|
I've often wondered about that. My place in Fairbanks had a switch inside and the university would shut off the power for the first half of each class block. Any word on any AWD electric cars in the pipeline?
|
#
¿
Jan 18, 2012 23:14
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 4, 2024 01:33 |
|
|
Seat Safety Switch posted:I saw this on some luxury car a few years ago (I want to say BMW). Thanks car, I figured it out when I had to scrape ice off you for four minutes. My sister's Chevy crossover does this. Since we live in Alaska, I'd thought that would be implied.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 13, 2012 21:11
|
|
|
ExecuDork posted:A gasoline-powered car that wasn't designed with range or fuel efficiency as priorities - something with a big, gas-guzzling engine and a normal-sized (or small) fuel tank could still easily outrange a Tesla, without needing to adopt super-conserving driving behaviour. A Model S has greater range than my Land Cruiser, and does it while driving faster. People now have just gotten used to the idea of only filling up once a week instead of every day like I had to when I used my FJ40 to commute. Right now the last thing I do before I leave the house in the morning is walk over to the garage door and push the button. I could very easily unplug a car at that moment and it would take me 5 seconds or less. It would be less time out of my week to plug/unplug a car in a place I'm already at, while warm and dry, than out in the cold wind and rain after stopping to delay my arrival home. Oh, and I imagine they smell a whole lot better and I wouldn't feel the need to air out the garage before closing the door to keep the heat in. The argument that all electric cars are terrible is the same argument that says nobody should own a Miata. 'But most people have kids! They can't do their every day kid hauling with it!' Sorry, but people still buy roadsters. Are electric cars the vehicle everybody should own right now? No. But they do make sense for enough of the population at this moment to justify production.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 15, 2013 06:34
|
|
|
We'll be in Massachusetts in less than two weeks and I'd like to test drive a Leaf and Focus Electric. Any idea if I can just walk into a dealer and do that? Or would I need an appointment? Anybody know what the warranty service on a Leaf would be when there's no dealer nearby? We would have to throw it on a barge to either Seattle or Anchorage to find a Nissan dealer, and I don't even know if the one in Anchorage can service electrics. I've seen a few Leaves in town already, though, so obviously other people aren't too worried. We have a Ford dealer who advertises the poo poo out of the Focus Electric - but when I asked, they aren't allowed to sell it have have no idea when/if they'll be able to. Awesome. How does the drive compare to a gasser Focus? At least the charger won't be a problem - we have a giant (500 gallon) hot tub just outside the garage that requires a 50A 240V connection. I don't even think we'll need to have any new wires, just disconnect from the hot tub and put a charger on the inside of the wall. Edit: VVVV Ugh. I'll need to figure out how to schedule time away at a family reunion on the other side of the state. That'll be fun. I was hoping to just pop in on one of the trips I'm sure everyone will be taking to the city. Advent Horizon fucked around with this message at 03:46 on Jun 4, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Jun 4, 2013 03:07
|
|
|
Test drove a Leaf today. I really wasn't expectiong it to be that drat quiet! I think it's now at the top of our list for a new car. Only problem is, we don't have a local dealer. Dammit. I really hope it wouldn't need much warranty work...
|
|
#
¿
Jun 20, 2013 05:18
|
|
|
Do people really have more than their car on a circuit? If I have a 50A circuit with a single outlet feeding a charger, would that not meet the new NEC?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 21, 2013 03:41
|
|
|
Edit: ^^ You need to also specify that we need 240V. Gotta have power for that welder.grover posted:I haven't seen the exact wording of the new code yet, so I can't say, but I'm pretty sure that will meet it. Not sure about a 2nd car. I hadn't thought of either point, that makes sense. I guess I keep forgetting that some people (in this thread, even!) already have more than one electric car. You should have seen the daisy-chained outlets in our old apartment. The entire place had only 6 outlets. Does anyone here notice if a Leaf puts off any heat while it's charging? Advent Horizon fucked around with this message at 14:27 on Jun 21, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Jun 21, 2013 14:23
|
|
|
Any suggestions on a Nissan dealer in the NW Washington area? I think we're going to go with the Leaf and do it at about the beginning of October. The ferry leaves from Bellingham, and there's a Nissan dealer just 5 miles from the terminal, but I can't find any reviews for them anywhere. Anyone ever bought a vehicle from a dealer a long way away? I don't want to get jerked around after I've spent the money to get there. I could theoretically go with any of the Seattle area dealers since there's a decent public charging network.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 26, 2013 22:11
|
|
|
That's the kind of junk I'd like to avoid. I don't have the time to go back and forth for a few days after showing up - I need to be able to get in and go. I don't need to test drive, I don't plan to lease - I just want to buy a goddamn car! Please, Tesla, get the drat dealership laws changed. Did you do any back and forth over email? Honestly, I'd prefer to have everything signed before I even arrive but I don't trust a dealer to give me the same thing I signed for remotely. What are the odds of needing to go to a Nissan dealership for any reason after taking delivery? I won't have any available to me so anything that needs doing must be done independently This is our first new car and our first electric so this whole process is scaring the crap out of both of us..
|
|
#
¿
Jun 27, 2013 00:13
|
|
|
To get to a Nissan dealership the car would have to be on a boat for two and a half days each way. That ain't happening for routine anything. How long does it actually take to get in, sign the paperwork and get out if everything is agreed in advance? I'd love to fly in the morning of October 11 and get onto the 6pm ferry that night. Why can't I sign with a notary present and fax or FedEx the paperwork?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 27, 2013 00:40
|
|
|
IOwnCalculus posted:Confirmed with my old man - in his case the dealer overnighted the paperwork to him, he signed it (doesn't remember if a notary was required), and overnighted it back. Hm. Wonder how well that would work for a sale 3 months out? Time to start calling. Wilson Motors has thus far not responded to two attempts at contact.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 27, 2013 20:25
|
|
|
Okay, planning my buying trip: I plan to buy a Leaf October 1 somewhere in the Seattle area. Not 100% on the dealer, but there are plenty to choose from. Younkers Nissan quoted me $7 under invoice and they're close to SeaTac, anybody here have experience with them? The online reviews are not exactly 100%... Anyways, I need to plan my drive to Bellingham. I'm going to take the Boeing tour and I plan to charge while doing so. From there to Bellingham is just under 70 miles on I-5. How feasible is that on one charge?
|
|
#
¿
Jul 19, 2013 20:27
|
|
|
I'll be picking it up on the 1st and only making that Everett-Bellingham leg on the 4th to catch the 6pm ferry. I was hoping to do the first Boeing tour at 9am and use the charger there so I should be able to have 100% in Everett. But just looking at it, I'm not sure if I can skip Burlington or if I'll need to stop in. At least Aerovironment sent me a fob after I bitched about the process.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 19, 2013 22:18
|
|
|
Ferry is two and a half days. I plan to hit the quick charger in Bellinham before getting onboard. I have about 6 miles to go once I hit the ferry terminal here in Juneau but I could tow the car if I have to as long as it will get off the boat. I was thinking I'd want to be going less than 60mph to ensure I make it; why shouldn't I use the cruise control? What's the trick to make it charge 100%?
|
|
#
¿
Jul 20, 2013 00:05
|
|
|
I think the difference with this lease vs GAAP accounting is that with the Tesla lease a bank gives them all of the money like a sale. GAAP accounting says they must only account for the lease payments as they come in. So their bank accounts have more money but GAAP accounting says they lost money. Give it 3-5 years and they'll switch the way they report to the press since GAAP accounting will include payments for cars sold years prior (that they already told the press about, like these ones) as well as new leases. At least this kind of creative accounting isn't business-wrecking. It could actually turn out in their favor if they make enough return on whatever they invest the cash in. As for emissions credits, everybody does that. Toyota banked those for DECADES and is now reaping the windfall by applying them to truck sales. Though, with how popular the Prius is it's entirely possible they're breaking even again.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 9, 2013 02:39
|
|
|
We put a deposit on a black/black Leaf today; the paperwork will be FedExed to us tomorrow to get completed so I can pick the car up October 2nd. Woo! Our first new car!
|
|
#
¿
Sep 11, 2013 06:59
|
|
|
Well, awesome. The dealer just sent up all of my paperwork and it's totally wrong. Wrong price, wrong financing info, wrong down payment...It even says I'm buying a sedan. Anybody have access to a Nissan VIN decoder? I'd love to see what it says they're actually trying to sell me. Right now the paperwork doesn't show the option packages, accessories or even which model Leaf the car is.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2013 02:01
|
|
|
I actually already had. It says it's a Z-car made in Smyrna. Going the roundabout way, I pulled up the dealer's inventory online and found the car. Per that, it's exactly what we agreed upon. Somebody just ROYALLY hosed up the paperwork. They're sending corrected papers in the morning. As soon as I called and said things were wrong the salesman pulled up his notes and read to me exactly what we agreed upon. I'm not 100% sure this wasn't an attempt to see if we'd just sign it (you'd think if it was they would have included my down payment in the numbers), but it sounds like they're going to try to fix everything.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2013 03:01
|
|
|
 I hate waiting. We agreed on terms the 11th and I still haven't seen the correct paperwork (supposedly sent out overnight on Tuesday). I know it takes a while to get stuff here, but this is killing me! At least it solves one of my concerns: I was worried a dealership who has to sit on a vehicle for two weeks after the sale might want to charge a storage fee. Now they'll get the paperwork back just a few days ahead of my arrival. I really need to get the sale completed before I arrive, too, since I can't get a trip permit from the Alaska DMV until the sale closes and I take a copy of the paperwork, in person, to a DMV office.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 22, 2013 21:44
|
|
|
Even better: The DMV is only open during normal weekday hours.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 24, 2013 00:14
|
|
|
Brigdh posted:On the trip permit thing, how far do you have to go? Colorado allows you to drive a vehicle home with only the bill of sale and proof of insurance if the sale took place outside of DMV hours or on a weekend. Maybe Alaska does the same? From Washington to Alaska on the ferry. The WA trip permit expires while on the boat and I don't get home for 6 days after taking delivery (and two weeks after the 'sale', which is tonight because we have the paperwork). On an amusing note: The gal with the cubical next to me just picked up her brand new Prius at the ferry terminal this morning. She didn't get out of the parking lot before her son decided he had to puke.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 24, 2013 02:13
|
|
|
Woohoo, picked up my Leaf today! It shall be dubbed The Electric Mayhem. Carwings was down today, I've already had to go back to the dealer to get the car reset once The servers were reset. Other than that, and the GPS being absolutely horrid, I'm loving the car.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 3, 2013 03:40
|
|
|
The Electric Mayhem and I made it from Paine Field to Bellingham on one charge  I'm now sitting on the ferry, which will take two-and-a-half days to get back to Juneau. Time to catch up on some reading. Pretty much everybody who I talked with asked how on Earth I was getting an electric car back to Alaska. I really think the ferry needs to start calling in downtown Seattle again just for advertising.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 5, 2013 01:43
|
|
|
I've been driving it in Eco and B modes because I like the linear acceleration/regen feel and it makes putting it into normal like a sport mode when I want it. I'm coming from a 4 cylinder pickup so it's still more than quick enough in normal driving for me. I got in behind some trucks and set the cruise control, that kept me moving with traffic and I didn't have to try to keep up with the car traffic (truck speed limit is 60 vs 70 for everyone else). I figured I'd see where I was at when I passed the quick charger in Burlington and the GOM showed 10 spare miles so I went for it. We had 13 miles showing when I pulled in to the quick charger in Bellingham. Speaking of, there's a pretty decent Thai place at the Bellingham charger. When we were done and went inside another new Leaf owner pulled up and ended up eating there, too. Seems like that charger just might be good for business...
|
|
#
¿
Oct 5, 2013 02:52
|
|
|
Random bonus of taking an EV on a ferry: after two-and-a-half days at sea, when everybody's car is cold, you're not allowed to start your engine until it's your turn to exit. I'll be sitting pretty with the heater going, thankyouverymuch 
|
|
#
¿
Oct 6, 2013 23:51
|
|
|
Anyone have a Clipper Creek EVSE? It's time to get an EVSE and that thing seems to be highly recommended and simple (I like simple). The only thing that gives me pause is that they appear to only do UPS, and 'ground' to me would be $150 for an LCS-25.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 8, 2013 06:15
|
|
|
I contacted them and they will ship USPS if you ask nicely. $40 for 3-day shipping via USPS vs $150 for 5-day shipping with UPS. I'll probably order it when I get off work tonight.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 8, 2013 22:20
|
|
|
No, and that's something I've seen mentioned multiple times on the MyNissanLeaf forums. It seems like a stupid-simple idea, too. What about just plugging in to 120v at work and doing an L2 charge at home? Do you really need to add more than 25 miles of range during the day to get home? If I had thought in advance, I would have ordered up an EVSE upgrade for my Leaf before picking it up. Recharging on 120-only sucks, and I have a welding outlet I could use in the shop until getting the LCS-25 installed. I did 60 highway miles on less than 80% charge in the cold and rain the other day - I really don't suggest anyone else try that ever. Especially since I have yet to get back up to 80% (not helped by the wife taking it to her study group last night and forgetting to plug in again when she got home...).
|
|
#
¿
Oct 12, 2013 01:53
|
|
|
Since I've had my Leaf I've been averaging over 50 miles a day and I NEED the defroster/wipers/headlights on almost all the time. I'm currently plugging in to 120 and I can only even do that while at home  I was talking with an electrician friend and we've decided that there's about an hour to an hour-and-a-half of work involved in installing my 240v EVSE but so far my lowest quote is "between $500 and $1500". Awesome. I'm really, REALLY thinking about buying that friend a plane ticket this weekend to just come do it.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 16, 2013 04:37
|
|
|
125 million is 50% greater than that! I saw a blog entry today where Nissan entered a Leaf in a competition with a 48kWh battery. Man, I'd love that if it didn't weight too much more... I think I'm going to stop by Home Depot today and get a plug to put on my LCS-25 so I can at least use it on the welding circuit in my shop until the EVSE circuit is wired into the garage. My wife complained that we'll have to 'go next door to use the car' but I'd rather start with the darn thing actually charged!
|
|
#
¿
Oct 16, 2013 19:19
|
|
|
This meets code, right?  
|
|
#
¿
Oct 17, 2013 01:51
|
|
|
Maybe it'll teach that uninsured motorist who hit you a good lesson.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 18, 2013 15:47
|
|
|
MrYenko posted:As battery prices and/or efficiencies go down/up, the vehicle prices will come down, but it's going to be some time. I do think that the tipping point for continued growth of the EV market has been reached, though. They're not going away, this time. I sure hope so. Here in Juneau it seems like we've reached the tipping point and we don't even have a dealer. Considering what it takes to get a Leaf here, that's impressive. I've had quite a few people already tell me they saw me at such-and-such a place when in reality it was one of the other black Leafs. I think it's already surprising people once they know what it is how many they see. As far as the price, our Leaf is a grand total of 6 monthly payments more than our second choice - a Subaru Impreza. That car wasn't a stripper, either, but it's a fair price comparison since hardly anybody actually buys absolutely base-model cars. You can hem and haw about the price tag being a bit higher but your average idiot buyer really shops based on monthly payment.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 19, 2013 00:44
|
|
|
Okay, no more hacked together circuit in my shop, the EVSE is installed in the garage. I went with the quote for a little over $700 including permits and it took just a bit over 2 hours to get done. Now I'm just waiting for the power company to get the meter installed. They've offered a test rate to the first 10 people who own an electric vehicle and apply since January 2012. I got my paperwork in yesterday, snagging space #9, and the person who walked in the door after me got space number 10. Glad I didn't wait any longer! In exchange for having a smart secondary meter installed, and filling out a yearly usage survey, I get half-price electricity from 10pm to 7am and $1000 reimbursement for the EVSE/install. Seems like a pretty sweet deal, but I am out a couple hundred extra bucks to have the meter box added to the circuit until they reimburse me when I fill out my first survey. I got lucky that there was an existing abandond-in-place 30a circuit on my panel complete with breaker. The electrician didn't have to cut power to the panel at any time. We did discover that I should really look into having a more spacious panel installed...The inspector's exact works when he saw that rat's nest were "Jiminy Crickets!"
|
|
#
¿
Oct 25, 2013 05:20
|
|
|
Our generation is all hydro, mostly lake-tap, so the real problem is just making sure we don't add any more during peak times. Power usage here is actually on an overall downward trend here. But, yes, they are really starting to look into ways to offload usage. It sounds like they want to do some sort of off-peak rate even when the trial period is over. The big one around here would be if they could offload seasonally. There's tons of excess water in the summer but much less demand (we don't have air conditioning here, just heat).
|
|
#
¿
Oct 26, 2013 00:51
|
|
|
We're not on any grid outside of the borough. That means the power company has to keep a backup generation capacity equal to what's online, which they do using a larger turbine plant and a ton of large gensets spread around town. There has been talk about building an intertie and connecting with British Columbia, since we have enough potential hydro projects to make a decent amount selling excess power to the Canadians. We'll see if that happens in my lifetime... I should emphasize that our hydro projects are all the good kind that don't ruin rivers. They drill into the bottom of alpine lakes and run penstocks down to sea level.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 26, 2013 06:56
|
|
|
grover posted:Do they ruin the lakes that get drained? How did those lakes drain before? Most of the lakes are fairly new, geologically, since the basins they sit in were filled with glaciers until recently (the last 150 years or so). What outflow they have (had) is usually a waterfall almost directly into the ocean. None of them are old enough lakes to have had fish except for a couple that have brook trout introduced by miners during the gold rush. Brook trout are an invasive species and the Department of Fish and Game wants them gone anyway. The annoying thing about all this is the federal government doesn't consider any kind of hydroelectric power to be 'green', so we can't qualify for green energy grants.it, Wait, I just realized it looks like you think they actually drain the lakes? They don't; only enough water is taken to equal the average yearly precipitation. The lake levels go up and down but are never actually 'drained'.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 27, 2013 05:02
|
|
|
That's pretty much it. If not for the cold, our landscape is very similar to the places mentioned above. To tap the lakes they bore a tunnel underneath the lake and the up to the lake bottom. Something like 15' of rock is left in place while they install giant valves and line the tunnel for use as a penstock. Then the last chunk is blasted in such a way that the rubble can flow through the valves and self-clear. Voila! Lake tap without draining the entire thing. It's pretty cool and something that's not used many places but because of the local mining history it's been done here for over 100 years. Our newest plant, going online in 2010, was the deepest lake tap ever done without draining at 134 feet below the water surface. The lake surface being about 1,400 feet above sea level means you really don't need a lot of flow to generate a decent quantity of power. Edit: Grover, the lakes you linked to are basically swampland. Look at the Juneau area and you'll see lots of high alpine lakes right near the coast. Advent Horizon fucked around with this message at 02:24 on Oct 28, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Oct 28, 2013 02:21
|
|
|
That's only 3 kWh more than the Leaf. The battery in that sucker must be insanely light to make up that difference. Either that or they have an amazing improvement in aerodynamics and/or electronics efficiency. Since I doubt all three of those things I'm guessing they're doing the super-optimistic press release crap. Also, I really envy you guys and your '115 mile' Leaf range. I get really, really nervous planning anything over 45 miles and all I really do is cruise between 45 and 55 mph. My guess-o-meter is usually claiming I have double the range I actually do. Don't get me wrong, I love my car, but drat the marketing people need to stop making claims the product can't back up. The charging station infrastructure build-out really needs improvement, too.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 12, 2013 02:37
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 4, 2024 01:33 |
|
|
Even without prewarming the Leaf heater pumps hot air immediately. It does appear to suck at melting interior ice, though. I may have to start leaving the dog at home so he doesn't frost up the windows all day.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 13, 2013 08:26
|
|