The official "I got my Leaf" thread

jonathanfields4ever said:

Sorry about that. I’m living close to Kyoto. Went to a dealership in Mie Prefecture for faster delivery. Every dealership I contacted near me said beginning of April and/or no EV subsidy. Both were unacceptable for me.

Updated the info in my profile as well.

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Cool!

There are very few (almost none?) participants here on MNL who are in Japan. I take it that the process of buying a new car is different than in the US? Do dealers there carry much or any new inventory? If no, is it all pretty much build to order and you have to wait?

(I did see the Note e-Power (https://www.nissan-global.com/EN/DESIGN/NISSAN/DESIGNWORKS/PRODUCTIONCAR/NOTE_E-POWER/) when I was at Tokyo Motor Show a few months ago, along w/at Nissan's HQ in Yokohama.)

cwerdna said:

jonathanfields4ever said:

Sorry about that. I’m living close to Kyoto. Went to a dealership in Mie Prefecture for faster delivery. Every dealership I contacted near me said beginning of April and/or no EV subsidy. Both were unacceptable for me.

Updated the info in my profile as well.

Click to expand...

Cool!

There are very few (almost none?) participants here on MNL who are in Japan. I take it that the process of buying a new car is different than in the US? Do dealers there carry much or any new inventory? If no, is it all pretty much build to order and you have to wait?

(I did see the Note e-Power (https://www.nissan-global.com/EN/DESIGN/NISSAN/DESIGNWORKS/PRODUCTIONCAR/NOTE_E-POWER/) when I was at Tokyo Motor Show a few months ago, along w/at Nissan's HQ in Yokohama.)

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It seems like they keep a decent amount of cars in stock, yeah, but the Leaf is so new that it’s in high demand. The EV subsidy is getting ready to end too, so I think there’s a bit of a rush.

I snuck a peak at the guy’s sheet and it looked like they had about 12, a handful each of white, silver, dark grey, and one red. Only the white ones had heated seats in back, so I went with that. I don’t care at all about color, and my wife and daughter hate heaters (Japanese people can be funny about climate control), so that was a must have option.

They said I could go with anything and have it built by the 1st of April. I don’t know if that’s a good turn-around time or not, but if they can do it in the States they’ll be decent competition for Tesla. Especially since Japanese Leaf drivers are reporting a range of 150-200 miles. Though... speed limits here are insanely low, so that may not hold in the States, I donno.

It’s cool you got to come out to look at cars. Nissan is doing pretty neat stuff. I really love the idea of a series hybrid, and I was waiting for one to come out. It drove really well. Very peppy. The engine noise had absolutely nothing to do with how the car moved which was weird, but kinda cool. The e-Pedal wasn’t as strong as the Leaf, but otherwise it felt very similar. It’s smaller than the Leaf, but the inside felt more spacious to me (brochure confirmed it).

I was actually ready to pull the trigger, but my online research showed that it got wayyyy worse MPG than advertised. The brochure says 80MPG, but people on forums were reporting anywhere from 40-60 depending on the season. Still darn good, but well behind the Honda Fit and Toyota Aqua hybrids I looked at.

I’m not sure this is the place for this discussion, so I’ll end here. At any rate, I’m excited about my purchase.

Hello all,
We have just jumped into the EV world with the newest addition to our family, a 2017 Leaf S. Purchased yesterday with only 75 miles on the odometer, even though we got it at the used car price. His nickname is Sid.

So far so good, looking forward to thumbing my nose at all of the gas stations we pass! My next task is to get a 220 charger for home (thinking https://smile.amazon.com/Maxx-16-Po...r=1-5&keywords=level+2+ev+charger+nema+10-30R or https://smile.amazon.com/100-240V-P...1-6&keywords=nissan+leaf+charger+level+2&th=1. Although we have a NEMA- 10-30R dryer plug available, and those seem to be 10-30, not sure of the difference there...

Would appreciate any advice for a new Leaf owner!
Thanks,
Scott

ScottUrman said:

Hello all,
We have just jumped into the EV world with the newest addition to our family, a 2017 Leaf S. Purchased yesterday with only 75 miles on the odometer, even though we got it at the used car price. His nickname is Sid.

So far so good, looking forward to thumbing my nose at all of the gas stations we pass! My next task is to get a 220 charger for home (thinking https://smile.amazon.com/Maxx-16-Po...r=1-5&keywords=level+2+ev+charger+nema+10-30R or https://smile.amazon.com/100-240V-P...1-6&keywords=nissan+leaf+charger+level+2&th=1. Although we have a NEMA- 10-30R dryer plug available, and those seem to be 10-30, not sure of the difference there...

Would appreciate any advice for a new Leaf owner!
Thanks,
Scott

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Welcome to the club!

To answer your question, the first link (maxx-16) has a dedicated 10-30 plug head on it. The second one has a Nema6-20 plug that comes with an adapter to fit the 10-30 receptacle. All else being equal, the dedicated plug is preferred (fewer connectors to potentially short. Note that these will only charge your car at 3.3kw (16A x 220V), so plan your charging accordingly.

While we're on the subject, US household line current is designated 120 and 240 volts, despite minor deviations. 110 and 220 are long gone here.

Get this EVSE instead:

http://www.e-zencar.net/product/evse-32a/

Never had any issues with mine, charges at full rate, will run 120v/240v at a range of amperage rates that you get to pick when you order. I ordered mine with a NEMA 14-50 plug, then I removed the unused neutral pin so I could plug it into 14-30 receptacles too. Not suggesting you do that, it's your call as you need to drop the amperage rate to 26A or less if you want to use a 14-30R.

And it's portable too. Hard to go wrong, especially at the price point.

alozzy said:

Get this EVSE instead:

http://www.e-zencar.net/product/evse-32a/

Never had any issues with mine, charges at full rate, will run 120v/240v at a range of amperage rates that you get to pick when you order. I ordered mine with a NEMA 14-50 plug, then I removed the unused neutral pin so I could plug it into 14-30 receptacles too. Not suggesting you do that, it's your call as you need to drop the amperage rate to 26A or less if you want to use a 14-30R.

And it's portable too. Hard to go wrong, especially at the price point.

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I've got a 30 amp circuit with the existing 10-30 plug. It looks like the zencar EVSE is on amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Charger-Adju...9&sr=8-1&keywords=zencar+adjustable+evse&th=1 - is that the same one you linked? I would have to either change the plug or get an adapter from 10-30R to 14-50 though.

Order it direct from their website (the one I linked to). You can then choose the amperage settings you want and also ask them to put whatever plug you want on it.

Took delivery today. Forgot to take a USB cable with me so I could test out CarPlay. I thought it could wait until I got home, but it turns out the USB is screwy. Tried a bunch of settings, several different phones, and two different cables. No go. Figures.

Drives nice, though. The ride home was great. Waiting for a call back from the dealership.

EDIT: Dude from the dealership came out and had me hook my phone up to the test drive Leaf. Worked immediately. They’re going to find me a loaner Leaf and see what they can do with mine in the next few days. What. The. F.

We bought a 2015 Leaf S 6.6 kw with 27k miles on it from private seller about a month ago, and have ran it maybe 700 miles around town (San Diego) since then. Also bought a Clipper Creek LCS-30 EVSE (used from eBay) and had electrician put in a 50A NEMA 14-50 receptacle on a 50A breaker.

This is my first EV, and love the car!

Very minor annoyances are:

1) Charging timer doesn't seem totally reliable (in addition to being confusing): I have observed it charge after the set stop time.
2) Windshield wiper spray so weak it's bordering on useless (installed new blades just in case).

Before the warranty runs out in June, I need to upgrade or fix the TCU as it does not transmit data at present.

All in all - so far so good!

And thanks for all the good info I have gleaned from here.

I got a 2018 Gun-Metal Leaf SV with Technology and Weather package. Took delivery last Friday in metro Atlanta. Anyone who got a 2018 figured out what's up with the Android play on the car? I can't get it to enable.

I took delivery of a brilliant silver SL here in northern NJ on February 10, 2018. I wanted a gun metallic SV with the technology package, but the only SVs they had in my area were SVs with the Weather Package. I figured I would go and test drive an SV and wait for the specific model I wanted to arrive later in the Spring. I wound up test driving an SL. I was impressed with the test drive. The dealer realized that I was adamant about the technology package, but asked if I would compromise on the color. When I said yes, he offered me brilliant Silver SL (Tech and Weather pkg) for $36,500. I thought about it for a bit and then signed on the dotted line.

It is my first time owning a Nissan. This Leaf will replace my 2007 Prius and will go alongside my 2017 Prius Prime.

IIRC, the weather package is standard on the SL, but I may be wrong - especially regarding the 2018 Leafs.

LeftieBiker said:

IIRC, the weather package is standard on the SL, but I may be wrong - especially regarding the 2018 Leafs.

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I think that is right. They also charge you less for the weather package on the SL...likely because you pay more for the trim. At the end of the day, I git a fully loaded 2018 Leaf for $36,500. A little more than I planned to spend, but I am happy with the purchase.

Only had my Leaf for 9 days so far and it’s been nothing but trouble. I’m livid. First the USB port was messed up and CarPlay didn’t work. Then the nav system had the car in the wrong place when I was in downtown Osaka and put me on the wrong toll road. This added a full hour and $10 to my trip.

Took it in, got a loaner Leaf and it did the exact same thing. I’m on the highway nowhere near any thing and the computer is constantly yelling at me for speeding through school zones. WTF

I get my Leaf back and they tell me it’s a problem all 2018 models experience in cold weather. How friggin’ long did they know about this issue? But the USB works, so I’m happy... until I get home and realize the backup camera is blurry and the button on the center console that’s supposed to bring up the settings just beeps and does nothing.

There’s nothing wrong with the driving aspects, and I’m happy to report an average of 8.1km/kWh, but the electronics are absolute dog****.

The Model 3 fanboys were right. I should have waited until it came out.

jonathanfields4ever said:

The Model 3 fanboys were right. I should have waited until it came out.

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As a card carrying Model 3 fanboy, I have to say that I'd be very surprised if Nissan does not fix the Nav pretty soon for you since it sounds like a wide-spread problem.

Be patient, it is a new model. I'd only care to shut off the alerts for now.

Hello!

I bought a 2012 SL this weekend from a private party.

I didn't realize today was a federal holiday so I've only driven it home from the sellers house as I don't have it registered and plated yet.

I'm quite excited to own my Leaf.

Just a little update. The dealership says they’ve got all the issues sorted out. I get my car back on Saturday. I drove like a maniac through the mountains in the loaner Leaf they gave me and still managed 6.3km/kWh. It’s really quite fun to use e-Pedal with the car in B mode.

Hopefully they really do have it fixed. It turns out they forgot to connect something when they gave me a new nav unit. And the issue with the car’s location being wrong in cold weather has apparently been resolved nation wide.

I got a 2015 SV w/QC yesterday 2018-02-21. It's pearl white with the light grey interior, which I'm very happy with because I'll be parking in a mostly unshaded parking lot next summer. The battery seems to be in almost suspiciously good health after waiting 7 months from manufacture to in-service, and 73 days (albeit Dec-Feb) on a dealer's lot just now. It still needs the 3G TCU upgrade.

The last Nissan we bought was a Stanza about 25 years ago.

Not all Leafs sit on the lot with a high SOC. Mine was a demo, I think, and was actually pretty low. It seems to be an unspoken but common dealer rule to keep EVs with barely 25 miles on the GOM.