Nissan's 'Drive Electric' tour!

[Boomer23]

The red paint is non-metallic.

I beg to differ, Rich. The red paint is metallic. We have the samples in our hands now, from the recent Nissan mailing, and I just double checked mine. And it changes color depending on the light, which I've never seen non-metallic paint do.

 

[Boomer23]

One "white" LEAF got dented (right side, I think) in the Anaheim test-drive event.

I'm surprised that there weren't more incidents at Anaheim. They had us turning left going out of the parking lot through two lanes of traffic heading right, most of which was Auto Show attendees first-time-test-driving GM and Ford cars. The first lane we had to cross was dead stopped, backed up waiting for a light further down the street. The second lane was moving faster and we were supposed to cross it blind, with our view to the left blocked by the first lane. The NIssan ride-along attendants didn't seem to be at all concerned. My wife, who was driving, felt like putting it in Park until the traffic died down, which would have taken hours! I wouldn't have been surprised to hear of accidents happening twice per hour!

 

[Azrich]

The red paint is non-metallic.

I beg to differ, Rich. The red paint is metallic. We have the samples in our hands now, from the recent Nissan mailing, and I just double checked mine. And it changes color depending on the light, which I've never seen non-metallic paint do.

Boomer, you must have missed my earnest apology for saying the "red" paint is non-metallic. I went back to the tour a couple days and looked at every "red" LEAF, both in the sun and in the shade. In the sun, definitely metallic - in the shade, looked non-metallic to me. I liked the Cayenne Red and the way it changes from a deep red in the shade to the copper color in the sun. I did retract my "non-metallic" statement to LEAFfan. Sorry.

EDIT: I just looked for my retraction of my "non-metallic" statement and can't find it. I know I posted that to LEAFfan who was very upset with me, but it's either gone or in another thread, somehow.

 

[LEAFfan]

EDIT: I just looked for my retraction of my "non-metallic" statement and can't find it. I know I posted that to LEAFfan who was very upset with me, but it's either gone or in another thread, somehow.

LOL Rich, where did you get the idea that I was "very upset"? I just was correcting the misinformation, that's all.
I can't find my post either...someone has moved them somewhere else for some silly reason even though they were on topic.

 

[Newporttom]

Well, I got my drive today in Jacksonville Fl. I didn't read everything here so I'm sure most of this was known to others, but to recap, they send you thru a series of stations where a guide tells you all about the car. The wife knew nothing so she learned a lot. I picked up a few facts.

I didn't really know the difference between the Levels of chargers, but it becomes clear during the talk about the car. All the guide stations probably took 30 minutes all together.

Then we go to drive the car. We were in a mall parking lot, and I thought we were going to be restricted to a few laps around a "track" built into the lot, but after a few twists and turns, we exited the mall and went across the street into a semi-residential area for a 4 or 5 block ride, then hit the main drag for return to mall. 10 minute drive tops. A Nissan person sits in passenger seat. Then you can repeat for driver #2.

I was pretty impressed with the car, and it definitely had WAF. She drives a Prius Gen II and loves it, but I think this opened her eyes. Even though this weighs more than Prius as I understand, it was so much more nimble in my mind.

I'm a big guy and had no trouble fitting in drivers seat.

As long as the finances look good at order time, I think we're buying.

 

[tomkludy]

Just got a rare chance to test drive a Leaf in Fort Lauderdale on 1/29 followed by test driving a Volt the very next day in Miami at the "Main Street Motors" event sponsored by GM. This made it very easy to compare the two.

My impressions:

• The Leaf's 'Drive Electric' tour was very nicely put on, including extensive information, one-on-one socializing with the event staff, and a very knowledgeable guide. But once in the car, the 'ride-along' passenger was completely useless. He did not even know what any of the buttons in the car did. Besides being useless he was a bit pushy when the ride ended that I move along and let the next driver take over, although they had 13 test cars and the line to drive was not that long. By comparison, the Volt had essentially no introduction, but the 'ride-along' knew a fair amount. He was happy to take a few extra minutes to show me the neat features.
  
• Both cars feel very heavy when driving. They are not nimble or fun to drive (IMO). They have a low center-of-gravity which helps, but cannot overcome the high curb weight on either one. I would give a definite edge to the Volt in this regard though. It felt both more powerful and more agile. I should point out that the Leaf track was mostly on a public road loop with a 25mph speed limit, and the Volt was on a secluded track, so I had the opportunity to thrash the Volt a bit more. I did push the Leaf far beyond the speed limit, into the 50's, and found it had adequate power to about 40mph, then really felt sluggish above that. The Volt did not seem as limited at high speeds.
  
• The regenerative braking on the Leaf was very hard to get used to in the 5 minutes allotted to drive it. I have never owned a car with regen braking and the abrupt slowing with very small pedal movement was not welcome. The Volt's brakes were very good, especially by comparison. Driving the Volt seemed like there were no compromises in braking performance vs a car with standard disc brakes. I suspect that after a few days driving the Leaf I would get used to this. But I wonder how easily I would adapt between the Leaf and my other car.
  
• The Leaf has significantly more internal space, especially usable space. The Volt has a big center console that really restricts the space in the back seat. But worse in the Volt was the very low roof-line. I am 6'2" and simply cannot sit in the back seat of the Volt. I need to bend my head almost completely sideways, pressing it against the back window/roof. I can't even slouch down because my knees press against the back of the front seat. I was with two others, one 6' and one 5'9" and both were uncomfortable in the back as well. IMO the back seat of the Volt is completely unusable and possibly unsafe for adults. By comparison, the Leaf is quite usable. I can sit in the back with the top of my head barely touching the roof. A 6' person should be able to sit comfortably and a 6'2" like myself could endure short trips.
  
• Of course the big selling point of the Volt is the "range extender" engine. The ride-along guy pointed this out about 10 times in 5 minutes despite me telling him up-front that I need only about 40 miles of range per day and I have a 2nd car for any longer trips. I could not be less impressed by extended range. IMO this is a bunch of extra weight, complexity, and service requirements which does not gain me a thing. As a former owner of a GM car, I am also very skeptical about GM's ability to produce such a complex system without quality defects.
  
• Both cars have excellent telematics systems. You can't go wrong with either one. But I preferred the one in the Leaf. I thought it was easier to read and understand. I think Nissan does more to ensure you never run out of battery, whereas the Volt always has the engine to back you up so I guess those features are less important.
  
• The interior materials in the Leaf were nicer quality than the Volt, but the Volt has more custom options for the colors and patterns. I hate cloth seats and it is annoying that Nissan does not offer a leather option; the Volt does.

The bottom line: I went to the Leaf drive very excited for the car, but left feeling a bit underwhelmed. The Leaf did not have any show-stopping issues but the lack of power at higher speeds and the jerky brakes certainly made the car a lot less fun to drive. Oh well, I guess all electrics can't be Teslas

I went to the Volt drive expecting to be unimpressed, and that's exactly what happened. For me the lack of a usable back seat writes the Volt off entirely (I drive adults in the back seat several times a week). Event without that problem though, I would still choose the Leaf between the two of them.

I hope that Ford gets the Focus available in time for me to consider it as an alternative. I would like to see how their offering matches up.

 

[Andy]

I am surprised to hear about your experience with the LEAF brakes. Did you drive the LEAF in ECO mode? To me the brakes (and accelerator) feel like a regular car when in D, but clearly different in ECO mode when the regen is strong.

 

[Gonewild]

To me it sounds as if he was only in ECO mode which would explain the lack of power and slow pickup. IT would also explain the regen braking was very hard comment. Other wise I find the brakes normal.

 

[Mx5racer]

Is the tour coming back to southern California?
It would be great to get another chance to drive it while waiting.
After reading everything on the boards there are several things I would like to see again

 

[sproqitman]

Bumping this thread back to active...

I think the tour is in DC this weekend. Can someone get the odometer reading off one of the cars? The tour is turning into a kind of long-term test, having gone through 21 cities now.

 

[tps]

I just got back from the DC drive electric event, quite a drive from my home on the north side of Philadelphia. My turn behind the wheel of the LEAF was about 10 minutes. It drove like a regular car, except very quiet and very smooth. I didn't have the need to test the brakes, but I mentioned one of the incidents which was reported here to our tour guide, Kate, after the tour. She said she got cut off once in the LEAF and confirmed that the brakes work very well.

I signed up on the list of 20,000 before well before I had a chance to actually see a LEAF, and started the plans in motion to purchase one ASAP, the first new car I've ever purchased. Now that I've had a chance to drive one, I am confident I made a good choice!

 

[NullPointer]

Bumping this thread back to active...

I think the tour is in DC this weekend. Can someone get the odometer reading off one of the cars? The tour is turning into a kind of long-term test, having gone through 21 cities now.

I obtained the reading from three of the tour cars today - 2932, 3473, 3625.

One of the Nissan reps thought that about 800 people showed up today, and thought that it was the busiest day of the tour so far. Waiting times were about an hour to drive, much longer than yesterday.

-Doron

 

[TimeHorse]

Bumping this thread back to active...

I think the tour is in DC this weekend. Can someone get the odometer reading off one of the cars? The tour is turning into a kind of long-term test, having gone through 21 cities now.

Most of the odometers are anywhere between 1000 to 6000 mi with median around 3000, IIRC. I can say, and have photographic proof that I rolled at least 1 LEAF over the 1000 mark at Passport Nissan of Alexandria on Tuesday 16 March:

 

[sjfotos]

Test drove the LEAF this morning in DC. Wish I had seen the thread earlier!

Overall, a very good impression. On Sunday morning, there was pretty much zero wait time and clear roads. It was very helpful to see the exterior colors live. The car was a pleasure to drive. Very quiet and very easy to drive.

I have two negative observations:

1. The back seat is fine for short drives, but not for a long one. I am not a big guy (5 foot 8), but my knees were too high to feel comfortable.

2. The floor carpet in the rear was beginning to pile up like an old sweater along the door jam. Not sure how durable this would be over time.

Neither of these problems would prevent me from buying one.

 

[mwalsh]

'Drive Electric' begins again today. Here is the city list and dates:

July 8-10: Long Island, N.Y.
July 15-17: Jersey City, N.J.
July 22-24: Hartford, Conn.
July 29-31: Boston
Aug. 5-7: Washington, D.C.
Aug. 12-14: Philadelphia
Aug. 19-21: Detroit
Aug. 26-28: Chicago
Sept. 2-4: Indianapolis
Sept. 9-11: Memphis, Tenn.
Sept. 16-18: Columbus, Ohio
Sept. 23-25: Denver
Sept. 30-Oct. 2: Santa Monica, Calif.
Oct. 7-9: Los Angeles
Oct. 14-16: Houston
Oct. 21-23: Dallas
Oct. 28-30: Phoenix
Nov. 4-6: Las Vegas
Nov. 11-13: San Diego
Nov. 18-27: San Francisco
Dec. 2-4: Portland, Ore.
Dec. 9-11: Seattle
Jan. 6-8, 2012: Austin, Texas
Jan. 13-15, 2012: Atlanta
Jan. 20-22, 2012, Orlando, Fla.
Jan. 27-20, 2012: Miami

Interested drivers can learn more about the tour, including specific locations, and register to drive the Nissan LEAF at http://www.drivenissanleaf.com

 

[tps]

'Drive Electric' begins again today.

Looks as if Nissan is get their money's worth from the "California 562" cars! I'll definitely visit them at the Philadelphia stop.

 

[mwalsh]

Bumping this, since the tour is back. First local stop was this last weekend in Santa Monica. Today it's in Long Beach at the Pike at Rainbow Harbor . They've gotten rid of the stuffy glass boxes (at least for warmer climes) and now have sail shade type things instead.

Other locations and dates here:

https://www.drivenissanleaf.com/Event/default.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[mwalsh]

I just got this email from Nissan:

We know you're just as passionate about the Nissan LEAF™, as we are. Now, get treated like a VIP as you share this enthusiasm with other potential owners at the Nissan LEAF™ drive electric tour. Receive a complimentary Nissan LEAF™ T-shirt*, and enjoy VIP parking as well as a VIP area with food and beverages. Plus, use our quick chargers to charge up while you're there**.

Call 1-866-879-3832 to RSVP, and make sure to check in with a staff member when you arrive. see you there.

*While supplies last. **Limited charging stations available. Test-drive vehicles will have priority charging

http://links.vigoratedigital.mkt4146.com/servlet/MailView?ms=MjA2OTA2NgS2&r=MzA1MDU4ODQ4NwS2&j=MzIzMzIyMzYS1&mt=1&rt=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[laalan]

Got the same email. Called the number. Left a message. May do Sunday if there really is VIP parking and charging.

 

[mwalsh]

Got the same email. Called the number. Left a message. May do Sunday if there really is VIP parking and charging.

I'm going tomorrow morning, so I'll let you know. One can never have too many Nissan LEAF t-shirts!