New Innovation Specialist for Nissan

Hello to all the Nissan Leaf owners/prospective owners on here!

I have just started with Nissan with an entirely new role that they have dedicated to the education of the Nissan Leaf.
In the coming weeks I will be meeting with Nissan and continually given training to specialise in the knowledge of ev, the product but also the market and its future. If you have any questions please get in touch with me. I might not know the answers straight away but I can find the right people for you!
I am based in the South of the UK but have connections in the US.

Thanks for having me!

lilT
therese.wynn-davies [at] motorline.co.uk
@theresewd

Curious about your EV background - have you been interested in this area prior to your job? Do you drive an EV? How "new" is all this to you?

Hi Slow1,

My background and training is digital media, technologies and journalism. The automotive industry may not be the obvious choice but it interests me a great deal. EV and motor engines are not "new" to me, just the role. Yes, I have a Nissan Leaf.
I can see you are a Leaf owner, how are you finding the vehicle? What reactions have you had?

I've been very happy with my Leaf. It is my 'big toy' to the family.... It meets/exceeds our needs very well but we do have an ICE minivan that is used for all major family trips (we are a family of 6 so we wouldn't fit in the Leaf at once).

My only 'issue' really is "battery degradation anxiety". I.e. if/when the range remained constant I know we'd be happy for a long time; however if the range falls significantly we'll be limited and the car will become far less useful. I am concerned that this could happen within 4 years and as such we'd no longer be able to use it as our primary vehicle (i.e. used for anything/everything that we don't ship the whole family off together in).

Family loves it, friends seem suitably impressed etc. All my other quibbles are minor details such as the stupid tree growing thing that uses up what I consider valuable "upper display" real estate - this (in my opinion) area should be used to give real time Kwh remaining in batter and/or current miles/kwh info.

My use case though is centered around my home. I make no assumptions about charging away from home and don't need to for normal use. IF I consider a longer drive than normal (airport run) I consider options for charging and if it works, great otherwise I'll use the ICE. Until range is up to 200+ miles I expect this would be my expectation for BEV. Can't rely on chargers to be there and working (at least not around here).

You might want to put your actual Leaf delivery date and your location in your profile. It gives more of an air of authenticity...

Slow1 said:

My only 'issue' really is "battery degradation anxiety". I.e. if/when the range remained constant I know we'd be happy for a long time; however if the range falls significantly we'll be limited and the car will become far less useful. I am concerned that this could happen within 4 years and as such we'd no longer be able to use it as our primary vehicle (i.e. used for anything/everything that we don't ship the whole family off together in).

Click to expand...

In our area, you might go four years before you'll lose the first bar, 15%.

lilT said:

Hello to all the Nissan Leaf owners/prospective owners on here!

I have just started with Nissan with an entirely new role that they have dedicated to the education of the Nissan Leaf.
In the coming weeks I will be meeting with Nissan and continually given training to specialise in the knowledge of ev, the product but also the market and its future. If you have any questions please get in touch with me. I might not know the answers straight away but I can find the right people for you!
I am based in the South of the UK but have connections in the US.

Thanks for having me!

lilT
therese.wynn-davies [at] motorline.co.uk
@theresewd

Click to expand...

Hi Terese,

Welcome to the forum. There's plenty of info and opinion here. Use the search function and dive right in. Assume you've also found leaftalk.co.uk?

What do you mean by "the education on the Nissan LEAF?" Do you mean educating the general public, many of whom, are still unaware of EVs, let alone how they work.

Hi DNAinaGoodWay,

Thank you for leaftalk, I'll have a look there too.
Yes Nissan would like specialists to consult any rumours or miscommunication(s) that have built up around electric vehicles, so that is what I'm here for.

What made you decide to go for an electric vehicle?

DNAinaGoodWay said:

In our area, you might go four years before you'll lose the first bar, 15%.

Click to expand...

That is encouraging - I currently have a reliable 84 miles given where/how we drive (at least the last couple months) I would say that as long as we have 65 miles 95% of our driving will be covered (although loss of 10 miles will limit one weekly trip that needs 75 miles R/T with no charging). So if we lose 15% in four years that could average to about 4%/3.3 miles per year - so we should be good for 4 years for the weekly trip, then quite some time after. Will be nice if it works out that way.

What I really need is for there to be a minivan sized vehicle (at a reasonable cost) with good range (100-150 miles desired) before our current van requires replacement. The Model X would do it (seats >6) but I don't see myself being able to pay 2x the cost of a gas vehicle to replace our functionality...

Slow1, I would've got an eNV200 if only it was ready yet. Alas.

While I'm glad you're relieved about degradation, you'll suffer similar range losses every winter, only to regain range again come summer. This will be my first winter in the '15, and I'm sure it will be better than the '12, but I expect to see anywhere from 10-20% loss depending on conditions. I don't skimp on heat, but I normally require less than 50 miles on any given day, and infrastructure is still growing.

lilT said:

Hi DNAinaGoodWay,

Thank you for leaftalk, I'll have a look there too.
Yes Nissan would like specialists to consult any rumours or miscommunication(s) that have built up around electric vehicles, so that is what I'm here for.

What made you decide to go for an electric vehicle?

Click to expand...

Fascinating. So are you to be in addition to the LAB, or it's replacement? A kind of media miner that reports buzz to Nissan? No outreach to the driving public?

Prior to 2012, I commuted by electric bicycle, but zero degree weather no longer suits me, and I've recently discovered I'm old. Whodathunkit ?

Hmmm 20% off the 84 is about 17 miles so effective range of perhaps 67 miles eh? Well, that makes the weekly 75mile run a bit risky to say the least.

Perhaps I'll benefit from the fact that the car sits in the garage most of the day, then that run is out, sit for less than 2hrs, and return (church service) so perhaps the batteries won't cool down too much in that time. However, we should watch it carefully the first few times eh? If that 20% is worst case then we may yet be ok....

lilT said:

...Yes Nissan would like specialists to consult any rumours or miscommunication(s) that have built up around electric vehicles, so that is what I'm here for...

Click to expand...

That's a pretty broad portfolio. Here at MNL we do get an occasional owner who had unrealistic expectations about what the LEAF can do, especially about the range: the lie about the 100 mile range of the car, that some dealers continue to repeat, is hugely unhelpful. Even the USA EPA range of 84 miles is a gross exaggeration when it comes to winter range in the snowbelt or when driving at high speeds (no, you can't get EPA range at 75 mph...).

One of the biggest issues was the rapid heat/time degradation of the battery. I presume that has been ameliorated by the new "lizard" battery, but that remains to be seen. And the lack of replacement batteries has — finally — been solved with the June announcement of a battery purchase price.

Overall, things seem to be on an upward trend for Nissan and the LEAF. But the Nissan dealers still need to be honest with prospective customers about what the car can and can't do. This is going to be a big problem with unwary buyers of used LEAFs with degraded batteries and sharply reduced range.

If you are interested in ideas for improvement of the LEAF, there are a number of threads on the subject, with this one being most current:
BESIDES MORE RANGE, what would you like to see in LEAF gen 2

Slow1 said:

Hmmm 20% off the 84 is about 17 miles so effective range of perhaps 67 miles eh? Well, that makes the weekly 75mile run a bit risky to say the least.

Perhaps I'll benefit from the fact that the car sits in the garage most of the day, then that run is out, sit for less than 2hrs, and return (church service) so perhaps the batteries won't cool down too much in that time. However, we should watch it carefully the first few times eh? If that 20% is worst case then we may yet be ok....

Click to expand...

Best to have a backup plan for your church run. With the S, you have the same power hungry resistance heater as the '12. Worst case last winter, in blizzard and slush and need for heat and defrost and I wouldn't trust it for more than 40-50 miles. Seriously. Especially as it ages.

DNAinaGoodWay said:

Best to have a backup plan for your church run. With the S, you have the same power hungry resistance heater as the '12. Worst case last winter, in blizzard and slush and need for heat and defrost and I wouldn't trust it for more than 40-50 miles. Seriously. Especially as it ages.

Click to expand...

Drat. Well - at least it is only once a week for that run. 40-50 miles will do me most days so should be ok there. I can charge mid-day generally as needed (upgraded EVSE) so it is only the long runs that are bad. Guess I may not be making trips to Logan w/o charging in the winter eh? (82 miles R/T). I suppose if I can sit there and charge for an hour or two it may work - will have to do the math later.

There's a new QC in Revere, 3 miles from Logan, that's my plan, I'm 55 mles out. Plus, the DOER is to announce their 15 highway QCs, but the contract will allow a year to install. Still, I'm hoping some get in before the ground freezes.

I must have missed the news item - what is it about the DOER installing highway QCs?

As our "weekly church run" goes down 495 and 90, perhaps that could augment in the winter... hmmm Still, getting my wife to stop en-route isn't likely to be an easy sell.

Yes, I still get reminded about the one time I had to stop for a bit of extra charge in a blizzard, and I probably could have made it home, but didn't have LeafStat then, and I wanted the cushion for peace of mind.

The news story hasn't broken yet. I've been emailing Linda Benevides in the MA Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. They won't tell me when it it will break, but indications are before the end of the year. I was able to emphasize the need for regular maintenance, like air filter cleaning, and am told that will be included in the contract language.

dgpcolorado said:

lilT said:

...Yes Nissan would like specialists to consult any rumours or miscommunication(s) that have built up around electric vehicles, so that is what I'm here for...

Click to expand...

That's a pretty broad portfolio. Here at MNL we do get an occasional owner who had unrealistic expectations about what the LEAF can do, especially about the range: the lie about the 100 mile range of the car, that some dealers continue to repeat, is hugely unhelpful. Even the USA EPA range of 84 miles is a gross exaggeration when it comes to winter range in the snowbelt or when driving at high speeds (no, you can't get EPA range at 75 mph...).

One of the biggest issues was the rapid heat/time degradation of the battery. I presume that has been ameliorated by the new "lizard" battery, but that remains to be seen.
...
Overall, things seem to be on an upward trend for Nissan and the LEAF. But the Nissan dealers still need to be honest with prospective customers about what the car can and can't do. This is going to be a big problem with unwary buyers of used LEAFs with degraded batteries and sharply reduced range.

Click to expand...

Yep, on the lies, there's a thread at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=13264" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. And, a Nissan European exec stated the Leaf's range ""now is up to 200 kilometers". :roll: See http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=13264&start=30" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how well this "lizard" battery holds up after the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. summer in brutally hot climates like Phoenix and for Texans, besides those in So Cal. It's bit disconcerting to see some So Cal folks have lost 4 bars within the 5 year/60K mile battery capacity warranty and gotten replacements already (these were obviously not "lizard" batteries).

lilT said:

Yes Nissan would like specialists to consult any rumours or miscommunication(s) that have built up around electric vehicles, so that is what I'm here for.

Click to expand...

Since you're new here and new to the Leaf... This is sort of tangent but kinda on this note and re: all the battery degradation stuff that has been discussed to death... there were these:

http://gigaom.com/2010/08/05/tesla-ceo-nissans-leaf-battery-is-primitive/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DShtvd5jJHQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - at ~1:06 claims you'll have 70-80% capacity left after 10 years which turned out to be WAY off
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/01/nissan-leaf-has-no-active-thermal-management/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Read the 1st page of http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=9694" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, if you don't want to read the almost 700 page thread that it links to. (Do watch the town hall meeting video later in that post.)

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=10257" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=224420#p224420" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=228326" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Class action lawsuit, above range test and media attention prompted http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=13192" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Remember, the 4 bar loser lost somewhere past 30% of its capacity or more even though the Leaf had only been on the market for ~21 months.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=14102" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and a bunch of posts at the end of http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=17168" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; discuss people getting their 4 capacity bar loser (4BL) batteries replaced.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEaxYWW6Zm8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is a video of a 4BL '11 Leaf in So Cal getting his battery replaced w/a "lizard" battery at ~47K miles, under the new capacity warranty. There was none originally w/the Leaf. The Los Angeles area/Orange County is nowhere near as hot as Phoenix.

These should give you an idea of the insane Phoenix summer temps:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=215907#p215907" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=286414#p286414" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=369444#p369444" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Google makes for an easy unit converter (e.g. Google for 111 f in c which yields 43.89 C. 100 F = 37.8 C...)

Someone asked this question: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=359497" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and my opinion was at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=359497#p359497" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.