New Leaf in Cedar Falls, Iowa

[Psyclonus]

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.

 

[Randy3]

About not buying from your local dealer --

1. You will likely be taking the car into their shop for any updates, the 2 free battery checks, some maintenance, etc. So, they will get some business from you, and

2. I've done the same thing, buying at a dealer I felt more comfortable with, then frequently visiting the more local dealer. They have a couple of EVSE's in the customer parking area. I've charged there a half-dozen times while I shopped across the street at Target. I've parked, plugged, then stopped at their front desk to confirm with the receptionist that they are okay with my doing this. It's never been a problem. I've taken a few pictures of my LEAF while charging at their dealership and posted them on the dealer's Facebook page with a nice comment thanking them. Their LEAF sales people now know me by name and we have a good relationship.

You might be able to create a good relationship with the local dealer by doing the same. Or, give me some more ideas.

Have fun in your new EV!

 

[Psyclonus]

Thanks, they've only ever sold two Leafs at that dealer, so they weren't terribly knowledgeable about them...

One of the other reasons the Leaf was great for us is that we get a big discount for being an all-electric house from our utility company from October 1 - May 31 on all of our electricity over 800kWh/month (easy to do with 2 heat pumps in our house), so at $0.0285/kWh for half the year, it's darn-near free for us to charge the Leaf:

Summer/Winter:
Basic Service Charge $9.55/Mo. $9.55/Mo.
First 800 kWh @ $0.0631/kWh $0.0631/kWh
All Over 800 kWh @ $0.0631/kWh $0.0285/kWh

 

[Randy3]

Kind of funny, in my case, the local Lithia dealership is the one I didn't buy from. Back in 2010, when I was in line to order, Lithia folks thought I was talking about "lease" when I spoke about "LEAF." I steered clear of them until they knew the difference.

Looks like in your case, Lithia was the place to buy.

 

[Stoaty]

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...

The cheapest solution, assuming you already have a 240 volt outlet (e.g., dryer) in the garage is: http://evseupgrade.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Many, many satisfied customers.

 

[julievojo]

We are in the Rochester MN area, not too far from you. Like you, I've also noticed that the heater/defroster takes a big chunk of the battery power. However, we live only about 10 miles from work, so it's not a big deal. I love my LEAF, and love the fact that I can pre-heat it from my phone before I leave work. I also ejoy the fact that I don't have to stand outside and pump gas in the cold/ice/rain/snow! I just pull into my garage and plug in, it takes about 15 seconds.