Traded our LEAF for a week...

[chris1howell]

After a family get together a couple weeks ago, I loaned my cousin our LEAF for a week. During the party there was a bit of discussion about the LEAF, TESLA and electric cars in general. My cousin was interested but very skeptical, So I dropped the LEAF off and took his Altima. He has posted 2 blogs in the first 4 days of his loan...

http://seanmcclure.com/blog/index.php/2012/10/22/nissan-leaf-day/

http://seanmcclure.com/blog/index.php/2012/10/24/nissan-leaf-review-day-4-misconceptions/

 

[RegGuheert]

Very cool! I note a fairly significant change from day 1 to day 4!

Good luck getting your LEAF back!

Are you feeling the pain of purchasing gas this week?

 

[chris1howell]

Yeah, pumping gas is painful. I have really enjoyed reading the blogs, so it is worth it. Hopefully, he will post another blog at the end of the week...We are meeting on Saturday for dinner so I am sure I will get a debriefing as I pry the keys out of his hands.

Who knows maybe he will end up with a new LEAF in his driveway... At the very least he now has a much better understanding of EVs.

 

[MrIanB]

I think this was a great idea and learning tool for anyone you know and can trust w your car for a few hours/days. I was stopped at Walmart today by an older gentleman that thought the rear of the car design was cool and we chatted for about 5 mins in general about the car. He understood the range limited the car as an in town car but, when I told him that my average monthly charge cost was $12.00 he was surprised. I told him of the current $139/$199 ongoing leases he was really shocked. Hope I converted him. He drove off in one of those Ford Explorer 4 track??? Explorer with a bed in the back.

Ian B

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

great blog. your cousin has made a very fair evaluation of his experiences and proves once again that "EVness" creates a whole new dimension in the driving experience.

the "driving 75 mph" thing. its easy to do. we dont have the normal driving cues, the RPMs, the engine shifts, etc... its a learning process

 

[KillaWhat]

+1 Very Cool

 

[cyellen]

Nicely done...this is how Nissan should be selling the LEAF...extended test drives. Sure, sure, there will be issues with risk, and worrying about whether or not the untested new owner could figure out how to charge it, but nothing is more convincing than actually using the car.

 

[Boomer23]

A really cool idea, Chris, but then you've had a lot of cool ideas.

Please thank Sean for blogging about his experiences and for being open minded enough to give the LEAF a try, as well as going the extra step of very honestly evaluating the car in a way that steps outside the box of his preconceptions.

 

[kubel]

Nicely done...this is how Nissan should be selling the LEAF...extended test drives. Sure, sure, there will be issues with risk, and worrying about whether or not the untested new owner could figure out how to charge it, but nothing is more convincing than actually using the car.

Totally agree. As his cousin said, skepticism is nothing more than ignorance (and I don't mean to use that word as an insult- it's just lack of knowledge).

I also liked the last line of day one. Though I'm not a Romney supporter and won't be voting for him, I like the idea of crushing prejudices by thoroughly confusing people who have them. It's actually kind of funny. The worst thing is letting something you drive, wear, eat, listen to etc... define you as a person. The LEAF is not owned by any political philosophy- heck it's not even owned by people who are eco-conscious (I'm neither a republican nor particularly eco-friendly)- and showing people that anyone can drive the LEAF and not be judged for it goes a long ways in getting people to accept it.

 

[LEAFer]

We are meeting on Saturday for dinner so I am sure I will get a debriefing as I pry the keys out of his hands.

Bring a gun (to be on the safe side) :lol:


NICE !

 

[Boomer23]

Chris, regarding home solar panels, has your cousin included in the math the likelihood that his fuel costs for the LEAF would be zero if he gets SCE's TOU-D-TEV rate plan and he charges after midnight on weeknights? And also that his home's value would increase on resale if the home has solar panels and therefore, no power bill?

 

[chris1howell]

Chris, regarding home solar panels, has your cousin included in the math the likelihood that his fuel costs for the LEAF would be zero if he gets SCE's TOU-D-TEV rate plan and he charges after midnight on weeknights? And also that his home's value would increase on resale if the home has solar panels and therefore, no power bill?

No, I do not think he has. Let's see if I understand TOU-D-TEV correctly. It's advantage with solar production is you can build a smaller system say 70%-80% of your total usage and still break even $$$ wise while consuming more than you produce.

During the day (summer) you generate credit $$$ by generating at a high rate of about $.37/kwh and at night when you charge an EV you consume at lower rate $.13/kwh. So if you move as much usage as possible to night time (pool pumps, EV charging etc) you may still use more kwh than you produce but you still pay nothing beacuse you generated credit as $$$ and not kwh's.

The same applies for the other seasons but the pricing spread is less dramatic.

 

[RegGuheert]

Chris' brother-in-law recently posted his next installment: Nissan LEAF Review - Day 5 - The Big Hill Test.

It looks like Chris may get his LEAF back with a Romney/Ryan sticker affixed! :lol:

 

[LEAFer]

Nice 3rd installment.

But, Chris, please make him aware that capacity is not covered under the warranty.

 

[Boomer23]

Chris, regarding home solar panels, has your cousin included in the math the likelihood that his fuel costs for the LEAF would be zero if he gets SCE's TOU-D-TEV rate plan and he charges after midnight on weeknights? And also that his home's value would increase on resale if the home has solar panels and therefore, no power bill?

No, I do not think he has. Let's see if I understand TOU-D-TEV correctly. It's advantage with solar production is you can build a smaller system say 70%-80% of your total usage and still break even $$$ wise while consuming more than you produce.

During the day (summer) you generate credit $$$ by generating at a high rate of about $.37/kwh and at night when you charge an EV you consume at lower rate $.13/kwh. So if you move as much usage as possible to night time (pool pumps, EV charging etc) you may still use more kwh than you produce but you still pay nothing beacuse you generated credit as $$$ and not kwh's.

The same applies for the other seasons but the pricing spread is less dramatic.

That's exactly right, Chris. That rate plan has only two tiers, with three rate periods, Peak, Off Peak and Super Off Peak, and summer and winter rate schedules. For summer Peak solar production you get retail credit in Tier 2 at about 57 cents per kWh while SOP car charging averages about 13 cents.

My net usage last year was close to 3,000 kWh, but my total bill was $7 for the entire year!

The caveat is that heavy usage during Peak hours, like weekday daytime A/C use, cuts into your Peak generation credits.

 

[Boomer23]

Nice 3rd installment.

But, Chris, please make him aware that capacity is not covered under the warranty.

And that driving with a lead foot doesn't burn up your batteries, though heat does and leaving the car fully charged might.

 

[chris1howell]

Here is Day 6 Eco Mode...

http://www.seanmcclure.com/blog/index.php/2012/10/26/nissan-leaf-review-day-6-eco-mode/

I am really looking forward to getting our car back on Saturday, but will miss reading the blogs...

 

[RegGuheert]

Nissan LEAF Review - Day 7 - Running On Empty is now posted.

Frankly, it is amazing: Chris' brother-in-law has gone from an extreme doubter of EVs to the point where he is trying to calculate if he can pay for the LEAF while keeping their Nissan Altima. Given a $350/month gasoline bill, I suspect replacing most minivan trips with LEAF trips would be a no-brainer if they can get one of the cheap lease deals out there.

I am certainly interested in how this turns out since I think Sean represents at least a portion of the potential market for the LEAF and he has done an excellent job of honestly describing his perceptions of the car as he experienced it for the first week.

Chris, it was a great idea to push your LEAF on Sean made even better since he is such a decent blogger!

 

[hill]

Chris, regarding home solar panels, has your cousin included in the math the likelihood that his fuel costs for the LEAF would be zero if he gets SCE's TOU-D-TEV rate plan and he charges after midnight on weeknights? And also that his home's value would increase on resale if the home has solar panels and therefore, no power bill?

As a PV user since 2009 - I do encourage solar. As my better half is a broker for the largest realty company in So Cal - and holder of top female sales/broker in our city we have experience with "home values" pertaining to solar. With less than 1% of homes having PV, appraisers typically only allow a 10% value increase above the actual cost for PV. So if you put up a $50k system, you're lucky if the lender/appraisor add $5k to the home value. People buy a home for location - schools - safety etc ... as much as they can afford typically in any given residential area - and sadly, PV gets last billing. That said, our PV will have paid for itself in just a couple years, and it allows us to charge for free, in essence.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Chris, regarding home solar panels, has your cousin included in the math the likelihood that his fuel costs for the LEAF would be zero if he gets SCE's TOU-D-TEV rate plan and he charges after midnight on weeknights? And also that his home's value would increase on resale if the home has solar panels and therefore, no power bill?

As a PV user since 2009 - I do encourage solar. As my better half is a broker for the largest realty company in So Cal - and holder of top female sales/broker in our city we have experience with "home values" pertaining to solar. With less than 1% of homes having PV, appraisers typically only allow a 10% value increase above the actual cost for PV. So if you put up a $50k system, you're lucky if the lender/appraisor add $5k to the home value. People buy a home for location - schools - safety etc ... as much as they can afford typically in any given residential area - and sadly, PV gets last billing. That said, our PV will have paid for itself in just a couple years, and it allows us to charge for free, in essence.

Ya, another example of the "blind leading the blind" here. might as well lump this into TCO of electric verses...well ANY car that burns gas.

if its a "normal" car. TCO is won after 3 years. if its an econo box (hand crank windows, AM radio, etc) it takes 6 years to win the TCO...

even with the odds that lopsided, its still a losing battle. people simply dont understand the difference between a $6,000 higher sticker verses an additional $2500 in fuel costs per year. how can ANYONE not see this??

obtw; that is $2500 ONLY if you dont have random $5 gas price spikes 3 times a year!!

NOTE TO CHRIS what i would do before picking up your LEAF is contact your local dealer to talk about cash for referrals. my local dealer offered it to me if i send people his way who end up buying and why not? worst they can say is no but nearly ALL dealerships have a referral program of one type or another.

most offer cash of $100-$250... then again, some offer (like where i worked at) $150 gas cards or 5 free oil changes...hopefully that wont be the case for you