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All about Nissan LEAF deliveries from the man who knows

Silver LEAF

Mark Perry on LEAF delivery status

We had an opportunity to attend the first Southern California LEAF delivery party in San Diego held at Nissan Design America and weren’t disappointed. While trying to find a proper link for you for information about the design center, we found that Nissan is about as secretive about the design center as they are about a new Nissan design. But this will give you a little background on it.

The first San Diego LEAF had been delivered to Tom Franklin earlier in the afternoon at Mossy Nissan Kearny Mesa in San Diego. We had a chance to speak with Mr. Franklin briefly before he was asked to make some comments to the assembled masses, which included media representatives and early LEAF order holders in San Diego. We learned in our conversation with him, and during his remarks, that he is an electric vehicle (EV) advocate. A Toyota Prius owner, Mr. Franklin told us that he was going with the first commercially viable electric vehicle that met his needs. LEAF just happened to be the first that fit the bill. We also learned that Nissan vetted several candidates for LEAF deliveries subsequent to the first LEAF delivery in the Bay Area. While we gained no remarkable additional insights into the process, all candidates were early reservation holders. The more interesting part of the evening came next.

After Mr. Franklin’s remarks, Nissan offered a nicely catered affair to those in attendance. One of those in attendance happened to be none other than Mark Perry, Nissan Director of Product Planning. We had met Mr. Perry many years ago and after reintroducing ourselves, asked about the remarks made by Mr. Tavares in San Francisco on Saturday. Specifically, how is Nissan going to handle the continuing rollout to the remainder of the country.

Currently public knowledge is that Nissan holds 20,000 reservations – from all over the country. Mr. Perry acknowledged that over half are converting to orders, with most converting from reservations to orders within the first seven days after being offered the opportunity to order, or
“Request a Quote” (RAQ in Nissan parlance). Conversion rates vary based on geography, but San Diego, for instance, has an extremely high conversion ratio. Based on current conversion rates, and current orders, all current reservationists – that live in the seven initial launch states – will have their LEAF by the end of the summer of 2011, even if you haven’t placed your order yet.

This next bit will make some unhappy, but is based on the realities of business. Current reservationists not in the seven rollout states – Arizona, California, Oregon, Tennessee or Washington, with Hawaii and Texas closely following – will not be open to orders until infrastructure is in place in their states. What this means is that if you reserved on day one (April 20, 2010), but do not reside in one of these seven states, you will not be able to order for awhile. While this may seem unfair to those that live in any states other than these seven, Nissan has made this clear as far back as July of this year, and likely prior to that as well. Certainly there are EV (and LEAF) advocates in many states other than these. Nissan wants to ensure that a viable infrastructure is in place prior to making the LEAF available. Following the initial seven launch states will be North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland, South Carolina and Alabama. No matter how passionate you may be about the LEAF, if your state is not in those named above, there is not a strong enough commitment yet (in Nissan’s eyes) to warrant sales in those states. Keep in mind that Nissan is about profitability. Nissan is going to put the LEAF where the infrastructure is. And currently that infrastructure is being primarily supported by the EV Project and ChargePoint America. The states that you see highlighted on their maps mirror Nissan’s launch states for the most part.

Look for the current reservation/order system to remain in place at least until Smyrna comes online in late 2012. Even then, Nissan is going to closely evaluate demand as well as supply and review whether a change in the ordering structure would be needed or not. LEAF owners in many cases will need a charging dock installed, so buying an electric car will not be like buying an internal combustion engine (ICE) car possibly for years to come. Will there be other alternatives available by then? Absolutely. Will they likely be working through the same issues that Nissan is working through now? Quite possibly. One advantage they will have is that, largely because of Nissan’s efforts with the LEAF, and working with municipalities throughout the US, they will have existing infrastructure already in place. In 2013, Nissan will be capable of supplying 200,000 vehicles on a global scale. Volt is making 15,000 vehicles this year and 45,000 targeted for 2012. Our take is that availability from all other makes will be significantly less than what Nissan will be able to bring to the table. There is a price to be paid for being first. There is also a price to be paid for waiting.

Posted in Charging Infrastructure, Industry News, Is the Nissan LEAF right for me?, LEAF 101, LEAF Acquisition, LEAF Information, Warranty | Leave a comment

Where is my Nissan LEAF in the production queue? Part 2

LEAF body in white

I’ve ordered my LEAF. Now what?

Part Two

Yesterday we looked at the timing involved from Nissan’s side in delivering the LEAF to their customers. From start of production to turning over the keys to the new owner, the time needed can be less than two months – as will be demonstrated this weekend with the delivery of the first LEAF in the world to a retail customer. It was built in late October. In the future, once initial demand is satisfied, we anticipate that ordering a LEAF will result in delivery in less than 90 days from date of order. But it will take some time to reach that point – perhaps as much as two years. Coincidentally, keep in mind that LEAF will be produced in Smyrna, Tennessee beginning in late 2012. The Smyrna plant will have a capacity of 150,000 units per year for global consumption. Once this plant comes on line, we anticipate the purchase of a LEAF will become much like the purchase of any other Nissan. By this we mean that your local dealership will have a selection of LEAFs available for you to select from, with the capability to special order a vehicle in your color and equipment specifications available if you can not find one to meet your needs.

For now, availability is limited. And there are many anxious folk that have placed an order and the “dashboard” that Nissan provides to update vehicle status simply says “Pending” where the dashboard says “Estimated delivery”. Many early adopters that have placed orders in the early days of September are likely wondering when they might see their cars. With production capability of 50,000 LEAFs per year in Oppama, that breaks out to 136 units per day. But only half of these will come to the US. And ultimately 20% of those will go to Nissan dealers and/or fleet customers. Which means that right around 50 units built each day will make their way into US consumers’ hands. While eventually, this will be over 1,500 vehicles per month, we feel that initial production will not be at full capacity to ensure quality standards are met. So pare that number back a bit.

Now that we have an understanding of the process, when will we get our LEAFs? Here is a hint: In the Nissan “dashboard” providing information to you about the status of your LEAF, if you have already ordered, near the bottom of your dashboard it will say “Estimated delivery” and under that “Pending”.  Click on the “Order your Nissan LEAF” dropdown tab. Within this drop down menu, click on the “order summary” button, which takes you to a summary of your order – LEAF trim (SV or SL), color, options and accessories. Next to the color, you have a small “edit” link. Clicking this link allows you to change the selected color of your LEAF. We feel that it is safe to say than once your LEAF is scheduled for production, this “edit” color link will disappear. When, exactly, we don’t know. But it is a certainty that you cannot change your color once your car is built. While we don’t know exactly how much time prior to production this “edit” link will go away, by definition, it will not be offered as your car nears production. Since every LEAF will have the same color interior, selecting the exterior color is as simple as changing one build parameter prior to production. We would expect that this will be one of the last changeable items prior to production.

We have had the opportunity to tour the Nissan Smyrna plant and found it pretty amazing the degree of flexibility of this facility. Different models run down the same assembly line being assembled as seamlessly as if every vehicle were identical. You might see an Xterra followed by an Altima, so we are talking about really dissimilar vehicles. In Japan, LEAF will be built along side the Juke, cube, and the Nissan Note. As vehicles pass through the paint and body area the processes are very closely monitored to ensure a quality finish. But one of the most surprising details is seen as vehicles emerge from this area. The technology has advanced to the point that each vehicle passing through the finishing booth can emerge a different color. But don’t take our word for it. Here is a link to a five minute Nissan LEAF production video. We found the whole thing fascinating, but if you are just interested in seeing the painting process and different color vehicles making their way down the line you can go about three minutes in and start there.

In a nutshell – when you can no longer change the color of your vehicle, you know it is getting close to production – and that much closer to your garage.

Posted in Is the Nissan LEAF right for me?, LEAF 101, LEAF Acquisition, LEAF Information, LEAF Ownership, Our Delivery, Production, Specifications | 6 Comments

Nissan LEAF named on Ten Best Engines list

Ward's Ten Best

First ever electric motor named to ten best list

While the Nissan LEAF has no engine, it still nabbed a spot on the Ward’s Automotive Ten Best Engine’s list for 2011.

It is likely that you have never heard of Ward’s Automotive Group before now. Many haven’t. In their own words “Ward’s has covered the auto industry for more than 80 years”. In a rough comparison, Ward’s is to the engineering side of the industry as J.D. Power is to the consumer side of the industry. Very well respected, but they aren’t widely known to most non-engineering types.

Each year, for the past 17, Ward’s has published a list of the 10 best engines, with a few limitations thrown in. For instance, for the 2010 list, powertrains needed to be new or improved, and in vehicles with a sticker price of no more than $54,000. Don’t want any 16 cylinder Bugatti powerplants to ruin it for the rest of us.

So what makes for a 10 Best powerplant?

“We have something for everybody on this year’s Ward’s 10 Best Engines list,” says Drew Winter, editor-in-chief of Ward’s AutoWorld magazine. “It’s the most diverse mix we’ve ever had, as well as the most technologically advanced.”

“The one thing they have in common is they all are stand-out performers in their own way and sell the value proposition of the vehicles they power,” Winter says.

Here is just a little of what Ward’s had to say about the LEAF powerplant:

“What’s remarkable about the LEAF is how much it feels like a conventional car…”
“Range anxiety is a hurdle…but an electrical socket – ubiquitous in the developed world – is all that is needed…”
“As a propulsion system, it truly deserves recognition.”

As a side note – the Nissan VQ series V6 engine – found in current Nissan and Infiniti products as diverse as the Nissan 370Z, Quest minivan, and Infiniti M37 – was one of Ward’s 10 Best Engines for 14 years straight, due to continued improvements in power, efficiency and refinement. No other manufacturer could make that claim.

For more about the Ward’s 10 Best Engines list, click on the link below.

Source: wardsauto.com

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December 11 – First Nissan LEAF US delivery

Silver LEAF

Official word from Nissan confirms December 11 delivery

Back on November 22 we published that the first LEAF would be delivered in Northern California on December 11. As far as we know, we were the first to break this story. Word now from Nissan confirms that date according to Green Car Advisor. Other sources have also stated that a second shipment will be delivered prior to the end of the year.

In related news, we received an invitation from Nissan to attend the first Nissan LEAF delivery in San Diego which will occur on Monday, December 13. We already have a full schedule that day, but as the ceremony will occur in the evening, we should be able to attend. Look for info on that auspicious event on our Tuesday, December 14 post. We are looking forward to witnessing the ushering in of hopefully what will be the new era of the automobile, at least in our little corner of the world.

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Nissan LEAF electric motor and transmission

Nissan LEAF motor assembly

So… how does a LEAF work?

[UPDATE] This article was written in 2010 and applies to the 2011 and 2012 models of the Nissan LEAF. A different electric motor is used on the 2013 and later models with slightly revised specifications.

* * *

We’re not really going to tell you how a LEAF works. But… we will give you a little insight into how the LEAF is different from the car that you are currently driving.

Recently, the good folks in Nissan’s European Newsroom provided us with some additional technical specifications for the LEAF that had not been previously released. For instance, we now know that the AC synchronous motor can turn a maximum of 10,390 revolutions per minute (RPM). We heard from some other sources as much as 18,000 RPM, but thought that might be on the high side. And most likely, you have heard by now that LEAF does not use a conventional automatic or manual transmission. It uses a single speed reduction gear with a final drive ratio of 7.9377. So what good does that do anyone? Good question. Divide 10,390 by 7.9377. Go ahead… we’ll wait. Come up with 1308.94? Good! So did we.

1308.94 is how fast the tires will rotate when the motor is turning the maximum 10,390 RPM. Why is this important? Because, since we know that the tires are a Bridgestone Ecopia model, size 205/55R16, we know that the tires have a diameter of 24.9″ and will turn 837 revolutions per mile (not per minute). With these givens, at 60 miles per hour these tires will turn 837 RPM. But if the electric motor is turning 10,390 RPM, and the tires are turning at 1308.94 RPM, how fast are we going? Simple… do the math!

1308.94 RPM divided by 837 RPM equals 1.56. So at maximum motor RPM, we are traveling at 1.56 times 60 MPH, or 93.8 MPH. We think that we recall reading that the fastest the LEAF has traveled (at least in road tests that we have seen) has been 94 MPH or 95 MPH, so these calculations are probably fairly accurate. Here at Living LEAF we’re car geeks… what can we say?

Some other numbers released: curb weight 1,525kg (3,355 pounds) minimum 1,595kg (3,509 pounds) maximum. These are based on some European spec that we are not familiar with, but we expect US numbers to be similar. The variance is likely due to the trim level and associated equipment differences.

One other little bit that we picked up – both front and rear brake rotors are ventilated. Typical practice on compact cars is to provide vented front rotors and solid rear rotors. Venting the brakes at both ends of the car offers several advantages – cooler brake operation, longer component life, improved performance, along with potentially less maintenance. This is the type of treatment typically found on more expensive performance oriented vehicles. Nice to see on the LEAF.

Posted in Industry News, Is the Nissan LEAF right for me?, LEAF 101, LEAF Information, Specifications | 46 Comments