Nissan LEAF Press Release : Reservations restart May 1st

[jwhitehouse]

Nissan just released an announcement concerning LEAF production and shipments. It doesn't cut and patse well, but here's the link:
http://nissannews.com/newsrelease.do?id=2414

 

[Stoaty]

Salient points:

--Beginning May 1, the company will reopen reservations to select consumers

--Reservations first will reopen in the launch states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington

--Individuals who already have registered on the Nissan LEAF website – a group that now totals 340,000 potential owners – will be given the first opportunity to reserve a spot in line

--the first vessel carrying post earthquake-produced Nissan LEAFs is scheduled to arrive to U.S. shores April 27

--the company has compiled aggregate data about the use patterns of these first Nissan LEAF owners. The average trip length of these early adopters is 7 miles; most charge on a Level 2, 220-volt charger at their homes; and the average charging time is 2 hours and 11 minutes

Edit: gotta wonder about that average trip length of 7 miles. Aren't you guys driving your Leafs???

Now that sounds like some good news!

 

[redLEAF]

I like this statement as well:

“Nissan LEAF deliveries are about to grow from the few hundreds, to the many thousands, and all current customer orders will be fulfilled by the end of this summer.”

Of course I'm not sure if 'the other 36' are simply considered a 'reservation' and not an actual 'order'.

Lastly, Nationwide ordering during 2012 is no surprise but they don't say how they'll handle the non-launch areas at all (just Southeastern states).

Now of course I'd like to see Ford respond on more news about the Focus EV rollout; don't think they were quite as effected by the disaster in Japan but again no news

 

[kmp647]

Never mind Ford...... what I would like a s a reservation holder from April 2010 is some news on when I can actually order here in Virginia

I understand they need to re-open reservations in the big EV states


but how about some more news Nissan on all the other reservation holders


and not just this " all orders filled by end of summer"


we all know that means orders, not current reservation holders

so tier 2 res holders dont get excited here

this is not good news for us..... :evil:

 

[daniel]

My prediction:

Those post-earthquake produced cars, with order dates probably February, will be delivered before many of the cars now in port awaiting the "fix" which were ordered in September and October. Given their intention to sell 10,000 cars this year, they'll decide it's easier to cut their losses by dumping us early-order folks to the back of the line rather than expending manpower to try to straighten out the screw-up that resulted from their "computer glitch" (read: incompetent programing). They'll have a few hundred really angry fanatics, and many thousands of happy latecomers. And when we finally do get our cars, six months after the January cars were delivered, they'll be cars built earlier and therefore more prone to the early-production problems, plus the deterioration from having spent half a year sitting around in port or wherever. Remember that lithium batteries have a shelf life that is more critical than the charge-cycle life. Our cars will be delivered to us with six-month-old battery packs, and therefore six months less battery life than cars ordered in January.

I sure wish I'd waited until January to order! If my car really does not come until July, I may walk away from it unless they offer to compensate me for the lost battery life.

 

[Sasparilla]

>> More markets will follow, with market availability in the southeastern United States (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, South Carolina, and Virginia) this fall, and nationwide ordering in 2012. <<

Wow....so the old south rollout for orders doesn't start till the fall of 2011? So deliveries not until the end of the year it sounds like.

The rest of us won't be able to order until 2012 (looking at initial deliveries a year from now in 2012 probably) - and that's assuming they open the ordering for the rest of us at the beginning of 2012, it could be much later since they have alot of wiggle room. I never thought I'd be waiting till 2012 just to order when I put my reservation in, bummer.

Good news for the initial launch markets, disheartening news for the rest of us.

 

[kmp647]

well my chat from this morning about the new reservations revealed that us tier 2 will not be able to order til Fall , but who didnt know that

Late summer was ruled out with the disaster.

still seems like ordering in late fall gets you a 2012 leaf in march or april 2012


Nissan really needs to get the word out to Reservation holders , leaving them guessing is not good

boy if nissan lets those May 2011 reservations order before a April 2010 res holder.......

I will just buy any ev thats out there even if I have to wait 5 years, instead of giving money to nissan

 

[Spies]

--the company has compiled aggregate data about the use patterns of these first Nissan LEAF owners. The average trip length of these early adopters is 7 miles; most charge on a Level 2, 220-volt charger at their homes; and the average charging time is 2 hours and 11 minutes

I would be interested in seeing the raw data and how they came to these conclusions. Knowing that the Leaf reports a "trip" as simply turning the car on and that the Blink evse is known to trigger multiple charges per night makes me wonder if they took that info into account.

I think a better number would be how many total miles a Leaf goes in one day and how many total hours the Leaf is charged in one day.

 

[LEAFer]

--the company has compiled aggregate data about the use patterns of these first Nissan LEAF owners. The average trip length of these early adopters is 7 miles; most charge on a Level 2, 220-volt charger at their homes; and the average charging time is 2 hours and 11 minutes

I would be interested in seeing the raw data and how they came to these conclusions. Knowing that the Leaf reports a "trip" as simply turning the car on and that the Blink evse is known to trigger multiple charges per night makes me wonder if they took that info into account.

I think a better number would be how many total miles a Leaf goes in one day and how many total hours the Leaf is charged in one day.

Agree. The average driver will do several trips in a day. The way their example is given it sounds like the average charging session is putting 3.21 miles per hour into the "tank". That's really even less than L1 charging (guesstimate: 1kW not 3.3kW).

 

[DeaneG]

.. The average trip length of these early adopters is 7 miles; most charge on a Level 2, 220-volt charger at their homes; and the average charging time is 2 hours and 11 minutes

Edit: gotta wonder about that average trip length of 7 miles. Aren't you guys driving your Leafs???

Taken at face value, charge time of 2.2 hours at 240V is about 25 miles per day of driving, 9200 miles per year.

 

[Spies]

Taken at face value, charge time of 2.2 hours at 240V is about 25 miles per day of driving, 9200 miles per year.

That seems like a more realistic number to me just based on the info we have.

 

[TRONZ]

Nissan will be keeping all the really informative data to itself for competitive reasons. I can think of several car companies that would kill for this information.

 

[Stanton]

Nissan will be keeping all the really informative data to itself for competitive reasons. I can think of several car companies that would kill for this information.

Agreed. Nissan really is in the midst of a ground-braking launch/rollout. This PR tells me I may actually get a Leaf THIS year (I'm registered and live in Texas).

 

[Yanquetino]

Now, hold on a minute here! I echo the concerns expressed by "kmp647" and "Sasparilla" above. I am in Tier 3, just 10 minutes across the border from Tier 1 Arizona. I gave Nissan my deposit one year ago today. If they now let these new May 1 reservation holders order and take delivery before me, I will be pissed. :evil:

I have a very hard time understanding why Nissan would make this announcement without first reassuring us current reservation holders that we will still be in line ahead of any newcomers. The fact that they have remained silent about our orders and deliveries does not bode well, IMHO.

Time to fire up a chat window, methinks.

 

[TRONZ]

Time to fire up a chat window, methinks.

Maybe people should wait for facts/information before going all "Red Bull" on Nissan's CS people.

 

[daniel]

From some of the posts above about "average trip length" it sounds like the same people wrote the software for the data crunching as wrote the software for the ordering process!

 

[Sasparilla]

I am in Tier 3, just 10 minutes across the border from Tier 1 Arizona. I gave Nissan my deposit one year ago today. If they now let these new May 1 reservation holders order and take delivery before me, I will be pissed.

I have a very hard time understanding why Nissan would make this announcement without first reassuring us current reservation holders that we will still be in line ahead of any newcomers. The fact that they have remained silent about our orders and deliveries does not bode well, IMHO..

Yes Yanguetino, it seems obvious that the reservations that are opening in May will be for deliveries in the initial markets for deliveries before the next two rollout sections.

It appears Nissan is piling in the deliveries in their initial markets, which makes sense. If they are going to put the rest of off they may as well sell as many as they can into the initial markets.

Just my opinion, but I'd guess that if Nissan had this to do over again, they would have only opened reservations for the initial markets and made everyone else sit on their hands until much later (which is, in effect, what they are doing now). Definitely a change from the quick push to roll it out nationwide that they talked about at initial reservation time (April 2010) - its a shame they couldn't have figured this out prior to nationwide reservations back in 2010 (or have set everyones expectations correctly).

This does beg the question as to why they made this change in strategy...did they end up with much more demand than they anticipated and so could allocate the first year's production to just initial markets?

Very disappointing news for everyone not in the initial roll out areas. Volt's & Focus Electrics may rollout before Leafs get to me here in IL, bummer.

 

[rnkepler]

I have a very hard time understanding why Nissan would make this announcement without first reassuring us current reservation holders that we will still be in line ahead of any newcomers. The fact that they have remained silent about our orders and deliveries does not bode well, IMHO.

In the article below Taveres is clearly indicating that they will continue taking orders from new reservation holders before Tier2 opens up. I can't say that I mind all that much as I would really like them to get the ordering/production process straightened out before they open it up to a bunch of new dealerships.

Tavares declined to say how many customers would be invited to buy a Leaf, but said new customers could end up getting one by summer if they order in early May.

http://www.detnews.com/article/2011...ase-North-American-production--Leaf-offerings

 

[Yanquetino]

Read 'em and weep:

EV Customer Support is currently busy. Please stand by.

You have been connected to [Nissan Operator].

[Nissan Operator]:  Thank you for contacting Nissan LEAF Customer Support, my name is [Nissan Operator]. How may I help you today Mark?

ME:  Good morning, [Nissan Operator]. I want to ask about the News Release from Nissan today. Apparently, "Reservations first will reopen in the launch states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington." This is supposed to occur starting May 1. Is that correct?

[Nissan Operator]:  YEs Sir, that is correct. I'm excited!

ME:  Uh... but Nissan did NOT clarify the situation for those who are already reservation holders in NON-launch states. Can you do so?

[Nissan Operator]:  Until the Leaf is available in your state, you will not be able to place an order.

ME:  Yes, I've always understood that. However, will these new reservations holders be able to order and take delivery before that happens??? I paid Nissan my deposit one year ago today. Surely you are not going to allow new deposit holders to leapfrog me in line, are you?!

[Nissan Operator]:  May I ask what state you live in?

ME:  I am in Utah, 10 minutes across the border from Tier 1 Arizona.

[Nissan Operator]:  You always have the option to purchases an orphaned Leaf in Arizona from a Nissan Dealer.

ME:  An orphaned Leaf? That is my only option? Even though I already paid you my reservation deposit one year ago? And may I ask you to please answer my question: will those May 1 newcomers in "launch states" be able to butt in line ahead of me to order and take delivery of their Leafs --or not?

[Nissan Operator]:  If you choose to purchase an orphaned Leaf, you can the cancel your reservation and your money will be credited back to you. I do understand your frustration but only the Tier 1 states, would be able to purchase.

ME:  So... the newcomers WILL be able to order ahead of me? Even though I gave you my deposit one year ago?

[Nissan Operator]:  Yes sir, that is correct.

ME:  As you can well imagine, I am appalled and devastated. I want you to pass my reaction up the executive hierarchy of Nissan as far as it will go: it is unconcienable to allow new customers --no matter where they live-- to leapfrog those of us who already paid you our deposits a year ago. We have been patient and supportive of Nissan, true believers in its vision with the Leaf, and to now be pushed further back in line is ungrateful --and downright rude.

[Nissan Operator]:  I do apologize Mr. Larsen and I understand your frustration. I will pass your concerns along. May I have your address, so that I can note your account?

ME:  My address is [address given]; my reservation number is CD00D996. I purport that Nissan needs to contact me to personally apologize for how this decision affects me --and all other reservation holders in NON-launch states.

[Nissan Operator]:  Once again, I do understand your frustration and I will escalate your concerns. Is there anything else I can help you with, today?

ME:  No. You've answered my question. Most discouragingly.

[Nissan Operator]:  Please feel free to visit our website often for updates about the Nissan LEAF, and encourage your friends to contact us with their questions as well. Thank you for contacting Nissan LEAF Customer Support.

Your session has ended. You may now close this window.

 

[charlie1300]

Once Nissan decided to roll out in regional phases, anyone who thought that new reservations and orders would not be serviced in tier 1 before original reservations in tier 2 and 3 was a victim of incorrect thinking. Once you start a roll out in one region, you don't stop to service other regions, you keep the momentum going. I understand the frustrations being expressed here, but realize that you are asking Nissan to commit marketing suicide.
Now it would of been nice if Nissan had politely informed tier 2 and the forgotten 36 reservation holders last summer that the plan had changed, and they were in for a long wait. But it appears that Nissan's PR wing refused to admit to "bad news" even when it's obvious to everyone else.
And it appears that the earthquake impact is adding 3-6 months to the wait for tier 2 and the rest.