Chicagoland area

[redLEAF]

Less than 3 weeks later; saw a red Tesla Model X late last night going into Harper College in Palatine sporting plate 5265 EL; for Tesla spotters, this was the later 'red multi-coat' color not the much earlier 'signature' dark red when they were first released late last year.

5808 EL on a silver Model S. We'll probably break 6 in a few months.

Actually, a bit more than a month; spotted a White Tesla Model X with the 22" black wheels near Harper College (might be a trend here, well paid professors or perhaps late career students; Model X starts at $85,500 -- those wheels put it up over $90K not including any other options?) with 6004 EL -- if this rate continues we might see 7000+ by this August. Once the Model 3 is available that could ramp these up significantly ... while not an absolute (a number of Tesla's sport vanity or special interest plates instead of the 'EL' series) at least it gives an indication that EV's are still selling (at least Tesla's are) in IL

Had a chance to take a quick photo this time -- spotted this new red Tesla Model S less than a month later with a registered EL plate almost 400 digits higher at 6383 so EV's in IL increasing at a much higher rate than expected (despite the fact that there are NO EV incentives anymore); most newer EV's I've seen have been Tesla's as of late -- a few BMW i3's and the very occasional 5K+ EL plated LEAF (some of these are newly registered used one's perhaps newly arrived from out of state) ... anyone see something higher? We' should see 7000 much sooner than later ... of course IL isn't the West coast with EV's in the tens of thousands but its encouraging despite the lack of incentives (and of course any 'used' EV's will skew the numbers a bit

IMG_0208.JPG

[Phatcat73]

Received a call from Bill Kay Chevrolet in Lisle that they just received 8 Bolts last night! I am looking to replace my 2013 Leaf by the winter and will take one for a spin, but hold off on a vehicle till end of year when many more options will be released.

One item I despise with the Bolt is the lack of a heat pump, but it does have a giant battery.

[EVftw]

Received a call from Bill Kay Chevrolet in Lisle that they just received 8 Bolts last night! I am looking to replace my 2013 Leaf by the winter and will take one for a spin, but hold off on a vehicle till end of year when many more options will be released.

One item I despise with the Bolt is the lack of a heat pump, but it does have a giant battery.

I went there today. Tom Murphy was happy to show me these Bolts. I learned that they actually had to buy it from another CA dealer since GM won't give them anything. I asked if he knew anything about them. But he honestly shook his head and told me that he knew very little about them and that the furthest he's test driven them is to the back of the parking lot to move it.

[redLEAF]

Received a call from Bill Kay Chevrolet in Lisle that they just received 8 Bolts last night! I am looking to replace my 2013 Leaf by the winter and will take one for a spin, but hold off on a vehicle till end of year when many more options will be released.

One item I despise with the Bolt is the lack of a heat pump, but it does have a giant battery.

I went there today. Tom Murphy was happy to show me these Bolts. I learned that they actually had to buy it from another CA dealer since GM won't give them anything. I asked if he knew anything about them. But he honestly shook his head and told me that he knew very little about them and that the furthest he's test driven them is to the back of the parking lot to move it.

I don't think this car was from Bill Kay Chevy (had WI plates and no dealer sticker or license frame) but quite a rare sighting here in the Midwest; other than the Chicago Auto Show its the first I've ever seen. This one had leather seats, etc. so upscale version -- to be honest fairly anonymous (looks like just about any other 5-door economy hatchback); simply doesn't scream out its an EV like the first gen-LEAF. With an MSRP of $43,775 (this one was fully loaded) it will be interesting to see what you can get at this price point with a Tesla Model 3 (plus hard to put a price tag on access to their Supercharger network vs. the hodgepodge of DC chargers that you would need to search out for the Bolt for any trip beyond say a 120 mile of your home). Doubt it was discounted out this way as well but still qualifies for the Fed Tax Credit; I would wonder just how fast these depreciate after a year or two -- perhaps the big range boost will help it some vs. our strictly 'commuter' EV's, we'll see !

Chevy Bolt.jpg

[greengate]

Hodgepodge for sure and one never knows if it is working or occupied.

[Burferd]

I'm hosting an electric car event in conjunction with National Drive Electric Week. Join us September 17th in Evanston. Visit our event page here https://driveelectricweek.org/event.php?eventid=969 to register. Bring your EV to talk with neighbors about your EV driving experience.

[Wingnuts]

Hello All!
This will be my first post. I bought a 2013 SV and have had it about a month now-all 12 bars and just hit 14000 miles. Living in Villa Park. I am currently perusing pg 59 of this thread, anticipating the winter drive. I am REALLY liking this car - the handling and (as Gomer Pyle would put it-listening to) the quiet. I am sure this will be in another thread, but how do I update the sd card?
BTW, got the plate about a week ago and it is number 6710.

[redLEAF]

Hello All!
This will be my first post. I bought a 2013 SV and have had it about a month now-all 12 bars and just hit 14000 miles. Living in Villa Park. I am currently perusing pg 59 of this thread, anticipating the winter drive. I am REALLY liking this car - the handling and (as Gomer Pyle would put it-listening to) the quiet. I am sure this will be in another thread, but how do I update the sd card?
BTW, got the plate about a week ago and it is number 6710.

Welcome to the forum 'Wingnuts" ! --- buying a used commuter range EV seems to be the way to go until we see more main stream truly long-distance ones that have ready access to quick charging (hence my own Tesla Model 3 reservation); hopefully your '13 will give you several good years of service! As to your question, the SD card for Navigation in the LEAF is one of those annoying things that goes out of date quickly and due to the new purchase price (typically about $200 -- looks like Nissan wants $179 + $3.95 shipping) and with people simply using their smart phones for trip routing, many owners don't bother to update it --- after all with its limited range, most trips would be local and in areas that are well known to you -- if on the other hand you've recently moved and want the latest road updates (including charge map updates that reflect any recent road changes, etc.) as well as the car probably wasn't all that expensive used here is a link through Nissan where you can buy one -- hopefully the car already had one as you'll need it to get the map system updated; this also has instructions on how to look up what version you currently have in your car:

http://nissan.navigation.com/product/Catalog/Catalog_Leaf_2013/Nissan-LEAF-2017-Map-Update/sku/ev_master_variation_17/en_US/NissanNA/USD

There are also several Nissan SD cards on eBay that are significantly discounted but not sure they're legitimate so you may need to do some additional research -- if others on the forum have tried this route or something else that has worked I'm sure they may chime in -- on my own '12 LEAF that I owned for 5 years I never bothered to update the maps as we've lived here for 30 years and it never ventured out of state -- all 46K miles on it were local commuting -- as a side note, Tesla maps use WiFi and are a joint venture between Google & Tesla so get updated regularly through the built-in 4G LTE connection; perhaps still not as good as Waze or smart phone mapping but better than dealing with SD or DVD based GPS systems and of course a 17" screen (or even the Model 3's smaller 15") is better than just about anything else out there

[redLEAF]

Quick update on Illinois 'EL' plate sightings ... drum roll please ... the 7000 plateau has been reached by a Chevy Bolt !

New Chevy Bolt sporting plate 7004 EL was spotted in the North Shore area of Chicago 'burbs yesterday; once Tesla Model 3's start showing up would imagine that we'll quickly pass the 8000 mark as well .. my prediction that we would see this level by August came true ! Of course its simply one data element as we see vanity and 'regular' plates on IL EV's as well.

[danamo]

I am so sad! My beloved LEAF was just totaled, and I am in search of a used one to replace it. I have been searching and the pickings are pretty slim. I am thinking that with the 2018 just around the corner, if I wait, the market should have a lot more options. It's just hard because work is starting again for me, so having no car is a pain. Anyone here thinking about upgrading and would consider selling me their loved LEAF?