Philadelphia and Southeastern PA

[hellraiser79]

Congrats as well Killawhat. Im just curious, if you just picked up your car on the 15th, how did you perform all those mods in your sig? Or is that just stuff you want to do?

 

[hellraiser79]

Thanks to the fellow Leaf owners who made it to the march meeting of the EEVC in plymouth meeting. I hope you had a good time and i hope to see more Leaf owners next month.
Ken

 

[KillaWhat]

Congrats as well Killawhat. Im just curious, if you just picked up your car on the 15th, how did you perform all those mods in your sig? Or is that just stuff you want to do?

I wondered if someone would pick that up.
Noooo.. They are all done.

I'm pathetic, and have been reading these boards religiously as a replacement for actually having the Leaf.

I had a BIG pile of stuff waiting for the car when It arrived.

Some of it goes back six months.

I confess, I still have to unplug that $@!* VSP noise, but I think that's all I have left to do.

 

[yeswaydude]

What the heck are all of things, KillaWhat?

And where did you get them?

I could definitely go for a lighted charge port!

 

[KillaWhat]

What the heck are all of things, KillaWhat?

And where did you get them?

I could definitely go for a lighted charge port!

There is a guy on here named Tony Williams "lovemyleaf.com" who sells the little LED light for the charger area.
Really small, works exactly as you would want it to.
Also,
There is an emergency power disconnect switch located in the floor behind the center console.
The metal cover over it is held on with 3 bolts.
People have made the point, that that's not exactly accessible in an emergency.
So Tony also sells Red Knurled thumbscrews to replace these bolts, so you actually COULD get to the emergency switch if you had to.

Lot's of discussion on here about upgrading the little "meep meep" (please hold my purse?) horn to something more substantial.
I went with the FIAMM 74100 El Grande - Twin Horns - Red from Amazon.com (Like $18)
Direct replacement, no relays needed, and GREAT step by step instructions here:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=4000&hilit=horn+upgrade" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

What else....
Speakers.
There is a thread on here that is devoted to replacing the stock speakers (really really basic $5 speakers) with Infinity 63.9i's.
Also from Amazon.com about $100 / pair
Makes a HUGE difference. I also installed dynamat sound deadening, which makes the speakers sound even better, makes the doors close with a "Thud" instead of a "Boing", and reduces road noise dramatically.
Again, fantastic step by step with pictures here;
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=5908&hilit=infinity+speaker&start=20" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Seats:
I understand that the Leaf is eco green carbonless and all that.
But I'm no fan of the seats made out of recycled milk bottles and hemp or whatever they are.
There are lots of threads on here about leather seat installs.
I investigated all the sources, got samples, and went with "Leatherseats.com" (they have a youtube video showing their leaf seats and options)
They have done quite a few Leafs, they were willing to go all leather, not just seating surfaces, and they also did the Door arm rests and center console.
Installed them with a friend. They look great, and so much nicer.
Went with all OEM Dove Gray color, but I was torn by the darker insert option.
(did the speakers while the door panels were off)

Wood dash kit from CARID, Real African Rosewood.
Only did the pieces that when installed looked factory.
(Center console, steering wheels, door arm rests)
(Now my tree-o-meter is mad at me)

Lastly, the Tires.
I made myself a vow NEVER to drive on Firestone/ Bridgestone tires EVER again (EVER!!).
Long story, and not a happy one.
So Michelin MXV4 Energy low rolling resistance tires.
Got them at BJ's, and they installed them in an hour.
The same exact tires as on my Passat TDI, including size, so keeping a "spare" around is no big deal.
I'll probably sell the OEM's on here in a while.
People are always looking for them, since there is no spare on the car, they are hard to find in a hurry (i.e. Sitting on the side of the road with a flat)
and if you use the tire repair kit with the green goop, you toast the installed TPS sensor to the tune of about $160 at the dealer to repair, on top of the tire, and repair kit replacement.
There are some $600 flat tire repair at the dealer horror stories on here.

As I said, still need to dewat that stupid VSP sound.
The 2011's had a switch to turn it off, but no switch for us.
Located inside the left front fender.
There is a thread on here for a mod at the VSP module behind the glove box, but I think I'm going old school on this one.
Just going to unplug it, tape the ends so it doesn't rattle, and enjoy the quiet.

Working on building a couple of my own EVSE's.
I have everything I need (Cords, plugs, contactors, housing.etc) except for the control board that generates the pilot signal.
Guy on here building some amazing units, and hopefully sale ready soon.
I have an Aeronvironment on an outbuilding which works fine, but I'd like another where I park the other cars, and one at my office.
I'm building mine into a woodgrain plastic fence post, which should be virtually invisible with all the other shrubby woody things in that area.

That's about it.

Really enjoying the car.
278 miles on it this morning.
Good luck with yours.
I'll HONK! at you if I see you

 

[KillaWhat]

Oh, forgot the external charge port door release.
Sounds impressive, but its just a few black plastic ty-wraps routed to the front grill.
There is a nice thread on here that explains it.
It's really handy not having to always remember to pop the inside release.

Took an extra 10 minutes when we had the covers off doing the meep meep horn upgrade.

 

[yeswaydude]

Awesome! Thanks!!!

That's not you I've seen driving down Rt. 29 in the morning, is it?

I honked, but my whimpy little horn wasn't enough to overcome the surrounding traffic noise!?!

 

[tps]

I saw my first LEAF-in-the-wild last week. At the Oxford Valley Rd traffic light by the Sheraton Bucks County, I pulled up behind a red LEAF which said "Fred Beans" on it. Don't know if he saw me, but I was in a black Peruzzi LEAF...

 

[Anonymous]

:mrgreen: Finally got our St. Patrick's Leaf yesterday, tired after dealing with the dealer, but wow my excitement has grown every hour since. Excellent ride, love the options, home charger works great, happy to be with a community of knowledgeable people, and thanks again to all of you that gave words of support for the months of waiting on the car. A great big HELLO from central Pennsylvania, previously lived off of City Live Ave in Philly near the Adam's Mark before we moved to rural nowhere. Love it. Thanks again all,

CentralPALeaf
(2012 Leaf Blue Ocean SL with floor mats and mud flaps.) hahaha.

 

[yeswaydude]

Congratulations, centralpaleaf!!!

Maybe you can check to see if the Sheetz chargers are working and if they did, indeed, install L3 chargers!

 

[Anonymous]

Wow - I didn't realize that some Sheetz locations have them,....they don't show up on Carwings, the closest one to us on the carwings is the Lebanon, PA dealership location and the yet-to-be-listed on Carwings Williamsport location. Is there an official answer and/or declaration from Nissan about Leaf owners being allowed to use any Nissan Dealership's Level 2s? My dealer had no idea if I was allowed to use theirs but they have 3 outside,...?

 

[Metalman]

I've talked to 4 PA Nissan dealers in the last two weeks and I make it a point to ask what their policy is on their chargers. They all have pretty much the same answer, they have no real policy other than you can bet that you're not going to roll in and just charge up. They may cooperate if you call ahead. Williamsport PA has had theirs locked off with ICE's parked in front of them every time I've been there.

 

[KillaWhat]

If you haven't already done it, check out plugshare.

There is even an I-phone app.

I found 20 local chargers that were not listed on carwings.

My Nissan dealer wasn't even listed on carwings.

It's a non-denominational group so all the chargers wind up on it

People with EV's can put their personal chargers on there if they choose to "share"

It's pretty cool, and you can locate other EV owners near you.

Good luck

 

[tps]

I've talked to 4 PA Nissan dealers in the last two weeks and I make it a point to ask what their policy is on their chargers. They all have pretty much the same answer, they have no real policy other than you can bet that you're not going to roll in and just charge up. They may cooperate if you call ahead. Williamsport PA has had theirs locked off with ICE's parked in front of them every time I've been there.

Call ahead because the chargers will be blocked off has been my general impression of most dealers I've seen. Except for where I got my LEAF, Peruzzi Nissan. Their public chargers are in front of spaces reserved for customer parking, so if they are ICEed, it's probably a customer and not one of their cars...

 

[hellraiser79]

The EVSE (they are not chargers!) at Cherry Hill Nissan and Turnersville Nissan are unlocked and available even on a sunday night. The EVSE at Woodbury Nissan and Team Nissan in Vineland are still padlocked. Rossi Honda in Vineland has a EVSE available under a huge solar panel array available for free and im told a few Honda Fit EVs that arent even available yet. These are all in South Jersey by the way. And my house in Deptford always has free charging available for the owner of any EV. I can charge at least two cars at once on level 2.

 

[yeswaydude]

I used one of the three chargers at Classic Cars Nissan in Hainesport, NJ, over the weekend. They didn't know a whole lot about the LEAF and had lots of questions for me. They moved a giant pickup truck in order for me to get access to one of the chargers.

There's a link further back in this discussion about the Sheetz chargers.

 

[Anonymous]

:mrgreen: Just some info I received from Sheetz this afternoon in case anyone is traveling up in this area:

The five following Sheetz stores are scheduled to have electric vehicle chargers installed and operational by June 30, 2012.

Store 193 – 24578 Route 35 North, Mifflintown, Pa. 17059-8933

Store 201 – 1415 South Market Street, Mechanicsburg, Pa. 17055-5675

Store 257 – 1699 Oregon Pike, Lancaster, Pa. 17601-4311

Store 462 – 215 Arsenal Road, York, Pa. 17402

Store 475 – 120 South Ridge Plaza, State College, Pa. 16801

Questions regarding these sites should be directed to:

Joe Raia
Energy Manager
Sheetz, Inc.
814 941-5563
[email protected]

Sorry if this information was a repeat. Have a good week.

 

[Metalman]

I'm pretty much in the middle of all of them. Should be handy, if and when my car shows up.

 

[durgil]

I've started seeing my first LEAF in the wild in the last few weeks during my morning commute. In the super black colour heading down PA-29S towards Malvern / Great Valley. If you're on here.... sweet ride! And I'm super jealous

 

[yeswaydude]

I've seen that one also -- I don't think he's on here.

Mine's also black, but I just cross Rt. 29 at Yellow Springs Rd. or come north from Valley Stream.

Anyone have any tips for keeping a black car nice and shiny?!?

I've noticed that the carwash is putting fine scratches in the clearcoat. :-(

BTW, I got my $3,500 rebate check from the Alternative Fuel Vehicles program of the PA DEP

I also got my first electric bill covering a full month of charging. It looks as if I'm averaging about 7.4 KWh per day at ~$0.17/KWh (for wind power) for about $1.25 per day or about $450 per year in "fuel" costs. Or, if I apply my rebate and tax credit to "fuel", I won't have to pay for any for almost 24 years! (Yeah, yeah, yeah! I know that batteries are also "fuel" and will also get consumed over time.) It will be interesting to see how reliable the car is and what kind of maintenance will actually be required -- including the batteries!

Besides the lack of lumbar support in the driver's seat, my only other real gripe is getting shocked through the steering wheel as I try to exit the car! I've been trying to avoid touching it, and today, I got shocked from the rocker panel through my pant leg!?! Others have said it is all because of the seat material, but it's still a bit scary to think about getting shocked by an electric car!?! That brings a whole new meaning to "Revenge of the Electric Car"!?!

Unfortunately, I can't make it to EEVC tonight. Please post if there's any good info to share!