Waiting to Order A Leaf/Buy Orphan-Any Preparation Ahead?

Hi,
I'm waiting to reserve a Leaf with Nissan and am also waiting for an orphan. In the meantime, is there anything I should prepare for, esp. if it ends up to be an orphan? I spoke to PG&E some about E-6 and E9A & E9B. Should I look into electricians in SF, the EV program or anything else while waiting or better to sit tight for more concrete news first?
Thanks in advance for your help!

You are guaranteed to get a car if you show up at the dealership wearing one of these tshirts:

http://nissanleafstore.spreadshirt.com/

note that you may end up paying more

:lol: Hey, I never saw those... I like them!
There's an orphan in San Diego!! But it's a long drive back. I so wish it was closer .

GoingGreener said:

:lol: Hey, I never saw those... I like them!
There's an orphan in San Diego!! But it's a long drive back. I so wish it was closer .

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Lots of companies will tow it for you, or you can rent a dolly.. not a huge issue.

Are you going to just use the level 1 charger (or cord) that comes with the leaf or are you looking to use level 2.
A good option for many of us is to have level 1 that comes with the car and have it modified for level 2 for under $300
Phil at evseupgrade.com can make yours a true level 2. All you need is a 240 volt outlet in garage with a NEMA L6-20 twist-lock plug and you are good to go.

GoingGreener said:

Hi,
I'm waiting to reserve a Leaf with Nissan and am also waiting for an orphan. In the meantime, is there anything I should prepare for, esp. if it ends up to be an orphan? I spoke to PG&E some about E-6 and E9A & E9B. Should I look into electricians in SF, the EV program or anything else while waiting or better to sit tight for more concrete news first?
Thanks in advance for your help!

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Thanks downeykp - I'm glad you mentioned about that option as who knows when and what car we might end up with. Doing it that way wouldn't require permits?

I was thinking if we can, maybe best to get the SL-e model. This would be our daily driver so that model will help cover more charging options wherever we might need to take the car. Maybe we can sign up for the EV Project?

Herm - Lol, actually contemplated DRIVING the orphan home. It would be an almost 1 week adventure needing to figure out all the places where we can charge along the way. No gas expenses (ya!), but hotel fees so it would have to be a mini-vacation of some sort. Is it also true for the Leaf as an EV, as with other cars, better not to drive at highway speeds for the first 500 or so miles? Yes, we can have it transported, but it's a chunk of good family money that I couldn't justify spending in lieu of my patience.

I would add to read the manual and suss out the charge timer feature--by far the most featured and trap laden task. Otherwise just practice your smile.

Wouldn't begin with a long road trip. Use a flatbed.

GoingGreener said:

Herm - Lol, actually contemplated DRIVING the orphan home. It would be an almost 1 week adventure needing to figure out all the places where we can charge along the way. No gas expenses (ya!), but hotel fees so it would have to be a mini-vacation of some sort. Is it also true for the Leaf as an EV, as with other cars, better not to drive at highway speeds for the first 500 or so miles? Yes, we can have it transported, but it's a chunk of good family money that I couldn't justify spending in lieu of my patience.

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Campground to campground would be a fun trip, and not that expensive.. using Phil's modified evse to take advantage of RV Campground's 50A service. Assuming you like camping.

I dont think there are any break-in restrictions on the Leaf.. previous industry practices on lithium-ion batteries recommend about 3 full cycles of the battery to gain max capacity, but gently!.. and should be repeated whenever the car sits idle for a few months. The way the Leaf is designed all it allows may be gentle usage of the battery anyways.. so it may be moot.

ICE cars benefit from hard driving for the first 20 miles or so, so that the oil rings fully seat before the abrasive cross-hatch honing of the bore wears off.. this will ensure low oil consumption and great compression for the life of the engine. Most manufacturers (all?) rev the heck out of new engines during factory dino testing for a few minutes, that probably takes care of much of that break-in. Break-in of brake pads and clutches is a different issue.

Thanks JimSouCal and Herm -

"Wouldn't begin with a long road trip." ..."previous industry practices on lithium-ion batteries recommend about 3 full cycles of the battery to gain max capacity, but gently!.." - I should wait and get it locally. Camping would be fun... but we've never stayed at an RV Campground before.

"Otherwise just practice your smile." :lol: Hahaha, I've been told I'm "happy" all the time, but I probably still need to wait . You early adopters should have a "Badge of Patience" from Nissan!

Oh, BTW, a Nissan customer service rep said today that production of the 2011s stopped on July 15th. Of course, everything else is secret until a public announcement. What it'll cost, the changes, when us "hand raisers" can reserve. I guess that's a normal strategic practice for manufacturers.

definitely look through some of the good threads here on lease pricing and purchase pricing. I'd highly recommend the SLE. I do believe that CHAdeMO, the DC port style that comes with the SLE, will be valuable at least in the short run, even if it does not turn out to be the standard in the long run. The west coast is going forward with CHAdeMO, full steam so you can be pretty sure it's going to be in use here for a while. I highly recommend getting an in line L2 charger installed through the EV project, it has worked out well for us. The aftermarket conversion of the stock L1 seems very handy. if you are thinking of using it exclusively, you might want to check with home owners insurance to make sure it won't void the insurance in case of fire... those folks love to find ways of getting out of paying, as do auto manufacturers with their warranties.

As for breaking in the car, I do think it's prudent to take it easy on acceleration and regen breaking and do several nice full charges and discharges initially, which can certainly be done on route. I have noticed an improvement in range over the first 2 thousand miles (now at 3K). If you need to go a long distance to get your car home, figure out where there are nissan dealers on your way and use their L2 chargers whenever possible.

I'm guessing that if you really are ready, you can buy an Orphan by just tracking down a dealer and going for it as there have been a large influx of orders received relatively recently and there seem to be a percent that out of circumstance or indecision forgo their opportunity to take possession. Our local dealer had several orphans a few weeks ago. Try to avoid the up-charge, if you can, if not, it's still worth it, you'll safe as much on gas in the first year alone! This car costs so little to drive you'll think the meter must be broken!

g

Great insights GaslessInSeattle - thank you! I think SL-e would be our 1st choice for the reasons you stated. I will call and find out more about the EV Project because the L2 type charging seems to be the best speed for home.

Yeah, I try to treat our cars right, so I better get a new EV close enough that I can drive gently home. I signed up for an orphan a couple of weeks ago with a dealership who says they are charging MSRP for orphans. I thought that was really fair. I'm thinking that whomever ordered originally might have gotten the 5% discount that they offer to this forum's members, so the dealership might make that much more than when ordered. I don't know, but, they're not asking for thousands above MSRP. And the guy seemed very nice. I will call and touch bases again so he'll know I'm still interested. That's the other thing... if we can manage and wait out an order, the 5% discount off MSRP would be awesome. At that point, it would definitely be the MY12 or even the MY13! I'm feeling much older already.

Whoa, 3,000 miles...that's alot of gasoline you didn't use driving your Leaf! Awesome!

Just wanted to post a happy ending to this thread...

Got an orphan in Southern CA.
Drove home to Northern CA with 4 in the car, our minimal luggage, camping gear, snacks and the L1 EVSE that came w/car!
Mini vacation of sort... stayed in hotel 1 night, park campground another, trickle charging at both and L2 charging at Nissan dealerships otherwise.
Very happy with the car since it's first drive trip!
And, yes... we got the upgraded EVSE from Ingineer.

Try the EV Project. We had ours installed for the cost of them monitoring usage. We have a BLINK and after driving the brand new car in the garage, with 4 miles remaining, the charger would not work. Had to re-boot, after a phone call to BLINK, who were very nice and helpful. Good news is the car is charged. In CA or in the Bay area it requires a 40 amp breaker.
ron #6808 Leaf

Thanks Ron. We're hoping we can qualify for that project. It's suppose to be around the end of Aug/beginning of Sept when we will hear. We'll see if we can add a 240 outlet nearby too, just in case.