Buying a Leaf in Canada

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shampoo

Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2013
Messages
6
Hi

I live in Montreal, well Le Plateau Montreal to be specific.

We have a new pilot program here whereby there are roughly 20 Nissan Leaf cars available to "rent" at any given time. You simply walk up to one, tap your subway car to it (you have to pre-register first) and the door opens and off you go.

$.38/min $12/h $50/day.

I've driven it now several times and I LOVE it.

So I am doing a quick CBA to determine if it makes more sense to just keep on going as I am, or to lease one.

In Quebec, IIRC, the government has an $8000 incentive program..

When does this $8000 get applied ? Does it get applied to the sticker price or do you get it once you do your taxes ?

For those of you living in Ontario or Quebec, what does your monthly payments work out to be ?

Thanks!

Justin
 
In Quebec, IIRC, the government has an $8000 incentive program.

When does this $8000 get applied ? Does it get applied to the sticker price or do you get it once you do your taxes ?
It gets applied at the dealership, after the sales taxes. So they calculate MSRP + taxes - $8000 and that is the amount you need to pay / finance.

For those of you living in Ontario or Quebec, what does your monthly payments work out to be ?
I didn't finance, so wouldn't know. And anyway, it changed since I bought.
But Nissan has a nice tool to estimate this: http://nissan.ca/buying/estimator/en/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Using the SV model, and putting the 8000$ refund in the down payment field, it shows a 470$/month lease (don't forget to turn Taxes ON).
 
Salut Guillaume,

Thanks for the reply..

I can rent a Leaf per day here for $50 a day.. That works out to a little more then 9 uses per month. I doubt very much I'd use the car more then that.

I see you are in Montreal. I assume you are charging the car at home? Have you used it to go up north skiing ? Have you charged it anywhere else but at home ?

A+
 
If you can plan ahead, you're better off getting a regular Communauto's membership. Then you can reserve LEAF's or (Prius C's or Yaris's) ahead of time and pay much less than 12$/h.
 
Hi

I signed up.. I'm waiting for the package to arrive..

Do you know which communauto stations have the Nissan Leaf ?

Thanks
J
 
shampoo said:
I see you are in Montreal. I assume you are charging the car at home? Have you used it to go up north skiing ? Have you charged it anywhere else but at home ?
Only charged at home, and 99.9% of the time on 120v. I have a 240v adapter, but I don't need it really.
Farthest I went is the Oka beach. 120km back and forth during a pretty hot summer day, with the kids. Arrived home with around 10km left.
I almost went to ski Mont-Blanc with it (117km from home), they have 120v power outlets in the parkings of the condos we rent sometimes, so I could have charged there overnight, but the wife was too scared, so we used the big SUV for that trip.
I would probably go much farther, and use those 240v charging stations from Le Circuit & AddEnergie if I didn't have kids.
 
shampoo said:
I signed up.. I'm waiting for the package to arrive..
I find it weird that getting a regular Communauto account is so complicated, while getting into the LEAF beta is so easy... Maybe they want to lower the friction for the beta, to get more people to try it.
I registered for the betas myself, even if I park my own LEAF on the Plateau every day. Just in case I want to go out for lunch somewhere far enough, without loosing my parking spot (I park in the streets near work).
 
It is very odd.

I simply had to fill in a form on the web, tell them my Opus number and 24hrs later I was driving the Leaf.

Whereas with the regular Communauto, I had to get my insurance history, my SAAQ driving history, a $500 deposit cheque, a photo of myself and mail it all snail mail to them.. Wait a week and then get my keys. So I agree entirely with you, very weird.

I was driving a 2004 Subaru but the last two trips to the mechanic were more than I could handle. So I ditched it.

I added up what that car cost me in terms of gas, insurance, repairs, over the 10 years I owned it, and I figure around $420 a month for the 10 years.

There's no way I will spend that much a month using Communauto. I just don't drive that often.

J
 
Hey guys, just to let you know in case you didn't... there is a facebook group just for canadian owners.
I think it is being managed by Ricardo Borba, first Canadian to own a Leaf.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/282243388457758/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

join and read all about common things that are specific to Canada.
 
Berlino said:
If you can plan ahead, you're better off getting a regular Communauto's membership. Then you can reserve LEAF's or (Prius C's or Yaris's) ahead of time and pay much less than 12$/h.

I did some digging and it looks like all of their EV were used for the new pilot project. So the only way to get access to an EV via Communauto is to grab one in Le Plateau..

I might be wrong on this, and if I am, I'd love to know where the EV's are stationed.

I suspect their main charging stations is near a STM bus garage. If you look here: https://by.vulog.com/communauto-front/service/trouverVehicule.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; you'll see a lot of cars parked near Gilford and Fullum. Not too many people live there. So I suspect they are being charged near that bus garage and then being driven out onto Fullum.

Luckily for me, I live 5 streets from there !

J
 
shampoo said:
I did some digging and it looks like all of their EV were used for the new pilot project. So the only way to get access to an EV via Communauto is to grab one in Le Plateau..

I might be wrong on this, and if I am, I'd love to know where the EV's are stationed.

Yes, I think you're right.

I logged onto to my membership and attempted to make a reservation for a LEAF way ahead of time in August (just to see what stations were offered as choices) and NO available LEAFs came up. I am actually in QC City, and a think the number of Communauto LEAFs here has gone down, so maybe even those were pulled for their Montreal pilot.

The system did offer the Ford Focus Electric at the Metro Cremazie, Complexe Desjardin and De Chateauguay and Ropery stations. I seem to recall another Focus available in the past somewhere downtown like Place Ville Marie.
 
When you consider high parking and insurance costs in Montreal on top of car payments, I think someone once showed that Communauto is cheaper unless you drive over 12,000 km a year.

In my case, I've been a Communauto member for nine years and just used the money saved to purchase a new car (a LEAF) for the first time.
 
Living in Le Plateau, I'm not sure where I could charge it. I'd have to run an extension cable off my balcony and onto the street. ;-)

I did see that there is a charging station at a Discount car rental. I rode by tonight to look and sure enough, it's there. However there was a non EV car parked in the spot. I wonder how it works ? I suppose you'd have to go in and ask them to free up the spot so you can charge up your EV ?

J
 
Hi, new to the forum (second post) and hopefully a soon-to-be owner in Ontario.

I have a daily commute of 30km round-trip. Probably can add another 5-10km for errands. Will I need a home charger? Or will 110V charging overnight satisfy my needs? Are there pros/cons to this approach? I've seen some comment that they don't really need a home charger.

If a home charger is recommended, are specific ones recommended? What is the estimated cost? On the forums I have seen a range from $1K to $3K. I believe the $1K is just for the unit (not including install). I believe it will be a simple install, the panel is in the garage.

Can the charger be used outside? Or does this depend on brand of charger? Have you experienced any problems or issues with parking/charging outside throughout a winter? Can get a fair bit of snow in this neck of the woods and daily minimum temp approx -12C (an extreme minimum would be -30C, but that would be rare).

Any advice or shared experience greatly appreciated.
 
LetusLeaf said:
...I have a daily commute of 30km round-trip. Probably can add another 5-10km for errands. Will I need a home charger? Or will 110V charging overnight satisfy my needs? Are there pros/cons to this approach? I've seen some comment that they don't really need a home charger
I think you will be fine with L1. One problem will be if you park outside. Trying to pre-heat with L1, -20 C, and 10 cm of snow would not be fun. I find that my garaged Leaf does pre-warm in 30 min just fine down to about -5 C. Below that, it might not be enough heat to really warm or defrost the window, especially outside. Also, I think Kubel reported that his J1772 handle froze to the car during an iceing event. Always best to park inside and pre-warm. Previous discussions:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=11123&p=255938#p255938
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=11506#p265550
 
shampoo said:
Living in Le Plateau, I'm not sure where I could charge it.

lecircuitelectrique announced plans to install charging stations on the street in Montreal, but no time-table has been released.

Of course, you'd end up paying a lot more per kWh using their system than someone charging at home.

They were supposed to have installed stations off the highways between Montreal and Quebec by now, but nothing has happened.

Currently, Vermont has more EV infrastructure than Quebec, despite having less than a tenth the population of their neighbors to the North.
 
Reddy said:
I think you will be fine with L1.

I think so too, but good luck to him to actually be able to purchase a new LEAF in Canada at the current time.

Depending on which dealer you talk to in Quebec at the you get one of three answers:

1) A few LEAFs may be available in 5-6 weeks.
2) A few LEAFs may come into the showroom in November.
3) Canada's allotment of MY2013 is exhausted, but we recommend you put down a deposit on a MY2014.
 
Berlino said:
... good luck to him to actually be able to purchase a new LEAF in Canada at the current time

Yep, not getting a definitive answer on delivery date... Fingers still crossed though.

Have to say, buying a MY13 in August is a bit weird when it seems every other manufacturer is promoting MY14 right now.
 
Depending on which dealer you talk to in Quebec at the you get one of three answers:

1) A few LEAFs may be available in 5-6 weeks.
2) A few LEAFs may come into the showroom in November.
3) Canada's allotment of MY2013 is exhausted, but we recommend you put down a deposit on a MY2014.

I sent a message to Nissan Canada regarding that. They said they were going to contact head office. No news yet from them. I'll try to keep you posted.
 
Djee18 said:
I sent a message to Nissan Canada regarding that [the shortage of LEAF's in Canada]. They said they were going to contact head office. No news yet from them. I'll try to keep you posted.

Hear anything? I was lucky enough to acquire a MY2013, but others are frustrated.

Dealers can't be happy. Imagine spending $$$ to become certified to sell LEAF's, then the parent company only ships you a hand full of units for an entire model year.
 
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