New England Leafs?

[maevguy]

Finally picked up "Zippy" from Clay Nissan in Norwood, MA yesterday. It's been quite a journey. I reserved it on 6/7/2010, and waited, got a quote on 9/29/11, placed the order on 9/30/11, and waited, and waited, and waited. The delivery date moved, and moved again, and moved yet again. But finally, the car was here.

I've only driven it 50 miles so far, but it's been a blast.

 

[tmac]

Great to hear that it finally came
Japan is a long way from Massachusetts I guess
Enjoy!

 

[ghabel]

Finally picked up "Zippy" from Clay Nissan in Norwood, MA yesterday. It's been quite a journey. I reserved it on 6/7/2010, and waited, got a quote on 9/29/11, placed the order on 9/30/11, and waited, and waited, and waited. The delivery date moved, and moved again, and moved yet again. But finally, the car was here.

I've only driven it 50 miles so far, but it's been a blast.

Congrats! I'm still learning new things after 500 miles. Looks like it won't let you lock your keys in the car. I tried including manually locking it. It beeped at me and unlocked the doors!

Try one of the Chilis restaurants with free charging. There's at least 3 in eastern/central MA.

 

[maevguy]

Thanks everyone.

300 miles in and still enjoying every minute. A bit of range anxiety yesterday. Drove 78 miles, but made it home will 11 miles still in the tank. Got caught in a massive traffic jam for over an hour, but felt good knowing I wasn't needlessly burning fossil fuels while idling and inching my way up rte 128.

The dedicated EV parking spaces in town are fantastic. I parked twice within steps of City Hall in Boston, in the middle of the day, on a weekday, paying only parking meter rates instead of the much more expensive parking garage rates. The EV spots are jealously guarded and protected by police and parking enforcement. I saw at least 5 cars trying to park in these spots and being shooed away within 30 seconds. One guy even tried to park his (non-plugin) hybrid, and spent about a minute arguing with a policeman that his car was electric. No dice.

I was able to use the free Chargepoint stations at those locations. I had a bit of trouble the first time, but finally figured out that I needed to be a bit less gentle and ensure that the connector really clicks into the vehicle charging port for everything to work.

All in all, the LEAF is a joy to drive.

 

[mitch672]

maevguy, the "Garage at Post Office Square" also has 2 dedicated EV charging spots on the 1st floor, last time I checked they did not have any J-1772 EVSE's, but did have 240V 30A outlets, and a 120V outlet for each space. These exist because I was in communication with the parking garage manager, and they finally put in the 2 dedicated spaces... I now park down the street, in the building I work in. Still driving the 2010 Prius too, my orphaned Red SL Leaf is still sitting in stock over at Clay Nissan

P.S. The Garage at post Office Square will set you back anywhere from $28-$34 for the day, depends upon if you have their "Park Card" for a discount, or are a monthly parker, in which case its $22.25/day ($445/month, 20 days in the average month)
http://www.posquare.com/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[ghabel]

maevguy - great to see they are closely monitoring those spaces. This is going to be an ongoing issue going forward.

 

[ghabel]

Nissan of Milford, MA has their charging station active but not in Carwings yet. There are a handful of restaurants nearby within easy walking distance.

I took a 5 min charge to get it to register in my Carwings.

 

[ghabel]

Kelly Nissan of Lynnfield was in the Boston globe this past weekend. Article says they have a quickcharge 480v station. I emailed them and they confirmed. Anyone care to give it a go?
http://www.kellynissanoflynnfield.com/tcd/home/?tcdkwid=21472957&tcdcmpid=18989&tcdadid=6400686102&locale=en_US" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[mitch672]

Kelly Nissan of Lynnfield was in the Boston globe this past weekend. Article says they have a quickcharge 480v station. I emailed them and they confirmed. Anyone care to give it a go?
http://www.kellynissanoflynnfield.com/tcd/home/?tcdkwid=21472957&tcdcmpid=18989&tcdadid=6400686102&locale=en_US" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm willing to bet its a standard L2 EVSE. Most of the Nisssan dealers are totally clueless.
If its a realy DC fast charger, 30 minute Chademo, I'll buy you a Dunkin Donuts $10 gift card. Any takers?

 

[ghabel]

That would really suck if I showed up almost totally depleted to find out it's just a 220/240 and would have a long wait!

 

[mitch672]

That would really suck if I showed up almost totally depleted to find out it's just a 220/240 and would have a long wait!

It would very unlikely for it be a real DC fast charger, there are hardly any in California, they are way ahead of the east coast. There's a handful in Texas and Tenesee, and that's about it, maybe one or two in Washington State or Oregon. It's possible, but a car dealer spending $10K-40K for the
Charger and installation, doesn't sound too likely now does
It?

 

[woof]

Anyone care to give it a go?

I drive past there most days. They have a white LEAF with interesting "plug" graphics on it, often parked right out front. Also right out front is a pedestal mount with two standard 240V AV EVSE units.

I don't know if there are additional EVSEs elsewhere on the property, as I never pulled in as I don't have anything to charge (yet.)

--Woof!
Play "Drop Drops" on iOS
http://www.woofsystems.net" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[mitch672]

Anyone care to give it a go?

I drive past there most days. They have a white LEAF with interesting "plug" graphics on it, often parked right out front. Also right out front is a pedestal mount with two standard 240V AV EVSE units.

I don't know if there are additional EVSEs elsewhere on the property, as I never pulled in as I don't have anything to charge (yet.)

--Woof!
Play "Drop Drops" on iOS
http://www.woofsystems.net" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Woof, stop by, it could be worth a free trip to dunks for you we are all curious to know.

 

[jimcmorr]

Kelly Nissan of Lynnfield was in the Boston globe this past weekend. Article says they have a quickcharge 480v station. I emailed them and they confirmed. Anyone care to give it a go?
http://www.kellynissanoflynnfield.com/tcd/home/?tcdkwid=21472957&tcdcmpid=18989&tcdadid=6400686102&locale=en_US" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm willing to bet its a standard L2 EVSE. Most of the Nisssan dealers are totally clueless.
If its a realy DC fast charger, 30 minute Chademo, I'll buy you a Dunkin Donuts $10 gift card. Any takers?

When I stopped by my local Nissan dealer in Keene NH in December they told me they were getting a quick charger. I also took him to mean ChaDeMo DC charging. I pressed him on it, considering that ChaDeMo is expensive and rare. He assured me that it was the 440 volt DC quick charge.

I went in a couple of weeks ago to see the demo and drive it. The sales man showed me the two AV EVSE units (220 volt) they had installed, one outside and one in the shop. I advise you to check it out in person at your location, before going there expecting a half hour to 80% charge and finding the 220 volt AV EVSE. :shock:

 

[davewill]

When I stopped by my local Nissan dealer in Keene NH in December they told me they were getting a quick charger. I also took him to mean ChaDeMo DC charging. I pressed him on it, considering that ChaDeMo is expensive and rare. He assured me that it was the 440 volt DC quick charge.

I went in a couple of weeks ago to see the demo and drive it. The sales man showed me the two AV EVSE units (220 volt) they had installed, one outside and one in the shop. I advise you to check it out in person at your location, before going there expecting a half hour to 80% charge and finding the 220 volt AV EVSE. :shock:

I blame Nissan quite a bit for this one. They tout the QC charge time so much, I can see how someone would assume that special equipment being installed must be for QC...but there's no real excuse for a dealer not to get the facts straight.

 

[jimcmorr]

FWIW... Speaking of misinformation: Yesterday I called around to a few dealers within 50 miles of me to ask if any were offering discounts on MSRP for the LEAF. One told me the LEAF range varied between 100 and 130 miles, depending on, among other things, whether the weather was cold. Another said, because of training and specialized equipment required they didn't have much room to move on the price. Both told me that there was only $1200 to $1500 of mark up on the LEAF and I would have a hard time finding any dealer to give a discount such as I was asking about.

 

[woof]

I stopped by Kelly Nissan this evening, and spoke with the LEAF Sales guy, "Fritz".

While they do have four J1772 AV EVSEs (two out front, one in the service bay, and one in the back), they do not have a "fast charger", "DC charger", "quick charger" nor any other type of charger that is faster than the standard level 2.

According to Fritz, the two in the front are available for public charging, 24/7 even for non-Kelly vehicles.

He did mention Kelly may get a fast charger, but given the high price of them, and that they "cannot charge" for its use, it wasn't clear when they would.

Hope that clears it up.

 

[ghabel]

Thanks for making the trip Woof. I would have been really ticked if I showed up and they didn't have the DC charger.

 

[Martytdi]

Update on our totaled 2012 Nissan Leaf..The dealer contacted Nissan to expedite the order. The new Leaf will arrive in about 2 weeks. Just a change in color from pearl to black. Wife is still recovering form the accident. 18 wheeler gas tanker and Leaf, the tanker won but the leaf held up well. I really think now this is a solidly built car.

 

[ghabel]

Martytdi,
Good to hear your wife is getting better and you will have a new LEAF.