My list of things I'd like to see changed on the Gen 2 LEAF

[Jimmydreams]

The arm rest on the door is too low.
There needs to be a small light under the dash illuminating the cupholder area.
Plastic covers anywhere you rest your arm or elbow. The cloth is going to be hell to keep clean.
Selectable 'default' screens so that (for instance) you can select the energy management screen (or whatever it's called) every time you start the car.
Radio metadata should be displayed no matter what screen you're seeing (along the bottom).
SOC indicator. SOC indicator SOC INDICATOR!!!
A real horn.

 

[LEAFer]

Selectable 'default' screens so that (for instance) you can ... ... every time you start the car.

Any such feature or similarly personalized/subjective "thing" ... should be programmable/"keyed" to (and memorized with) a particular key fob. This allows multiple drivers, when he/she unlocks the car get his/her prefered settings.

 

[Jimmydreams]

HomeLink buttons on rearview mirror need to be illuminated and/or dimpled so you can easily feel them. Coming home in the dark makes them impossible to see/feel.
Illumination for the steering wheel buttons needs to be adjustable.

 

[EVDRIVER]

Selectable stronger regen profiles. Decent, darker interior that will not look like hell quickly (stupid), a better charger option of at least 6.6kw, a two-door model, SOC and real-time total KW consumption, SD card VS USB or a hard drive and wifi sync, no silly leaf tree.

Bonus items would be 120V outlet in back like my toyota has, grid tied charger/inverter and a bit more power in the motor. Oh wait- factory train horns, a roof mount generator, a usb port to hack the "root" of the car and regen air fans on the front to capture wind power above 70.

 

[sparky]

What EVDriver said, plus:
A light on the charge port. Second time I've arrived home and fumbled with the J1772 in the dark.
The "follow me home" headlight feature does illuminate well enough if you remember to plug in when you exit the car. But, when you get the helpful email telling you the charge connector is not plugged in, those headlights are long gone.

Oh, and as mentioned elsewhere, Carwings needs to be 10x faster. If the web page (and command/data response) doesn't speed up I'll stop checking in completely much less PAY to use it in 3 yrs.

BTW, I'm still really loving this car so far. Just constructive criticism.

 

[planet4ever]

More than one 12v outlet, and more power available at them.

Do not use with accessories that exceed a 12-volt, 120W (10A) power draw. Do not use double adapters or more than one electrical accessory.

 

[EVDRIVER]

More than one 12v outlet, and more power available at them.

Do not use with accessories that exceed a 12-volt, 120W (10A) power draw. Do not use double adapters or more than one electrical accessory.

What are you using that draws 10A? A high-powered light? What gauge wire would you expect them to run to a sig plug?

 

[Kelangst]

Leather.
Sorry, I like the eco trees
All carwings data in the iPhone app and update app through Bluetooth if desired
More control on the charge %
Sorry like the solar panel, but like the way prius has it charge a fan for comfort
More control on settings
Seat raiser (the one in the car really tilts instead of raises)
Bottom warmer because it is so cold here in San Diego...

More geeky accessories to choose from.

Love the car- worth the torturous wait.

 

[Essiemme]

I'd like an utility, using CARWINGS, that would allow us to ping the car for its last known position, using the phone, for instance...

Since it has GPS and a comunications layer, I think it would require only software development for doing that.

The purpose:
- In case of theft, allow for it's fast localization.
- For the distracted people (like me), sometimes is usefull to help recall where we left it parked.
- there might be more, I cannot think right now...

How about this ?

 

[walterbays]

- For the distracted people (like me), sometimes is usefull to help recall where we left it parked.

"Fortunately" Nissan keeps pushing us to get smart phones.

http://www.androlib.com/android.application.com-corollarycomputing-smartpark-free-pzEE.aspx

A parking genius! It remembers where you parked and when your meter will expire! Perfect for shopping malls, movie theaters, concerts, street parking, and just about anywhere you might forget where you parked or when your time's up!

It even remembers altitude so you know which level you parked on!

It guides you to your car via compass, telling you how far you are!

 

[rmay635703]

I applaud Nissan for finally manning up and offering a meat and potatoes EV but...

Having owned an antique electric car for years I can easily say that to an EV
range is directly based on weight and aerodynamics.

The leaf falls short on both regards and gains its range because of brute force Lion capacity.

http://www.bluescopesteel.com.au/index.cfm?objectID=CA9F42E1-B0D0-E16E-5B1186A8B468976A&pgno=41
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/what-car-makers-should-doing-4745-7.html

If the leaf would even as an option offer an ECO package on the leaf where they trim weight off the car (quite easy with a 1000lb interior) or with an ULSAB body and improve aerodynamics by simply extending the hatchback into something closer to a boattail they could easily gain 40% more range and reduce the overall cost of operation. The ECO package as I envision it, could have everything on the table from grill blocks to cambacks, to boat tail like extension, to air dams, to diffusers, to lightweight rims & tires, fender/wheel skirts, to narrowing the cars track, you name it.

One individual on the ecomodder forums has made an aero civic which has a full boatail and maintains 90mpg on the highway due to its shape, we wouldn't need to go that extreme (though I and a few others would snap one up if they did) And best of all it cost him around $500 to impliment, if a hobbiest can do it for that price I doubt the modified body panels to make the car on a production line would likely cost much more. Also the added trunk space would not be anything to sneeze at either.

In other words there is still a large amount of improvements on the weight and shape of the leaf that wouldn't require much if any cost increase (perhaps a decrease) to impliment and would not be extremely obvious to the naked eye.

Really the EV1 from GM had the ideal as you can get standard car shape in terms of aerodynamics and if the leaf could come close the that CDa its range could easily exceed 160 miles with the same battery pack.

I think range would speak volumes, especially if it cost little or nothing to impliment.

Another thing I would like to see is an optional dash that has low power analog instrumentation. The reason is I would love to see the 250 watts idling reduced to as close to zero as possible. Also If the motor isn't pushing, the accessories aren't running, the lights are on we really shouldn't be charging the 12v battery and we really shouldn't be using any power. On this same regard I would like to be able to either disable the creep function or have a true neutral where I can freewheel, most hypermilers will answer the same as me on these regards.

Also Another reason is I find it easier to track an analog amperage, speedo, etc and the glitzy stuff could be kept on a small intermittant screen for me to track my average power consumption. I really wouldn't want to see a high power usage

 

[EVDRIVER]

I agree on the weight factor and other points of metering but few wan't cars that look what you describe. However there is weight to shed on the LEAF without large compromise and the car could be more aerodynamic and still look good. The car was made too much like a normal car which sacrificed efficiency and useful features and made it quite bland. The irony is a more modern styled car would likely have sold even better and been far more efficient on the highway. If you think the LEAF is portly, which it is, just take a look at the cheese burger eating Focus that tips the scale 10 lbs shy of 3700 lbs! This vehicle was intended for a large audience but it certainly could still do all this and weigh about 200 lbs less or more with aluminum used. A respectable and impressive weight for a mass produced car like this without a large price increase would be close to 3000 lbs. Expecting weight much lower than that would require costly materials or a design few would buy.

 

[rmay635703]

I didn't say they needed a full boattail (and no production cars have one excluding pre 1940's or the HMV freeway motorcycle)

My cobalt looks as I describe, they start a boattail with the rear windshield then lob it off in the trunk section (prius did the same thing), some old Chrystlers had the long slanted roof and the trunk area all as one hatchback. The leaf could be a hatchback in this fashion by extending the hatch so to say a few feet then add either a camback or diffusers on the end.

I really wish my little 50mpg cobalt had the rear window and trunk area all as one hatch, sadly GM doesn't want to make its overweight 3000lb small cars too convient.

In any event extending the rear window and hatch but not to a full boattail would still easily improve the CD by .03-.05 which really is nothing to sneeze at. 19% is 19% improvement and it would be directly reflected in a decent range improvement. Think 120mile max range just by having a now more traditional rear end config (less hatch like).

A full boat tail gets you down into the CD .14-.19 on most vehicles but although I would love that it isn't what I would expect, I DO expect them to lighten it and extend it a bit to improve the rear aero which is where most of the drag is anyway. Now that could; potentially will a bit of weight loss, result in a 200+mile range, I think if this were an OPTION and people saw the difference it might cause some people to make a realization.

I always loved the aero look and I am not alone, remember the people who will first adopt the leaf ARE NOT average americans, some are but many are not.

Cheers
Ryan

 

[rmay635703]

This vehicle was intended for a large audience but it certainly could still do all this and weigh about 200 lbs less or more with aluminum used. A respectable and impressive weight for a mass produced car like this without a large price increase would be close to 3000 lbs. Expecting weight much lower than that would require costly materials or a design few would buy.

I disagree on one point

The ultra lite steel frame I describe (properly implimented) is actually less expensive to manufacture than a normal steel frame and is stronger, it cuts about 50% of the weight off the frame.

It would however require a mentality change without the auto world which hasn't happened yet.

Also the aero improvement I alluded to as I said is nothing more than what is increasingly becoming the normal shape for cars, that rounded shape the prius has is actually the ideal slope for a boattail, they then just lob it off, the leaf could do this as well but add it as a hatch and keep it as an option.

Making the interior light is very easy, its mearly a materials selection issue, I never could figure why US seats are made like boats while still wearing out rapidly and they use heavy weight dampning material around the body while not having any insulation value. The cost for lighter seat materials is actually moot, again I think its a we've done it this way and don't want to retool or change. (and possibly face unforseen problems)
(I do work in the auto industry, just not the "consumer" one) The trouble is if no one in the auto industry uses the materials or in some cases jsut alternate construction methods everyone stays afraid of it for decades until someone breaks down and does it. Usually companies outside the auto industry will use the stuff sucessfully but the auto industry doesn't take it as being viable until someone inside does it.

Very irritating system.

 

[EVDRIVER]

This vehicle was intended for a large audience but it certainly could still do all this and weigh about 200 lbs less or more with aluminum used. A respectable and impressive weight for a mass produced car like this without a large price increase would be close to 3000 lbs. Expecting weight much lower than that would require costly materials or a design few would buy.

I disagree on one point

The ultra lite steel frame I describe (properly implimented) is actually less expensive to manufacture than a normal steel frame and is stronger, it cuts about 50% of the weight off the frame.

It would however require a mentality change without the auto world which hasn't happened yet.

Also the aero improvement I alluded to as I said is nothing more than what is increasingly becoming the normal shape for cars, that rounded shape the prius has is actually the ideal slope for a boattail, they then just lob it off, the leaf could do this as well but add it as a hatch and keep it as an option.

Making the interior light is very easy, its mearly a materials selection issue, I never could figure why US seats are made like boats while still wearing out rapidly and they use heavy weight dampning material around the body while not having any insulation value. The cost for lighter seat materials is actually moot, again I think its a we've done it this way and don't want to retool or change. (and possibly face unforseen problems)
(I do work in the auto industry, just not the "consumer" one) The trouble is if no one in the auto industry uses the materials or in some cases jsut alternate construction methods everyone stays afraid of it for decades until someone breaks down and does it. Usually companies outside the auto industry will use the stuff sucessfully but the auto industry doesn't take it as being viable until someone inside does it.

Very irritating system.

Like I said, if "Team Clowns" had not taken over Aptera and greed mongers were not present at "L Lying" then there could be a push on automakers to do this. Many of us long term EV advocates were directly involved in pushing the industry to move toward EVs and there is still much change needed to make them more efficient. Auto makers are already looking at this with their trucks to meet new EPA standards.

 

[LindaK]

+1 on the exchangeable battery packs! Love that concept.

 

[SeattleBlueLeaf]

my number one - turn off the T&A at the start of every drive. Please someone tell me I missed a way to do this. I can't imagine having to touch the screen every time I use the car for years to come.

 

[garygid]

What happens if you do NOT touch the screen?

This is a CARWINGS "permission to send data scream" screen?

Does it wait to appear until AFTER the boot-up music plays?

 

[SeattleBlueLeaf]

What happens if you do NOT touch the screen?

This is a CARWINGS "permission to send data scream" screen?

Does it wait to appear until AFTER the boot-up music plays?

Yes -this is the CARWINGS permission to send data to NISSAN screen. It appears after the car fully starts.

I'm a EV Project person so I've already agreed on other agreements to share my data. Having to agree for each and every time I use the car is a nuisance. please turn it off..

 

[garygid]

Can you drive without touching the screen?

Does it timeout after a while?

How long from the Start button press to being able to drive?