Chicagoland area

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Hi Red,

Are you still driving your Leaf? If I recall, you and I got ours within a day or two of each other back in 2011. Almost to year 7 here!

I've only lost 2 bars on the gauge. How is yours holding up?
 
Bzzzzz said:
Hi Red,

Are you still driving your Leaf? If I recall, you and I got ours within a day or two of each other back in 2011. Almost to year 7 here!

I've only lost 2 bars on the gauge. How is yours holding up?

Hi Bzzzzz; you might be able to tell from my MNL signature -- LEAF got traded in on a (lightly) used VW e-Golf which was my placeholder until I took delivery of a new Tesla Model 3 (LEAF had lost a fair amount of range; even worse of course during the winter months, the VW e-Golf much less so); we also more recently added a second EV that's my wife's short commute car, a smart ED Brabus coupe -- still using the L2 Schneider EVlink charger that we had installed back in '11 for the LEAF but now for 2 EV's -- and lastly, majority of the time they're truly 100% emissions free as we charge them using our solar roof panel system.

Our LEAF was a great car -- I give Nissan a lot of credit for bringing it to market; it had its quirks but if you could live with its limited range (which for the majority of the time we owned it wasn't an issue) it was a great daily commuter -- with the next gen LEAF on the horizon with double or even triple the range even more people will consider EV's but by then we'll all have hopefully many more choices to pick from !
 
Hi All,

I've had my 2015 Leaf SV for almost two years and I'm hooked. Looking to pick up a 2018 because my commute has changed (and to take advantage of year end deals and tax credits)..Nothing finalized on the 2018 yet but figure I should start the process of selling my 2015. Wondering if anyone here might be interested. Happy to have you over for a test drive I'm located near the northeast corner of Naperville (Naper and Ogden).

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=502963952&zip=60532&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D60532%26startYear%3D1981%26sortBy%3Drelevance%26incremental%3Dall%26firstRecord%3D0%26marketExtension%3Don%26endYear%3D2019%26modelCodeList%3DLEAF%26makeCodeList%3DNISSAN%26searchRadius%3D100&startYear=1981&numRecords=25&firstRecord=0&endYear=2019&modelCodeList=LEAF&makeCodeList=NISSAN&searchRadius=100&makeCode1=NISSAN&modelCode1=LEAF&clickType=listing
 
Phatcat73 said:
Picked up 115xx plates yesterday.

Didn't take too long --- saw a new Model 3 sporting 1217x EL plates yesterday; already past the 12xxx level now ... heard that the IL SOS office that issues these is running behind, lots of new Tesla's out and about around Chicagoland as of late, have only seen perhaps 1 or 2 new LEAF's but a fair amount of used ones (most of which the new owner and/or the used car sales they bought them from has no clue about letting the new owner know about the reduced rate EV ('EL' series) plates available in IL --- still $35 for 2 years vs $101/yr for regular plates)
 
Hi all - new(ish) owner here. Picked up a sort of mid-life crisis car. Started out researching a used $10k Leaf and ended up coming home with a brand new Plus SL. Well, I can afford one impulse buy, and I will. ;)

My energy bills have definitely shot up, despite not using my car much, $30/mo for the last three months higher than last year's bills for the same month. That adds color to the idea paying an ETF to break my current contract.

So we're on an "alternative" energy supplier locked in for 3 years at 7.49c/kWh flat rate.

I see on ComEd's hourly realtime pricing page that they quote live hourly rates (11pm) at 2.5c, and fixed "next day" at 6.723.

Am I really reading this right?

Fair to say, we do use a "wind power only" energy provider (so they say) so I expect it would cost a little bit more here in the midwest. No idea where they get their power from actually.

Sounds like I'd be better off breaking the alternative supplier contract (and paying the $50 ETF) and setting up with ComEd for supply again, then getting enrolled in the RRTP (hourly) program.

Am I thinking clearly or missing something?

Thanks!
 
semjaza said:
Hi all - new(ish) owner here. Picked up a sort of mid-life crisis car. Started out researching a used $10k Leaf and ended up coming home with a brand new Plus SL. Well, I can afford one impulse buy, and I will. ;)

My energy bills have definitely shot up, despite not using my car much, $30/mo for the last three months higher than last year's bills for the same month. That adds color to the idea paying an ETF to break my current contract.

So we're on an "alternative" energy supplier locked in for 3 years at 7.49c/kWh flat rate.

I see on ComEd's hourly realtime pricing page that they quote live hourly rates (11pm) at 2.5c, and fixed "next day" at 6.723.

Am I really reading this right?

Fair to say, we do use a "wind power only" energy provider (so they say) so I expect it would cost a little bit more here in the midwest. No idea where they get their power from actually.

Sounds like I'd be better off breaking the alternative supplier contract (and paying the $50 ETF) and setting up with ComEd for supply again, then getting enrolled in the RRTP (hourly) program.

Am I thinking clearly or missing something?

Thanks!

Had tried the whole alternate supplier stuff a number of years ago when they allowed you to "shop" for better rates -- did a bit better vs. ComEd when we had our first EV back in late '11 -- our LEAF bumped our usage about an extra $25 to $30 a month. Found the whole 'real time use' rates hard to follow and not sure if you could really save all that much overall -- too many calculations, etc. Settled on a fixed rate of around 6.49 as I seem to recall at the time; best bet would be to look back at your historical usage, add the extra for the EV and try to "predict" where rates will go -- not much fun!

With 2 EV's under roof since mid last year (smart EV and Model 3) we went solar late last year; our system is rated at 10.4 kW so can easily handle our electricity needs -- ComEd (with an assist from the solar PV provider) sets you up on Net Metering where any excess power gets sent back to the grid in the form of future credits -- you only pay for the connection fee (a little under $17/mo) when you generate more than you can use -- we expect our system to pay for itself in 6 to 8 years and can avoid the rate increases as well -- system has been great, love the fact our EV's are truly emissions free powered by the sun!

I also see it's been several months since I posted an updated sighting of IL's EL plates -- yesterday spotted a Model 3 (of course) with 158xx so 16000 can't be that far away -- as plate fees for EV's are going up in IL (whole other threads on that) not the incentive nor an exact science on how many new EV's are being added (you aren't required to use them; lots of vanity and special series plates are found on EV's in IL) its still encouraging at least 5K of newly registered EV's have been added in the last several months.

Best of luck with your new LEAF and figuring out your next step on "feeding" it from the grid --- go solar!
 
One curiosity I have here in IL is whether the EVs that mistakenly received normal plates will be allowed to keep them and pay the lower rate or be forced into EV plates.

Vice versa, will the few Volts that somehow received EV plates now be forced back into normal plates.

Agreed on the extra $100 a year for EVs, though nationally that seems to be where things are going. Guess I just need to drive my Leaf more to make the extra fee feel worth it.
 
DougWantsALeaf said:
One curiosity I have here in IL is whether the EVs that mistakenly received normal plates will be allowed to keep them and pay the lower rate or be forced into EV plates.

Vice versa, will the few Volts that somehow received EV plates now be forced back into normal plates.

Agreed on the extra $100 a year for EVs, though nationally that seems to be where things are going. Guess I just need to drive my Leaf more to make the extra fee feel worth it.

Yes -- but 'mistakenly' in many cases is the dealer (like Audi and Jaguar with their newly minted 100% EV's) not even being aware of the IL EL plate program in the first place -- of the very few Audi e-tron's (have seen about a half-dozen) and even fewer Jaguar's (saw just two) NONE had EL plates on them, but have seen a BMW i8 (PHEV) and Kia Niro (the PHEV version not full-electric) with EL plates assigned just like a Chevy Volt, go figure? We have heard that although the EL plates will be more expensive than the current $35/two year renewal, the actual cost per year should be less than the equivalent regular plates for an ICE -- we'll see soon enough as all existing EL plates will renew this coming December so am waiting for my renewal notice from IL SOS to see if we get one more under the existing rules or they charge the new rates (technically we'll renew in 2019 and the new rates go into effect in January 2020). As far as those who have regular, vanity or special plates (Environmental, Route 66, etc.) who knows if they get an EV surcharge on top or simply be charged the going rate for the plate they have -- we'll all see soon enough (and actually that goes as well for our smart EV that has an Environmental plate on it -- I transferred that plate from the ICE smart we traded in -- renews in December)
 
Hi All, I am in Wheaton, I have a 2013 Leaf I purchased used in April of 2019. Put a bout 3k miles on it. It's a great machine. I do like it so far.
Does anyone know about the FENIX company and the new battery they are trying to develop for the Leaf? I actually placed my deposit for one and am awaiting more details. apparently they are offering a "Tesla like" battery technology (with heat mgt.) etc. more range and a 3 option program; either Lease the new battery, buy it outright (cheaper than a new battery from Nissan) or a buy it over time. I signed up because it seems to be a "no-brainer" move to me. I was wondering if anyone else is going to jump on board as well?
 
redLEAF said:
DougWantsALeaf said:
One curiosity I have here in IL is whether the EVs that mistakenly received normal plates will be allowed to keep them and pay the lower rate or be forced into EV plates.

Vice versa, will the few Volts that somehow received EV plates now be forced back into normal plates.

Agreed on the extra $100 a year for EVs, though nationally that seems to be where things are going. Guess I just need to drive my Leaf more to make the extra fee feel worth it.

Yes -- but 'mistakenly' in many cases is the dealer (like Audi and Jaguar with their newly minted 100% EV's) not even being aware of the IL EL plate program in the first place -- of the very few Audi e-tron's (have seen about a half-dozen) and even fewer Jaguar's (saw just two) NONE had EL plates on them, but have seen a BMW i8 (PHEV) and Kia Niro (the PHEV version not full-electric) with EL plates assigned just like a Chevy Volt, go figure? We have heard that although the EL plates will be more expensive than the current $35/two year renewal, the actual cost per year should be less than the equivalent regular plates for an ICE -- we'll see soon enough as all existing EL plates will renew this coming December so am waiting for my renewal notice from IL SOS to see if we get one more under the existing rules or they charge the new rates (technically we'll renew in 2019 and the new rates go into effect in January 2020). As far as those who have regular, vanity or special plates (Environmental, Route 66, etc.) who knows if they get an EV surcharge on top or simply be charged the going rate for the plate they have -- we'll all see soon enough (and actually that goes as well for our smart EV that has an Environmental plate on it -- I transferred that plate from the ICE smart we traded in -- renews in December)

Didn't realize how long ago my last post was on this topic -- two things, spotted Illinois plate 2056x EL on a black Chevy Bolt so the number of registered EV's in IL has grown a decent amount since the last sighting! Also, the annual renewal fee is no mystery, went up to $251 annually, its a $100/yr surcharge on top of normal plate fees for ICE's; reasoning is EV's pay no gas taxes; not outrageous per se but a far cry from when the state was promoting them at $35/two year renewal. As far as all the non-EL plates on EVs, the IL SOS will 'force' the change to an EL plate with only a few exceptions (have heard just handicapped and possibly Military/Veteran plates -- those folks with these will need to go to an IL SOS office to get them renewed) -- as my smart EV was renewed in 2019 we've got our Environmental plate until the end of the year at least and then it goes on the wall of the garage -- its a leased car but assume that won't make a difference registration-wise.

It also does appear that the handful of new e-Tron's and i-Pace EV's are getting new EL plates as well (I'm sure this seems a pain to dealerships as new EL plates all come from Springfield IL SOS office and can't be 'stocked' at dealerships like ICE stock plates, back to the yellow temp tags) -- seems to be more of the new Audi's then Jaguar's on the road but then the overall sales numbers seem to back this up. The most popular new EV is still the Model 3 around Chicagoland -- on most daily trips seem to spot at least 6 or more. What is even a more rare occurrence is spotting a new LEAF -- perhaps its just not distinctive enough but have seen much fewer of these than the other new EV's in the market. Lastly, the Tesla Model Y should be next to be seen around here -- according to Tesla and other postings, the first on the streets will be the performance AWD -- anyone spot one yet around Chicagoland ? should be a matter of just a few days at most and yes I put an order in for one -- mine will be a LR AWD (non-performance) that will replace my last ICE in the family
 
I haven’t seen any Ys yet in Chicago. I am seeing a “few” more Leafs on the North side of Chicago, but certainly fewer than M3s. Old Orchard mall is littered with them. It’s all the new free charging stations that draw them in.
 
DougWantsALeaf said:
I haven’t seen any Ys yet in Chicago. I am seeing a “few” more Leafs on the North side of Chicago, but certainly fewer than M3s. Old Orchard mall is littered with them. It’s all the new free charging stations that draw them in.

It's been a few months since the last post, now that IL has started to ease COVID-19 restrictions more cars on the roads as well as EV's - highest recent sighting of an EL plate was 2225x EL on a Model 3 so even though most have hunkered down, WFH, etc. over 2K more registrations during the pandemic -- not bad. Have started to see Model Y's out there; does look quite similar to the 3 in traffic, although taller with a hatch, etc. and does have distinctive wheels that do set it apart from a 3 - still not many new Jaguar's or LEAF's; even less Kia's and Niro's.

One other interesting point is that the IL SOS was also just recently reopened and had added 90 days on for people's temp tags as they didn't have staff on hand to process so the actual count is most likely much higher. Later throughout the year when non-EL plate IL residents go to renew their tags we'll see even higher numbers and most likely a better indicator of how many EV's are registered in the state -- state also gave a 90 day extension on plate renewals so may take well into next year to see the impact.
 
Red leaf

I see a few iPaces on the north side, and recently even a few eTrons. I think I have passed a couple Ys, but not certain.

I will let you know when we get our new EL plates on the number. I agree that many of the Bolts and Leafs and Tesla’s which had normal plates need to be moved over to EL (and pay the higher plate fees). Guessing we will be pushing 30K by end of year.
 
redLEAF said:
DougWantsALeaf said:
I haven’t seen any Ys yet in Chicago. I am seeing a “few” more Leafs on the North side of Chicago, but certainly fewer than M3s. Old Orchard mall is littered with them. It’s all the new free charging stations that draw them in.

It's been a few months since the last post, now that IL has started to ease COVID-19 restrictions more cars on the roads as well as EV's - highest recent sighting of an EL plate was 2225x EL on a Model 3 so even though most have hunkered down, WFH, etc. over 2K more registrations during the pandemic -- not bad. Have started to see Model Y's out there; does look quite similar to the 3 in traffic, although taller with a hatch, etc. and does have distinctive wheels that do set it apart from a 3 - still not many new Jaguar's or LEAF's; even less Kia's and Niro's.

One other interesting point is that the IL SOS was also just recently reopened and had added 90 days on for people's temp tags as they didn't have staff on hand to process so the actual count is most likely much higher. Later throughout the year when non-EL plate IL residents go to renew their tags we'll see even higher numbers and most likely a better indicator of how many EV's are registered in the state -- state also gave a 90 day extension on plate renewals so may take well into next year to see the impact.

So almost 4 months and we've passed 278xx EL seen on a Model Y so that's at least a solid 5K additional registrations out and about in Chicagoland -- still big lines at the IL SOS offices (mostly for renewing DL's) but they seem much better prepared for the whole social distancing /masks required thing and people renewing their plates. Next year should be interesting with the next crop of EV offerings, although slow ramp ups I'm sure -- at this pace the 30xxx EL plate threshold may actually happen before the end of the year. Any higher sightings seen please feel free to post - not really ANY incentives per se for new IL EV ownership (vehicle and EV charger installation rebates are long gone - just Fed Tax Credit from those mfg. still under the 200K threshold - Leaf still eligible of course) so this is still encouraging despite the drop in gas prices as well as general state of the economy overall.
 
Agreed, here in Skokie I see evs every day now. Certainly the lion share are M3 and first gen Leaf, but model Y and Bolts are appearing with greatly frequency now too. Gen2 Leafs are seen (beyond my garage), but are less frequent. Maybe 1 every 3 or 4 days.

Our June Leaf Plus has. 23,xxx plate, so excited to hear how fast the numbers are moving up.

Also agree that the $100 surcharge over ICE for the annual fees, it doesn't make the economics look any better ($251/year for an EV instead of $151/year...up from $35 for 2 years).
 
Evanston Nissan appears to have found some additional "new" 2019 Leaf Pluses, and is listing them at 28K (SV Plus). If you can qualify for the fed rebate, that's a 21K+tax longish range EV. Not bad.
 
A few updates worth posting ... not a surprise as the IL SOS gives IL residents no choice on non-EL plate renewals but to go with new electric vehicle plates so when my wife's 'SMART' Environmental plates were expiring they issued us 2828x EL. Hey the state needs its revenues right! On other 'EL' plate spotting, the highest I've seen is 3035x EL on a Model X around the North Shore. Lots of new Model Y's out and about as well ... seeing more Chevy Bolt's, Audi e-tron's and definitely used LEAF's on the road (many used LEAF's seem to be resold by Carmax and other non-Nissan dealers based on the rear license frames/dealer sticker on their rear hatches).

In my own fleet - upgraded my '17 Model 3 LR RWD to a '21 Model 3 LR AWD, its true that the Model 3's are holding their resale value pretty well -- mine also only had a year left on its regular warranty and 38K+ miles on it and Tesla has made a number of improvements worth the upgrade. Interesting for those with older M3's, did shop around for best resale value and Tesla gave the best numbers (tried Carmax and Carvana) plus you get the IL sales tax credit for the first $10K of value if you trade-in so you should factor that in (each state is different so worth checking). The new M3 now has the heat pump, laminated glass (is noticeably quieter), matte black accents, new/better designed center console w/wireless charging and powered trunk, seats are also a bit more comfy. Switched from Red to Midnight Silver as to my eye the black accents looked better with the gray as well as stayed with the standard 18" wheels than the 19"s on my old M3; the newer wheel cover design looks much better than the earlier ones and Chicago potholes were not kind to the thinner side wall tires with the 19"s -- best bet if you like the 19"s is to have 2 sets of wheels/tires as the winter months are the roughest around the Midwest. As for the AWD on the M3 - definitely worth it - didn't really ever get stuck with the RWD but it would struggle a bit in deeper snow -- if you opt for one now and you don't have access to an AWD 'winter' car get snow tires - its been well documented to be just as good but most people won't bother. Lastly - the new LR M3 gets 350+ miles on a charge now so less stops on long trips - have not had it very long but have been quite pleased with the upgrade - its no wonder that the M3 is the best selling EV out there, it's just that good!

We still have one ICE in our fleet, an older VW Touareg - pre-ordered a VW ID.4 AWD (although VW offered to move us up to their 1st Edition RWD run - here in the Midwest AWD would suit us better so we'll wait). Had considered and test drove a Model Y but just couldn't warm up to it -- definitely has great cargo space, decent ride height and range - view out the back is limited (of course you could use the rear camera which is phenomenal!) but didn't like the ride as a bit stiff (drove the one w/20"s which could be part of it) - car is definitely not as 'nimble' as my Model 3 so maybe I'm just a bit spoiled. We'll also be replacing the '18 smart which will be coming off lease in mid-July so with the latest crop of EV's coming will be some other choices to consider. Have owned several VW's going back many years so wanted to give them a shot - was quite happy with my year with the used e-Golf as an interim EV while I waited for my first M3 and despite the whole diesel gate scandal, I think they're back on track so we'll see -- the ID.3 has done quite well in Europe but not without some teething pains.

As a side note on home charging ... my more than reliable Schneider EVlink L2 charger (have been using it for close to 10 years now!) charges the new '21 M3 a bit faster as it shows 31 mi/hr vs. 29 mi/hr on the '17 (probably is an actual 30 mi/hr as its charges at 7.7 kw on 40A circuit). Don't plan on replacing it until it finally stops working as that charge rate is just fine for overnight charging (handles the smart which we're almost charging daily as well as the Tesla). Tesla's own Wall Charger maxes out on the M3 at 44 mi/hr but that would require bumping up the circuit to 60A and of course w/o some kind of adapter would not be able to use it on a non-Tesla. Having Tesla Solar panels really off-sets the operating costs for these EV's -- drove the Touareg during the worse weather days while waiting for the new M3 and didn't like the $60 fill ups ... you definitely get spoiled living with EV's; especially being able to simply plug it in once you get home!
 
I noticed Evanston Nissan has burned through the half dozen old "but still new" 19 leafs they had. It looks like just 1 left.

I do see a few more gen 2 Leafs in the roads here in the north side. Certainly lot of 3s and a few Ys too.

I am also told that the Ariya arrival dates have moved up to late 2021 from 2022.
 
Back
Top