July 27 Nissan email: the Nissan LEAF: get ready to order

[Frank]

After reading through this thread and the order month posted by everyone, I am a little puzzled about the correlation between the order month, and the State roll-out dates published by Nissan.

For example, some folks from Texas said they received a September order date (the same month as some people in San Diego received), but the Texas roll out date is one month later than California.

Also, how does the order date relate to the initial roll out cities announced by Nissan a while ago? For example, some people in the greater Los Angeles area (not one of the initial roll-out cities) received August order dates, one month earlier than some folks in San Diego who also placed their orders on 4/20. San Diego was announced as one of the initial roll-out cities.

It seems that Nissan blended a lot of cities in California together (Southern California as one big city) and sequenced the order month soley by the time the reservation was made. I thought that the idea was to put the majority of the vehicles in areas that are supported by planned charging infrastucture and that is how the initial cities were chosen?

Maybe Nissan decided it was better to spread out the vehicles througout the 5 initial states rather than to focus them in certian geographic areas?

 

[Timaz]

Hi Tim, thanks for reserving your 100% electric Nissan LEAF™. We just wanted to let you know you'll be able to order your new Nissan LEAF in August 2010.

Received this today and I am in Arizona. Made my reservation within the couple minutes of of the email. I have not had an evse assessment yet. I did receive an email from ecototality that said they still have questions before approving a free charger. I leave in north central Phoenix area.

Getting excited, but worried about the dealers trying to gouge us!

 

[mitch672]

By winter of 2011, it's too close to the release of the Tesla Model S, which I would prefer, why settle for a Leaf when the model S will be out very close to that time frame anyway. Nope, no Leaf for me, and many in the other 38 states will probably feel the same way. The price difference is not all that great, but the EV range will be much better on the model S.

I hope you have your model S details right.

I doubt S will be delivered in 2011. 18 months is too short a time to build a new plant (as Tesla themselfs said in an interview). 160 miles for $49K (after rebate) is 60% more miles for 100% more money.

Model S is supposed to be delivered in early 2012, like I said, close to Leaf availability here (10-12/2011).

I'm more likely to just get the "Plug in Conversions" 12.5 kWh lithium-ion 2010 Prius conversion, 40 miles of highway EV driving (same as the Chevy Volt), for about $13,500, actual price not released yet. Since I already own the 2010 Prius, this is almost a no brainer, I can probably get it very soon, it's less than a Leaf (or selling/trading in the 2010 Prius and then buying a Leaf), almost 1/2 the range, and more efficient than the Chevy Volt.. Might just do it, and wait for "Leaf 2" when the price and range will be much greater, 2014/2015 is fine with me, let the pioneers take the arrows . The other option of course is to just keep driving the 2010 Prius as is, and getting 45-50mpg

http://green.autoblog.com/2010/07/26/piccs-latest-converted-plug-in-prius-boasts-40-mile-electric-ra/

 

[LEAFguy]

It seems as if Nissan has homogenized rollout states - someone in Olympia, WA gets August as a firm order date, while someone in San Diego gets September. I would venture to say, this is exactly when the reservation time frame becomes important.

Speaking of reservations, let's keep in mind that no one has yet placed a deposit on a LEAF. The $99 reservation holds your place on the waiting list. It is fully refundable, and commits you to nothing. The reservation gives Nissan an idea of where firm orders will come from and, if you recall, they also asked what kind of a time frame you would consider buying your next vehicle.

I live in San Diego, placed a reservation on 4/20, have already been approved for The EV Project and received an email that said that I could place my order in September.

Another question that came up earlier is this - How long after ordering will delivery take place? That one is a little more difficult to answer - at least for the first couple of months. I don't want this post to run on forever, but if you are interested, please check out my site (Living LEAF). I'll have an article about this in the next day or so.

 

[Boomer23]

Maybe Nissan decided it was better to spread out the vehicles througout the 5 initial states rather than to focus them in certian geographic areas?

I wonder if the lack of an agreed standard for the Level 3 chargers influenced Nissan on this. We've heard that Level 3 will be optional on the early Leafs, probably due to no agreed standard. Maybe the public Level 3 chargers are going to be delayed. If the public charger infrastructure is going to be delayed until that standard is settled, perhaps Nissan thought that they should spread the initial cars around to get more geographic penetration.

 

[LakeLeaf]

Personally, the date I need to know is the delivery date. I'm having nightmares about pulling out some pretax money to pay for the car on December 27th, and being told, "Sorry the car won't be here until January 3rd."

Yup - I think that's BIG issue and I hope we get a solid idea of delivery date before ordering.

 

[mxp]

I have an order date of November, 2010.
Deposit paid 4/23/2010.
Location: East Bay, San Francisco bay area.

The question is:
1) When will actual delivery take place? (I guess everyone's wondering as well....)
2) Will the California $5,000 credit apply for orders taken in 2010 or is it delivery of the vehicle in 2010?

I suppose with a order date of November kills any hope of delivery before 1 Jan 2011 and kills any hope of the $5,000 credit.

 

[AndyH]

We may have to call our dealers in the morning - one member has already gotten info on the actual order and arrival dates from their dealer.
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=12687#p12687

 

[ChicoBob]

I live in Chico, Northern California. My assessment is scheduled for 8/5/10. My order month is August!

Canceling that Aptera reservation.

 

[planet4ever]

I have September.

It looks like reservation sequence may be a key factor. I was sitting at my computer when the email came in on Apr 20, and tried to reserve immediately, but ended up fighting with the Nissan website for over an hour. They refused to accept the way my browser (Firefox) was configured, and they refused to accept my credit card (American Express). I finally got through by switching both of them.

I live in California, but not in an EV Project area, and I dithered for several days on whether to ask for an assessment. I finally got one on 7/13, and have not received a quote yet. I suspect they are going to say I am "special".

 

[TimeHorse]

Re: Taxes

If you cannot get the car until early 2011, don't despair, simply adjust your withholding on your W-4. Say you get the car in April (like I'm likely to do), we'll call this week 15 of the year. Now, if you're paid biweekly, you have had 7 paychecks since the year started and 1 more before the change in the W4 takes effect. This leaves 18 paychecks you've yet to receive. So, take your $7500 rebate, divide by the number of cycles and you get about $417. This is the ideal point you want to get back each paycheck. Calculating the number of deductions you need to achieve a reduction of withholding is complicated, though, and if you have your most recent paycheck you can use the IRS website to figure this out for you. Simply enter $7500 under "other credits" on the second page of the form. That should give you a very good estimate of making next year's taxes $0 and having the money now instead of later. Of course, if you're felling really bold, you could adjust your next few paychecks to take 99 deductions and then set them back to normal once you've recouped your $7500.

It's a pain to get all the information the IRS needs (especially estimating things like medical expenses and mortgage interest), but it's certainly a reasonable and lawful way of getting your credit in a timely fashion.

W-4: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf (for 2010)
IRS Help Site: http://www.irs.gov/individuals/page/0,,id=14806,00.html

And for the record: First December date here! But that's too be expects, being Tier 3. I guess August bleeds into September and both bleed into October and November and once those initial orders are satisfied, then tier 3 gets it's chance, as well as the late adapters in January. I can't believe I'm beating some Californians!

Anyway, those of you with August and September orders with potential delivery in December, January or February, thanks for being my beta testers, eh? Nice to know you guys will iron out the kinks and find the flaws to prepare me for my next sweet ride!

 

[evnow]

Yes, officially I've a problem with my account.

Jesse:
I have looked at your information and I am not able to see your schedule and have reported the issue. Basically in your area we will begin accepting orders in late August the actual timing will be based on reservation date and you reserved on April 20th so very early in the process.

EVNow:
ok. But I think even for people who reserved early some are getting september schedules ...

Jesse:
A very small number will be starting in August.

Looks to me, people with August ordering will be the ones getting the car in December.

 

[garygid]

San Diego (La Jolla) reserved May 15,
declined applying for the free EVSE,
and made no AV assessment appointment.

So, ... got January, 2011 to order.

 

[EVDRIVER]

Perhaps the limited August numbers are to live "test" the order process and work out the kinks prior to the next wave a bit later.

 

[Pipemajor]

Just arrived. (3:01PM)

September 2010

That's soooooooo far away

But not quite as far away as Fall or Winter 2011. That's what mine says...

 

[Gavin]

It would be great to know shortly after you order just when the car will be at the dealership. I don't really need a car (i haven't had one in 5 years, just my scooters and bicycles...the wife has the only car in the family)...but I want to support EV adoption and figure people like me need to buy them in order for more to be made. Personally if I can't get one in December I just might wait and get one locally in fall 2011...would support local business and be easy to get home from the dealership .

Buying in December and getting my tax refund in March makes sense...buying in January and getting my tax refund 14 months later...not so much. At least to somebody who can easily go another year without a car (yes I'm getting older, but I didn't plan to get a car till I was 50, so I have another year to go).

So in September I will put in my order...but if it looks like no go in Dec (likely) well I might go ahead and change my address to New Mexico...I imagine Nissan will then just delay my order (move me back in line a bit) till they open up the LEAF to New Mexico dealers.

Mmmm, not really sure yet...lots to think about.

Gavin

 

[TimeHorse]

Buying in December and getting my tax refund in March makes sense...buying in January and getting my tax refund 14 months later...

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/page/0,,id=14806,00.html

Just adjust your withholding.

 

[mwalsh]

Just adjust your withholding.

This is what I am doing. Actually, already have done. Have been on exempt this whole year so far (yearly tax liability is more or less $7500). Hedged my bets and signed up for the solar system too, just in case the car was held up until after the first of the year. For me that means no tax liability at all for the next 2.5-3 years.

 

[Gavin]

yeah, I saw the post about it...

but I'm A) kinda lazy and changing my withholding to get it right, and then changing it back just reeks of effort B) I like lump sums...a couple hundred a month, even a few hundred a month, well I would just spend it or give it to the kids or...but getting a big check of 7500, well I would know, hey, pay off the car some, or the solar some or something big...

Gavin

I also did solar this year, getting about 8 grand back...but my tax is a bit higher, so i could do the car and solar in the same year and get back a nice 15k...

 

[bradford]

if any of you 'early recipients' are frustrated about not getting your leaf soon enough (sounds like you get them starting dec 2010), just think of us in the northeast having to wait til fall/winter 2011; a whole year away! that should make you feel better

we'll be looking to you for reports