What I've found about the car so far

So, first, some answers from the questions I got in the other thread :
- I made it home with 10 miles left as indicated by the car. I think that I drove about 85/90 miles that day, and recharged in SF for 5-10 miles. We did most of the Petaluma -> SF highway at 55, and I did SF->Redwood City at 65+
- Some people notice the car while driving on the freeway (I golf GTI slowed down as I was coming back from San Jose today), I had to accelerate to 80 from 65 and pass them again to kill the myth that electric cars are slow, but battery range was getting low, so I went back to 65 soon after. I haven't had anyone ask me any question so far about, but I've only parked at my place, and in an underground parking lot so far.
- the vin is the 206 one. I like it.
- remote climate control seems to work the same way weither you are plugged in or not. I believe that I've read somewhere that if you're not plugged in, it shuts off automatically after a while.
- I got a manual, it felt big, it's made of recycled paper, and therefore is ugly. I haven't opened it yet.
- I didn't talk during the ceremony (thank god).
- It's way more comfortable than my wife's fit, accelerates better, is much more silent, way better equipped. I like the fit though, so handling feels better with the LEAF (I wouldn't mind taking turns faster with it than with the fit). I also think that you have a lower perception of speed in the LEAF(ie, 40 mph feels slow in the LEAF given lack of noise, and it's a bigger car). After 70mph, I'd have to compare the 2 for real. Intuition tells me that the fit accelerates slower, but I could be wrong.
- the car had 15 miles on the odometer at delivery, after a 5+ miles test drive.
- Battery warranty is what you already know + they replace it during the warranty period if the total capacity drops bellow 60% of the original one. (I'll have to double check that, cause the day was crazy, and I didn't have time to read everything in details).
- I haven't applied for CVRP yet. (btw, the carpool stickers can only be ordered once you have your plates)
- To be honest, I haven't even checked that destination and handling wasn't added. the final price with taxes and registration was what I was expecting. I could double check, but I think I would have noticed a ~800 increase.
- I did NOT get the eco package. So, either all cars are coming with this small "zero emission" (it's not a decal, it's real metallic stuff, and looks GREAT), or Nissan added it to my car for free. I also didn't remember from the test drive all the blue accents outside (Nissan logo at the front, back and on the wheels). They look fantastic if you ask me. Actually, I wasn't big on the look of the car (even after seeing it during the test drive tour), but I thought that mine looked "awesome".
- We didn't talk with Carlos Tavares about tier2 deliveries. I wasn't even aware of any delay. For the next orders in line, regarding the dec 23rd date, I think that his speech was prepared in advance. Other Nissan employees told me the ship would arrive by dec 20th, and that hopefully the cars would be selling by christmas. I didn't get the sense that they were experiencing any major delay.
- I haven't noticed a big difference of performance based on the car occupancy so far, especially when comparing to an ICE car. Maybe that's because it's so heavy and that the passengers weigths make less of a difference? or maybe that's because I've only driven it for 1 day
- 0-60, I'm not sure, but I think that the announced 10 secs is probably accurate. (I don't really have a street to test 0-60 on). 0-40 is clearly amazing for sure ... yesterday evening I left all the other cars way behind when accelerating after a light. The car REALLY limits the torque bellow 10mph (or so) however, so you feel some kind of boost after that. I have a friend who owns a Mazda 3 speed, we'll have to compare initial acceleration from 0 to 40.
- top speed : I don't want to get ticket.

Now, a few other thoughts :
- I'm so glad I got this car ! I chose it because it's electric, but if it wasn't but still had the same characteristics (noise, acceleration, comfort, equipement, price), I would buy it (of course no gas engine can provide all of these ;p). Forget the environment, if you don't need to drive tons of miles a day, electric cars are by FAR superior. I should have known, people have said so ("Who killed the electric car?"). There's no coming back for my day to day car for me. EVER. Carlos Ghosn is right when he's saying that once you buy one EV, you won't go back to ICE.

- the bluetooth connection is great (music, phone, contacts) and works perfectly with the iPhone. Actually, being on the phone in this car is the best communication experience you'll experience. It works from any music app on the iPhone (I happen to have the grooveshark app installed on my iPhone). 1 small bug so far, if you plug your iPhone via usb, and are connected via bluetooth as well, it sounds like the audio is still sent via bluetooth. Could be a iPhone bug.

- When setting your recharge timer(s), you can set a charge limit. there might be a custom entry, but the 2 offered by default are : "100%" : maximize your range, or "80%" : maximize your battery life. I think that I'll stick to 80% for now during week days. You can assign days of the week to your timers, so, you could charge 80% sunday-thursday nights (for commuting to work), and 100% fri-sat (in case you want to drive a bit during the WEs).

- Range ... ok, this is a though one. your mileage will vary ... a lot ;p If you want to cruise on the highway at 75+ mph, then you should not hope to get more than 50-60 miles of range, with light climate control. at 65 it gets better. it can also go up (left with 82 miles of range tonight, came back with the same amount, after driving about 10 miles. City driving at 35/ 40 mph)

ok, it's getting late ...

Regarding torque, maybe if you turn of traction control, you'll get all torque from the takeoff.

I'd be interested to see what the realistic range with mostly highway at 65mph on 80% charge. :?: If you stop charging at 80%, what does the dashboard tell you the range is?

Congratulations on your car and thanks for sharing gudy - both your long write-ups today have been really interesting and valuable. I hope you can find something in your documentation on that 60% capacity warranty that you can share. I am also looking forward to that first-in-the-world delivered manual being opened and scrutinized for any new info...

Gudy,

One important question is - does carwings website or the car range/charge history store daily travelled miles and the amount of charging done ? Can you keep a log of these so that we can trace the miles/kwh under various speeds/driving conditions. That would give everyone a better idea of the range.

Also, is there a place where Leaf shows actual state of charge (in terms of kwh) ? I doubt it.

So, when you get a chance, drive till you get the "low battery warning" and then charge it to full 100%. This will tell us the real pack size (24kwh or larger ?).

Nice one again, Gudy.

Say, did you tell us the story behind you finally deciding to get the EVSE?

Thanks, Gudy, for all the information you shared last night. Now back to your regular life, with the LEAF being just be a normal part of your day. Congrats!

mwalsh said:

Nice one again, Gudy.

Say, did you tell us the story behind you finally deciding to get the EVSE?

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turbotax updated their tax forecaster tool, and if the AMT law passes as it was proposed, then I would not pay it, so I'd get the 50% off.
I paid ~800 for the AV unit shipped, and $551 for installation + permit. -50%, it becomes a reasonable price given the convenience it offers.
And it's really convenient for weekends actually.

Hi Gudy. I was told during the test drive that the 80% vs 100% is adjustable. I asked if it could be set to 90% & 100% and they said that it could. What does the manual say?

I'm very pleased when you said "...left with 82 miles of range tonight, came back with the same amount, after driving about 10 miles. City driving at 35/ 40 mph" Makes me think that we have alot of control with our left foot among other options to stretch even further the LEAF range.

Congrats once again and please keep telling us what your's feelings about your rides.

Thanks for the detailed reports. Read it all. Congratulations on owning the first LEAF!

It confirms everything I imagined and makes me all the more eager for my own delivery! But there was one nagging concern I had. When I took a test drive of the car, I found the visibility through the rear window was rather limited. What are your experiences? Was it sufficient for you? Assuming you didn't have the backup camera, would you feel safe considering the limited view through the rearview mirror?

The front pilars are more annoying that the rear window, especially when doing a right turn on red. I'm not really used to using the camera, so I mostly simply look back when backing up.

Gudy,

Adding another vote for the Carwings - any data there? anything worth sharing of interest?

Gudy; thanks for the write up. we look forward to many more.

the pillars are an issue with a lot of cars. in my Prius, its simply terrible if making sharp left turns. i think its probably more a result of safety features being instituted for rollover protection.

Carwings does record ALL your charging data. when you charge, how you charge, etc. no doubt Nissan will use this info to taylor the battery warranty for the 2012 models. a lot was discussed on the the delays for tier 2 states. i think that due to a less robust charging network, the battery warrranty is more critical. but only my opinion.

as far as charging level. its great that you can set your charge level. but 80% is too low. someone says its adjustable, well GREAT!! the slower the charge, the more adjustment should be available like

L3= 80%
L2=90%
L3= 95%.

i do not want 100% (after 3 years of EV ownership, the mistake of charging to 100% all the time was quickly learned) but i do want 95% option

80% might not be enough, but is 95% will be ok on the battery? Also, what type of degradation did you experience with constant charging to 100%?

Remember, our charging to 100% of "usable" is really only charging to 90% of the actual total battery capacity ... we think.

garygid said:

Remember, our charging to 100% of "usable" is really only charging to 90% of the actual total battery capacity ... we think.

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is there a way to check or confirm that? I don't want to be charging to 80% or even 90% thinking there is some benefit to it.

Gudy, thanks for posting! I haven't had time to read all the other posts, as I was out all weekend, but I did DVR the local bay area news. I guess they did a short ride along with you. Very exciting!

Gudy,
Great report of your first experiences in the paradigm shattering vehicle. Keep us updated on your further observations and insights as we all wait for our own vehicles to arrive.

By the way, are you a PG&E electric customer there or do you have a local utility company for electricity?

Seasons Best !

George (still Leafless in W. Sacramento)

8 - )

IBELEAF said:

80% might not be enough, but is 95% will be ok on the battery? Also, what type of degradation did you experience with constant charging to 100%?

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nothing but the norm... but that is not the problem...charge capacity is a moving target. temperatures control the reactivity of any chemical reaction and that is all battery storage and discharge is, 2 chemical reactions moving electrons around

so what we want to prevent is charging to 101% which can be done inadvertently. so by only charging to say 90%...if we overshoot to 92% ...no big deal.