz they are trying to generate. Why waste the biggest asset of the project -- which is enthusiastic buyers? Along the same lines was the discontinuance of the "Ask Nissan" representative. At the very time when they should be increasing dialogue with the community they seem to be clamming up. When you factor in that people have put down real money, I'd say Nissan needs to step up considerably.

I've got to say that I agree with you.

Jess, BTW, works for the PR company hired by Nissan to work the launch. From what she tells me, they think it is the wrong time to involve forum members. I personally don't know the real reason why, but I do suspect that we scared them off somewhat with both the technical level of many questions asked and our request for specific details about both car and everything else accompanying it.

My counter to this, of course, is that we're just 4 or 5 months away from having vehicles at retail (theoretically). If the details aren't available pretty soon, then when are they going to be? When the car is sitting in my driveway? :?

I suspect it's far easier to hand the keys to "know-nothings", and feed them exactly the information you want delivered, rather than having people ask infinitely more valid (and intelligent) questions than you're prepared to answer.

Very nice job! This is exactly why we can become our worst enemy if we don't keep ourselves balanced a bit. Don't bite the hand that's going to feed us info?

[edit]gack...'bite' has an 'e' doesn't it?

 

[mwalsh]

Very nice job! This is exactly why we can become our worst enemy if we don't keep ourselves balanced a bit. Don't bit the hand that's going to feed us info?

It's a real fine line, that's for sure.