So the new commute to College Park is a brutal upgrade of at least 60 miles round trip from formerly 26. Yeech. Also we are talking later arrivals at home with less juice - yuck.
So as I am a basement apartment dweller I opted to upgrade Nissan's trickle charger. This upgrade with various support thick gauge (12x25') extension cords and various adaptors was about $500. It lets me charge at 240 16amp without buying a permanent station to leave at my apartment.
It does let me charge in 6 hours if empty, 4 hrs for 33% juice left, or an hour gets me a quick 15 miles more or so in the battery - enough to trip south for errands and aikido class in Waldorf.
So far so good - it plugs into my dryer and appears to be working well.
Will report on the new commute as it drives me batty.
Still a typical month going from 20 x 26 = 520 + 400 miles on incidentals = 920
Now is 20 x 60 = 1200 + 400 = 1600 or 680 more or 22 gals
That would have been an additional eighty bucks a month! Closer to $18 with electric.
Dave
Monday, August 13, 2012
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Great focus of purpose at MD Volt meetup
The Meetup group for Volt drivers and other electric cars met a week ago at Fedex field. The NRG Solar installation was the meetup point. What a great plan for folks to see how renewable power from the sun can power a stadium and electric cars to boot. Very cool.
A Ford Electric Focus was there too! They gave out rides! I drove it - and was impressed. Here's my review on the EVA/DC site : http://evadc.org/2012/08/05/ford-focus-ev-test-drive/
A Ford Electric Focus was there too! They gave out rides! I drove it - and was impressed. Here's my review on the EVA/DC site : http://evadc.org/2012/08/05/ford-focus-ev-test-drive/
Really appreciate Kristin and Ford letting us drive. First off – great car – puts all EV makers on notice if Ford produces these in quantity.
I own a Leaf – which I love – so I’ll contrast with it. To be honest I don’t see the Focus competing with the Tesla head on as those are pretty different price ranges. On the other hand it may convince someone considering the base S that there is another more reasonable alternative with style.
Console – Focus by a nose. While we didn’t get up quite the metered display I enjoy in the Leaf, there was a choice of reconfiguring displays nicely integrated into the instrument cluster. I prefer that to the ‘center square’ nav/energy display on the Leaf and others. Also looks at first glance very normal so not as off putting to a converted ICE driver.
Passenger Room – Leaf by a nose. Still I was impressed at 6 foot that I ,and even taller testers, were comfortable in the Focus. More then adequate for me though. Did not test the passenger area – again adequate but a little smaller. A couple of the even taller fellows may want to weigh in.
Styling – Focus by a head. Here trading a little head room gives a nice low slung styling the Leaf can’t hope to match. Sweet paint job and front grille. Cool ‘state of charge’ glow ring around the charge cap. Everyone liked that. Kind of European in look.
Acceleration and handling off the line. I think this is still the Leaf by a nose. Still the Focus has the similar instant giddyup we have come to love from our electrics. Very peppy, low center of gravity, handled very well. Did not take it out on the bigger stretch so can’t comment at higher speed. The ‘fun’ factor most of our electrics share is definitely there. Steering was responsive. Now the autocross will have to get run to determine a king of the hill – is it subjective that I think the Leaf is ahead? Only one way to tell – let the games begin!
Charging – Focus by a body length. 6.6kw is what Nissan should have put in the Leaf. Will it be there in 2013? Will it cost extra? For the moment this easily goes to the Ford Focus.
Trunk space – The Leaf by a head. Clearly part of the batteries and support electronics in the Focus have taken up the lower trunk area.
Range and efficiency – looks like a wash for the moment until we get better real world data.
Cooling. Head and Shoulders Focus. I dont have any info on electric load to heat and cool the cabin – that could be important to find out. However liquid cooling for batteries should favor the Focus especially in Southern States. Some Phoenix Leaf owners are already having battery issues only a year in and it appears soaking in 110-114 F and higher is not working well with air cooled batteries in the Leaf. Kind of frightening even for a Marylander as we’ve had a couple 105 days and with climate change more to come. Advantage Focus.
Price – Close. A little higher (2-3k) then the Leaf – until we see how dealers charge for these we really can’t tell. I would say like the Leaf they are definitely an alternative to Tesla for the budget minded – if one is will to give up the ‘Star Trek’ level features of the Tesla.
Manufacture – Focus by a nose. Nissan is opening the Smyrna, TN plant to their credit and making Leafs and batteries there. Ford however is the US automaker and that will undoubtably bring many looking for a US buy.
So my conclusion – I may keep my Leaf but I hope Nissan takes notice and steps up to the plate. If I was a younger buck the Focus styling would be the kicker – a very pretty car. A Mustang of EV’s perhaps?
Thanks again for the test ride.
Dave Glotfelty
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One thing I noticed after I'd written this from pictures was the console does have a center screen I assume for navigation. It was off when I was driving but again my point would be that unlike the Leaf I could put more involved displays up in the center console - in the Leaf some alphanumeric stuff can be called up in the console but not the energy info display etc.
I should also say for me while I admire styling, space is much more important for me which the Leaf has. I also find entry and exit easy on the Leaf. Finally as I said the Leaf seemed a little peppier. i.e. I'm still a Leaf fan as for my favorite in that price range. Could be owner bias - grin!
However I think a younger person with less time to charge would have to go for the Focus. We'll see if that changes if the 2013 Leaf includes 6.6Kw charging. Would be nice...
What is exciting me here is Ford is totally in the game. Competitive maybe winningly so. Unlike Honda who looks like a winner then proceeds to make 300 a year and lease them. Or Toyota making a tepid Prius entry and then waving the big fib of hydrogen in 5 years. Yeah right - it doesn't make sense on the basic physics. Tesla - in the game if only for the high end still. GM(Volt), Nissan(Leaf), and now Ford(Focus) - in the game. How could Honda and Toyota blow this? Well good - glad to see American companies leading again for a change. That and the fact Nissan is building in this country really make Electric Vehicles a win for the US at this stage of the game.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Slowdown
Well the discussion at EV club this month has centered around two issues for the Leaf.
First a slowdown in sales this year. Clearly they are down from 2011- the year one for the Leaf. I originally believed the issue was Nissan constraining supply because of the extreme weakness of the dollar to the yen. At least one dealer in discussions has admitted though that they are not selling as well and they are on the lot longer. While various pro C02 folks claim the vehicle is the problem I lean towards the fact the Leaf buyers tend to do deep research. After all the car is expensive if well appointed and basically we buyers really check out everything we can find on bleeding edge (grin) of technology before we jump. As I advised here months ago the 2013 will be made in the US, have half the charge time required, and have a heater that doesn't hammer range in the winter. Those improvements are a big deal. This is all published and can be easily found. While I was asked and did hold some of this information when first told, basically all this information was available in print in late Dec '11 - plenty of time to slow buyers.
One more point is the US made batteries and US made cars - will this allow a price drop on the 2013 Leaf? Ghosn - the Nissan CEO has said in the press his Leaf price target in five years was the VW Golf price. That's 17-28k so with incentives they are close but I would not expect incentives to last beyond the next two-three years, so eventually thats head to head.
Makes sense when you read industry analysis that Lithium ion batteries are rapidly dropping in price and are projected to drop tremendously during the decade. Makes sense, lithium turns out to be plentiful, easily recycled, and have several extraction options. While current production is low in the US it turns out we have large amounts. Oil shills pass around a dated study clearly backed by the petrol folks claiming we are hurting on Lithium. Not true and this bourn out by the price. Name me a scarce resource we are running out of whose price has dropped by 10% this year.
http://www.plugincars.com/lithium-ion-battery-prices-drop-160-kwh-2025-123193.html
Second topic is more serious. All major battery chemistries to date have limited lifespan and lose capacity. This is true of Lithium. It's important the Leaf make it's stated goals of 8 year 100k mark with 80% capacity intact. For me that means my 5 year loan has been over for three years and I've saved 10k for a replacement (hopefully improved!) at about half my current payments for three years. Hey- its a plan. This isn't a problem for folks who lease or trade in but I tend to keep a car til it dies.
In Arizona though several owners of year old cars are reporting 10% loss in a year. They have 115 degree days and this appears to accelerate battery capacity loss. For the moment on any day predicted to be 100 or greater in Maryland I'm just charging to 80% which is one way to prevent loss with heat. Still it's worrisome as I'm counting on no more then 2.5% loss a year.
Will keep you posted on that - no one has yet to really research it but a lot of discussion is flying.
Drive on!
PS & BTW - They may be discounting 2012's as this continues - I'll post what I hear.
First a slowdown in sales this year. Clearly they are down from 2011- the year one for the Leaf. I originally believed the issue was Nissan constraining supply because of the extreme weakness of the dollar to the yen. At least one dealer in discussions has admitted though that they are not selling as well and they are on the lot longer. While various pro C02 folks claim the vehicle is the problem I lean towards the fact the Leaf buyers tend to do deep research. After all the car is expensive if well appointed and basically we buyers really check out everything we can find on bleeding edge (grin) of technology before we jump. As I advised here months ago the 2013 will be made in the US, have half the charge time required, and have a heater that doesn't hammer range in the winter. Those improvements are a big deal. This is all published and can be easily found. While I was asked and did hold some of this information when first told, basically all this information was available in print in late Dec '11 - plenty of time to slow buyers.
One more point is the US made batteries and US made cars - will this allow a price drop on the 2013 Leaf? Ghosn - the Nissan CEO has said in the press his Leaf price target in five years was the VW Golf price. That's 17-28k so with incentives they are close but I would not expect incentives to last beyond the next two-three years, so eventually thats head to head.
Makes sense when you read industry analysis that Lithium ion batteries are rapidly dropping in price and are projected to drop tremendously during the decade. Makes sense, lithium turns out to be plentiful, easily recycled, and have several extraction options. While current production is low in the US it turns out we have large amounts. Oil shills pass around a dated study clearly backed by the petrol folks claiming we are hurting on Lithium. Not true and this bourn out by the price. Name me a scarce resource we are running out of whose price has dropped by 10% this year.
http://www.plugincars.com/lithium-ion-battery-prices-drop-160-kwh-2025-123193.html
Second topic is more serious. All major battery chemistries to date have limited lifespan and lose capacity. This is true of Lithium. It's important the Leaf make it's stated goals of 8 year 100k mark with 80% capacity intact. For me that means my 5 year loan has been over for three years and I've saved 10k for a replacement (hopefully improved!) at about half my current payments for three years. Hey- its a plan. This isn't a problem for folks who lease or trade in but I tend to keep a car til it dies.
In Arizona though several owners of year old cars are reporting 10% loss in a year. They have 115 degree days and this appears to accelerate battery capacity loss. For the moment on any day predicted to be 100 or greater in Maryland I'm just charging to 80% which is one way to prevent loss with heat. Still it's worrisome as I'm counting on no more then 2.5% loss a year.
Will keep you posted on that - no one has yet to really research it but a lot of discussion is flying.
Drive on!
PS & BTW - They may be discounting 2012's as this continues - I'll post what I hear.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Competition?
Normally I welcome more car models to the electric fold and I'd be delighted to see improvement over the Leaf. From anyone. With the exception of Tesla though some of these 'new competitors' seem bogus.
Take the Ford Focus. Still no numbers to speak of - a very tepid introduction. More to throw up a gauntlet to competition then to actually sell in numbers. As I noted before though - cute style if a bit small for my taste.
Honda Fit electric. This one really gets my goat - think the Leaf is hard to get. Honda is working overtime to splash specs around and they sound good. Then you find out this car is almost as hard to get as their million dollar Hydrogen Fuel cell mirage. A thousand over 3 years ~ 340 a year. Lease only - you don't have an option to own just like the EV-1. Leasing is fine if the car is real and an option to buy is out there.
At least the Tesla S if pricey is going to be in some sort of buyable numbers and is rolling off the line - you have to admire Elon Musk's moxie.
Well at 6 months and 6100 miles I'm happy as can be. Zippy performance with very low monthly cost. If this continues as is at 54 months from now paid off this will be almost a free ride. At least until I start looking at battery replacement at the eight year mark. I really enjoy the car more each day.
Now the key is the US production and upgrades on a Leaf that either toes the cost line or decreases a bit. When I hear about these phantom car - arrggh. Come on Ford and Chrysler - get in the game with a real EV. At least Chevy has the Volt which is a real plugin with promise and some range...
Take the Ford Focus. Still no numbers to speak of - a very tepid introduction. More to throw up a gauntlet to competition then to actually sell in numbers. As I noted before though - cute style if a bit small for my taste.
Honda Fit electric. This one really gets my goat - think the Leaf is hard to get. Honda is working overtime to splash specs around and they sound good. Then you find out this car is almost as hard to get as their million dollar Hydrogen Fuel cell mirage. A thousand over 3 years ~ 340 a year. Lease only - you don't have an option to own just like the EV-1. Leasing is fine if the car is real and an option to buy is out there.
At least the Tesla S if pricey is going to be in some sort of buyable numbers and is rolling off the line - you have to admire Elon Musk's moxie.
Well at 6 months and 6100 miles I'm happy as can be. Zippy performance with very low monthly cost. If this continues as is at 54 months from now paid off this will be almost a free ride. At least until I start looking at battery replacement at the eight year mark. I really enjoy the car more each day.
Now the key is the US production and upgrades on a Leaf that either toes the cost line or decreases a bit. When I hear about these phantom car - arrggh. Come on Ford and Chrysler - get in the game with a real EV. At least Chevy has the Volt which is a real plugin with promise and some range...
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
An interesting option
For those interested in the Nissan Leaf but annoyed by the wait, Nissan just dropped the Leaf lease by a few bucks.
First a disclaimer - I'm not selling for Nissan or getting a kickback. I have no leasing experience either.
Now I'm glad to have bought a 2012. Given however the big upgrades coming to the 2013, a 39 month (Three and a quarter year) lease has some pros. This is a $3K down ( most elderly trade in cars would cover this ) and a $289 base model lease price. I would lease the base model.
Add $40 in electric a month and you are running. Now you have 39 months of electric driving for under $350 a month (with maintenance) and you can look at buying one of the improved EV's in 2016's model year. Admittedly you loose the payments but if prices fall - the purchase of a 2016 could be quite a bit cheaper.
Three years of improvement in model years. Given all the Nissan upgrades each year in the Leaf and all the competition coming on line - could be sweet.
Folks experienced at leases feel free to discuss the down sides.
Dave
Sunday, April 22, 2012
It's Earth Day and Here we come....
Happy Earth Day,
So for the four month mark at 4100 miles the Leaf is performing very well. Up until now for mere mortals ( you know - Tesla owners ) it's been the Leaf or the Volt - which we've discussed in previous posts.
Now - here come the Challengers -
1. Toyota's plug in Prius. Sort of a Volt 'light' with it's base of alternate models and excellent first sales it can't be ignored. Like the Volt an internal combustion engine to take care and feed. VERY short all electric battery range - 11 miles. Still if a plug is available at work this car could be very well - my current 13 mile one way commute with work charging (which I don't have) would be possible to be almost 90% electric. Not cheap - $32K MSRP and high end model with Hud display and radar cruise $39.5K.Availability is pretty good for new model - almost 900 sold in the US in the opening month. As a proven, no range worries model it should at least be considered. Still $32k base and I think less incentives - a bit pricey for that battery size.
2. Ford's Focus EV. Full EV with a more normal body style. Not quite out of the gate and somewhat limited in production this year - still 10 or so are out there. A 23KWH battery and about $39.2K MSRP. Claims of performance close to the Leaf but no independent comparisons yet. Faster 6.6kw charging at 240V - 3 to 4 hours to full. That's big - Nissan says the 2013 Leafs will have this vice current 3.3kw - 7hrs at 240V. I think the Focus has promise if Ford can ramp up production.
3. Honda Electric FIT. Very promising specs but the most tepid introduction I've ever seen - Honda will only produce 1000 for the whole of three years (300 per year!) - then only for leases - shades of who killed the electric car. Still vapor ware but worthy of mention that even Honda is getting its toes in the water.
4. Mitsubishi iMiev - With 220 sold here its ahead of the focus but I really don't have much on it. Maybe 62 mile range and wild styling - makes my Leaf look normal. At $29.1K before full incentives worth a mention on price but a bit limited on space, range, and amenities.
Well that's the lineup - should be interesting in the coming year.
At 4K miles the Leaf has performed great. I managed to scratch an inchworm sized gouge in my rear bumper - that first one always hurts but the vehicle is still looking good - in it's own homely bug eyed way. Looking forward to my big 7500 mile maintenance, tire rotation, sometime this summer.
Happy Earth Day All!
Dave
So for the four month mark at 4100 miles the Leaf is performing very well. Up until now for mere mortals ( you know - Tesla owners ) it's been the Leaf or the Volt - which we've discussed in previous posts.
Now - here come the Challengers -
1. Toyota's plug in Prius. Sort of a Volt 'light' with it's base of alternate models and excellent first sales it can't be ignored. Like the Volt an internal combustion engine to take care and feed. VERY short all electric battery range - 11 miles. Still if a plug is available at work this car could be very well - my current 13 mile one way commute with work charging (which I don't have) would be possible to be almost 90% electric. Not cheap - $32K MSRP and high end model with Hud display and radar cruise $39.5K.Availability is pretty good for new model - almost 900 sold in the US in the opening month. As a proven, no range worries model it should at least be considered. Still $32k base and I think less incentives - a bit pricey for that battery size.
2. Ford's Focus EV. Full EV with a more normal body style. Not quite out of the gate and somewhat limited in production this year - still 10 or so are out there. A 23KWH battery and about $39.2K MSRP. Claims of performance close to the Leaf but no independent comparisons yet. Faster 6.6kw charging at 240V - 3 to 4 hours to full. That's big - Nissan says the 2013 Leafs will have this vice current 3.3kw - 7hrs at 240V. I think the Focus has promise if Ford can ramp up production.
3. Honda Electric FIT. Very promising specs but the most tepid introduction I've ever seen - Honda will only produce 1000 for the whole of three years (300 per year!) - then only for leases - shades of who killed the electric car. Still vapor ware but worthy of mention that even Honda is getting its toes in the water.
4. Mitsubishi iMiev - With 220 sold here its ahead of the focus but I really don't have much on it. Maybe 62 mile range and wild styling - makes my Leaf look normal. At $29.1K before full incentives worth a mention on price but a bit limited on space, range, and amenities.
Well that's the lineup - should be interesting in the coming year.
At 4K miles the Leaf has performed great. I managed to scratch an inchworm sized gouge in my rear bumper - that first one always hurts but the vehicle is still looking good - in it's own homely bug eyed way. Looking forward to my big 7500 mile maintenance, tire rotation, sometime this summer.
Happy Earth Day All!
Dave
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
The Volt and the Leaf
So what of the Volt?
It suffered a pretty rough smear campaign but sales appear to be on the mend. March 2012 according to Bob Lutz is headed for a record month - hopefully that will end the temporary closure of the plant as sales catch up. I note also the Volt in stock inventory has eased.
The fact that one unit suffered a fire three weeks after a crash doesn't trouble me. Why is that?
It suffered a pretty rough smear campaign but sales appear to be on the mend. March 2012 according to Bob Lutz is headed for a record month - hopefully that will end the temporary closure of the plant as sales catch up. I note also the Volt in stock inventory has eased.
The fact that one unit suffered a fire three weeks after a crash doesn't trouble me. Why is that?
Here are some GAS vehicle fire statistics:
· According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), one
out of five reported fires is a car fire. In fact, 18 percent of all
fires takes place on a highway or other road and involves a motor
vehicle.
· Also according to the NFPA, 33 car fires are reported every hour
across the country, with one person per day dying in a car fire
accident in the years between 2002 and 2005.
· According to the National Fire Protection Association, there were
258,000 vehicle fires in 2007 and 385 deaths. There were 1,675
injuries.
So the sad thing is someone may die in a gas fire because they listened to hype. However the Volt does still have a gas engine and internal combustion components. So typical gas risk may apply.
As a solution for someone that wants to drive long distances and do short electric commutes the Volt excels. The slightly higher Volt cost over the Leaf is a factor but 3-5 thousand would probably be worth the ability to drive extended distance when needed. Assuming Chevy wants to sell down the Volt inventory even more it sounds like deals are to be had. Leafs are tough on the East Coast to get below MSRP.
The key is can you live with 35-40 miles vs 75-85 miles electric range. A one way 13 mile commute like mine - optimal and I could still visit Grandma 200 miles away on the weekend. So the Volt could be a good choice. I seriously urge you to consider the Volt as a possible way to reduce emissions and gas cost.
However for me, my 2003 Honda HCH with 160,000 miles already needs a second Catalytic converter - the first was $1500. I'm no longer interested in maintaining a muffler, spark plugs, fuel injector, gas tank, emissions system, gas lines, filter, oil pump, oil filters - you get the idea. I believe cost comparisons show these maintenance costs will cancel out the eventual battery replacement in 8-10 years. Electric motors are extremely reliable for amazingly long lifespans and my experience with regenerative brakes only requiring pads at 80k miles in the Hybrid lead me to think those will be better to maintain then gas cars too.
So its a Leaf for me.
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