On September 3, I was lucky enough to be able to order my Nissan LEAF. After I reserved a LEAF last April, I was sent an email that said that I had a September order date. The first people to order were given an August order date, and they all were able to order on August 31. I was one of the first people who were able to order in September. The notification that I could order on September 3 was a great relief, since I didn't have to wait through the month to find out when I could order. I believe that my car will be among the first to be delivered, maybe in December, but probably in January.
My early order date makes it more likely that I'll be able to receive the California $5,000 EV rebate. About $4 million in rebate dollars were made available through the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project administered by the California Center for Sustainable Energy http://energycenter.org/index.php. There is currently $3,210,456 remaining in the first year of funding, but an additional $5 million in funding was added for the 2010-2011 budget year. If all of the remaining funds, minus administrative costs, were awarded to LEAF buyers, about 1,500 awards would be available. I hope to be one of those. (By the way, the Chevy Volt is NOT eligible for this rebate, due to emissions and battery warranty issues.)
The production Blue Ocean color, deeper than the light blue shown on the first prototypes. Our LEAF will look like this.
Beginning on October 1, Nissan began staging a series of driving events to allow the public to test drive the LEAF. I attended two of these events, in Santa Monica and in Anaheim. I've now driven the LEAF three times and Carol has driven it, as well.
Though the driving events didn't allow us to get the LEAF up to highway speeds or to test its handling at higher speeds, we were able to experience its acceleration and handling at neighborhood speeds. In general, we're very happy with the car. The passenger compartment is roomier than our Prius, and the LEAF accelerated from rest faster and is much quieter than the Prius. In fact, it is quieter than most luxury cars. The front seats were comfortable for both of us, and I found the front passenger space to be more comfortable than our Prius. The handling was nimble and the cornering was flat, due to the low center of gravity. The instrument panel is very high-tech and colorful and it gives the car a higher level, fun feel. The LEAF is equipped with a navigation system that will show the locations of available public charging stations and will tell the driver how far s/he can drive with the remaining battery charge.
On the negative side, the interior materials are not at luxury car standards. The fabrics and plastics are on a par with a Prius. This makes sense. The list price of the LEAF is around $33,000, which is at the entry luxury level, but it is well known that the batteries are a high cost item on an EV, and the money was spent there, rather than on a luxurious interior. The trunk space is fairly small, smaller even than a Prius, due to the unusual rear styling. So it may be difficult to carry one of the larger folding strollers without folding down one of the rear seatbacks. Also, the rear floor is higher, so there may be less foot room for rear passengers.
We also got to see the other four colors in person for the first time. Here they are:
Red
Silver
White
Black
Next blog post: Our plans for home charging.