Anyone here from North Carolina?
- Thread starter sarahnc
- Start date
Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:
We were at the Nissan Leaf event in Raleigh early this morning. It was an event that went smoothly and well. They had a good system of flow from registration to explanation to driving to follow up.
I found the car to look nice and drive well. Steering is light, and I like it that way. I thought the car looked nice, better than I expected, both outside and inside. Somehow the pictures make it look ugly, but in person it is smooth and sleek. I learned a few things:
Nissan has been making various electric cars since 1947. They have been working on batteries that long, too.
The tour guide, who seemed very well informed, said that local dealers could (and would) replace individual battery cells as needed, and he showed us how. Essentially a cell is a thin can with a connector, from a technician's perspective. There, said the guide, the concept of "replacing the battery" will not come up, unless there should be a breakthrough improvement in battery technology making an upgrade worth the cost and effort.
When the driver floors the accelerator pedal, there is a strong response but not a wheel-spinning response.
The date in NC when sales wil bein is still unknown. Additionally, while the charger-table-person said that Aeroenv was the national contractor, he said there were numerous local subcontractors. He said not to worry if those of us in NC had not yet been contacted, as Nissan was trying to schedule so that installation of a charger would be completed about 2 weeks before the actual delivery of the car.
For anyone in the area who can make it, I think you will have a good time and learn some things too.
I found the car to look nice and drive well. Steering is light, and I like it that way. I thought the car looked nice, better than I expected, both outside and inside. Somehow the pictures make it look ugly, but in person it is smooth and sleek. I learned a few things:
Nissan has been making various electric cars since 1947. They have been working on batteries that long, too.
The tour guide, who seemed very well informed, said that local dealers could (and would) replace individual battery cells as needed, and he showed us how. Essentially a cell is a thin can with a connector, from a technician's perspective. There, said the guide, the concept of "replacing the battery" will not come up, unless there should be a breakthrough improvement in battery technology making an upgrade worth the cost and effort.
When the driver floors the accelerator pedal, there is a strong response but not a wheel-spinning response.
The date in NC when sales wil bein is still unknown. Additionally, while the charger-table-person said that Aeroenv was the national contractor, he said there were numerous local subcontractors. He said not to worry if those of us in NC had not yet been contacted, as Nissan was trying to schedule so that installation of a charger would be completed about 2 weeks before the actual delivery of the car.
For anyone in the area who can make it, I think you will have a good time and learn some things too.
None of the dozen or so Leafs used at the Raleigh demo had the noisemaker working. Gee what a relief. It was really impressive to watch the flock roll out of the lot so silently. When that changes, I can image that these cars will turn into real nuisances.
rnkepler
Well-known member
Nice to hear its well organized. I'll be there tomorrow with the family. How many people do they let you put in the car?
rsmith1
Member
They'll allow you to bring passengers, up to 3 (plus yourself) because you have to drive with someone from Nissan.
Went and test drove Friday at 11AM. The group I was in had a Nissan Regional Dealer Rep tagging along. She told me the orders would be opening up (she said it was for sure) late summer and deliveries would be about three months after. She told me all of the cars at that time would still be coming from Japan. We also talked about if we'd be getting 2011 or 2012 models. She said they are trying to deliver them as 2011s but there was a chance there'd be some 2012s if you ordered late in the process. I was really impressed with the car and the amount of information available.
It was a pleasure to drive. A few things I noted while driving: the idle (power when your foot isn't on the gas or brake) felt like a regular car, super quiet, great passing acceleration from 30-50, very roomy (I'm 6'2" 225lbs) front and back. The car isn't prettier in person in my opinion. However, this isn't a car I was buying for it's looks.
Can't wait to order.
It was a pleasure to drive. A few things I noted while driving: the idle (power when your foot isn't on the gas or brake) felt like a regular car, super quiet, great passing acceleration from 30-50, very roomy (I'm 6'2" 225lbs) front and back. The car isn't prettier in person in my opinion. However, this isn't a car I was buying for it's looks.
Can't wait to order.
We were there at 10 am with the boys in tow. The test drive place is well rehearsed. I think my husband had heard enough from me, but there were some things we didn't know like "Carwings works with a computer" for us weird people without an iPhone. I would have liked to get out onto the highway, but that was not in the cards.
Road noise is definitely an issue; the car was not nearly as quiet as I had hoped. Thank you all you posters who had forewarned me. I didn't see anything in the test drive that was a show stopper but I also didn't see anything that would have inclined me to buy this car ... beyond all the reasons I already knew, of course. I think people will either buy it for the electric nature or not buy it. As so many people have said, it's just a car. And not even a very fancy one at that. Still, it is an electric car.
Road noise is definitely an issue; the car was not nearly as quiet as I had hoped. Thank you all you posters who had forewarned me. I didn't see anything in the test drive that was a show stopper but I also didn't see anything that would have inclined me to buy this car ... beyond all the reasons I already knew, of course. I think people will either buy it for the electric nature or not buy it. As so many people have said, it's just a car. And not even a very fancy one at that. Still, it is an electric car.
Any little surprise was the 110v charger cable as demonstrated in Raleigh. The guide said it came with the car, and unfolded it for the group to see. It was a fairly bulky cable, with a 110V plug on one end, a long brick like box (a transformer, I suppose) about 2 feet from the 110V end, and then about 15feet and the standard J-connector for the car on the other end. He emphasized "18 hours" so as, I think, to make sure we had 220V somplace. To me the 110V cord looked a lot more clumsy than I had hoped would be the case. It seemed awkward and something that one will tire of using very quickly. There is an opportunity here for great improvement before gen 2.
copdoc said:We were there at 10 am with the boys in tow. The test drive place is well rehearsed. I think my husband had heard enough from me, but there were some things we didn't know like "Carwings works with a computer" for us weird people without an iPhone. I would have liked to get out onto the highway, but that was not in the cards.
Road noise is definitely an issue; the car was not nearly as quiet as I had hoped. Thank you all you posters who had forewarned me. I didn't see anything in the test drive that was a show stopper but I also didn't see anything that would have inclined me to buy this car ... beyond all the reasons I already knew, of course. I think people will either buy it for the electric nature or not buy it. As so many people have said, it's just a car. And not even a very fancy one at that. Still, it is an electric car.
I was also in Raleigh on Saturday at 10 am. My daughter road with me. My son and daughter-in-law drove a car also. I was most impressed with the "tour" experience. I was even more impressed with the car. There are a lot of great features and creature comforts packed into a car that is totally electric. To me, it's much more attractive in person than from the pictures. I learned one fact that was disappointing. We were told that while the quick charge provided an 80% charge in about 25 minutes, Nissan recommends no more than 3 quick charges per day. So it will be difficult to use the Leaf for a more extended trip. I feel as if we were a part of major automotive history in the making on Saturday.
Hello. I live in Cary. I reserved mine on 5/26/2010. Got an email on 7/27/2010 saying "Hi xxxx, thanks for reserving your 100% electric Nissan LEAF™. We just wanted to let you know that orders will begin in your area in December 2010. " Had a online chat to inquire on status on 1/8/2011 basically saying I will get an email when account is ready to order. When asked why the home assessment section was blocked out on my account, he said "most likely there are no trained technicians in your area that are equipped to do the installation and testing of the home charging equipment, but he will have to confirm". Anyway on 3/5/2010, I went to the test drive at the Farmer's market and got to drive it. That was fun. Talked to some rep who said his company had people ready to do the installation of the charging stations - they were waiting on word from Nissan. Oh well. Curious to hear if anyone has had any other communication regarding their reservation, order, home assessment, etc...
EdmondLeaf
Well-known member
This is my reservation details so you should feel better already. Wait and be patientxraydelta said:
Last email on July 17 2010
Your reservation info:
Reserved on: 4/20/2010
Hi, thanks for reserving your 100% electric Nissan LEAF™. We just wanted to let you know that orders will begin in your area in fall or winter 2011.
rnkepler
Well-known member
xraydelta said:
You should have gotten an email from Nissan in December saying that ordering for your state was delayed till late summer 2011. There are a lot of posts on the forum speculating about when that will actually be, but late summer 2011 is the official word from Nissan.
Rnkepler - you're right. I just found the email from 12/10/2010. "Customers in your state will not be able to order until late summer 2011." Oh well.
On a side note, the lady that accompanied me on the test drive event mentioned all it was a shame all the cars in the drive event were going to be destroyed. Something about how all of them were handbuilt etc.
On a side note, the lady that accompanied me on the test drive event mentioned all it was a shame all the cars in the drive event were going to be destroyed. Something about how all of them were handbuilt etc.
