Success!

I was finally able to ask for a quote for our LEAF. We are looking at the leasing option for tax reasons, but mainly because this is such a new technology, I expect vast improvements over the next few years. This would give us a chance to upgrade the car in the future as the technology unfolds. More to come…

I just got off the phone with a sales representative at AeroVironment. He said that the “Cash and Carry” option is not available in Canada just yet. It looks like they are in the final stages of fine tuning the process. Apparently I am first on the list to get notified when it comes online.

I hope it is soon since it looks like the LEAF will be coming home sooner than later!

Here is a great article that gives you 8 tips to extend the life of you Nissan LEAF batteries:
http://www.plugincars.com/eight-tips-extend-battery-life-your-electric-car-107938.html

Well, the last few days have been a bit of a gong show.

First, the people at AeroVironment said I can order the charger (a process they call “Cash and Carry”), but the three year onsite repair warrantee would not apply. If anything happens, I need to send the charger to them for repairs. Fair enough, at least I’m still covered. Unfortunately, as I learned today, the whole process has not been finalized for the Canadian market. They cannot ship me the charger and allow me to install it myself, yet. Luckily, I believe that I have found a solution. I am trying to get the charger shipped to a location in the US, and I will pick it up personally and bring it home.

Secondly, I still have not been able to order my car. The customer support people at Nissan said that it was not possible since my region has not been open to ordering yet. As far as I know, based on conversations I have had with the Nissan dealership I am dealing with, I should be able to process my order already and the explanation offered by the support person is incorrect. The gentleman I am dealing with at Regency Nissan is working to find out what the problem is.

I suppose these glitches should be expected with such a new process with a product that is in its infancy in Canada.

I’ll keep you posted!

Well, much to my surprise, or disappointment, I received my quote from AeroVironment. I was shocked by the cost of installing the charger. According to the inspector, my installation would be deemed as standard. The installer would need to pull about a meter of cable from the panel to the charger, add a 40 A breaker, and mount the thing to the wall. I just can’t figure out how it would cost $1399 to do so.

So, to make the installation costs more bearable, I’m going to try to order the charger separately and have my friend (who is a certified electrician) install it for me. According to Nissan, there is no need to have the folks at AeroVironment install the charger. We will see what happens...

Wow… that was pretty painless. I suppose that since our house is relatively new, and the electrical system hasn’t been hacked at, the installation of our charger should be pretty easy.

The “inspection” consisted of a gentleman from Mott Electric (contracted by AeroVironment) to snap some pictures of the installation location and fill out some paperwork. The whole process took less than an hour and within 24 hours my status on my Nissan LEAF was updated to “quote pending”. Apparently it could take up to 10 days to get quote, but I’m hoping it will be sooner. I would really like to get the next step up and running.

Wow! Better than I expected…

This morning we made our way to Regency Nissan at the North Vancouver Auto Mall for our one on one test drive with the LEAF. We were greeted by their internet sales manager who was more than welcoming. Luckily, the manager is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to the car. I was surprised how prepared they are for it’s launch even though the car is not even available in Canada yet. They already have two chargers installed; one in the service area, and one outside for the public to use. There was also a demonstration charger set up in the showroom. Enough about that though…

Our test car was a 2011 SL model, Sky Blue Pearl (of course). I was surprised by its size. I was expecting something a little smaller (Versaish dimensions). I sat in the passenger seat and adjusted everything to be as comfortable as possible. I’m not a huge guy (5’ 10’), but I like my leg room. My wife sat behind me and had ample to room to sit comfortably with sufficient head room. She is also 5’ 10”.

The most disconcerting thing about the car is the sound… or lack of. When you push the start button, you get a little chime like song that tells you the car is running… then nothing. It’s completely quiet. It’s kind of eerie actually. Next, you release the emergency brake by pushing a little leaver behind the gear selector. Once the electric motor disengages the brake, you can shift the joystick into drive, and off you go! The quiet demeanour of the car still exists when you drive down the road. The only sound is that of a faint whine of the engine when you accelerate. I am actually happy that the engineers have not completely isolated all the sounds. It’s nice to hear the electric motor as it gives you some indication that something is running.

Besides being electric, the car is quite… well… carish. I think I was expecting something more out of the ordinary. Once you place the joystick into drive, the car drives, handles, and feels like any other small car out there, except no fuel! I spent a significant amount of time trying to find something out of the ordinary, something you would not find in a regular car. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I came up empty handed. The biggest thing I noticed was how quiet the car is when driving. I found it significantly quieter than any other vehicle I had previously driven. I would imagine that this was done on purpose. Without a significant amount of sound deadening, you would probably hear every creak, groan, and bump in the road. The car seems very tight and does not creak or rattle, even over bumpy pavement.

My current vehicle is a Toyota RAV4 with the 3.5L V6. With this engine I am used to having a significant amount of power on tap and a surprisingly quick rate of acceleration. The LEAF is definitely no slouch. Compared to other four cylinder vehicles I have driven in the past, the LEAF is very compatible. Acceleration of the line is surprisingly quick, and you easily spin the tires if you are too heavy on the throttle (as I did by accident… whoops). This is attributed to the 208 lb ft of torque available almost instantaneously. We found the ECO setting to cut back power significantly. I felt that you needed to be heavier on the throttle to get the car to move with any authority. I also noticed that the regenerative braking is more aggressive as well. Driving within the city in the eco setting would be more than adequate under regular circumstances. Merging onto the highway and cruising at higher speeds would probably require the regular setting.

The navigation system is second to none and offers a variety of information related to the car (more to come when I get a chance to play with mine) in addition to a great sounding stereo and backup camera.

Although my test drive was extensive, I did not have a significant amount of time to play with all the electronic goodies. When I finally get mine home, I will elaborate more on the features of the car. Have a look at the photos page to see detailed pictures of the production vehicle.

Most likely that you have seen this commercial on TV already. If not, have a look… pretty funny take on things! Take a close look on what the guy is filling up at the gas station...

The other day I received a notice from Purolator that I had a package. I was a little thrown off since I didn’t order anything that would be delivered by courier. When I finally made it around to picking up the package, I was surprised to find out that it was a welcome package from Nissan containing a few tidbits of information about the LEAF and some stickers to put up.

Nice!

After we registered for the Drive Electric Tour, we received an email from a local dealer to set up a time. Unfortunately, none of the openings worked for us. Luckily, the gentleman we spoke to offered to set up a personal test drive where my wife and I could get a little closer to the car and spend a little more time looking it over. This is exactly what I was hoping for since the event would probably be very busy and we would not get a significant amount of time with the car. We are both very excited to have this opportunity. Expect a full report soon!

There must have been some sort of glitch with the system the other day when we reserved our LEAF. Today when I logged into my account, I was able to make a reservation for the inspection without any issues. Perhaps the system had not been updated to include Chilliwack when I tried to reserve the inspection. Luckily everything seems to work now and they will be out in a few weeks. I don’t think there will be any issues since the house is relatively new and has 100A service. I imagine that a 240V, 30A device should not be a big issue.

Today I checked on the Nissan LEAF Canada website and was pleased to see that they will be offering the Drive Electric Tour here in Canada. Looks like there will be 10 events here in BC. I was looking into attending the Seattle one later on in the year, but it looks like I will be able to do it locally. Despite paying our deposit for the LEAF, I still want to have an opportunity to test drive the car before I commit to buying it. I’m sure we’ll be very pleased, but I would still like to have some time behind the wheel before we commit. My only concern would be attending the event with many people. I imagine that there is a lot of interest in the car here in the Lower Mainland, so the events will probably be very well attended. I hope I have a chance to get in a good test drive and some one on one time with the car to check it out closely.

Well, today was finally the day! After completing a relatively simple registration process, answering a few questions in regards to judging our compatibility with the car, AND paying our $99 fee, we are one of the lucky 40 people in Canada to be receiving a 2011 Nissan LEAF. The next step involves having someone from AV AeroVironment come in to do an assessment on my homes electrical system. We will have to check back in a few days to see when the installers can come out to Chilliwack to do the inspection.

We decided to go all out and order an Ignition Red SL model because of some of the features we liked (Homelink, fog lamps, solar panel charger, rear view monitor). I like leather seats, but unfortunately they do not offer them (I suppose that would not be very eco friendly). If we’re going to get a new car, might as well go with all the bells and whistles!

Welcome to our blog!

We have been huge fans of the Nissan LEAF ever since we first heard about the proposed concept. We hope to provide as much information as possible to future owners about our experiences with the vehicle. Check in often as I will be adding posts as our experiences unfold. Perhaps I will set up a forum so we can start to build up a community to share information, ideas, and our thoughts about the LEAF. Can’t wait to get behind the wheel to try one out!