We just received our 2012 Silver SL this week, leased from the Lithia Nissan dealership in Ames, Iowa. They threw in delivery to our house. I think we're good candidates, as my wife and I both work at the university here, and it's only about a 3 mile trip each way to work. I've been a bit shocked at how much energy has been used to heat the car (and battery) the last few days, as the temperatures have been in the single digits to -9 F, so I'm glad we don't have much of a commute to worry about!
There is practically no charging infrastructure here, just a Level II EVSE at the local Nissan dealer (who was beaten on price by the other dealer, so I'm sure I'll get the stink-eye if I go charge there any time soon) and a gas station with a 110 plug on a pole in their parking lot. So far we've actually found the Level 1 charger to be fine for our needs, though we've only had it a few days. I've been struggling to figure out which Level II EVSE, if any, to have installed in the garage...
A lot of friends want to take the car for a test drive, but I think most of them are looking at me like I'm a bit nuts for buying this car. It'll be my wife's daily driver, I have a 2007 Dodge Magnum for our long-range/large cargo needs. A huge selling point for her was the ability to pre-warm/cool the car from her iPhone before she leaves her office, as she has a 5-7 minute walk across campus to reach her car, so having it at least a little warm by the time she gets there was a huge bonus to her.
According to a recent article in the paper, there are only 2 other pure EVs in our county, one Leaf, and one Tesla Roadster, though the Cedar Falls/Waterloo area has a population of around 100,000.
There is practically no charging infrastructure here, just a Level II EVSE at the local Nissan dealer (who was beaten on price by the other dealer, so I'm sure I'll get the stink-eye if I go charge there any time soon) and a gas station with a 110 plug on a pole in their parking lot. So far we've actually found the Level 1 charger to be fine for our needs, though we've only had it a few days. I've been struggling to figure out which Level II EVSE, if any, to have installed in the garage...
A lot of friends want to take the car for a test drive, but I think most of them are looking at me like I'm a bit nuts for buying this car. It'll be my wife's daily driver, I have a 2007 Dodge Magnum for our long-range/large cargo needs. A huge selling point for her was the ability to pre-warm/cool the car from her iPhone before she leaves her office, as she has a 5-7 minute walk across campus to reach her car, so having it at least a little warm by the time she gets there was a huge bonus to her.
According to a recent article in the paper, there are only 2 other pure EVs in our county, one Leaf, and one Tesla Roadster, though the Cedar Falls/Waterloo area has a population of around 100,000.