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greengate said:
brianchi73 said:
greengate said:
A sad day for those who are doing something about not polluting the environment by driving electric cars.

Not here, that is, at Whole Foods in Northbrook, IL

Perhaps it's their new jingle.." Shop at Whole Foods and there will be no charge for you."

That is sad. I wish we could post big signs like this at every Nissan dealer in the city and suburbs, so they would get some skin in the game on this. It's so opposite of Tesla's model of providing the entire infrastructure and making sure it works. Grrrrr.

This would be a great picture for the paper. I was quoted in an article by Julie Wernau from the Trib, and I think I still have her contact info. I should forward these pictures to her. I also have been in touch with Brian Howe of JNS Holdings, and it sounds like they will gain control of the chargers AND systems soon. I hope so but that was kind of the news about a year ago and everything's been tied up in litigation.

I did successfully use my Charjit card recently (Walgreens at Broadway and Ridge), but I have no way to add charges or see how many I have left. I was kind of surprised that it worked at all. I know that people have not been able to get those cards for over a year, and now if you had one it would be pretty much useless anyway.

Also I like the name of your photo files. :)

Thanks.

Send it along to the Tribune. Good idea. Glad you have the contact.

Maybe they will do an investigation on the issue and bring it to the public's attention. :D

E-mail sent...
 
Brief update on EV scene at the Chicago Auto Show ... most significant, odd ball one off has to be the Honda FCEV 'fuel-cell-electric-vehicle' .. this is its best side

WP_20140208_003.jpg


They had two LEAF's at the Nissan display, no Fiat 500 EV, no MBZ B-class EV (but they did bring the smart ed), no presence at all for Tesla!!, no Audi A3 hatch e-tron (just the S3 and A3 in sedan trim), Chevy brought a few Volt's but no Spark EV, Mitsu had an 'upgraded' MiEV (leather interior, matte finish, and waaay too many LCD displays in it) but no Outlander EV, VW had a nice looking blue (of course, what other color would one use for an EV) eGolf and Ford had (finally) a factory Focus EV that was unlocked and open along with a C-Max with solar panels on the roof (goofy, it replicates a 120V charge) ... still fine with our choice of our '12 LEAF but Chevy has indeed stepped up a bit from the late prototype Volts we sat in when the LEAF was just coming into the market at the same time. If this winter gets any worse I can see why some of our early adopters here have switched to a Volt. Having that flexibility of extended range and not worrying about how much you use the heat are definite pluses for it. The fit & finish seems to have improved (at least from the '14's we saw on display) ... luckily for us we're a multiple car family and the LEAF stays warm in the garage when we get all this snow and cold stuff; funny thing was, we drove the LEAF to take the train downtown from the NW 'burbs to the show, when we returned while it was nice to pre-heat it on our way back we're sliding all over the place as we got another few inches of snow --- needed to switch to my 'winter' car (a '13 VW Touareg) for the rest of our errands yesterday; perhaps the Volt isn't that much better but would think it might be. Like I'm sure a lot of the rest from Chicagoland, can't wait for spring but it's still aways off ... just don't expect a BIG presence of EV's this year as you'll be disappointed; still something fun to do in the winter though. The 'few 'upgrades' to the LEAF (leather interior, a bit more luggage space, etc.) were nice to see as well but not enough to trade-in for a newer one either. I was really hoping to see a VW CrossBlue Coupe (concept still) which could be my Touareg's successor but VW is only committed to building the 6-passenger CroosBlue that looks like a Dodge Durango or Jeep Grand Cherokee so no thanks ... its' a big event with more than 1,000 cars so bring your best walking shoes
 
Come to te Go Green Wilmette's environmental fair, (goinggreenmatters.org) , and you will see some of what is in the area.

On display will be a Ford CMax, Jetta hybrid diesel, Leaf, Smart Car, Prius V plug-in, Cadillac ELR, Tesla and either a Volt or an Mitsubishi IMIEV.

Am looking for someone willing to show either of these two cars..only room for one of them.

March 9th from 1-4, at The Women's Club of Wilmette, (10th and Greenleaf Ave.) There are also many displays of environmentally friendly products and services. All Free.
 
FYI...the Whole Foods at Halsted and Waveland also has the signs up on their L2 (Chargepoint) and L3 (Charjit) chargers indicating that they will no longer be operational after 2/5. From what I can tell the L2s would probably still work. The L3 hasn't worked in over a year so no loss there. The sign indicated that you could contact management with any questions.

And so I did. I called yesterday and talked to a Store Manager. She indicated that they want to have EV chargers and that they are dedicated to this, but they cannot get any service for the existing chargers. According to her Whole Foods tried to find an alternative but could not find one so far, so they are disconnecting them for now.

I told her that I was happy to see that they WANT to have them. I also let her know that based on my experience that the L3 is the more important charger to have especially in a place where I would likely only spend less than 30 minutes.

I have to admit that I did have this concern as I was dragging a power cable through the snow and ice to my Leaf at the Walgreen's on Ridge and Broadway. Since 350 Green, Car Charging Group and JNS Holdings are all suing each other it does raise the question of who is responsible for these chargers.
 
greengate said:
A sad day for those who are doing something about not polluting the environment by driving electric cars.

Not here, that is, at Whole Foods in Northbrook, IL

Perhaps it's their new jingle.." Shop at Whole Foods and there will be no charge for you."

I was there on February 4, 2014 and was able to charge. The same day I did send an e-mail to the store, however, I have not received any answers. It s a sad day indeed.

I just talked to Charge Point. This stations appear as disconnected. The owner of the stations is 350Green and Charge Point was just servicing them. According to them there are two scenarios:

1. 350Green or whoever bought the assets is renegotiating the lease etc or
2. Charge Point is going to pick them up as their stations.

It is possible that 350Green has never paid Charge Point for the units and the installation. I tried calling Brian at JNS (847) 577-3795x12 for more details but he was not available.
 
I recently bought a Black Nissan Leaf S and wanted to share my range experience in this frigid weather. Yesterday it was about 0 degrees. Fortunately, I park in a heated garage. I started with a 100% charge and drove 64 miles from northwest Chicago to Woodridge, back to my work in Chicago, and finally to home on city streets. Mostly I drove at highway speeds around 65 miles per hour.

When I got home the meter told me I still had about 10 miles and about 15% battery. Since I was nervous about my range I wore my long underwear and hardly used the cabin heat or the heated seats or steering wheel. Once or twice the windows fogged up and I used the defrost for a couple of minutes to clear them.

Being properly dressed I was impressed with how warm I could be without using the heater.
 
Irving, FYI, the heated seats and steeering wheel use very-very little power. You do not need to turn them off even when you are trying to conserve heat. It's the reason Nissan put heated seats in the front and back and the heated steering wheel as standard in all Leafs -- using them helps make drivers/passengers warm without using much battery.
 
That's right. The heated seat(s) and steering wheel use the small battery which is recharged when the car is plugged in and trickle-charged through the solar panel on some models.
 
Hi all,

I am looking to lease a 2014 Leaf (SV or SL) this year. Browsing the Chicago-area dealer web sites it seems like inventory for both 2013 and 2014 Leafs is sparse right now. Are dealers typically just ordering the cars once the sale is made rather than keeping inventory around? If so, what kind of delay should I expect from purchase to taking delivery?

Reading through this thread of posts, Rosen Nissan seems like a dealer that knows their Leafs. Any other dealers that people had great experiences with?

Thanks!
 
If a dealer does not have the car you want, they'll get it from a dealer that does. You should go through truecar.com to get competitive quotes from dealers. They will be the lowest price. Just make sure you know the trim and options you want. Then you work out the lease agreement, number of months, etc. they all use nissan finance so all the terms are the same. But it's important to first negotiate the price of the car, including any trade-in first. Some dealers want to just give you a monthly payment amount. That is completely wrong and you'll pay too much for the car.

In my experience dealing with 3-4 dealers, you'll know more about the leaf through all your research than the dealer will. Sometimes you'll find an enthusiast, but mostly the salespeople are as bemused by electric cars as the average person on the street. A lot of them let ICE cars park in front of the EV chargers! And don't be surprised if you are offered free oil changes :)
 
Sergiov said:
Hi all,

I am looking to lease a 2014 Leaf (SV or SL) this year. Browsing the Chicago-area dealer web sites it seems like inventory for both 2013 and 2014 Leafs is sparse right now. Are dealers typically just ordering the cars once the sale is made rather than keeping inventory around? If so, what kind of delay should I expect from purchase to taking delivery?

Reading through this thread of posts, Rosen Nissan seems like a dealer that knows their Leafs. Any other dealers that people had great experiences with?

Thanks!
The Autobarn Nissan of Evanston.

Great dealer from my experience.

Ask for Martin. He is their Leaf go to guy.

Here's their DCQC Level 3 charging station
 

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greengate said:
Sergiov said:
Hi all,

I am looking to lease a 2014 Leaf (SV or SL) this year. Browsing the Chicago-area dealer web sites it seems like inventory for both 2013 and 2014 Leafs is sparse right now. Are dealers typically just ordering the cars once the sale is made rather than keeping inventory around? If so, what kind of delay should I expect from purchase to taking delivery?

Reading through this thread of posts, Rosen Nissan seems like a dealer that knows their Leafs. Any other dealers that people had great experiences with?

Thanks!
The Autobarn Nissan of Evanston.

Great dealer from my experience.

Ask for Martin. He is their Leaf go to guy.

Here's their DCQC Level 3 charging station


You can also reach out to Vito of Kelly Nissan in Oak Lawn (https://www.facebook.com/kellynissan" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). He is a personal friend of mine that got my 2013 LEAF SL to me faster than promised. Do your own research as you will indeed be more knowledgable than pretty much any dealer, besides you should be if you are going 100% Electric.

Rosen in Gurnee does have a HUGE amount of LEAF's per the last time I drove by there on the way to Milwaukee and they do have a Level 3 DCQC according to PlugShare and their own Facebook response to my inquiry.
 
Sergiov said:
Hi all,

I am looking to lease a 2014 Leaf (SV or SL) this year. Browsing the Chicago-area dealer web sites it seems like inventory for both 2013 and 2014 Leafs is sparse right now. Are dealers typically just ordering the cars once the sale is made rather than keeping inventory around? If so, what kind of delay should I expect from purchase to taking delivery?

Reading through this thread of posts, Rosen Nissan seems like a dealer that knows their Leafs. Any other dealers that people had great experiences with?

Thanks!

Bill Kay Nissan in Downers Grove demolished all the rest of the Chicagoland Dealers during my search last summer.
 
Hi! I'm proud to say I bought my 2013 Nissan Leaf S on January 31st and received my new title and plates today: 1594 EL. Seems like a pretty good turnaround from the Secretary of State.

redLEAF said:
Phatcat73 said:
About half the Leafs (Leaves?) I see on the road have standard passenger plates.

As IL does not 'require' an EV to use the lower cost plates and many dealer's are not aware of the program it's actually amazing that there are many with them ... if you're talking a 100% EV company (like Tesla) the percentage with the 'EL' series goes way up as I'm sure Tesla makes it a selling point with their IL customers -- we also have a number of special series and vanity plates that are much better looking than the rather plain white one that IL has designated for EV's so that's a factor as well.

Of course it's an unscientific way to look but, at least 'EL' registrations in IL for production EV's have passed the 1,000 mark as prior to about the mid 200's plate numbers range in the EL series here in IL the majority were home built or converted ICE's and not a 'mainstream' off the production floor EV that you could simply order.

Also here in IL, a PHEV like the Volt is not eligible; only 100% electric so cars like the Volt, Ford C-Max Energi, etc. aren't in these numbers ... hopefully those new to the LEAF (leased or otherwise) know about the 50% EVSE 'charger' incentive as well; much better deal than saving a few bucks on license plates.
 
IrvingHarlem said:
Hi! I'm proud to say I bought my 2013 Nissan Leaf S on January 31st and received my new title and plates today: 1594 EL. Seems like a pretty good turnaround from the Secretary of State.

redLEAF said:
Phatcat73 said:
About half the Leafs (Leaves?) I see on the road have standard passenger plates.

As IL does not 'require' an EV to use the lower cost plates and many dealer's are not aware of the program it's actually amazing that there are many with them ... if you're talking a 100% EV company (like Tesla) the percentage with the 'EL' series goes way up as I'm sure Tesla makes it a selling point with their IL customers -- we also have a number of special series and vanity plates that are much better looking than the rather plain white one that IL has designated for EV's so that's a factor as well.

Of course it's an unscientific way to look but, at least 'EL' registrations in IL for production EV's have passed the 1,000 mark as prior to about the mid 200's plate numbers range in the EL series here in IL the majority were home built or converted ICE's and not a 'mainstream' off the production floor EV that you could simply order.

Also here in IL, a PHEV like the Volt is not eligible; only 100% electric so cars like the Volt, Ford C-Max Energi, etc. aren't in these numbers ... hopefully those new to the LEAF (leased or otherwise) know about the 50% EVSE 'charger' incentive as well; much better deal than saving a few bucks on license plates.

Congrats and welcome to the forum !! -- very nice to see the 'EL' series almost reach the 1600 level; the other plus with this series is that it's good for two years (every December). Of course regardless of the plate you'll also never need to get tested by IL EPA for emissions; be sure to check here for info on the IL cash rebates if you haven't already … I've seen a Tesla with a mid-1500 EL plate so good to see more EV's out there
 
IrvingHarlem said:
Hi! I'm proud to say I bought my 2013 Nissan Leaf S on January 31st and received my new title and plates today: 1594 EL. Seems like a pretty good turnaround from the Secretary of State.

redLEAF said:
Phatcat73 said:
About half the Leafs (Leaves?) I see on the road have standard passenger plates.

As IL does not 'require' an EV to use the lower cost plates and many dealer's are not aware of the program it's actually amazing that there are many with them ... if you're talking a 100% EV company (like Tesla) the percentage with the 'EL' series goes way up as I'm sure Tesla makes it a selling point with their IL customers -- we also have a number of special series and vanity plates that are much better looking than the rather plain white one that IL has designated for EV's so that's a factor as well.

Of course it's an unscientific way to look but, at least 'EL' registrations in IL for production EV's have passed the 1,000 mark as prior to about the mid 200's plate numbers range in the EL series here in IL the majority were home built or converted ICE's and not a 'mainstream' off the production floor EV that you could simply order.

Also here in IL, a PHEV like the Volt is not eligible; only 100% electric so cars like the Volt, Ford C-Max Energi, etc. aren't in these numbers ... hopefully those new to the LEAF (leased or otherwise) know about the 50% EVSE 'charger' incentive as well; much better deal than saving a few bucks on license plates.


I'll say! Took 4 months for mine to arrive.
 

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I noticed a couple of nice features of the Leaf that really aren't specific to an EV, but I've found them helpful for Winter, so I thought I would mention them here.

1. Being able to disable traction control. We are probably beyond this for the season, but I got stuck twice in the last few weeks when driving through the alley. Both times I was able to get out by disabling traction control. When it was on the computer would just step in so quickly that I had no chance of getting out.

2. The headlight adjustment control. I usually have the headlights pointing directly down since I live in the city, but I've found it useful to bump them up a notch or two to help with spotting potholes.

Hopefully this is helpful.
 
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