Sunroof?

[aqn]

sheet of glass maybe 3/16" thick

Are there not acrylic roofs?

I don't know. I suppose Lexan might be a good choice as far as weight and scratch-proofness go; I don't know about its shatter property, and don't feel like looking it up. But I did look up the brand that Skywagon mentioned, Webasto, and their models use "tinted Venus ® glass". (What's with the stupid forum s/w not allowing HTML special characters?!)

 

[HighDesertDriver]

sheet of glass maybe 3/16" thick

Are there not acrylic roofs?

I don't know. I suppose Lexan might be a good choice as far as weight and scratch-proofness go; I don't know about its shatter property, and don't feel like looking it up.

Lexan (brand) or any equivalent polycarbonate sheet will not shatter. It will flex under load, but hates contact with petroleum products (like gasoline) which quickly haze it over and cause it to disintegrate. Although it would obviously serve well in an EV application, acrylic would probably be the best choice for an add-on sunroof. As for me, I'd prefer to keep the LEAF headroom, and like TomT, we rarely use the sunroof we do have. "Your mileage may vary."

 

[DaveEV]

Hah - if Nissan used aluminum for the roof of the car, that'd probably cut a decent amount of weight, though! Typically 25-50 lbs for a body panel that big...

That would likely make meeting roll over standards more difficult...

I'm talking about the body skins which do diddly for rollover strength (kinda like the aluminum doors of the LEAF don't affect side-impact strength), not the structure which would remain a combination of high tensile and regular strength steel.

That said, one could replace the steel structure with aluminium - the difficulty is that aluminum has less strength per volume so the size of the A/B pillars may need to be increased to maintain strength.

The Tesla Model S uses a combination of high tensile steel and aluminium in it's frame where each material makes the most sense. And it will be available with a huge sunroof, too.

 

[PatricioEV]

Ok, this is getting downright absurd. Talked to one company here in Austin who said they could do a Webasto 930 no problem. They just needed to order the glass. That was over a month ago - they're clearly not interested in the job. Then has the Leaf up at the dealer to get them to install (finally) the glovebox light and was talking to a Leaf salesman who said they had used that sunroof company on exactly two cars and immediately switched to someone else. So clearly I won't be using them even if they do get the glass in. Besides, their shop was very disorganized and filthy. I had hesitations before...

Anyway, Leaf salesman said the company they use could do a Leaf sunroof and he'd get with them and call me back. This is great because any problems will be dealt with by Nissan as I'd go through them. Hell, it was even cheaper! Then when I returned his call to get info on sunroof type and installation availability, etc, he said now they can't do it since I have an SL and a spoiler solar panel. Claimed Nissan does not recommend sunroofs in the SL model. WTF??

My only guess is the wire for the solar trickle charger runs right down the middle?? So what?? Move it. Now back to square one; no one will do it. It's just a normal frikken roof....

 

[eclecticflower]

Have you considered the side curtain airbags being up there, too? I figured that and the solar panel and wiring were why there was no sun roof.

 

[PatricioEV]

I finally found a company to install a sunroof! It's a Webasto 930 dual pane inbuilt with one touch single vent, double vent, open, close and memory position. It has an illuminated switch in the overhead console, a vented sunshade and they moved the domelight back a bit. It's fantastic and I'm very happy with the results! It was done by:

Brian Hill
Dealer Source, LTD.
11006 Metric Blvd.
Austin, TX 78758
512.873.9919

[youtube]http://youtu.be/mD2bp2tY3mU[/youtube]

 

[eHelmholtz]

I finally found a company to install a sunroof! It's a Webasto 930 dual pane inbuilt with one touch single vent, double vent, open, close and memory position. It has an illuminated switch in the overhead console, a vented sunshade and they moved the domelight back a bit. It's fantastic and I'm very happy with the results!

Nicely done! How much did it cost all together?

 

[Ingineer]

I wish that the Leaf made it easier to say 'just blow outside air into the cabin and don't attempt to heat or cool it'. I want the fan, but I don't want to guess if it's trying to use the resistance heater (at least the A/C is a single button to turn off!)

I've solved this problem with many happy customers now!

I too am interested in what this cost, seems like it's got to be pricey because of all the labor involved. The webasto is definitely a nice unit though!

-Phil

 

[PatricioEV]

I finally found a company to put in an sunroof!

Webasto 930 Dual Panel in-built. Auto single vent, double vent, open close, memory position. Sunroof closes automatically when you turn the car off. They moved the dome light back and did a great job on installation! $1299+tax. I can't for the life of me figure out how to load pics or video to this site (even though I have literally hundreds on other forums.) Anyway, here are the links:

Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hrg78732/sets/72157629672060424/

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD2bp2tY3mU&list=UUtjXBTXRSklSJzJaQReALnw&index=1&feature=plcp

company info:

Brian Hill
Dealer Source, LTD
11006 Metric Blvd.
Austin, TX 78758
512.873.9919

 

[davewill]

It takes a little editing of the video's URL. It pretty much has to look like this one:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD2bp2tY3mU[/youtube]
I couldn't find the correct URL for your Flickr photo, but it needs to point directly to the JPEG file.

Edit: It appears that Flickr no longer allows directly linking to your own JPEGs: http://www.flickr.com/help/photos/#2265887" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[derkraut]

Looks really good-----but, how much $$$???

 

[eHelmholtz]

Edit: It appears that Flickr no longer allows directly linking to your own JPEGs: http://www.flickr.com/help/photos/#2265887" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Really?
This seems to work:

 

[ebill3]

Looks really good-----but, how much $$$???

Previous page, next to last post.
$1299 + tax.

 

[eHelmholtz]

Previous page, next to last post.
$1299 + tax.

is this all inclusive or is it just the installation cost?

 

[PatricioEV]

Previous page, next to last post.
$1299 + tax.

is this all inclusive or is it just the installation cost?

Sunroof and installation - $1299+ tax

 

[PatricioEV]

BTW, Dealer Source, LTD has a San Antonio shop as well...

Dealer Source Ltd (Main Office)
11927 Warfield St.
San Antonio, TX 78216
Office: 210-366-9919

http://www.dealersourceltd.com

And for anyone wondering about miles/kwh, I drove my normal route to work this am with the sunroof open fully (same speeds, etc.) and my figures were the same as they always are... I reset the console reading every night when I pull in the garage.

 

[davewill]

Edit: It appears that Flickr no longer allows directly linking to your own JPEGs: http://www.flickr.com/help/photos/#2265887" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Really?
This seems to work:

So, it does. However, they've stopped providing the link to easily copy and paste, and the FAQ says no.

 

[z0ner]

That looks phenomenal. If I wasn't leasing I'd get that done in a heartbeat.

BTW, Dealer Source, LTD has a San Antonio shop as well...

Dealer Source Ltd (Main Office)
11927 Warfield St.
San Antonio, TX 78216
Office: 210-366-9919

http://www.dealersourceltd.com

And for anyone wondering about miles/kwh, I drove my normal route to work this am with the sunroof open fully (same speeds, etc.) and my figures were the same as they always are... I reset the console reading every night when I pull in the garage.

 

[SolPower]

I prefer the quiet, low drag ride as is. Our other car with a sunroof gets very little use since we got the Leaf.

 

[PatricioEV]

Finally just switched to Photobucket like suggested. Works much easier!