Portland Oregon Group

[PDXLeafer]

1st Oregon EV Project (from what I was told) installed this morning. I'm the one in the sandals

I got mine installed this morning as well. I (jokingly) told them to hurry up so I could claim that I was first, but I think you beat us by 5 minutes!

OK, I was wondering if you would respond to that comment
I told him to call real quick once the install was done to make sure mine was first, and he said after he hung up that 'it is officially a tie with you and Dave'.

Cheers!
Oliver

 

[dyhopper]

Looks like the first Oregonian got his LEAF today in Wilsonville.

http://twitpic.com/3g9kth

 

[PDXLeafer]

Looks like the first Oregonian got his LEAF today in Wilsonville.

http://twitpic.com/3g9kth

Wow, THAT was anticlimactic! So, what's with the deal tomorrow evening? Maybe the guy didn't want to have that much publicity?!?

Any idea who it is?

 

[mwalsh]

Wow, THAT was anticlimactic! So, what's with the deal tomorrow evening? Maybe the guy didn't want to have that much publicity?!?

Any idea who it is?

FYI....

Oregon's first official Nissan Leaf customer is John Duncan, a semi-retired University of Oregon professor who got his Leaf order in with the first batch that was processed by the company. He ordered a silver one.

Nissan will hold a reception Thursday night at the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry to celebrate the launch of the car. The company has worked for more than a year on the launch with partners including Oregon state government and Portland General Electric.

As a side note, I read somewhere he is sixty-something, and lives with his wife and two sons. I can only assume they're are grown children and he's having a hard time getting them to leave the nest. :lol: Pure conjecture on my part though, you understand.

 

[healy]

Wow, THAT was anticlimactic! So, what's with the deal tomorrow evening? Maybe the guy didn't want to have that much publicity?!?

Any idea who it is?

FYI....

Oregon's first official Nissan Leaf customer is John Duncan, a semi-retired University of Oregon professor who got his Leaf order in with the first batch that was processed by the company. He ordered a silver one.

Nissan will hold a reception Thursday night at the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry to celebrate the launch of the car. The company has worked for more than a year on the launch with partners including Oregon state government and Portland General Electric.

Or maybe he had them late in life or adopted? Just speculating.lol

As a side note, I read somewhere he is sixty-something, and lives with his wife and two sons. I can only assume they're are grown children and he's having a hard time getting them to leave the nest. :lol: Pure conjecture on my part though, you understand.

 

[DarkStar]

Party tonight at OMSI! See everyone there!

 

[SOLE]

I wish it was on Friday and not Thursday, then I could have made the 10hr round trip trek up to Portland and back. Please report back news about release dates in Oregon and charger locations , or anything else for all of us still "delivery pending" down here in Medford.

 

[Lynza]

There wasn't much additional word up here at the event. Still no solid time for delivery.

But!

It was great to meet the local folks! I'm sure I didn't meet everyone, but I definitely met some real characters. Apparently the guy who got the first LEAF went on vacation today. :roll:

We did talk to the Ecotality folks, and they say the charger we're getting is the one they showcased tonight, which is much cooler and much different than the one we saw at the tour test drive.

 

[garygid]

New EVSE?
Picture or more info, please?

 

[Lynza]

It's the Blink unit. PDXLeafer got his temp unit installed on Monday, and they told us last night that the ones they showed at the event were what we'd be getting once they cleared the testing, which should be before the end of this month.

I have a picture, but it didn't come out so well. Suffice to say it has a nice LCD screen and can be contacted directly by your phone or computer according to the Blink rep.

 

[DarkStar]

I had a lot of fun playing with the Blink unit at OMSI. I'm concerned about the LCD performance in cold and hot temperatures, but hopefully that's all taken care of.

 

[onthewind]

I just got the news that my free charger install is a go.
Now to check often for hopefully a early Jan order date.

Is there a way to get an early verify on the actual order date?

 

[dyhopper]

Also very interested in the answer to this question. I'm one of those that would rather buy, but will obviously lease if it is cheaper. Since I expect to only get about $5500 of the fed tax credit, I'm thinking leasing is the way to go for me. But I think we'd all qualify for the $750 from Oregon so that makes it a little less clear cut.

I was reading the basics of the Oregon credit here:
http://www.oregon.gov/ENERGY/CONS/RES/tax/docs/AltFuel.pdf?ga=t

and this line caught my eye:

An operator of a qualifying vehicle with a lease (or a lease with an option to purchase) may claim the tax credit. You must attach a letter of authorization with your application form allowing you to claim the credit on behalf of the owner (lessor). The letter must be signed by the owner.

Is it possible that we could get this credit even if we lease? That would definately push me over to the lease camp.

Thanks for your thoughts; that is interesting about possible credit even with the lease. I'll ask the dealer too!

I guess the time has come that I need to make up my mind regarding purchase vs. lease.
Has anyone figured out the answer to the question above?
Can I really get the $750 Oregon tax credit if I lease?
And the tax credit is $750 for the car, and $750 for the charger dock, right? (the charger dock part doesn't apply to me as I get the free Blink unit) It looks like in 2009, hybrids got a $1500 tax credit, which included the on-board charger(?). In 2010/2011, it says the charger must be capable of recharging in 14 hours or less. I guess that means we can't count the on-board level 1 charger?
For those of you buying your charging dock, are you getting a federal AND state tax rebate on it?

 

[Train]

In my opinion, I would lease the LEAF for several reasons.

-In three years, you may change your mind and decide another EV or vehicle that is available may serve your needs better. No worry about losing money on the trade in.
-You can leave it after three years or you can purchase it at that time. Choices.
-You're not locked into a long term loan.
-If technology improves (no doubt) and there's a better battery, you can get the newer car without a possible loss on trade.
-Many won't qualify for the full $7500 tax credit upon purchase. You will get the full amount with the lease.
-Much lower monthly payment.

Some ball park figures when buying. The Leaf SL is $34,000, plus another $800 or so for destination, fees, taxes, and you're at about $38K or so. Even if you qualify for the full $7500 tax credit, that's $30,500 give or take but you don't get that now. Add in another $2000 for for a down payment. You'll get the tax credit back but you still have to finance what the vehicle costs today so that's $36K with say, 2K down.

That's almost $600 per month for six years at 5%. More if the loan rate is higher. Now, you'll get that tax credit money sometime in the spring and you can put all of that toward your loan, including any state rebates or credits.

I think leasing is the way to go, especially technology surely to get better in three years.

The future value of this car is the big unknown. Leasing takes that speculation away.

 

[dyhopper]

Some ball park figures when buying. The Leaf SL is $34,000, plus another $800 or so for destination, fees, taxes, and you're at about $38K or so. Even if you qualify for the full $7500 tax credit, that's $30,500 give or take but you don't get that now. Add in another $2000 for for a down payment. You'll get the tax credit back but you still have to finance what the vehicle costs today so that's $36K with say, 2K down.

That's almost $600 per month for six years at 5%. More if the loan rate is higher. Now, you'll get that tax credit money sometime in the spring and you can put all of that toward your loan, including any state rebates or credits.

I agree for the most part. But, the car was just over $32K and we don't have sales tax in Oregon, and new car loans can be had for 2.99% or less. (2.49% for 48 months at my credit union, 2.99% for 60 months). So, the payments aren't bad, especially if you put the $8K+ down. And I know myself pretty well and know it is very unlikely that I'll give up the car after 3 years. (I've had my current car since 1993!) Still, I've read the many discussions here on the buy vs lease and I agree with your points and will probably lease.

But, I'm really interested to know if I can get the OR tax rebate for leasing. And, if so, what do I need to do? Sounds like I need a signed letter from the "owner" (Nissan?). I'm buying from a WA dealer and I don't think they are familiar with the OR tax credit so I was hoping someone had some knowledge of this.

Thanks.

 

[Train]

Those are great rates, dyhopper. Wow, that's right, no sales tax.

 

[Lynza]

I got the impression from some reading about the leases that Nissan essentially claims all tax credits. So the $1500 from Oregon would end up going toward your lease amount, similar to how the $7500 credit does.

I don't know for sure, though.

 

[HIOJim]

Things are starting to happen for at least one post-4/20/11 PDX reservation holder.

Just before the holidays I finally gave up on getting into the eTec program. I figured that all the 'slots' had gone to the first wave of reservations. So I called Nisan and asked for the 'charger waiver' so I would no longer be blocked from ordering. The nice lady on the line said 'no problem' and wished me a happy day.

Not two hours later I got a call from a local construction company asking when would be a good time for them to come over for my eTec audit. This was on a Tuesday and they said they could be at my house first thing Friday. I was stunned by the sudden burst of activity.

I was even more shocked when they actually showed up on time, did the audit and got me a quote the next week. My installation was a bit more complicated than average so I would have to cover $400 of it, but I found that acceptable.

Time passes. I start watching my dashboard several times a day on the Nissan site but there's no activity. Until today when I see that my eTec application has been accepted and my RAQ is not active! I request the quote and am now waiting to hear from the dealer.

Needless to say, I'm psyched!

 

[stanley]

HIOjim, Congats!! At what time on May 15 did you reserve your Leaf?

 

[HIOJim]

HIOjim, Congats!! At what time on May 15 did you reserve your Leaf?

I honestly don't recall. I was so 'late in the game' that I didn't think it would matter.

Update: Okay, I went to my home machine and found the reservation email. I reserved at:
May 15, 2010 5:52:55 AM PDT

Jim