Leafs Over Texas!

[aqn]

First post. Lurked for a couple of weeks.

Sent pm to one member i found here (Andy). The dealer (South Point Nissan) claims to have delivered 20 LEAFs so far. Are they all hiding in the Hill Country? :lol:

There are TWO in Dale, 30 miles south. Both came through South Point.

That reminds me: another LEAF owner in my housing development (Jester) knocked on my door & intro'ed himself & said he saw my LEAF and just wanted to say hi and let me know that there are four LEAFs, now five including mine, in Jester!

 

[philaphonic]

Well, you should be able to meet up with other Austin area Leafers on Sunday, Oct. 16, as part of National Plug In Day -- some sort of event is scheduled for Austin -- http://www.pluginamerica.org/pluginday" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

First post. Lurked for a couple of weeks.

Been searching on the roads around here in Austin for the past 3 months or so. Have seen exactly 0 LEAFs. Really, this in progressive, uber-cool Austin? :mrgreen:

Found two cars at the dealership, including the demo which i drove.

Sent pm to one member i found here (Andy). The dealer (South Point Nissan) claims to have delivered 20 LEAFs so far. Are they all hiding in the Hill Country? :lol:

 

[pjoseph]

Well, you should be able to meet up with other Austin area Leafers on Sunday, Oct. 16, as part of National Plug In Day -- some sort of event is scheduled for Austin -- http://www.pluginamerica.org/pluginday" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks for the pointer. First time i hear about this (so much to keep up). Noted on calendar.

My delivery date is just 11 days away now. The ambivalence is killing me. The Leaf is expected to replace two really old cars (both at ~200 K miles) and will complement our mommy-mobile (2005 Honda Ody).

Local dealers (Town North & South Point) have inventory now. Shopping for Insurance, auto loan and selling old cars on CL. What fun

Got to get an EVSE quickly as well. Love the Blink mindset (why, we are all early adopters after all) but the various reported hiccups give me pause. Might go with SPX (anybody know how to get one) or Schneider (Electrician can get one). Noted that most of Austin Energy's public EVSEs are Chargepoint (from Coulomb Technologies).

Wondering, will my golf cart keep up with the drag racers in their ginormous Expeditions

 

[mckemie]

Got to get an EVSE quickly as well. Love the Blink mindset (why, we are all early adopters after all) but the various reported hiccups give me pause. Might go with SPX (anybody know how to get one) or Schneider (Electrician can get one). Noted that most of Austin Energy's public EVSEs are Chargepoint (from Coulomb Technologies).

The Schneider may be the current best value:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=2630" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It seems you can get them through Home Depot for a bit more than $700.

Wondering, will my golf cart keep up with the drag racers in their ginormous Expeditions

Are you comparing the Leaf to a golf cart? Not hardly! It will easily keep up with your Expeditions. If you are so foolish. With a ~100 mile range, a prudent driver quickly learns to cherish each watt-hour.

 

[pjoseph]

With a ~100 mile range, a prudent driver quickly learns to cherish each watt-hour.

Point well taken. My previous comment was firmly tongue-in-cheek. Simply risking my life with the "everything is bigger here" crowd.

From all i've learned on this forum, the ideal speed range is 15 to 35 mph. Which makes a great runabout town car. Not so much on the freeways. It is hard to go even 60 mph anywhere in Austin. But then many of the early adopters are in LA and San Diego where 70 mph is normal.

 

[pjoseph]

Took delivery yesterday. With trepidation and trembling

Wife has range anxiety. My bipolar symptoms have me on the roller-coaster.

123 miles so far. L1 charging only.

One of the best cars i've owned. Ride & handling is outstanding. Comparable to my favorite car (1993 Acura Integra that still gives me goosebumps).

Navigation/CarWings is a disappointment. Has a 70s IBM look and feel. When will Nissan arrive in the google era? But the potential is tremendous, and the web/mobile apps are a promising start.

Best wishes to everyone. Has anyone perfected a Leaf wave yet?

 

[hxp417]

On Saturday (9/24/2011) I saw a Nissan Leaf the first time in Houston!

A silver leaf going from Chimney Rock onto Westheimer (westbound), temporary license paper with Mossy Nissan sign on it. Nice!

 

[aqn]

Austin LEAF'ers, FYI:

1. There is now a new Google group for Austin LEAF people: http://groups.google.com/group/austinleaf/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

2. There is a get-together (details in messages in the group) on Tue Oct 11 at 6:00pm at Town North Nissan.

 

[philaphonic]

Houstonians, if you're looking for something to do Saturday Oct. 15, my old Heights area bungalow will be one of the stops on the Houston Solar Home Tour for 2011. I'll be on the porch from about 9AM to 1PM, and the Leaf will be fake-charging in the driveway. I'll probably print up some handouts to quantify how well the solar panels have been working so far.

Sorry, no public restrooms!

Link to the main page: http://www.houstonsolartour.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[ecoobsessive]

Hit a milestone yesterday: only 5 bars on the battery temperature...... and 5 inches of water in the rain gauge!!!
That must mean that the terrible 2011 "death summer" is finally over - Yea!! Hope the summer of 2012 is easier on us.

Anyway, I was thinking that maybe we could have a San Antonio LEAF get-together on Sunday since it's national Plug-In Day. I know this is pretty last minute, but if any San Antonio LEAFers are interested, we could meet at the ChargePoint at the airport and all plug in there - or we can meet at the park in my subdivision; it has a gazebo and plenty of parking. Send me a PM or respond here if interested.

 

[shay]

Hit a milestone yesterday: only 5 bars on the battery temperature...... and 5 inches of water in the rain gauge!!!
That must mean that the terrible 2011 "death summer" is finally over - Yea!! Hope the summer of 2012 is easier on us.

Anyway, I was thinking that maybe we could have a San Antonio LEAF get-together on Sunday since it's national Plug-In Day. I know this is pretty last minute, but if any San Antonio LEAFers are interested, we could meet at the ChargePoint at the airport and all plug in there - or we can meet at the park in my subdivision; it has a gazebo and plenty of parking. Send me a PM or respond here if interested.

You might want to create a new thread with this information to increase visibility.

 

[philaphonic]

After not seeing another Leaf in Houston in well over a month, I was driving eastbound on West Gray this morning and some gent in an identically colored Leaf came westbound. I waved as we passed each other but didn't see any acknowledgement . Anyone here, perchance?

 

[adric22]

After not seeing another Leaf in Houston in well over a month, I was driving eastbound on West Gray this morning and some gent in an identically colored Leaf came westbound. I waved as we passed each other but didn't see any acknowledgement . Anyone here, perchance?

I saw a blue Leaf in Houston this weekend as well. We live in Ft.Worth, but we were visiting relatives. But I was not driving my Leaf, rather my wife's Prius. So don't know who that was.

 

[EdmondLeaf]

Was not able to spot any in Dallas area during my recent trips there. Wonder how many of them in TX?

After not seeing another Leaf in Houston in well over a month, I was driving eastbound on West Gray this morning and some gent in an identically colored Leaf came westbound. I waved as we passed each other but didn't see any acknowledgement . Anyone here, perchance?

I saw a blue Leaf in Houston this weekend as well. We live in Ft.Worth, but we were visiting relatives. But I was not driving my Leaf, rather my wife's Prius. So don't know who that was.

 

[AndyH]

Dec 14, 2011
http://www.aacog.com/civicalerts.aspx?AID=134

City Unveils EV Charging Stations

On December 12, 2011, the City of San Antonio unveiled an electric vehicle charging station installed downtown at the Central Library parking garage. This electric vehicle charging station is one of six that have been installed in the City through a grant from the Department of Energy. In addition to the six electric vehicle charging stations already installed, CPS Energy will also be installing 100 charging stations across the City.

Alamo Area Clean Cities has been working closely with CPS Energy and the City of San Antonio to move forward with the development of electric vehicle infrastructure in the City.

At Monday’s unveiling, Mayor Julián Castro thanked Alamo Area Clean Cities and the Alamo Area Council of Governments along with CPS Energy for supporting the effort.

 

[ecoobsessive]

Thanks for posting this, Andy. I saw it on the news on Monday, but haven't been able to find a list of specific locations. I hope someone in the city will publish the locations to make it more useful to us. I checked on chargepoint and what a surprise, they are showing over 30 public stations in San Antonio! (There were only 3 when I had checked before.) Most of the new ones on chargepoint appear to be the ones sponsored by CPS. Chargepoint is not showing the new ones in the city lots (libraries and city-owned parking garages) so that will bring it up to at least 40. I'm going to be busy this weekend hunting them all down so I can I can plug in and update the NAV. I just told the car to update/look for stations, but it continues to only find the Nissan dealerships and several "plugnanywhere" stations in Austin.

 

[philaphonic]

Houston to lesae 23 Leafs:
http://blog.chron.com/houstonpolitics/2011/12/city-bike-sharing-and-nissan-leafs/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
News from Dec. 21.

quotey-quotey:
The City Council today approved a couple of green initiatives.
One cleared the city to start a bike-sharing program that will be run by B-Cycle, the sole bidder on the project. It will likely look similar to the sharing system on the company’s website.
The bike-sharing system will cost about $104,000.
The council also voted to lease a fleet of 23 Nissan Leaf electric vehicles.
The three-year leases will be paid for with about $100,000 in federal stimulus funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and $252,000 from the city.
The fleet will be fueled by Houston’s “largest amount of rechargeable stations in the nation,” according to the mayor’s office.

That works out to about $15,300 per car. No info on how long the lease period is.

 

[philaphonic]

Reporting from Houston, KHOU TV back in September 2011:
"Electric cars hit Houston's roads as more charging stations become available"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf0KxEb-oYM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Reporting from my girlfriend's camera this week, the Houston Heights branch public library now sports 2 Blinks:
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/floating_ground/Houston_Heights_Library_EVSEs.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[AndyH]

Thanks for posting this, Andy. I saw it on the news on Monday, but haven't been able to find a list of specific locations. I hope someone in the city will publish the locations to make it more useful to us. I checked on chargepoint and what a surprise, they are showing over 30 public stations in San Antonio! (There were only 3 when I had checked before.) Most of the new ones on chargepoint appear to be the ones sponsored by CPS. Chargepoint is not showing the new ones in the city lots (libraries and city-owned parking garages) so that will bring it up to at least 40. I'm going to be busy this weekend hunting them all down so I can I can plug in and update the NAV. I just told the car to update/look for stations, but it continues to only find the Nissan dealerships and several "plugnanywhere" stations in Austin.

Sightings! There are three shiny-new Chargepoint L2 units on the main UTSA campus. They're in the main parking garage on the second floor.

And all three were ICEd this morning.

The map on MyChargePoint does not show these units.

Too bad I cannot park my electric motorcycle in the garage...

 

[ecoobsessive]

The L2 units installed by the City of San Antonio - in the city pay garages and 2 libraries are mostly EV Charge America units. You need an RFID card to activate. The unit at the library has an RFID card hanging on it that can be used for now. I called the phone # on the unit to request a card about 2 weeks ago but still have not received it. I had a hard time getting it to work, but it did work eventually. Specific locations are listed on this website:
http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/progs/ind_state.php/TX/ELEC
This website does not list the ChargePoint units installed by CPS Energy and other businesses. More ChargePoint units are showing up every week. Go to the ChargePoint website to find those units. You need a ChargePoint card to use those units. Some are free, but it looks like many ChargePoint units are now charging $1.00 per hour, with a $2.00 min. charge; so you need to put that $25 on your ChargePoint card if you think you may be needing to use one. No problem using the ChargePoint units; most are located at the far end of lots. Note the units at the "Paladium" are not correctly placed on the ChargePoint map. Those units are located behind the theatre. And unfortunately 4 units were installed in a very small "employees only" surface lot for employess of University Health System on West Martin - instead of in the large public lot across the street. I think there was some mistake there.