The official "I got my Leaf" thread

[videographer]

Just like Alric above, I just picked up my black Leaf this afternoon in Madison WI. First charge was in my garage, though. Already catching myself trying to optimize efficiency!

 

[abasile]

Congratulations to the new owners in Wisconsin! Although you will temporarily have less range whenever it's cold, your battery packs should last longer in that northern climate, hopefully well beyond 10 years.

 

[mlhoward]

I'm a bit late to this, got my Leaf in December and love it. I got the first delivered Leaf in the northwest Chicago suburbs. License plate "ZERO GAS".
I charge at home using the cable provided. My daily commute to work is 23 miles round trip (all suburban surface streets). I can even make it to downtown Chicago and back with plenty to spare. The dashboard display of miles per kwh shows between 4.7 and 5.0 usually which makes my cost per mile about 1.5 cents. My previous car, a 2004 Prius (license plate HI MPG 50, and still in the household) averages close to 50 mpg in the warm weather which is about 13 cents per mile. If my math is correct, my Leaf's cost per mile is about 1/8 of the Prius. Doesn't that make the mpg equivalent over 400 mpg?
I hate to say that in the 6 months I've had the car I have only seen 3 other Leafs on the road. I guess Nissan hasn't targeted the Chicagoland area.

 

[chortle]

I got my 2012 white pearl, SL Leaf today. Detroit Edison provides Charge Point 240 volt charging stations and installation for free, from grant money. I works great.

I have been reading the forum for several months, what a great resource of information, perfect match for such an amazing car.

I am retired and have monitored my automotive usage prior to deciding to purchase the Leaf, this car should suit me just fine. I haven't been as excited about a car since my first one. (a 1967 Corvair) What a difference the Leaf is compared to my first Corvair!

BMatley

 

[Leaf1]

I picked up my new Leaf SL yesterday and love it. Thanks for all for the info on this forum. Because of it, I feel like I have owned the car for months.

 

[javan]

Cayenne Red SL purchased from McCrea Nissan in Eureka, CA (far northern coast) was delivered on 06/28/2012. My wife and I are really enjoying the car, learning about all the techie stuff in it and about charging, and preparing our 2001 Prius with 245,000 miles on it to be given away. I'm so glad we bought this car.

 

[jan0jsf]

We traded in our camry hybrid for a gorgeous pearl. Much thanks to uncle Sam and our state regulators, the final price of this car is actually $2K less than an equivalent equiped 2012 camry hybrid. Other than the power driver seat which my wife misses sorely, everything else about this car is tolerable and in some cases even far superior than a camry! Oh yeah, did I mention that incredibly generous torque providing drivetrain at incredibly low operating cost. Far out.

So so stoked. I have never been much of car enthusiast, but I must say this LEAF have unleashed the torque loving beast in me. Wow just can't get over it. I am turning into one of those goons whose always egg'ing on the car in the next lane to run-for-the-money! Its incredible how fast this car accelerates and its all on battery juice to boot. With deregulation of electric in our state, kwh charges is dropping to 9 cent throughout the day. That translates to 177mpge based on a dashboard average reading of 5mile per kwh despite my occasional abuses on the pedal Wow!!

Lets just hope the range and power of this battery last or I might regret putting forth so much enthusiasm so early.

-------------------------------
current: 2012 SL Pearl Leaf & a toyota van
previous: 2007 camry hybrid

 

[mkjayakumar]

Congratulations on your new Leaf.

Now if you could update your location in your profile, that would be great.

 

[linkim]

Now if you could update your location in your profile, that would be great.

I think from the post, the owner lives in the zip code 19067, Morrisville, PA

 

[leighf]

Picked up my Cayenne Red LEAF yesterday from Blackburn Nissan (Victoria, Australia) and am thrilled. The dealer was very helpful.

In Australia Nissan opened Reservations on March 29, 2012. My reservation was April 1.
EVSE pre-installation inspection and approval May 24. (Nissan wouldn't accept an order without an EVSE being approved)
LEAF officially went on sale June 15.
Blackburn Nissan took my order June 18.
EVSE ordered June 29.
Chargepoint EVSE installed July 12 (my fault as I should have placed the order earlier)
Drove my new car home July 13.

Very happy.

Leigh

 

[TimLee]

Picked up my Cayenne Red LEAF yesterday from Blackburn Nissan (Victoria, Australia) and am thrilled.

Leigh

Congratulations!!!!
Glad they're finally selling them in Australia.
I'm curious as to the final cost in Australia.
Other threads indicated the price is much higher in Australia, but I haven't located much on whether there are tax incentives being provided.
In Chattanooga, TN my 2011 listed for $34,800 US in May 2011 ($35,384 AUD).
Dealer discounted it to $34,000. US Federal tax credit of $7,500 US, and state of Tennessee provided $2,500 EV rebate at the time of the purchase transaction.
Final price prior to local taxes / title fees / etc. was $24,000 in May 2011 ($24,401 AUD).

 

[neal77]

Just came home with one of the Leafs they have at Fontana Nissan. Great deal with 5k off. Lots to learn about the car but that is part of the fun. Nice to finally be part of the club.

Neal

 

[OrientExpress]

Welcome Neal, you are gonna Love your LEAF!

 

[Widgeonmangh]

Picked up my 2012 black SL on Friday from Cambell Nelson in Edmonds. We are leasing it and got what I believe is a great deal. $316/ month with $700 out of pocket. I have enjoyed being a lurker on this forum for over a year and I am really enjoying the Leaf! I live on the Key Peninsula by Gig Harbor, WA and so far I have yet to see another Leaf out here. I have seen a county owned one but no others. They are such great cars though it is just a matter of time.

Great forum and a great car!

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Picked up my 2012 black SL on Friday from Cambell Nelson in Edmonds. We are leasing it and got what I believe is a great deal. $316/ month with $700 out of pocket. I have enjoyed being a lurker on this forum for over a year and I am really enjoying the Leaf! I live on the Key Peninsula by Gig Harbor, WA and so far I have yet to see another Leaf out here. I have seen a county owned one but no others. They are such great cars though it is just a matter of time.

Great forum and a great car!

congrats on your car! my LEAF will be camping just up the Sound from you this weekend!

 

[KWG22]

A tad bit late posting to this thread, I got my 2012 Blue Ocean SL last Saturday, almost a week ago now.
I absolutely love it as I knew I would, but even more so!
Bought from Team Nissan in Marietta, GA. Now working on getting a charging station from Blink, through the EVProject.

 

[mlhoward]

I posted a few months ago about my cost per mile based on the dashboard display of miles per kwh. I have a more accurate way of calculating this.
I borrowed a Kill-a-watt meter from the library which is a small device about 4x6 inches that plugs into the wall outlet and you plug the 110 volt Leaf charge cord into it.
You then read the display as to how many killowatts you used. I reset my trip odometer after the car was fully charged. Then I used the car for several days charging each night with the Kill-a-watt meter between the charger and the wall outlet. After about 147.5 miles I used 41.5 kilowatts. My electric rate is 6 cents per kilowatt so my cost is just under 1.7 cents per mile. A car getting 40 miles per gallon at $4 per gallon costs 10 cents per mile. Note that I probably won't average 1.7 cents all year long due to where I live, Chicago area, and the car won't go as far in cold weather. But I think I should average less than 2 cents per mile. That's about $200 a year! Compare this to someone who drives 10000 miles in a Jeep and spends over $2000 a year on gas. I love my Leaf!

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I posted a few months ago about my cost per mile based on the dashboard display of miles per kwh. I have a more accurate way of calculating this.
I borrowed a Kill-a-watt meter from the library which is a small device about 4x6 inches that plugs into the wall outlet and you plug the 110 volt Leaf charge cord into it.
You then read the display as to how many killowatts you used. I reset my trip odometer after the car was fully charged. Then I used the car for several days charging each night with the Kill-a-watt meter between the charger and the wall outlet. After about 147.5 miles I used 41.5 kilowatts. My electric rate is 6 cents per kilowatt so my cost is just under 1.7 cents per mile. A car getting 40 miles per gallon at $4 per gallon costs 10 cents per mile. Note that I probably won't average 1.7 cents all year long due to where I live, Chicago area, and the car won't go as far in cold weather. But I think I should average less than 2 cents per mile. That's about $200 a year! Compare this to someone who drives 10000 miles in a Jeep and spends over $2000 a year on gas. I love my Leaf!

you would get up to 15% better efficiency (and lower cost per mile) if charging at 240 volts, 16 amps.

 

[PracticingHuman]

Greetings, all!

I've had my sights set on an EV for over a year now (the Gulf breach was the proverbial straw... my continued gas consumption meant I was contributing to the problem) but wasn't ready to pull the trigger, considering the price tag.

After dumping a grand into my 12 year old Miata a month ago, I was ready to take the leap. We test drove the Leaf and the MiEV, making our choice a no-brainer.

I solicited 9 dealers via email ranging from Everett to Olympia asking for the best offer on a Leaf. We were intending to purchase the car so I asked the dealers to not factor in the $7500, knowing that we would never recoup that in our returns. We crunched the numbers every which way, and even after factoring in the sales tax exemption on a new 2012 we found a used 2011 at Eastside Bellevue to be the best price.

At the advice of a salesperson in Edmonds we realized we could get a brand new Leaf with the $7500 rebate if we leased, and if we were determined to own it, we could simply take out a loan and buy out the lease early. As kind as that was for him to give me that tip, our hometown of Tacoma still had the best offer of any other dealer.

We sold the Miata on Monday and used the cash for a down payment on the Leaf the following Thursday. Beautiful silver 2012 SL. Even though we had submitted our application and set the price beforehand we still ended up spending nearly 5 hours at the dealer. That was a total buzzkill considering we were in and out of the dealer in 45 minutes when we bought a new RAV4 in 2004. We still need the ICE vehicle as we still make regular family visits to Wenatchee.

So now we are the proud owners - ahem... leasers, that is - of a Nissan Leaf SL purchased with 94 miles on it, picked up a week ago yesterday. Every day I scour this forum and the interwebs for tips and info. Oh, and I'm trickle charging for now. I did find out we qualify for the EVProject, and Nissan is cutting us a $1000 check on top of that. After reading the boards here I'm trying my best not to chew my nails down regarding the Blink EVSE issues reported. I won't borrow trouble and I'll keep good thoughts.

Thanks to everyone for all the great input you've provided here, and for all willing to be in the vanguard on EVs!

 

[mlhoward]

I've had the car since December and have been fine with 110v in the garage. It seems like it would take years to recuperate the cost of buying the higher voltage charger. Isn't its cost close to $1000? (I wouldn't need much electrical work because I already put in a dedicated 15 amp 110v line to the garage. Changing it to 220 would be easy.)