So the Nissan Leaf Charging assessment appointments are starting up next week (as far as we know) and we are interested in hearing from you how things go.

We are having our inspection on 7/1, will be taking pictures and tweeting all the action on @leafowner. We expect to get an estimate in the range of $2k-$3k for the installation, fortunately the breaker is right in the garage on the front wall, and we are hoping that makes things easier and cheaper!

Do you have an earlier appointment? If so let us know, we're love to hear from you when it occurs, as would the rest of the users here on LeafOwner.com. What are you expecting from the appointment?

So there has been some discussion here on LeafOwner.com about the potential that dealers will try to price gouge when the Leaf comes out. I recently went to visit a local Nissan Dealer, Boardwalk Nissan in Redwood City and will admit I didn't have the best of experiences, they didn't have ANY info on the Leaf at the time, I am hoping that has changed, so I just reached out to a sales guy who contacted me due to the previous sales guy I was dealing with having left.

So here's what I emailed the guy, I'll post back to this thread later when I hear back, assuming I hear back.

NAME REMOVED,

Thanks for the phone call last night. I do have a few questions that I could use your assistance.

I have money down on a Leaf (I paid $99 back on 4/20), I realize they aren't going to be available until December, but was wondering if you had any more info about them?

Here's what I currently know. By the end of this month Nissan will be contacting me to give me more info. Sometime this summer they will send out an electrician to the house to see if installing a charger is possible or not, and to give an estimate of what that cost will be. This fall they are going to be doing some driving promotions where you can test drive a Leaf. This fall those who are interested will work with a dealer to purchase the car. Then sometime starting in December a lucky few who preordered the Leaf will get them delivered, I am hoping because we are in the bay area that I have a good shot at getting one of the first, also because I preregistered very early on.

I am looking for a dealer who is going to sell me a Leaf at or below MSRP, I am not willing to pay a markup cost for this car, and I will find a dealer that will sell me one at a good price, even if I have to tow the car home to do it. I would hope that Boardwalk Nissan can do this, but I have never purchased a car from you guys so I don't know what to expect yet.

I'm a Nissan kind of guy, I have a 350z currently (my second one) and I've owned a 240z and 280z as well. My wife and I were in at Boardwalk looking at Jettas, that was for her as a replacement for the F-250 she drives right now (for that horse trailer we talked about). The Leaf would be my commuter car if I get one.

Thanks for your help,

Chris

Have you reached out to a dealer? Had any luck?

So Nissan just sent out an email campaign that will allow you to create your own Leaf intro video, it's just a way for them to get you to spread the Leaf love, but I went ahead and created one anyways!

Here's the shortcut URL to my video http://bit.ly/bRYxBv 

If you got the video be sure to reply here with the link to yours! (I was #961)

I must say I saw this coming, but hopefully it won't be the only thing we see for the Leaf in terms of mobile applications. According to Autoblog Green the Leaf will be getting a simple Iphone app that will allow you to tell the car to either warm or cool the interior, as well as check the charging status of your Leaf. While that is cool, autoblog goes a little sarcastic and complains they want to be able to drive the car remotely.

I'll just be happy if Nissan creates an Android application, or releases an SDK! I would love to try my hand at my own Android application for the car if the opportunity ever presents itself. I'll be damned if I'll buy an IPhone :) 

Read the full ABG post.

Autoblog Green is reporting that Lance Armstrong is going to be getting the first Nissan Leaf, sometime in September.

Lance has likely had a hell of a day, with all the BS from Landis, then getting into a bad wreck during the Amgen Tour Of California and having to head to the hospital. Lance's #ATOC run might be over, but at least he gets a great car come September! Those of us here at LeafOwner.com are definitely going to be jealous when that happens!

Source: Autoblog Green

It looks like Nissan has sent out some updated emails to select markets. I received mine the morning of 5/17/2010 with the following text

Chris, thank you for reserving a Nissan LEAF™. you live in an area that will be one of the first to start the order process, which begins in August and continues for the next few months. during this time, you'll be notified when to contact your dealer. together, you will confirm your options, and talk about price, trade-ins and any incentives that are available. 

Did you get the email as well? Here's a screen shot of what it looked like. 

So today my wife and I headed up to Sacramento (110 miles or so from where we live). In case you hadn’t heard there’s this little thing going on in the state this week, called the Amgen Tour Of California, only the largest bicycle race in the United States. While I have attended a bike race or two in the past, and taken quite a few photos at them, the race itself was not the reason we headed up there.

On Friday we received an email that Nissan would be travelling around with the bike race with a Nissan Leaf in tow, setting up at the finish festivals letting the public see the car. Since I registered for the opportunity to purchase a Leaf on 4/20, I’ve been stoked about this whole process, and I just had to see the car in person. So the wife and I hopped into the Project350z and drove up to Sacramento for a few hours.

We got up there, found a decent parking space and headed off to walk around the various vendors trying to track down the Leaf! We ended up seeing all the vendors and finding the Nissan booth last. I spent probably an hour or so there, taking various photos, looking the car over, and talking to various reps who were there. Unfortunately the car was pretty much on lockdown, you could get close to it, but couldn’t open up any of the fun parts! The windows were up on this sunny beautiful day, and unfortunately that caused for some glare problems with trying to take interior pictures. I took 152 photos, but after trying to filter through some of them we’ve uploaded a large number of them.

Hopefully by taking a look at some of these photos you’ll see different things on the Leaf that you might not have seen in other photos that have been published elsewhere.

We didn’t learn too much different from the event, but it was nice to see the car in person. The only major thing I learned was that in addition to the $7500 government tax credit, California residents may be able to get a $5000 tax rebate, as well as the rebates for the charger installation. That could really make the Leaf a no brainer!

Here are some of the photos, though be sure to check out the full listing of photos from the Amgen Tour Of California Stage 1

    

On the 15th of May Nissan North America opened up the Leaf (electric vehicle) Registration system to the public. Previously the system was only open to those who had expressed interest and signed up for early access to the system. The private registration opened on 4/20 and ran through the 14th, with 9500 registrations during that time frame.

Reservations get you on the list for the option to buy a Nissan Leaf possibly later in 2010 depending on market availability and locale. To register you must pay a refundable $100 fee. 

RESERVATIONS

• Through the Nissan LEAF website via NissanUSA.com, the customer will create an account, configure his or her vehicle, and answer questions to complete a driving profile.
• Consumers will be asked to pay a fully refundable $99 reservation fee by credit card.
• After placing a reservation, a customer will be able to indicate a preferred dealer. 
• Consumers who reserve a Nissan LEAF will receive confirmation numbers. Nissan will provide individual updates for their reservations by June 30. 
• Reservations are limited to one per household. 
• Consumer inquiries about the reservation process can be answered at the Nissan LEAF call center, 1-877-664-2738.

For more information check out the press release from Nissan

Here at LeafOwner.com we are excited about the opportunity that owning a Nissan Leaf can provide owners as a way to actively work to make the world a better place through a cleaner environment. We encourage you to register here on the site and start partaking in the Forum fun! We are heading up to the Tour Of California events in Sacramento tomorrow so that we can check out a Leaf first hand, stay tuned for photos tomorrow! Don't forget to follow us on twitter @LeafOwner.

That's right, if you are in California be sure to check out the Tour Of California bike race this coming week! I will be checking it out, likely on Sunday, and will plan to take a lot of pictures for the site!

Nissan is a proud sponsor of the Amgen Tour of California. The largest cycling event in America, the 2010 Amgen Tour of California is a Tour de France-style cycling road race, presented by AEG, that challenges the world’s top professional cycling teams to compete along a demanding course. 
Visit the Nissan booth at the Finish Line Festival at each stage of the Tour, and you’ll have the chance to see and enter to win the all new, 100% electric, zero tailpipe emissions Nissan LEAF™. See dates and locations below.
STAGE 1: May 16, 2010, 11am-4:30pm
MBT Lifestyle Festival, L St & 11 St, Sacramento, CA 
STAGE 2: May 17, 2010, 11am-4:30pm
MBT Lifestyle Festival, Santa Rosa Ave & 3rd St, Santa Rosa, CA
STAGE 3: May 18, 2010, 11am-4:30pm
MBT Lifestyle Festival, Beach St & Riverside St, Santa Cruz, CA
STAGE 4: May 19, 2010, 11am-4:30pm 
MBT Lifestyle Festival, 12th St & I St, Modesto, CA
STAGE 5: May 19, 2010, 11am-4:30pm 
MBT Lifestyle Festival, Panorama Dr & Mt Vernon Ave, Bakersfield, CA
STAGE 6: May 20, 2010, 11am-4:30pm
MBT Lifestyle Festival, 880 Summit Blvd, Big Bear Lake, CA
STAGE 7: May 21, 2010, 11am-4:30pm
MBT Lifestyle Festival, 880 Summit Blvd, Chick Hearn Ct & Figueroa Dr, Los Angeles, CA
STAGE 8: May 21, 2010, 11am-4:30pm 
MBT Lifestyle Festival, 880 Summit Blvd, Townsgate Rd & Village Glen, Thousand Oaks, CA
www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/

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Interesting news found as I read through the Autoblog Green today (I'm a changed man reading Autoblog Green now, the thought of getting a Leaf has me all sorts of weird).

There was an article from Monday posted there about Eaton developing fast charging systems for both home and commercial use electric vehicles. That strikes me of interest because I have a buddy, one of my former codriver's in the CorvetteZ06.org car, that works for Eaton. I've already sent him an email to see what kind of discount I can get :)

Check out the full Eaton writeup at Autoblog Green including the press release.