searching for an orphan leaf, some basic questions

Hello. My 1995 Volvo is dying and I'm looking for an orphan leaf, have a couple of leads but of course not much time to do research. I really liked the Leaf when I had the opportunity to test drive last week and we have another gas car so will be able to use the leaf for our city driving. I'm in Seattle. My questions

1. What is a reasonable dealer surcharge? So far have seen $2600 and $5000
2. It is going to take some time for me to make sense of the charging options. I have a request for information in to the EV project, what are the chances that I could get a free unit? I have a garage and my electric panels are in the garage so should be an easy install.
3. In the meantime, looks like it would be easy to get by with a 120v line? Most driving would be round trip to work, about 12-20 miles, car would have at least 12 hours to recharge.
4. Anything else I should know? How about dealer service, is there much variation between dealers and should that be an element of the buying decision?

Thank you!

1. None, most good dealerships won't charge any additional above MSRP. Honestly I wouldn't take one with an additional surcharge, but if your desperate, maybe 1-2k.
2. Don't know about he EV project, we can't get free units where I am at. You can always purchase a blink unit by itself for 1.5k. Other units all cost ~1k (coloumb, aerovironment, leviton, etc.). Don't use AV's installation, its way overpriced (1.2k). Any electriction can install an EVSE (or the socket for blink, etc.) for about ~300-500 depending on your area. Go with the unit that has the functionality you want (like blink with its interent access) and style you want (blink is a larger unit than save AV's). Ingineer has a conversion to covert your trickle charger to a full 240v charger that plugs into a standard 240 outlet (click on the add on the front page)
3. For me 120V was PAINFUL. Yes, you can get by with it, especially with your shorter commute, but that may mean not being able to use the car for other errands (which you will want to, its so much fun!). I ended up, my first weekend with my orphan totally running to almost zero on the battery and couldn't make it to work the next day because the charge was too low :lol: ! 120v is doable, but a dedicated EVSE will allow you alot more flexability to do other things beside work in your car.
4. Dealer service is as important as you want it to be. If you don't care, it shouldn't matter. Some dealerships give us leaf owners lots of attention and little things that make us happy, this can help you weigh your choice. Some perfer just to get the transaction and go, so its really a value that only you can put to it. For an orphan, you probably won't have a choice and will need to go with the dealership that has what you want.

Thank you!

I also do not like the idea of paying above MSRP. Will continue to investigate.

qaleaf said:

Thank you!

I also do not like the idea of paying above MSRP. Will continue to investigate.

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I seriously doubt you are going to find an Orphan in the Seattle area for at or under MSRP but it's worth shopping around since a lot more have arrived. The one place that offered no markup told me it would take some untold period of time to receive the car, like 6 months, that was back in February/march.

As for the charger, you really can get the whole thing taken care of by signing up for the EV project study, free of charge, there is not much to it accept you have to be OK with them being able see pretty much your every move in the LEAF, and hitting OK on the screen every time you start up. the free charger helped me justify the added fee for the Orphan, it pretty much was awash. Call the EV project http://www.theevproject.com/index.php ( or Call toll-free: 888.998.BLINK (2546) and they can send you an application/link for getting the Blink charger. If you have an electrician friend who can inspect your house and write a quick letter as to how easily a line can be put in, this can substantially decrease your wait and increase your chance of qualifying. To really speed things up, once you get the Orphan, call them and tell them it's here... mine was installed within days, free of charge. Have heard of some folks having issues with their Blink, especially if it's relying on Wi-fi, but I have not had any issues with it and mine is wired directly to the internet via an adapter they supplied that uses the houses 120 V wiring.

g

You can start with the standard 120V EVSE, if you see a need then get it upgraded or just buy another.. I would stay away from the free one, it seems like an intrusive pain in the neck with all the permits etc.

Everyday you wait more more money is wasted on gas

Herm said:

You can start with the standard 120V EVSE, if you see a need then get it upgraded or just buy another.. I would stay away from the free one, it seems like an intrusive pain in the neck with all the permits etc.

Everyday you wait more more money is wasted on gas

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Permits are required to install a 240v circuit for any EVSE. Anyway, I'd recommend the EV Project in a heartbeat.

davewill said:

Herm said:

You can start with the standard 120V EVSE, if you see a need then get it upgraded or just buy another.. I would stay away from the free one, it seems like an intrusive pain in the neck with all the permits etc.

Everyday you wait more more money is wasted on gas

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Permits are required to install a 240v circuit for any EVSE. Anyway, I'd recommend the EV Project in a heartbeat.

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+1: I'm in the EV Project. No issues whatsoever so far; and, I saved thousands of $, got a free Blink charging dock, free 2nd meter that gets me juice for 7 cents per KW during off-peak. The project took care of all the permits, etc. Installation was professional, and done without delay.

derkraut said:

...The project took care of all the permits, etc. Installation was professional, and done without delay.

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that was exactly my experience. the permits, inspection, all of it was taken care of by the EV project guy. All I had to do is be there for the installation.

I did get by with the 120V EVSE for a while and worked it out by planning ahead, but the 240V is so much faster and lets you be flexible and spontaneous.
g

So I've located an orphan (SL), due to receive it tomorrow. I noticed on the invoice a $700 charger cost. Can I get this back? I've emailed the EV project and will try and call them but have not yet linked with them to receive an application.

qaleaf said:

So I've located an orphan (SL), due to receive it tomorrow. I noticed on the invoice a $700 charger cost. Can I get this back? I've emailed the EV project and will try and call them but have not yet linked with them to receive an application.

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The $700 charger cost is the quick charge port on the SL model. If you get into the EV Project, they'll reimburse you the $700 cost of that port; if not, well, you have a quick charge port.

Congrats on finding an orphan! Where did you end up going?

Actually there are several orphans available in the greater Seattle area right now. I ended up going with Ray and Campbell Nissan. Todd at Auburn Nissan was also really helpful and responsive though, and he has two orphans right now.

Last week Eastside even advertised 2 Orphans in SeattleTimes.

qaleaf said:

Actually there are several orphans available in the greater Seattle area right now. I ended up going with Ray and Campbell Nissan.

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Good choice; I cannot recommend Ray highly enough! He definitely did right by me; when an orphaned order identical to mine came in ahead of my expected delivery, he got me into that car for the price I'd been quoted for my reservation.

What color did you end up with?

Qaleaf, keep in mind that the EV Project installations end Sept. 30 (my Blink installer told me), so I would keep on them to get you qualified.

Packet, I went with the red, love it!

LEAFfan, thanks for the heads up. I received this email on Mon Aug 8:
We have forwarded the survey questionnaire over to the [email protected] email address for processing. This questionnaire should put you into LEAD status which means we have received your survey but you are currently being reviewed by the regional and corporate level to determine your participation status. This usually can take up to two weeks. Please let us know if you have not heard from anybody within this time period.

So maybe I should check in with them next week?

qaleaf said:

Packet, I went with the red, love it!

LEAFfan, thanks for the heads up. I received this email on Mon Aug 8:
We have forwarded the survey questionnaire over to the [email protected] email address for processing. This questionnaire should put you into LEAD status which means we have received your survey but you are currently being reviewed by the regional and corporate level to determine your participation status. This usually can take up to two weeks. Please let us know if you have not heard from anybody within this time period.

So maybe I should check in with them next week?

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If you bought an orphan, check back with them daily, or at least every few days. Make sure they know you already have the car. The process takes quite some time and was designed to be started months before delivery of your vehicle. They can fast track it when you get an orphan, or at least they did when I got mine. I had to make sure everyone involved knew I had the car in the garage though, Ecotality, the power company and the installer. Make sure you get a phone number and talk to the local Ecotality people, they're the ones that need to fast track your install.

Here's a related question. It appears that all of the local dealers (San Jose, CA area) are charging well over MSRP for orphans (at least according to their Craigslist ads). However, there are dealers in the North Bay and Sacramento (100+ miles away) putting up ads at MSRP. My concern is that if I have a problem ("take to dealer" message) the local dealer is going to put me in the back of the line, behind the local Leafs. I certainly am not driving 100+ miles to get serviced.

Do you think this is a valid concern?

Thanks

DoxyLover said:

Do you think this is a valid concern?
Thanks

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No, I would buy it from 100 miles away to save $1K-2K or more.

DoxyLover said:

Do you think this is a valid concern?

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Nope. For one thing they shouldn't have a bunch of LEAFs in the repair shop to put ahead of you in the first place. Secondly, they get paid to do warranty repairs and make money from them.

I bought mine 1900 miles away and saved $2400 over the one I just ordered locally. This includes shipping.