Shopping for New Car - EV Thoughts and Advice Welcomed

A lot of us are waiting for Ford to announce the cue and price for the Focus EV, but you can't buy what they don't sell.

 

There most definitely are waiting lists for the Leaf.

I'm moving back to CA (WA is a launch market too), asked some questions about CA and received some answers. See My Nissan Leaf Forum • View topic - questions regarding ordering, delivery dates etc..

I heard of various "waves" and found Nissan LEAF Launch Announcement Update : Leaf Forum, but I'm not sure if it's accurate and how you/I would fit in to these waves.

Under normal circumstances, the order process is pretty unusual (to me). See Timing of order-related events - Nissan Leaf Wiki.

If I were to buy/lease a Leaf, I'd want a 2012 model. See 2012 Nissan Leaf available this fall; cold weather package now standard — Autoblog Green, assuming the extra cost is minimal or 0. I'd mostly be interested in the heated seats, not the rest.

I unfortunately don't know any Nissan sales depts I can trust in CA. I think I can find my former WA salesman (who I trust) and ask him.

 

Unfortunately, since the car makers killed their EVs of the 1990s, we are now just at the inception of new EVs so there's not a lot of choice. I've been very happy with my Zap Xebra, but my situation allows me to make do with a 35-mph car with a 40-mile range. It's actually a 4-seat, 4-door sedan, though it's about the size of a VW bug. They don't make them any more, and I think the Leaf has taken a lot of steam out of the small, slow EVs like the Xebra, so you might be able to pick one up cheap if its limitations work for you.

I have seen posts here and there of Nissan dealers with Leafs in stock, but I imagine they're either snapped up very fast, or selling at huge premiums over MSRP.

You can get a Tesla Roadster if you have around $125,000 (the base model is no longer available) but it does not meet your criterion of having 4 seats.

The Tesla Model S is scheduled for production mid-2012, but the first year's production is probably already spoken for (Prius Chat's very own Evan Fusco was one of the first to get in line) and even the 160-mile version will cost around $50K after the federal tax credit, with the 300-mile version costing considerably more.

My guess is that if something small and slow like the Xebra will not work for you, your earliest opportunity will be to sign up for a Leaf when ordering opens again, and maybe you can get one in a year or two. Unless you start following the forums and find a dealer with an orphan car to sell.

I don't think anybody knows when the Ford Focus will be available, but I believe they've announced an extremely limited roll-out. Few cars and few locations.

I doubt there's any new freeway-capable EV you could buy in your time frame, unless you find a dealer with an orphan Leaf. They do turn up from time to time. I won't buy a Nissan, after the bad way they treated me while I was waiting for a Leaf; but that's just me. No car is good enough for me to deal with a company like that.

 

I had no interest in a gasoline car, and really no particular interest in a sports car. If someone gave me a BMW or a Lexus, I'd just turn around and sell it. I have zero interest in a luxury car. I'd have been happy with a Leaf if they'd been willing to sell me one. (They kept promising me delivery that never happened, until after the 4th or 5th broken promise I gave up on them.) I'm less concerned about the battery-cooling issue than some folks, though it is telling that they will neither explain why it does not need it, nor back their claim of superior chemistry with a warranty.

I bought the Roadster, not because it's a sports car, or even because it's clearly the best-engineered EV on the road today, but simply because it finally appeared to be my only opportunity to get a freeway-capable EV with over 100 miles of range. (From their range vs speed chart, and applying an 80% factor because in Standard mode only the middle 80% of the battery is used, to extend its life, at 70 mph, which is our speed limit on the freeway outside of town here, the Roadster will go 180 miles. Of course, repeated hard acceleration will reduce that.)

The salesman tells me it should arrive this week, though the trucking company's promise is by next week. The salesman says the trucking company always delivers ahead of promise, though I'm not holding my breath. My experience is that nothing you REALLY REALLY want will ever come. I.e., the Porsche; the Leaf; etc.

 

FYI Mitsubishi has their i EV arriving as well. They tell me tax credits should bring the price to about 20k.

 

if you're considering a Leaf, just register on Nissan's Leaf site

You're welcome and thanks back.

I called the salesman (in WA) that sold my me former 02 Maxima and 04 Z. I told him I'm moving back to CA and asked him about the Leaf ordering process. He essentially said that I should get an account on the Nissan Leaf site ASAP and IIRC, he didn't believe I'd be able to order until 2012. He said the $99 deposit is fully refundable.

That's ok w/me anyway since there are a lot of uncertainties on my end (e.g. charging situation after I move out of where I'm moving to, distance to future job, my tax liability situation if I decide to buy instead of lease, etc.) and I might not buy/lease after all.

I went ahead and registered w/the Nissan Leaf site today w/my California address. I didn't need to any deposit yet. Right now under "reserve your LEAF", it says "reservations are closed, for now".

 

Check out the My Nissan Leaf forum(not affiliated with Nissan). There are threads that talk about "orphan Leafs" that people ordered but decided not to buy for reasons such as job loss, divorce, or other financial situations.

Also check out various sites like Craigslist, cars.com, Autotrader, autotempest.com, eBay for various listings of orphan Leafs at MSRP. Some car dealers are trying to gouge, but there are a few MsRP Leafs i have seen available for those that really want a Leaf now.

I received my Leaf 3/29/11, which was a few weeks shy of a year after placing my deposit.

I'm really happy with it. However, I leased it as I'm hoping of an "ESFLOW" type EV from Nissan.

 

If you do a lot of highway driving a new Focus could probably get close to Prius mileage for you. We have a 2011 Fiesta and on a stretch that the Prius gets around 65mpg I was able to get 50mpg, not bad for an 8k less car.

(I compare because they are rated very similarly despite size differences).

 

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Thanks

We almost need two Leafs now with my wife using it more and more. Once you have a EV, buying gasoline is a painful experience

Going Greener-
I notice you are in the Bay Area. We have an SF Bay Area Leafs meeting in Cupertino at HP on 7/9 @ 8:30am if you are interested. Info is on the MyNissanLeaf forum.

 

its hard to beat the Leaf for what you need if you need at least 2 cars. with the Leaf and Prius combo we have, it fits us nicely.

and yes, sometimes i wish we had 2 of them as well. during the summer, the plan is to have the Leaf take the longer commute (62 miles RT) at least twice a week so that means i am in the Leaf only 5 days a week and its TORTURE!!

but each time this is done we are saving around $3 on our $70 a month gas bill (total $100 for Leaf electricity costs). now we dont drive a lot compared to most here, but most of my neighbors and co-workers pay that much every week.

as far as a 200 mile Leaf; about 5 years. the weight/power ratio of current battery technology mandates that. CEO of Nissan states they are well on their way towards a better battery but estimates 4-5 years to market but will double current technology, allowing them a much cheaper commuter car and the coveted 200 mile range car.

problem is with the "100 mile" car, its 3400 lbs. a "200 mile battery pack" would jump the weight up to 4000 lbs + which means the additional weight would drop the range to around 160 miles and add more than $10,000 which means it would not sell.

it is simply cheaper to push the charging stations since they are an inevitable part of the equation.

there are really a million reasons why the one can make the Leaf work. i would estimate the total time to refuel my Leaf over the past 5+ months "nearly" equals the time it takes to refuel the Prius ONE TIME.

but the best part...."6,000 miles on the Leaf and not an oil change in sight!!"

 

245 miles on a charge. Next year the Model S comes out with 300 miles.

 

Isn't the 300 mile range package a $10,000 option?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703386704576186882013351002.html

That kind of cash could pay me for a bunch of low range inconvenience.