Tier 2 pushed back to Summer 2011???

[DaveinOlyWA]

It worked well for PriusChat about the time all the "insiders" were crowing about their Special VSP discounted 2010 Priusususus (now available for dealer cost or less, what a difference a year makes).

hey !! that discount saved me almost 3 Grand!!

 

[mitch672]

This will give you guys a chuckle, I
Just got to finally SEE the Prius PHEV demo car at
Toyota dealer, there are only 3 of them in the entire New England area, the car was at the Toyota dealer for 2 hours, I knew way more than the rep. she thinks the Volt can't directly drive the wheels, I had to tell her, nope it's just like the Prius, the engine is connected
via an overly complex PSD... They still don't know how
many EV miles or what the pricing will be on the PHEV when it's actually released (rumored to be spring of 2012)

We are so far from ANY PHEV or EV options on the East coast, it's nor even funny.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

cool! hey we are a long way from seeing a factory plug on a Pri as well. i had pretty much planned on the Leaf now and a possible trade in on the 2010 for a plug in but we will see. still might do the engineer kit.

 

[srmccollom]

Received the "order timing update" email at 9:00 last night. Guess I should go ahead and get the timing belt replaced in my 2003 Civic.

 

[hodad66]

Here are my concerns...... loss of the 7.5k fed rebate, increased unit cost.
I have never purchased a vehicle at this cost point. The lease was my only
sane chance to support an electric vehicle. Sure I can wait, after all my Soul
is only 1.5 years old but if the 7.5k disappears due to republican "austerity"
measures (except for tax breaks for the rich) then I'm out of the game.

 

[StrangerTides]

I don't suppose anyone has tried calling or chatting the folks at the Leaf site about this? Not that it's likely to help, but it can't hurt to make it clear that we are dissatisfied by the change. After all, as others have said, Nissan no doubt has "good" business reasons for the decision - but the amount of backlash from us patient reservation holders was something they could only estimate when they made the decision.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

i am no politician but i cant see either side winning votes by removing that tax credit.

 

[mitch672]

i am no politician but i cant see either side winning votes by removing that tax credit.

It's not about votes any longer, its now really about not handing over the keys to the country to China, but its probably even too late for that. Hows your Mandarin?

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

did you see the report on the test administered to 15 year olds in 65 countries? Shanghai ranked #1 in all categories. best we could do was 15th. we are setting ourselves up for a fall no doubt about that

 

[hodad66]

It's a bitch that history just keeps repeating itself.

 

[evnow]

Here are my concerns...... loss of the 7.5k fed rebate, increased unit cost.
I have never purchased a vehicle at this cost point. The lease was my only
sane chance to support an electric vehicle. Sure I can wait, after all my Soul
is only 1.5 years old but if the 7.5k disappears due to republican "austerity"
measures (except for tax breaks for the rich) then I'm out of the game.

There is zero chance of the tax credit disappearing. Forget democrats, Lamar will put a hold on it.

 

[garygid]

The success of the EV requires more than just producing a large number of the EVs.

Real success requires being able to USE the EV over time. That currently requires EVSEs and infrastructure in sufficient quantity and price point to support more than glorified "neighborhood" use of the EV.

San Diego is getting 1400 public L2 charging docks, and about 50 of the QC units. Also, each owner is getting one (with the EV), and many are getting a second faster-charge EVSE. These seem to be rolling out slower than anticipated.

If you want your city, state area to be part of Tier 2, you can be working on your state, county, and city governments, and your Public Utilities, to get ready for the infrastructure, AND the EVs themselves.

So, actual LEAF production MIGHT not be the most significant factor.

 

[SanDust]

Sure I can wait, after all my Soul
is only 1.5 years old but if the 7.5k disappears due to republican "austerity"
measures (except for tax breaks for the rich) then I'm out of the game.

Can't blame you for being upset with the delay but, like EVNOW says, hell will freeze over before the $7500 rebate disappears before its expiration date. Now it might not be expanded but it isn't going to be eliminated.

If you had any doubt about this just look at the recent deal between the WH and congressional Republicans. Does it close the deficit? No, it adds $900B. The fact is that Republicans are worse than Democrats when it comes to spending and increasing tax expenditures.

 

[hodad66]

The fact is that Republicans are worse than Democrats when it comes to spending and increasing tax expenditures.

another historical fact confirmed!!!!!

 

[hodad66]

ABG picks up the story...... http://green.autoblog.com/2010/12/11/first-nissan-leaf-delivery-facebook-today/1#c32040435

 

[GeorgeParrott]

I can fully empathize with all of you and your now delayed orders and deliveries, but to highlight this fiasco (at least that is my two cents worth description),

I placed my confirmed Leaf order on 31 August, and was reassured several times in phone calls that I made to "Leaf customer service" that "cars would be delivered 3-4 months after confirmed orders." That would have placed my delivery THIS month at worst. I am now seeing on my "Leaf dashboard" that my car will not be delivered until ....FEBRUARY 2011. This means that even some (many?) of us who got orders in on the FIRST DAY of accepting those.....will NOT get the federal tax credit for the current year and have to wait for that price adjustment. It also means, for me, that I have had to renegotiate with the waiting buyer of my current car, to also WAIT LONGER for that transfer.

I have gotten no apologies, no explanations, literally no contact from Nissan on this delay. I find their current approach of "big PR" and just a handful of actual deliveries totally disgusting and more than insensitive to ALL of us who have made commitments to this new technology and to their company. I have never owned a Nissan before, though I have owned an Infiniti, and I have never gotten such poor communication from ANY car company in any of my new car purchases over the last 40 years. I have owned new cars from Mazda, Honda, Acura, Toyota, Lexus, Audi, Volkswagen, and BMW. In every case I ordered those cars to my configuration and in every case had MUCH, MUCH better understanding as to when those cars would arrive for my delivery.

Shame on you, Nissan.

Of course, I also have a deposit on the Aptera, and they have been holding that for going on 3 years.

8 - (

 

[TimeHorse]

MAN I hate it when you start out with an inflammatory statement like that then go on to make perfect sense!!

Glad you could see past the rhetoric and know that we're all friends here!

 

[TimeHorse]

Received the "order timing update" email at 9:00 last night. Guess I should go ahead and get the timing belt replaced in my 2003 Civic.

Arlington, eh? I thought Kevin and I were the only ones in Northern Virginia. Welcome to the club!

So that's by my count 3 active in VA, 2 in NC and 2 in FL, right? Compared to 1 regular from MA and another IIRC in PA and NM and then a tonne in CA, WA and AZ, I do concede that the demand in those states was far outstripping those in the eye-poked 8 or the forgotten 36. So I don't argue they should have been first. But as far as I'm concerned, we've not solved the Affordable Electric Car NOW advocacy for which I stand if it's only solved in 7 states, or even in the 15 from Tiers 1, 1a and 2 combined. My site shall remain active until we all have access!

 

[TimeHorse]

Here are my concerns...... loss of the 7.5k fed rebate, increased unit cost.
I have never purchased a vehicle at this cost point. The lease was my only
sane chance to support an electric vehicle. Sure I can wait, after all my Soul
is only 1.5 years old but if the 7.5k disappears due to republican "austerity"
measures (except for tax breaks for the rich) then I'm out of the game.

I wouldn't worry about the $7,500 tax credit; as others have said, it's not likely to be stripped from the budget where as the EVSE credit needs extending. In fact, I checked the IRS website today and there is no expiration on the EV tax credit, as can be seen from the link on my blog article linked to at the top of this thread.

 

[TimeHorse]

I don't suppose anyone has tried calling or chatting the folks at the Leaf site about this? Not that it's likely to help, but it can't hurt to make it clear that we are dissatisfied by the change. After all, as others have said, Nissan no doubt has "good" business reasons for the decision - but the amount of backlash from us patient reservation holders was something they could only estimate when they made the decision.

And to follow up on the other questions, as I pointed out in the article linked to at the top, Nissan On-Line support conveniently decided to call it quits for the day a bit before the fateful e-mail was sent. I've not tried calling, but again as I've pointed out, the timing of the announcement the day before the first LEAF delivery is a very suspect coincidence. After all, doesn't the white house try to bury bad news stories on Friday, never mind the Friday before a major positive PR event?