Nissan Engineering Team Visit Dec. 3rd: Recap

[abasile]

- Dash - please remove useless (for driving) tree indicator from prime dash real estate near speedometer. real SOC should be put in there instead of trees, maybe with smaller version of regen/power meter

I personally find the tree/eco meter useful when pressing the brake pedal, to ascertain how effectively I am using regenerative braking as opposed to friction braking. There are other ways this information could be provided, however. And showing the "real" SOC would be great.

 

[aqn]

Please tell Nissan that can please please for God's sake keep their stupid headlight leveling doohickey? Does anybody even know or remember or care that the LEAF has that feature? Why the switch and servo and movable lights for something that will probably never be used?!

 

[UkrainianKozak]

Please tell Nissan that can please please for God's sake keep their stupid headlight leveling doohickey? Does anybody even know or remember or care that the LEAF has that feature? Why the switch and servo and movable lights for something that will probably never be used?!

I find that feature in lots of cars in Europe, but true, Leaf was the first one with it I encounter in US...
I guess they didn't make US adjustment on this... they'd better kept EU headrests for rear seat...

 

[cwerdna]

Please tell Nissan that can please please for God's sake keep their stupid headlight leveling doohickey? Does anybody even know or remember or care that the LEAF has that feature? Why the switch and servo and movable lights for something that will probably never be used?!

I find that feature in lots of cars in Europe, but true, Leaf was the first one with it I encounter in US...
I guess they didn't make US adjustment on this... they'd better kept EU headrests for rear seat...

I believe headlight leveling systems are mandated in some Europe countries. That said, I owned an 02 Maxima and 350Z, both w/factory HIDs and neither had any sort of leveling mechanism, while my 06 Prius has an auto-leveling mechanism for its factory HIDs.

There was some discussion at http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-main-forum/22504-automatic-leveling-headlights.html#post278698" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and claims in post 6 there.

 

[aqn]

Please tell Nissan that can please please for God's sake keep their stupid headlight leveling doohickey? Does anybody even know or remember or care that the LEAF has that feature? Why the switch and servo and movable lights for something that will probably never be used?!

I find that feature in lots of cars in Europe, but true, Leaf was the first one with it I encounter in US...

I believe headlight leveling systems are mandated in some Europe countries. That said, I owned an 02 Maxima and 350Z, both w/factory HIDs and neither had any sort of leveling mechanism, while my 06 Prius has an auto-leveling mechanism for its factory HIDs.

There was some discussion at http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-main-forum/22504-automatic-leveling-headlights.html#post278698" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and claims in post 6 there.

The "European regulations" theory sound likely, and indeed reminds me that my previous car, an US-market 2006 VW MkV GTI, has a mechanical linkage to level its HID lights:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?2213232" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?4218596" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Search for "level" on these two pages.

But my belly aching stands: on the LEAF, wouldn't a similar mechanical linkage be much cheaper and more reliable? Why the Rube Goldberg device?

 

[highcountryrider]

Would you please ask them to offer a retrofit for the
L3 charge port?

 

[linkim]

Would you please ask them to offer a retrofit for the
L3 charge port?

What do you want instead of the current L3 charge port?

 

[aqn]

Would you please ask them to offer a retrofit for the
L3 charge port?

_________________
2011 Nissan LEAF™ SV trim, blue ocean, no options, accessories:
floor and cargo mats, cargo net.
Ordered on: 05/16/2011
Delivered Sept 3, 2011.
AV Dock installed.

What do you want instead of the current L3 charge port?

OP has an SV == no L3 port.

 

[highcountryrider]

<snip>OP has an SV == no L3 port.

Yep.

 

[TomT]

Yes, in Europe any car with HIDs has to have it. Apparently LEDs are considered HIDs... That said, my BMW with HIDs had a much more elegant system that was completely automatic and continuous. No user adjustable controls...

I believe headlight leveling systems are mandated in some Europe countries.

 

[padamson1]

The Good:
1. It's 100% electric
2. Good acceleration, silent noiseless drive.
2. Lots of features (backup camera, GPS, satellite radio, etc)

The Bad:
1. Remote climate control is only on/off. Should at least be able to adjust Temperature, Front Defrost, & Rear Defrost. Mode would be great, but not as important as clearing the windshield while the car is still charging. If I turn on the Climate system when there is frost/mist on the windshield I'll get fog on the inside and still have frost on the outside b/c Auto doesn't do anything but heat up the inside of car.
2. Glove box is nearly unusable. Manual doesn't even fit. Put a shelf in it and make it 3/8" wider so manual actually fits.
3. Steering wheel controls difficult to use (and there is no phone hang-up button). Every other car I have driven with steering wheel controls is easier to use than the LEAF.
EDIT: The solution is to make each button the same size & place on both sides and reduce the total number of buttons: Eliminate the redundant CruiseControl cancel button and move the move the Range button to that spot on the right side, use that upper left spot for phone hang-up. Move the the Cruise-Control On/Off to the equivalent (new) spot as the phone button (on right side) and it can serve the same purpose as the CC cancel (push once to turn on, push again to cancel current speed setting or turn off, push again to toggle on/off). Move the Talk button to where the CC on/off button is now.

The Ugly:
Ridiculously bad UI on the TouchScreen. Did they even hire a usability engineer? Every single touch target is WAY TOO SMALL for someone who is driving to hit without errors or spending twice as long looking at the screen (which makes it just plain dangerous). Most common buttons are the ones farthest away (I guess the Japanese drive on the right...). Why aren't there controls for audio (balance, fade, bass, etc)? Why doesn't it remember the screen I was last viewing on start up? It's too bad because its a nice High-res screen, they just didn't lay things out ergonomically. For instance the Radio screen should have all the buttons twice as high (half the width): stations in 2 columns (on the driver side) and the commands across the bottom: Info, CAT, Direct, Scan (in that order so the common ones are in the corner and easy to hit). Don't even get me started on the GPS UI....

Overall I love the car, but the oversights are really annoying because they are so easily fixed.

 

[highcountryrider]

It would be very nice to be able to set a default screen on the NAV. I almost
never use the map/nav and prefer to have the energy screen up.

 

[Deleted member 3147]

Steering wheel controls not well placed (and there is no phone hang-up button).

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but when you're on a call, pushing the phone button again hangs you up.

 

[LEAFfan]

It would be very nice to be able to set a default screen on the NAV. I almost
never use the map/nav and prefer to have the energy screen up.

+1! I always use the energy screen from the start.

 

[JustinC]

The Good:

- Almost everything

The Bad

- Grabby Brakes!

 

[tbleakne]

Improvements:
1. Faster charger, at least 6.6KW.
2. Be able to program charge to stop at 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 85%, 90%, 95% in addition to present 80%, 100%.
3. When a destination has been set in the GPS, use altitude GPS profile along route to more accurately predict state-of-charge at destination.

 

[gascant]

The meeting with the LEAF Engineering Team will be at 1 PM on December 3rd. In our last communication, Nissan seemed quite excited by the meeting and is hopeful that we will have a large turn out of LEAFs and owners. Keep watching for updates here. Linkim has compiled quite a list of mods and upgrades to show them and we'll be going into more depth on things like the portable L1 charging cord mod and SOC meter.

 

[Caracalover]

Diminished cabin space for extra battery pack to add 20 miles.

 

[TonyWilliams]

The meeting with the LEAF Engineering Team will be at 1 PM on December 3rd.

I hope you guys and gals have room for a San Diego LEAFer at your meeting!

 

[cardw]

like:

I love how it drives
quiet
no gas

dislike:

I don't know if anyone else has had this happen but when you put the rear seats down and the seat belts are attached, when you lift them back up the seat belt has retracted and locked, making it difficult to bring the seat back up and it breaks the little plastic buckle retainer off of the belt.

better paint match between plastic and sheet metal

If I had 200 mile range I wouldn't have to use our other car at all.

I live in the Valley but would like to attend if I can.

Richard