Meeting with Nissan, Phoenix, Jan 8, 2013, 6pm, drinks prior

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evchels said:
Hi all,

First, thank you so much for submitting questions! I'll update the draft list I posted on the warranty thread this afternoon and add here too. Some of the questions will probably end up as "homework" for either the Tony/Phil battery task force or the regular advisory group, but I will make sure any question submitted this week gets sent to Nissan before next Tuesday's event.

Chelsea -

Any chance that you and the others on the board can try and prioritize the questions so that those that seem of most interest to most people are sure to get asked (and hopefully answered)?

At local board meetings here, anyone wishing to ask a question is requested to write it on a paper form at the beginning of the meeting and submit. The moderator is able to use that to organize the order of the questions, but still calls on the individuals in the audience so they can ask the question directly (and the board knows who they are addressing).
 
With the meeting time changed, it's looking more likely I will fly MYF-SDL, departing San Diego at noon-ish on Jan 8, 2013 and arriving Scottsdale at 2pm-ish. It is 10 miles to the hotel, so probably a crew car or shuttle van for that leg.

Hopefully, we can fully check out the 2013 LEAF before the meeting.

Then, departure from SDL at 9pm-ish to arrive MYF around 11pm. I'll be home by midnight-ish.

I already have one tentative passenger (who is also a pilot), so we can take a few more. Iif we have more than 4 total, we have to take the Piper Malibu:


http://www.plusoneflyers.org/FleetPhotos/N4363Q_EXT.JPG" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
TonyWilliams said:
Absolutely later in the day is best for participation. Unfortunately, it will be dark then to check out the new car, so I recommend that it be on display earlier.
Agreed, this works better for me too, and I definitely appreciate the change in schedule. Perhaps it will be possible to coordinate some form of group travel from NorCal as well.
 
TonyWilliams said:
With the meeting time changed, it's looking more likely I will fly MYF-SDL, departing San Diego at noon-ish on Jan 8, 2013 and arriving Scottsdale at 2pm-ish. It is 10 miles to the hotel, so probably a crew car or shuttle van for that leg.

Hopefully, we can fully check out the 2013 LEAF before the meeting.

Then, departure from SDL at 9pm-ish to arrive MYF around 11pm. I'll be home by midnight-ish.

I already have one tentative passenger (who is also a pilot), so we can take a few more. Iif we have more than 4 total, we have to take the Piper Malibu:


http://www.plusoneflyers.org/FleetPhotos/N4363Q_EXT.JPG" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hang on...the meeting isn't officially changed yet. I'm simply asking on this side if it would make a difference in participation while Nissan looks into the option (and I want to make sure that no one who could come in the am would be precluded if we move the time). So far, you and surfingslovak are the only ones I've seen chime in publicly or privately.

Should be able to confirm tonight or tomorrow depending on responses, but don't want to guarantee until I know for sure...
 
evchels said:
Should be able to confirm tonight or tomorrow depending on responses, but don't want to guarantee until I know for sure...
Hopefully they can make it quick! These flight prices go up every time I look, it seems. :? I'm leaning back in to going again. :)
 
JeremyW said:
evchels said:
Should be able to confirm tonight or tomorrow depending on responses, but don't want to guarantee until I know for sure...
Hopefully they can make it quick! These flight prices go up every time I look, it seems. :? I'm leaning back in to going again. :)

I know, and I'm sorry. It's all a little last-minute as it is, given the holiday shut-down, but a couple of us have been worried about the morning timing keeping folks from attending, so have been pushing for reconsideration. Apologies if that makes things worse for a few...just trying to create the best access given the circumstances (and yes, I'm exploring video options w a couple Nissan conspirators as well.)
 
evchels said:
Should be able to confirm tonight or tomorrow depending on responses, but don't want to guarantee until I know for sure...

I suspect most LEAF drivers (at least the ones I know) have real jobs, so an 8 am meeting might not be ideal.

If we are throwing out times, I'd suggest slightly earlier than 6pm (4pm) so that out of town guests can fly in and out on the same day. The last bank of Southwest flights leave PHX between 8pm and 9pm.

Locals in Phoenix might prefer this also. In addition, it would be better for car viewing.
 
TonyWilliams said:
evchels said:
Should be able to confirm tonight or tomorrow depending on responses, but don't want to guarantee until I know for sure...

I suspect most LEAF drivers (at least the ones I know) have real jobs, so an 8 am meeting might not be ideal.

If we are throwing out times, I'd suggest slightly earlier than 6pm (4pm) so that out of town guests can fly in and out on the same day. The last bank of Southwest flights leave PHX between 8pm and 9pm.

Locals in Phoenix might prefer this also. In addition, it would be better for car viewing.

If there are others who prefer a 4-ish time, I'm happy to propose it. But again, having more than two people chime in, in any direction, would be helpful.
 
I think 4pm is a little too early. That means people have to get out of work early (3'ish) in order to make it there by 4pm. A more reasonable time would be 5pm at the earliest to give people time to get off work by 4'ish and get there by 5.

Sure, 4pm may allow out of town people to make it a day trip. But how many of those are there?

If you want to get the most local attendance, I think 6pm would give you the most people.

With it being less than a week away, I think there needs to be a communication email to AZ owners soon to announce and take on sign-up in order to see what the turn-out is going to look like. The shorter the notice, the lower the attendance may be.
 
Hi Chelsea.

Not sure if you got my question from another thread. I'd like to know what plans (if any) Nissan have to expand the Chademo charging network. Donations, subsidies, placement at dealerships? I consider a good fast charging network to be central to large scale EV adoption. For the price of one superbowl ad, we could have hundreds of quick chargers and they'd help to sell cars for years, not just 30 seconds :)
 
evchels said:
If there are others who prefer a 4-ish time, I'm happy to propose it. But again, having more than two people chime in, in any direction, would be helpful.
Chelsea, both 4 and 6 pm would work reasonably well for me.
 
Chelsea,

I would prefer 6 pm. Second choice 5 pm, followed by 4 pm.

My original understanding was that this Phoenix Town Hall was going to address the early degradation of AZ and other hot climate batteries. But it now appears to be a bit of a free for all, and if that is the case, and you need to accommodate out-of-towners, then perhaps 4pm is your best bet. But if you want the locals to show, my guess is that 6 pm is best.
 
I'd like to add a question if possible. Some of the upgrades in the expected 2013 LEAF will be more or less pure firmware changes. One example would be the display of a percent SOC on the dash. Another is the addition of 'B' mode for improved regenerative braking, of particular interest to me on my regular mountain descents. Is there a possibility of those firmware upgrades becoming available for 2011 and 2012 MY LEAFs? Free is always nice, but I wouldn't fault Nissan for charging money for upgrades.
 
I really, really hope most of this time can be spent really, truly hearing the experiences and learnings of Phoenix LEAF owners and that Nissan wants our input to build a better car for the everyman in these harsher environments.

That said, I vote for happy hour in the hotel bar starting at 4:30 followed by the meeting at 6.



I know this is unsolicited and I hope it's not considered off topic, but if I were given 45 seconds to introduce myself in the meeting here's what I would say:
I was the proud owner of the 500th LEAF built. I want to thank Nissan for stepping up and buying my car back. I won't say the process to get to that conclusion was easy, and I can't say the result would be the same without news coverage, but it really shouldn't be too easy, it's a lot of money involved for both parties. Each individual I dealt with at Nissan did their very best to help me and treated me very well throughout. Over the course of 4 months over the summer of 2012, driving with an pretty darn good efficiency of 4.5 miles per kWh, my car at first could only go 58 miles to low battery warning with 2 capacity bars missing to 46 miles with 3 bars missing. If I were driving what I've approximated the EPA tested (3.5 mi/kWh), this would have been only 35 miles to low battery warning with 3 bars lost. I think we were pretty far from dropping that 4th bar. I really hope you can understand the significance of these numbers. Thank you for your time and your courage to put this vehicle out in the world and yourselves here front of us.
 
Nubo said:
If someone could bring up the "Press OK" issue again...?

It would be lovely if that went away. ;)
+1
Ironic that in the shadows of headline issues like increased battery capacity, faster charging rate, TMS and charging infrastructure, all of which represent big technology and cost barriers to overcome, lurks this positively infuriating annoyance that is totally self-inflicted.

If you find a sympathetic ear, you could also mention that there is at least one owner out there who finds the lack of illumination on the power lock button on the driver's door extremely unfriendly as well. I can never find that damn thing in the dark! :lol:
 
azdre said:
I really, really hope most of this time can be spent really, truly hearing the experiences and learnings of Phoenix LEAF owners and that Nissan wants our input to build a better car for the everyman in these harsher environments.

That said, I vote for happy hour in the hotel bar starting at 4:30 followed by the meeting at 6.

I totally agree. I hope those in AZ understand that some of us out-of-town are here less to give input but more to observe and meet some very dedicated folks. This is a once in a lifetime event. :)

I vote with azdre. This gives us time to socialize beforehand.
 
JPWhite said:
Hi Chelsea.

Not sure if you got my question from another thread. I'd like to know what plans (if any) Nissan have to expand the Chademo charging network. Donations, subsidies, placement at dealerships? I consider a good fast charging network to be central to large scale EV adoption. For the price of one superbowl ad, we could have hundreds of quick chargers and they'd help to sell cars for years, not just 30 seconds :)

I second this question!

I was considering flying out for this meeting, but can't get the day off from work. I've never been to AZ before, was looking forward to going. :(

Can't wait to hear what Nissan has to say. Thanks to everyone who is putting this together.
 
LTLFTcomposite said:
Nubo said:
If someone could bring up the "Press OK" issue again...?

It would be lovely if that went away. ;)
+1
Ironic that in the shadows of headline issues like increased battery capacity, faster charging rate, TMS and charging infrastructure, all of which represent big technology and cost barriers to overcome, lurks this positively infuriating annoyance that is totally self-inflicted.

CS: Hello, I'm Chelsea Sexton. Press OK to continue.

TW: [Tony Williams ostentatiously presses a large button on the podium]

CS: I'd like to thank you all for coming today. Press OK to continue.

TW: [Presses button]

CS: And I'd like to thank Nissan for coming to meet with us. Press OK to continue.

CS: I'd like to start with one issue... Press OK to continue.

TW: [Presses button]

CS: ...that should be very simple to deal with. Press OK to continue.

TW: [Presses button]

CS: And that is the nagging OK button for Carwings. Press OK to continue.

TW: [Presses button]

CS: Can you understand how annoying it is... Press OK to continue.

TW: [Presses button]

CS: ...to ask our agreement for every single trip? Press OK to continue.

TW: [Presses button]

CS: C'mon guys, just ask us once a year to agree. Press OK to continue.

TW: [Presses button]

CS: ...like every other company in the world. Press OK to continue.

TW: [Presses button]

CS: Please?!
 
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