Chicagoland area

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redLEAF

redLEAF

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 26, 2010
Messages
1,763
Location
Chicago, IL
I know there are just two of us so far (if the latest Google map is any indication) but perhaps we have some newbies out there just joining the forum ... so chime in. Chicagoland typically includes NW IL, NW corner of IN and SE corner of WI (Chicago/Schaumburg/Naperville/Joliet - Gary (Lake/Porter County) - Kenosha/Racine) but of course could extend out to Rockford, up to Milwaukee and out to what, Fort Wayne? but we would have 'range' issues if too big :lol: if we all wanted to meet some day!

If I start to see more EV infrastructure, etc. news of interest to our area (which could end up towards the end of the LEAF rollout, but hopefully not) I'll post it here. I'd also encourage Nissan dealer participation once they're trained on the LEAF; this worked well over on the smart forum so can work here as well.

As for me - current cars include an '09 VW Routan SEL, '08 smart fortwo passion coupe, '06 Mazda3 GT 5-door and '99 Miata w/hardtop; have owned many brands both foreign and domestic both gas and diesel powered but this would be my first foray into 'alternative fuel' -- almost bought a Highlander Hybrid instead of the Routan but the Routan had much more cargo room, was significantly less expensive and the highway mileage (majority of where the Routan is used) was about the same -- plus, VW actually did a great job on the chassis, it actually rides better than an SUV, go figure! The LEAF would either replace the Mazda3 or smart depending on when it actually becomes available.
 
I live up in the NW suburbs of Chicago and put an order in the day they took deposits like most did. We're hoping to have the Leaf in our area within a year. The Leaf will replace a 16 mpg Honda Odyssey, making our other car, a Prius, the new gas guzzler in our household.....until it gets replaced with hopefully a Volt.
 
I'm in Warrenville. Can't imagine there aren't more of us from the Naperville area, but whatever.

It would also be good to hear about fast charging station information here on the forum. I know the nav system is supposed to tell you where they are when you are driving, but when planning out a longer trip, it would be helpful to know ahead of time if there are fast charging stations in the area you are intending to go to.

Near where I live is a pretty active group of individuals that build conversions. Here's a link to their website. http://www.fveaa.org/component/option,com_showfiles/Itemid,77/

I'm not a member yet, but maybe after I get the Leaf I'll join them.
 
Ualdriver said:
I live up in the NW suburbs of Chicago and put an order in the day they took deposits like most did. We're hoping to have the Leaf in our area within a year. The Leaf will replace a 16 mpg Honda Odyssey, making our other car, a Prius, the new gas guzzler in our household.....until it gets replaced with hopefully a Volt.
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Welcome Ualdriver! (assuming that might have something to do with working for United Airlines?) in any case please be sure to add your reservation location to the forum member map ... that brings to 3 for Chicagoland. You can find it below, if you have a Gmail account you can add it yourself otherwise look at active topics containing this URL for the forum member who set it up:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=101695356237695844500.000485571a29e01b60343
 
redLEAF said:
Ualdriver said:
I live up in the NW suburbs of Chicago and put an order in the day they took deposits like most did. We're hoping to have the Leaf in our area within a year. The Leaf will replace a 16 mpg Honda Odyssey, making our other car, a Prius, the new gas guzzler in our household.....until it gets replaced with hopefully a Volt.
Click to expand...
Welcome Ualdriver! (assuming that might have something to do with working for United Airlines?) in any case please be sure to add your reservation location to the forum member map ... that brings to 3 for Chicagoland. You can find it below, if you have a Gmail account you can add it yourself otherwise look at active topics containing this URL for the forum member who set it up:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=101695356237695844500.000485571a29e01b60343
Click to expand...

He-he.........your assumptions are correct :)

I don't have a g-mail account, and probably won't open yet another online account. If there's a way to put a pin in on the map, or if someone else wants to do it, I'm up in Woodstock, IL.

Also, if you guys hear of anything as far as deliveries out in our area, please post here or PM me and I'll do the same for you guys. I have no idea when we will actually see the car out by us, but I hope within a year. I select M'Lady Nissan in Crystal Lake as my dealer (with the Libertyville Nissan "Leaf" Dealer as a backup), although I will not go through with the purchase of the car if either dealer tries to stick overpriced "extras" on the car or adds one dollar more to the sticker price as some sort of "market adjustment fee" like the local Toyota dealers tried to do with the Prius I purchased a couple of years back. I'll lease it for the advertised price, and not a penny more. If they try to overcharge us, I'll wait until the Leafs (or is it Leaves?) become more available and price rationality settles in or I'll just wait a few more years and buy a Volt instead.

Hopefully there's more than just a few of us in the Chicago area on the waiting list. I would be disappointed (and concerned) if there wasn't more considering the population density of Chicago and the local suburbs. I'm also very concerned about cold weather performance, as you guys are well aware the temperatures out here in the winter can dip well below zero.

I've been exchanging a few e-mails with a Mini-E driver in NJ specifically discussing this issue. He seems like a really bright guy and pretty passionate about his Mini-E. He told me that his Mini-E has a 35kwh battery and got 156 miles on the LA4 cycle (the Leaf got 100 on a 24kwh battery), and from his blog it appears he gets around 100-110 miles range of "real world" driving in warm weather, and in the 80's in cold weather. Supposedly our battery chemistry is slightly different than the Mini E's, so hopefully that will make a difference.

Anyway, that's enough blabbing. Let's hope that Nissan doesn't over-promise and under-deliver, and gets cars out to us Chicago guys post haste!!
 
UALDriver...welcome to our little clique. Check out my post on how my selected preferred dealer first contact went. It wasn't pleasant. Here's the link: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=306

Hopefully the seller was just blowing smoke and I can find another one - Kelley Nissan in Downers Grove will be my second choice. I've alreay contacted them, but they have been way less pressure sale on me so far. Gerald salesman sounded like a douche. Hope that's no ones friend on here! :D
 
chijayhawker said:
UALDriver...welcome to our little clique. Check out my post on how my selected preferred dealer first contact went. It wasn't pleasant. Here's the link: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=306

Hopefully the seller was just blowing smoke and I can find another one - Kelley Nissan in Downers Grove will be my second choice. I've alreay contacted them, but they have been way less pressure sale on me so far. Gerald salesman sounded like a douche. Hope that's no ones friend on here! :D
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Yeah, I had read that post. I have little confidence in any dealerships. I haven't even tried to contact any of my "Leaf dealers" as I suspect it will just lead to frustration. Usually when I buy new cars, I simply e-mail 50 of the closest dealers with a couple hundred miles of me and go with the guy that e-mails me back the cheapest out the door price. I don't even deal with salesmen. Unfortunately, I'm not going to have that luxury this time as the car will be in limited supply. If they screw with me, I'll just walk. It's more important to me that we get off of foreign oil than ME necessarily having a Leaf, so as long as the car goes to someone else and it gets a gasoline car off the road, I'm happy :)
 
I'm totally with you UALDriver. If the dealers won't sell it for MSRP (by Nissan's standards and not some manufactured number they offer), then I'm walking. I will wait until I can get an EV that is affordable at an advertised price. Apparently dealers just think we are idiots or so gun-ho that we are willing to give them extra money - apparently just to be nice...or to have the air of being the first in line. I could care less about that, but I know others do and they can pay the premium that I won't.
 
An old news story ... but relevant, was trying to determine how many 'active' EV's are currently registered in IL now (closest was a mention on an EV club site of about 200). EV (or designated EL within Illinois) specific plates have been around since 1968 (see other URL reference) but these cover anything from converted ICE and others.

http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=78095

IL plate history (look at 1968)

http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/special/plate_history/start_history.html
 
I don't suppose any Illinoians have received the e-mail regarding the Aerovironment charger installation review? I know I haven't. I guess this is because we are not in the initial distribution wave area. Contradict me if you did receive the e-mail.
 
chijayhawker said:
I don't suppose any Illinoians have received the e-mail regarding the Aerovironment charger installation review? I know I haven't. I guess this is because we are not in the initial distribution wave area. Contradict me if you did receive the e-mail.
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Nope...I'll post here is I hear anything about anything.....hopefully the rest of the Chicago area guys will too!
 
Nyet, nada, non, ???, não, ?, nein, .... that would be a 'no'

will be sure and share anything I get as soon as I get it as well ...
 
redLEAF said:
First PR notice I've seen by a Chicago area Nissan dealer ... I bought a car from a VW dealer in Libertyville back in '88 (a Brazilian made VW Fox) but haven't had any recent experience out that way. Anyone else stop by this dealer ?

http://www.prlog.org/10772338-chicago-nissan-leaf-to-be-synchronized-with-smartphones.html
Click to expand...

I think they're over in that "dealer's row" area in Libertyville. I don't live too far from there and would consider buying from them. If anyone chats them up, please post!!
 
Heard this was coming ... confirms for Chicago (not the LEAF which is still being considered but the Mitsu appears to be here first), also heard this same story on WBBM driving in; they quoted by mid-year 2011:


http://www.chicagotribune.com/class...getting-around-0726-20100726,0,1909419.column


the I-Go car sharing would be a good way to have an extended test drive as well before buying --- let's see when they actually get here!
 
I guess we all have over a year and a couple of months before we can get a Leaf. What other EVs are the rest of you looking at trying to acquire if you decide not to wait that long for the Leaf? Just curious.
 
redLEAF said:
First PR notice I've seen by a Chicago area Nissan dealer ... I bought a car from a VW dealer in Libertyville back in '88 (a Brazilian made VW Fox) but haven't had any recent experience out that way. Anyone else stop by this dealer ?

http://www.prlog.org/10772338-chicago-nissan-leaf-to-be-synchronized-with-smartphones.html
Click to expand...

Greetings All!

I am new to the board (just registered today). I have put my location on the Leaf map though. I have an early Leaf reservation, and can't wait! I've been waiting for a decent EV for years (I lurked on the Aptera Forum forever, but gave up on that vehicle about a year ago).

I am mildly concerned about what the winter weather (and road conditions) will do to battery range. I have a 60 mile round-trip daily commute.

I have used Libertyville VW for an oil change in my 2006 Beetle TDI, they were very friendly and prompt. This is near my workplace, so I would definitely consider them for purchase. If they get a charging point (maybe a fast charger) that would be sweet! It would also alleviate range anxiety for those Gurnee Mills runs from downtown.

BTW: I still plan on keeping my diesel beetle (can't beat 40 mpg) for those long trips.
 

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