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ibLEAF said:
CNBC.com Article: Chevrolet's Volt Sales Running Low, GM Idles the Line

Chevy's electric car, The Volt, is running on empty. With sales lagging and inventories building, GM has decided to idle production of the Chevy Volt for five weeks.

Full Story:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/46608011" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I find this bad news all around. Too many people think of the Leaf in the same way they think of the Volt. Thus bad publicity for the Electric Car movement. The Volt is so dissimilar that this shouldn't be a blow to the Leaf BUT.........Regrettable-----But a comparably priced Leaf is almost $9,000 less. The Volt only goes 30 miles( ? ) per charge. So will the public run from the plug-in Prius which should be only getting 15( ? )miles per charge? It's a Toyota and a very popular model at that. Will that help? The Ford Focus EV is coming with similarities to the Leaf. Will that fall flat as well? With gas over $4.00 a gallon one has to wonder what the American public is waiting for. I assume there are great deals to be had on the Volt at the moment. I don't want one, I'd rather have my Leaf. Is that possibly why there will be more Leafs than Volts? Or are Leaf sales falling felt too? Hope not...........
Click to expand...


Not sure if those looking at an 'alternative fuel' car will throw these together, we were out on errands today and this is just the second time someone had stopped me to talk about our LEAF (at a Mariano's Fresh Market), the guy was considering one for his drive into the city and asked how we liked it -- he did mention that he heard the Volt had a fire hazard issue (wrong of course) but had only heard good things about the LEAF; ours was the first he had ever seen. I need to print out a sheet like I've said before because if anyone was out and about today it was quite cold with the high winds! We did our typical runs today and have to say, the GOM shows 48 miles left, normally we have about 22 (not the same exact route but about the same usage) and we ran the heat quite a bit as it started snowing so perhaps the firmware update isn't so 'cautious' as before, simply don't know. As the wife needs to go out again a little later she'll still have plenty of juice so we'll keep watching things ... still have yet to see another LEAF out and about. As to ibLEAF comments, actually the Volt did better than the LEAF in last months sales but Chevy has far more Volts (154 day supply!) than Nissan has LEAF's (check some of the other threads on this) so at least around Chicago, LEAF's are a much rarer sight than a Volt.
 
Having tried on a Volt and a Mitsi iMeiv at the auto show: they are both too small inside especially the Mitsi. Neither go very far on 1 charge especially the Volt. Also neither is very available. GM makes a lot of noise about the Volt but they are tough to come by. They are big on the outside, but not on the inside. The heater seems to be a sore spot, my neighbor has one and his wife isn't happy with it The one thing they can do is go a long way with gas, so can the Prius and its much cheeper. While the Leaf is not for everyone it does drive just like a car, at 6'2" I can sit in it with a cowboy hat on! We do miss a sunroof. Four is not a crowd although range is reduced, they don't hurt the ride or handling. $3.99gl. all over Kane county yesterday is another good thing about the leaf. 3200 mi. on the clock and we really like the car.
 
Hey guys. I hit 100 miles on a single charge today, even with our very windy, albeit warm, weather.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=7022&p=180237#p180237" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
These warmer temps are something the LEAF really likes, congrats on the 100 mile milestone! ... on the LEAF spotters note, well it wasn't me but my son spotted a white LEAF with regular (not dealer) IL plates on his way into work early yesterday on Rt. 59 and Roberts Rd.; perhaps a Chicagoland forum member, went too fast to catch the tag numbers. Hopefully I'll see another in 'in the wild' soon as well ...
 
redLEAF said:
These warmer temps are something the LEAF really likes
Click to expand...

Wow, you’re not kidding. I’m also seeing a huge jump in MPK with this warmer weather.

I wonder if a black Leaf will go farther than a white one.
 
redLEAF said:
These warmer temps are something the LEAF really likes, <snip>
Click to expand...
Ditto for the Volt. Last Sunday (11Mar2012) it was 64F on my way to an event and I got 48.7 electric miles on the 10.4kWh worth of battery. No climate controls needed because of temp. 35-45 MPH with a lot of stoplight (which I don't think were good - stop/start acceleration kW usage)

Notice that my ICE/gas_generator mileage was pretty good as well. 39.7miles / 0.79 gal of gas = 50 MPGused. Yes, the ICE stopped/started multiple times.

Lifetime%2BAlqanqin%2BCIMG5527%2B%2528Medium%2529.JPG
 
Haven't seen much more recent Chicagoland news on EV's but did come across this little tidbit ... this writer featured a photo of a LEAF owner on the front page awhile back.

As I use a flat-rate reseller of electrical power rather than ComEd will be curious if they do indeed start promoting off-hours charging; I do plan to slightly adjust my overnight timers when we do finally turn on the A/C but regardless I get charged the same rate no matter what time of day. They refer to the real-time rates that some have opted for but a few more details in the article would have been helpful as to how much one can save, specific times,. etc. --- no question that most are not aware of these programs.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/...ug-in-vehicles-electric-grid-realtime-pricing
 
March 2012 FVEAA Newsletter
The FVEAA is a Not-For-Profit Illinois Corporation and the
Chicago Area Chapter of The Electric Auto Association

Next Meeting
Friday, March 16th, 2012 - 7:00PM to 9:00 PM at
Continental Mitsubishi at 5800 South La Grange Road in
Countryside, IL

See directions http://continentalmitsubishi.com/Map-and-Location/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

MARCH 16th NEW MEETING LOCATION THIS MONTH!! Motor
Controller presentation, and Test drive an all-electric "i" car!!
The FVEAA will be meeting Friday March 16, at 7:00 p.m. at Continental
Mitsubishi at 5800 South La Grange Road in Countryside, IL.

Presentations and test drives of the Mitsubishi "i" will be featured per
Dennis Keene who invited us to their showroom. Please pass the word to
everyone who may not be a member that you know of. Everyone gets a
chance to test drive the all-electric "i"

The Continental Mitsubishi dealership has just installed three Eaton Level
2 charging stations and has room in their shop for parking EVs that want
to plug into 120VAC outlets. We'll start around 7:00 and end a little
early, 9:00 p.m. but it should be enough time for everyone to get a ride
in one of their three electric "i" cars on site.

Thanks for hanging in with us as we search for permanent digs!!
Click to expand...
 
Re: Com Ed Real Time Pricing:
I just got my first bill on this program and have seen a good savings.
Last fixed rate bill Jan 13 thru Feb 11 - total bill/KWH $.1204/KWH (All fees+Taxes+ everything )
First RTP bill Feb 11 thru mar 13 - total bill/KWH $.0846/KWH

There are many factors which will affect the costs. The summer kwh costs and Capacity Charge can be significant especially for a high demand user. The calculations for Capacity Charge are described in the available in the Guide To Real Time Pricing .

In addition to the A/C recycling program I am planning on adding a controller to manage my heavy loads: Electric Ovens, Electric Water Heater, 2 Ton A/C unit, a 3 Ton A/c unit and perhaps monitoring the Leaf Charging. All those on at the same time would be in the neighborhood of 120 Amps which could be quite a hit to the Capacity Charge that stays with you for a year.
 
Had my LEAF's software updated (and apron installed) yesterday. Have no idea what the update fixes or adds though. Anyone know?
 
OldQuadDog said:
Re: Com Ed Real Time Pricing:
I just got my first bill on this program and have seen a good savings.
Last fixed rate bill Jan 13 thru Feb 11 - total bill/KWH $.1204/KWH (All fees+Taxes+ everything )
First RTP bill Feb 11 thru mar 13 - total bill/KWH $.0846/KWH

There are many factors which will affect the costs. The summer kwh costs and Capacity Charge can be significant especially for a high demand user. The calculations for Capacity Charge are described in the available in the Guide To Real Time Pricing .

In addition to the A/C recycling program I am planning on adding a controller to manage my heavy loads: Electric Ovens, Electric Water Heater, 2 Ton A/C unit, a 3 Ton A/c unit and perhaps monitoring the Leaf Charging. All those on at the same time would be in the neighborhood of 120 Amps which could be quite a hit to the Capacity Charge that stays with you for a year.
Click to expand...
Re: Com Ed Real Time Pricing

~2 years
1/13/2009 thru
2/11/2011 was $0.1151/kWh (All fees+Taxes+everything )

~1 year
3/15/2011 thru
1/13/2012 was $0.0855/kWh (All fees+Taxes+everything )

Diff: $0.0296 /kWh (resulting in $616.43 savings for those ~11 months)
 
I just changed providers and I’m expecting it to drop from 11 cents to just over 9.
I inquired about RTP and they said I would have to change my meter socket. And with a flat rate I can plug in any time with no worry.

I figure at $.09/kWh it’ll cost $.035/mile in the winter and somewhere under $.025/mile in summer.
 
Couple random thoughts:
- I had the apron installed. Service guy was surprised I have over 5200 miles already. He also said he drove dealer demo at 95 mph with climate control. Basically, he said I should be concerned limiting highway travel.

- I'm enjoying charging to 80% during this warm patch

- I wish Illinois would get to mailing electric rebate checks.
 
Tardis said:
I wish Illinois would get to mailing electric rebate checks.
Click to expand...
I think they are imminent. When I called the IL EPA a few weeks back, I was told the checks would be mailed in the month of April.
 
did a full charge over the weekend. Drove 22 miles since (non highway). GOM says 93 miles left.
 
bwallach said:
did a full charge over the weekend. Drove 22 miles since (non highway). GOM says 93 miles left.
Click to expand...
Ahh, the warm weather. My forsythias are blooming, my lilacs are budding, and my leaf is coming into its own.
 
I didn't see an update but whole foods Schaumburg has 3 charging stations in the UNDERGROUND garage. I talked to customer service because I didn't see it outside. One,I assume, is the high capacity charger.
 
My magnolias are blooming as are the crocuses, my Leaf-GT (glacial silver) is sprouting little trees as we go by $4.29 gas. With gas prices blooming the Leaf just makes cents! We tried the a/c for the first itme for about 5mi. It works quite well reduces mileage as expected just wanted to function test it. Silver didn't get warm in the sun when it was cold and the heat isn't opressive today as we are out and around at 82+ degrees. Grew 4 trees, 6 since we turned it off while shopping and regrew some and got home with 29 mi left indicated. The wife and I are having problems synchronizing which odometer we are resetting so I really can't say exactly how far we went. She was excited about seeing a Leaf at the polling place until she realized it was me. Wives are like that.
 
I just finished an interview with Channel 7 ABC local news to be aired today at 4 and 6. Hopefully it will come out with a positive spin to the virtues of owning a Nissan Leaf. Tried my best but who know what will new edited or shown. Just trying to put the word out there that complaining and saying there's nothing that can be done about high gas prices is a fallacy. Hope I didn't put us Leaf drivers in a bad light. If it came out poorly I apologize beforehand. See you on the streets. 3000 miles and going strong...

AFTERTHOUGHT 6 pm news report did a nice job....... Maybe we'll get some converts........ (4 pm report was not as encouraging but was revised after we spoke and I believe showed the Leaf in a really good way live at 6). Thank you Diane ABC 7 NEWS. Watch the report on the ABC 7 website.

This is the 4 pm video. http://abclocal.go.com/wls/video?id=8593161&pid=8593160" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; In the 6 pm newscast Diane revised her expensive comment about the Leaf and mentioned that the price was much much cheaper after rebates.
 

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