My New LEAF Arrives!

The chemo made me do it!


After first buying a wonderful EV from Toyota eight years and 34 days ago, today I took possession of a new LEAF from Nissan. Thus begins, for me, a physical manifestation of history in the making. For decades to come, the percentage of people who burn filthy oil will grow smaller, while the percentage of people who use clean kWh generated from sunlight and wind will grow larger.

The well-publicized delay in the roll out of the LEAF these past few weeks elicited a lot of comments. I riffed off of the term "range anxiety" to coin "delivery anxiety" as stories proliferated about how upset people were due to the delay in delivering their beloved LEAFs. I could understand their concern, but still counseled patience, while taking the long view of one who has been fighting for EVs for 8 years. Surely, we can wait a few more weeks for our cars. However, last week I was told my car would come every day. It was off the boat at the harbor, they said. The realization at the end of each day that my LEAF wasn't there gave me a robust taste of delivery anxiety, with the tart taste of irony on the side.

All that faded quickly from mind when I came to work this morning to see this sweet red ride beautifully detailed by Santa Monica Nissan's hardest working employee, Juanito.

It wasn't long before a customer was sniffing around, asking questions and clearly interested in going for a drive. I hadn't even sat in the car yet, and needed to take my inaugural drive, so I invited him along. Within a mile, I pulled over and gave him the controls to my brand new car. We had a great time. He loved the acceleration, the nimble handling, and of course, the quiet. We drove a few miles looking for safe opportunities to try out the LEAF's full power. He had a big EV grin the whole time.

Less than 100 LEAFs have fallen on U.S. soil, and a few hundred Volts have been delivered. I don't think we considered how quickly or slowly the cars would actually be delivered. The reality of building bullet-proof EVs is that prudent companies will, by necessity, take their time in the initial roll out phase to be sure the quality is high. One glance at the LEAF and Volt forums confirms very happy customers, so it appears they were successful.

I've got a lot to learn before I can cover everything about this LEAF , but one feature really got my attention, and it's one that a lot of you who have driven new cars the past few years know all about. When I use bluetooth in my RAV, I have this little uncomfortable bud in my ear, and it's not that easy to hear conversations over the ambient noise. But when a call comes into the LEAF's bluetooth, the stereo cuts out and the phone call comes over the stereo system. Whoa, that's really cool! If you're hard of hearing like me, you're going to love this.

Felix Kramer of Cal Cars initiated the movement to popularize the plug-in hybrid over 9 years ago. Along with his partner, Ron Gremban, and mentor, Andy Frank, they all got their Volts a couple weeks ago. Felix called just as I was writing this to tell me he, too, got his LEAF today. We think that makes him the first person on Earth to own both a production EV and production PHEV. I can think of no one more deserving.

Given the long range capability of the Volt and the simplicity of the LEAF, these two technologies will cover virtually all of our driving. The range extended hybrids will have lots of customers who need to drive long distance often, and many commercial heavy duty vehicles will need both power sources, yet operate with efficiencies far beyond today's meager options. Those who rarely, or never drive long distances, will be fine with the nominal 100 mile range of most EVs. What's important is that only those who really need liquid fuels will use them, and by then, most of the liquid fuels will be from non-petroleum sources.

Selling the LEAF and selling solar PV to go with it is definitely the best job I've ever had. Now that I have the car at work, I'll be able to give test drives to anyone anytime.

Someone called me as I was leaving work tonight, said they represented "a royal family" and offered me a huge number for my LEAF. I haven't even owned it for a full work day and this guy wants it for "his client". It was weird, because I didn't even hesitate to say no. Not after waiting all this time would I let this car go to anyone.

Now, the RAV is another story. Zan's going to use it till I find it a good home. If you know anyone who would appreciate one of the few remaining historic Toyota RAV4 EVs that propelled a few dozen otherwise normal people into becoming zealots for a cause, please have them contact me.

Nissan Delivers, Others Queue Up

We have reached the turning point when internal combustion has met its maker, so to speak. The world's fourth largest car maker, Nissan/Renault, makes millions of gas-burners, but Saturday, they began the transition to electric in earnest. Nissan could have delivered the first LEAF to a celebrity to get maximum coverage but, to their credit, they delivered it to Olivier Chalouhi, CTO of a tech company in the Bay Area who happened to be the first person to put down a $99 deposit. I like that!

Here is North American Nissan's Chairman, Carlos Tavares giving the keys to a very happy Chaloudi.
Photos by Marc Geller

Nissan will be alone in the market only briefly, as several transport trucks left Detroit yesterday loaded with dozens of Volts headed for eager recipients waiting with cash in hand.

As reported in the Detroit Free Press, "GM said it expected a total of 160 Volts to ship this week to its initial launch markets: California, Austin, Texas, and metro New York City and Washington, D.C."

And at last month's LA Auto Show, both Honda and Toyota indicated their intent to re-enter the EV market with announcements of the electric Honda Fit and the re-introduction of Toyota's well-loved electric RAV4 this time sporting a Tesla drive train.

I've sold 54 LEAFs so far, and as word spreads through the main stream media, inquiries are flowing in from all quarters. People just now learning of the EV revolution want to get in on the action, but patience is warranted since the numbers of cars will be limited at first. I can attest to the frustration at the slow roll out of the LEAF as many of my customers are asking "when is my car coming?" All I can say is "soon".

In addition to the manufacturers named above, we'll soon see EVs from Ford, Mercedes, Volvo, Mitsubishi, Coda, Fisker, Think and of course, Tesla.

The late comers needn't worry that the Volt and LEAF will gobble all the pent up demand since the first EVs to hit the market will do nothing but generate intense interest and demand for any car with a plug.

The recent rise in gas prices serves as a reminder of what happened in 2008 when gas hit north of $4. We all know that it can - and will - happen again. Those in line now to get their EV will avoid the worst of the damage when those prices inevitably rise.

Chelsea Tells it like it is, and starts a great comment war

For those of you unfamiliar with the writing of Chelsea Sexton, her blog on GM's creation of a Volt Customer Advisory Board is a must read.

First of all, no one not named Dan Neil is as articulate as Chelsea on the subject of plug-in cars. Her command of language is something many professional writers would envy. And those who have heard her speak on the subject of plug-in cars would say that was her forte. I won't argue that, she's very good at both.

I wanted to send this out to my readers because of the remarkable turn around GM has taken in their EV program. As Chelsea states, "The Volt team is intensely earnest, and I’ve seen several of the executives go giddy over it. But those things will not be enough; the last generation of EV’s didn’t suffer for lack of good cars or sincerity."

Chelsea makes the case for a truly new and improved GM, at least as far as the electric vehicle is concerned.
From crushed EV1s to the remarkable Volt! Solid proof that GMs current management "gets it".

Be sure to read the comments. About half way through, there is some pretty funny repartee from readers assuming various personna.

Tesla & Toyota: going steady?

Announced Thursday, the hooking up of Tesla with Toyota took everybody by surprise. As part of the deal, Tesla is buying the giant NUMMI plant in Fremont, CA. This facility has an interesting history as told in this excellent piece from This American Life. Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, lusted after this plant early in the search for a manufacturing plant for their Model S, but the size of the plant at 5.3 million sq ft was too much for his needs. With Toyota's desire to build a low-cost EV using a Tesla designed drivetrain, all of a sudden, the numbers started to work.

According to GreenBeat, "Again, this is a pretty radical change of pace for Tesla — and it’s apparently come about very quickly. The company had been interested in the NUMMI facility for a while. It met with the plant’s representatives about three months ago with no results. About a month ago, Akio Toyoda, president and CEO of Toyota, approached Musk about a potential strategic partnership, and the two executives hit it off, Musk says".

Also from GreenBeat:

1. The joint development of a brand new,sub- $30,000 electric car, that will contain Tesla’s unique powertrain design, with everything else built by Toyota;
2. The purchase of the NUMMI plant, where Tesla plans to manufacture both its Model S sedan due out in 2012, a new $30,000 Tesla-designed vehicle, and the more affordable jointly designed “third-generation” vehicle;
3. A $50 million investment from Toyota into Tesla when the company goes public, probably later this year.

All in all, this is great news! We'll have more choices in the EV world in a few years. The Volts and Leafs will prime the market for late entries, and if we get a decent energy bill that assigns a price to carbon, then the cost of gas will rise making more and more people make the switch.