About a year ago, we put down a deposit on the Nissan Leaf. The deposit was a token gesture to reserve a place in line. This Fall they contacted us and told us the Nissan Leaf was coming to Colorado and we could now order our vehicle. We were pretty excited.
Only problem was we still had never seen one - much less drove one. No problem, we were invited to a Nissan Leaf Test Drive event at a local mall. We made an appointment and went with eagerness. We left disappointed. The deposit is refundable.
Where to start. First, the event was just poorly run. They brought in staff that didn't know much about the vehicles or even Colorado. Plus it was just a tacky event. The last few new cars I bought were pretty high-end and maybe the Nissan brand just doesn't think the same way - but come on - instant coffee? I cannot communicate how badly this event was run. On the test drive, I asked a few questions about the different options and packages - he knew nothing. In fact, the few times he did answer he was wrong.
But it wasn't just about the coffee and how poor the staff was, it was also about the car itself. Things just didn't add up. They explained that the miles per charge are actually higher in the city than the highway because the brakes capture the energy and recharge the battery. I find that suspicious. I could be wrong, but it sure seams that stopping and capturing a small amount of energy to just start a stopped vehicle would be much less efficient than driving the whole time. But I was willing to let that go because obviously someone smart must of figured it out. But it got worse.
They said the seats are manual to save battery power. That makes perfect sense. But the windows are electric? I asked why the windows weren't manual and she said I was the first one to ever ask that. Yeah right. The car also had a big nav system and display console. Nothing seemed economical in terms of battery power except the seats.
No wonder the car only gets about 100 miles per charge. That's a serious limitation. That means we could not even drive from Boulder to Denver and back safely on a single charge (unless I stop a lot I guess). $30k+ for a car that can only go 100 miles? The rapid recharge was still 4-6 hours.
What I really wanted to know was how the car could handle on a hill. It drove great on flat land, but we have some hills here in Colorado. That wasn't an option. No hills permitted on the test drives. They had an approved course that was about 3 miles in total - down the street and back. No way to evaluate a car.
I also wanted to know more about the charging station. They made a big deal about it being a standard charger so it will work on other cars. It costs $2000 including installation. That seemed pretty high to me for a fancy extension cord. My garage has a 220 circuit breaker right next to the car bay, so I figured it would be cheaper for me. But it was a flat price offer. $1000 for the installation and $1000 for the charger. He said all permits were included. I said, I don't live in the city, does Boulder Country require a permit (we were in Boulder County at the time)? He didn't know." He did say I could buy my own charger and have my electrician install it. That sounded reasonable.
I wanted to know how the car would perform in Colorado weather - we have extreme heat and cold. Normally a gas engine powers the HVAC stuff, so the power comes from the gas tank. Running an AC on the battery can take a lot of power. But they had no idea.
My wife also really wanted to see a red Leaf. There are not very many options or trims, so color is one of the big decisions and rights of ordering a car. They had lots of cars, but didn't bring a single red one with them to the event. Duh, address the obvious options at a car sales event.
So I left the event not knowing if the car could drive up a hill, handle extreme cold or heat, or details about the charger. In fact, I left with more questions than I came with. So I went to the Internet when I got home to find out more. It turns out they will reduce the battery charge time in half in next year's model. I also found a guy that adapted the 110 charge cord it comes with to 220 for a modest price. I learned more electric cars are coming soon.
I still wanted to get a quote and give it some serious thought. But to get a quote, the web page requires us to pay for an inhome charger evaluation. You can't buy the car without the charger, and they don't want to waste time on you if your home is not suitable for the charger. Almost reasonable, except I have no plans to buy their charger. There was no way to get a quote without this first step. So we stopped.
My conclusion is it is too early to buy a Leaf. The technology is going to dramatically improve and the prices are going to drop. We can wait. If we could not wait, I would be tempted to go with the VW Diesel. It is greener than a hybrid, mature, green, and can go long distances.
I write about telecom at www.talkingpointz.com.
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