New member intro and first question

[craigmartell]

Hey all,

My name is Craig and I just bought a left-over 2011 LEAF SL Demo. I think I got a pretty good deal: $32K, with only 265 miles on it, and a good relationship with Cardinale Nissan in Seaside, CA. The last part is important, since I plan to charge at the dealership everyday. My round trip commute is just outside my comfort range, and they were really open to my charging at their place. It's only a short walk to work, so it should work out fine.

My first question is: Is there anything I need to do to my car, given that it was built a while ago (July 2011)? Are there bugs that were worked out, or TSBs I should be aware of?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Craig

 

[abasile]

Welcome, Craig! There have been some software updates, but nothing particularly critical as far as I'm aware. Your dealer should be able to check for you.

By the way, for maximum battery life, make sure to use the charging timers to limit your charge to 80% or less. There is no problem charging to 100% when you need the full range, but don't leave the battery sitting at 100%. Whenever feasible, use the timers to finish charging shortly before your departure time.

May you have many years of enjoyable, gasoline-free motoring!

 

[thankyouOB]

have fun and good luck.
with practice, and driving 60-65 on the freeway, you will stretch your expected range.

 

[adric22]

My first question is: Is there anything I need to do to my car, given that it was built a while ago (July 2011)? Are there bugs that were worked out, or TSBs I should be aware of?

There have been a couple of software updates. I think that is about it.

I would be somewhat wary of this charging situation you have in the long-term. Your relationship may be good with the present employees at the dealership but most of the sales staff tend to have a high turnover rate at dealerships, including the management. So you might pull into the dealership 6 months from now and find your charging spots blocked with gasoline vehicles that are for sale and they needed extra space. Then when you ask them to move it, they will not be happy with you.

You should start looking ASAP for alternate charging opportunities, especially with your place of employment. Maybe if you could just plug in with 120V each day that would be sufficient? Also you might experiment with efficiency to see if it is possible to make it to work and back without charging. You said it was outside your comfort zone, which suggests it may be possible. That way at least you'll know that if you are unable to charge that you will at least be able to make it home.

 

[Chieftan68]

Just call the dealer and make sure all the recall/software upgrades have been done. More than likely they have been since the dealer had it all along, but better safe than sorry.

Make sure your Carwings account is transferred to you. They probably didn't do that. Just call the number in the Carwings section of the manual. Carwings is still free for the first three years. After that, who knows. I was using it a lot like a new toy when I first got the Leaf but outside of a few useful features (updated charging stations), IMHO it's just something to play with.

Remember, every time you hit the okay button on the display they are tracking lots of metrics of your use. Now I'm not too worried how they use that info but I don't like the idea on general principles. Since those early giddy days of ownership, I've declined and all the functions I need are available without it.

Enjoy your Leaf. Got my pre-owned in May and love the car. Best car I've owned and I've owned 32 cars during my life! I realize "awesome" is an overworked word, but the car is that.

 

[craigmartell]

Thanks for the replys. I will double check with the service guys to see if they did the upgrades. As to the charging at the dealership:

-- I think I will be ok for at least a while. Cardinale is a local dealership, and I have bought 4 cars from them over the years, and they have always delt with me fairly. However, I take your warnings and will keep looking for other 240v charging stations.

-- I can't charge at work, since I work for the Navy. And that would constitute using a tax-payer resource for personal gain. (I already checked!). They are looking into putting in a pay charge station, but this is the Navy - - THEY MOVE SLOW for things like this.

-- There is a publically available 120v just a few blocks from work. It is in a city park, and provide by the city. This, in fact, might become my main charging station.

-- The reason my "comfort zone" is smaller than the range of the car, is that I am the one that takes my 13 month old daugher to day care everyday. I definitely need to be sure I can make it home with her. And sometimes I have to pick her up from daycare and take her to the doctor. In these cases, I think I would run out of battery before getting home.

In a lot of ways this is an experiment. But I REALLY hope it works. I am very excited about not needing to buy gas for my daily commute. It makes me feel a lot less guilty about loving my V8 Cadillac STS .

Craig

 

[SLOLEAF]

My husband and I have just leased a 2012 red SL leaf. We have had our leaf for three weeks and have yet had to charge it at home. We have many charging options in San Luis Obispo, CA and I have used them all for free. We love this car and wish we had gotten one sooner! This car is a blast to drive

 

[walterbays]

-- I can't charge at work, since I work for the Navy. And that would constitute using a tax-payer resource for personal gain. (I already checked!). They are looking into putting in a pay charge station, but this is the Navy - - THEY MOVE SLOW for things like this.

This has come up on MNL several times before and it is so wrong! Maybe now the election is over the administration and Congress might be open to fixing it. With a goal of a million EV's on the nation's road the government should be leading, not following. It's ironic too since one reason for that goal is to reduce foreign oil dependence so that we don't have to put so many sailors and soldiers in harm's way to protect an oil supply which doesn't really have to be a critical resource. PS - As I've read the Navy moved pretty darned fast in 1941 to build the world's biggest and best fleet, so it's a matter of will, not ability.

Every federal workplace should have a few charging stations inside the gate for employees to use plus a few outside the gate for employees and the public to use. Operating cost should be revenue neutral. Since that's so cheap, for the employee charging stations a shoebox to collect dollars and quarters might work as well as a sophisticated smart card system.

-- There is a publically available 120v just a few blocks from work. It is in a city park, and provide by the city. This, in fact, might become my main charging station.

That sounds promising. You might begin by using Cardinale and the park quite a bit, and then find that you don't really need it. Cardinale might stay happy longer with you charging there if you leave the key with them so after your car is done charging they can move it if they need to charge another car in that space. It wouldn't bother me trusting my dealer with the key since I leave it every time I get service anyway.

-- The reason my "comfort zone" is smaller than the range of the car, is that I am the one that takes my 13 month old daugher to day care everyday. I definitely need to be sure I can make it home with her. And sometimes I have to pick her up from daycare and take her to the doctor. In these cases, I think I would run out of battery before getting home.

You should add up each segment of expected daily trips with speed on each segment, then use Tony's range chart to see how many kWh you may use. Assuming doctor's trips are at least sometimes for sudden illness during the day rather than for planned checkups, then you might assume that she fell ill on a day when you charged to 80% at home, not expecting to have to make the extra trips.

If the distances and speeds, plus Cardinale, plus the park work out okay for a few years, then the public charging infrastructure might be developed to the point that you'd have more than one option for charging during the work day, and maybe even a quick charge station where you could charge in case of unexpected extra trips.

It makes me feel a lot less guilty about loving my V8 Cadillac STS .

You might love it less though since you probably never before thought of your Cadillac as being rough, noisy, and unrefined - and soon you may.