Hello from Eastern Washington

[JohnBike]

Made the first lease payment on a 2014 S today after a month on the road. Dark grey, black interior. Love it so far. Installed Schneider EVLink charging station in garage. Chose it for the delay timer as well as the known quality.

Bought the LEAF in spite of all the apparently negative comments on this forum. As an electric vehicle, it behaves exactly the way I would expect a battery-powered car to perform. As for the GOM, it also behaves exactly the way I expect it to. The ICE spends so much of its fuel wastefully that we tend to see about the same mileage in every tankfull; the waste overshadows the real use. The GOM shows us what to expect based on how we've been driving, including use of AC/Heat. No surprises there. The info display includes a SOC meter, which this forum led me to believe was non-existent. Kind of makes all the rants about the GOM suspicious, or is this SOC meter something Nissan finally "got around" to adding.

Big complaint about the 2014 S: the Owners Manual ignores most of the dash items that are unique to the S. Nowhere is the S center console display covered. I have to wonder what else about this model is missing from the manual.

I also have to agree about the Sirius/XM quality. I notice a major improvement in sound quality when I use my iPhone instead of the S/XM. No way would I fork over $17/month for the kind of sound from Sirius.

 

[WetEV]

The info display includes a SOC meter, which this forum led me to believe was non-existent. Kind of makes all the rants about the GOM suspicious, or is this SOC meter something Nissan finally "got around" to adding.

2011 and 2012 LEAFs had no SOC meter.

The GOM is useful if you understand it's limits. Many new drivers don't. And the GOM in the 2011 and 2012 was less useful.

Welcome to the Electric Car.

 

[Reddy]

Welcome! Although not very many EVs over here, we do have a few:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=13979&hilit=MCEVA

 

[Travis]

I also have to agree about the Sirius/XM quality. I notice a major improvement in sound quality when I use my iPhone instead of the S/XM. No way would I fork over $17/month for the kind of sound from Sirius.

I'm glad someone else has complained about this. I thought I was just being "picky" about my music. They included a few free months subscription to XM radio with my car. I was one of the first to buy into satellite radio YEARS ago and was hoping they had done something to fix the quality. I cannot stand how AWFUL it sounds. It makes a 128kbps MP3 sound absolutely stunning (and that is BAD). I wouldn't pay 1 dollar a month for music that sounds that awful. The only feature they offer that is any good at all is the traffic. You can purchase that for 3 bucks a month on their site.

I have always had aftermarket stereo equipment in all of my cars (until now). I find that the radio in the car is quite good for a factory system (without sub).

I use a USB thumb drive for all my music. I find this to be much more convenient than trying to use my phone through bluetooth and it also sounds better.

In short terrestrial and satellite radio just suck. The terrestrial stations are all owned by 1 company (clear channel) and they all play the same crap 24/7. Sirius/XM has a little more variety however the quality will make you want to rip your ears off. It really is that bad. I've heard tin cups with strings sound better.

Edit: Slightly off topic however I have found the leaf to be nearly the perfect car to listen to music in. The car is so quiet it makes everything sound better. My only wish is that it was easier to upgrade the stereo. The limited 12 volt power makes it nearly impossible to do anything with it. I figure the car has about 20 amps available on the 12 volt side. Thats with headlights and everything else going. You simply cannot do anything with only 20 amps.

 

[RonDawg]

I also have to agree about the Sirius/XM quality. I notice a major improvement in sound quality when I use my iPhone instead of the S/XM. No way would I fork over $17/month for the kind of sound from Sirius.

I'm glad someone else has complained about this. I thought I was just being "picky" about my music. They included a few free months subscription to XM radio with my car. I was one of the first to buy into satellite radio YEARS ago and was hoping they had done something to fix the quality. I cannot stand how AWFUL it sounds. It makes a 128kbps MP3 sound absolutely stunning (and that is BAD). I wouldn't pay 1 dollar a month for music that sounds that awful. The only feature they offer that is any good at all is the traffic. You can purchase that for 3 bucks a month on their site.

Having had cars with both Sirius and XM receivers (currently my other car is an Audi with a Sirius receiver), I have noticed that while the XM receivers have fewer dropouts, its sound quality is considerably worse than Sirius. Both will be worse than CD/MP3, but at least here in the LA area seems no worse, maybe even a bit better, than regular FM.

Also, you don't need to pay $17/month. If all you listen to is music, you can get their "Mostly Music" package for as little as $10/month. If you're willing to go without their service for a short while, Sirius/XM will also try to entice you back with some pretty good deals.

 

[kieranmullen]

I am surprised there are cutouts in open sky. How often does his happen? No digital FM radio. :-(