Advice: Used? Uh, maybe not.

Note that as of May 1st there were still 5 2016 iMiEV's for below $20K at the northern MN dealer linked below.
Including transportation from there and fees you're looking at about $21.3K or $13,800 after tax considerations. That ain't bad at all, and the dealer has proven very willing to deal with out of state buyers and arranging transportation (which works out to $1200-1300ish if you're not in too big a hurry)
 Edit: EXPIRED:  Some of the US 2014 iMiEV inventory was  sporting $8000 off pricing.
This results in a new 2014 going for $15,995.
Assuming you qualify for the federal tax credit of $7500 that puts the price down to $8500ish.
Granted that's for units in northern Minnesota and it could cost a grand (easily) to get it here and there's issues with sales tax & etc. but wow, $8.5K.
Too bad they're all gone.  They do have a couple 2016's listed at $19,995 which if nothing else makes a good number to beat local dealers over the head with. Due to transportation costs and unit volume these things are a little more expensive in the Pacific NW, so maybe $21K is more likely. That's about $13.5K after tax credit (assuming you qualify for all of it). ...Which isn't all that bad, basically the same I paid for mine 2+ years ago, but it ain't no $8.5K. Oh well.
This really highlights the tradeoffs between iMiEV and LEAF. Is it better to find a used LEAF for $11-13K (see 'Reality Check below and the 'Edit' at the bottom of the post) or try and find a 2016 iMiEV for $13-14K?   That would be a tough call for me, especially against the 2013 LEAF.
Note: Buddy of mine just got a low miles used 2013 LEAF SV off CARlypso.com for $12.5K plus delivery. Deals are out there...


Yes, long time no post. Still humming along. Not much to report.
There will be an update on battery instrumentation (Canion) coming out soon.

I've talked to a couple folks within the last month who were/are interested in getting an iMiEV. "Sure, they're great" is pretty much what I said. Then we do a little searching and... there aren't any more new 2014's left in the state, and very few anywhere. There -might- be 2016's trickling in eventually, but that could be quite a wait.
"So what about a used one?"
"Well, maybe at the right price."
"What would a good price be?"
Hmmm lets do a little digging. A new 2012 bought in mid 2013 with all the dealer incentives and tax credits would have a net cost of around $13.8-$14K, assuming the buyer was paying attention, [and we don't want to be paying for other people's inattention here.] Battery pack replacements (at the dealer, maybe less elsewhere) are running about $14K. Translation: The 'used' value of the car at the end of the 8 year 100K mile warranty should be pretty darn low. If we overlay  a pretty normal looking depreciation curve for general autos on top of these figures I would come up with an eyeball estimate of around $7K-$9K that I would be more or less comfortable paying now. I think the NADA book has them around $6K as a trade in value.
Lets look at the actual used market: Within 400-500 miles there are somewhere over a dozen of these for sale, priced from $11K through $16K with mostly 10-20 thousand miles on them. Huh, that's a bunch more $$ than I'd be happy with. Looking further out (U.S.wide) there's a dozen or so between $7K-8K and another dozen in the $8K-9K ranges, so it looks like the overall market has figured this out. None of them were over 20K miles either.

Reality check:
2012 Nissan Leafs that were about $25K after all the credits are fetching $12K-$13K with 20-30K miles on them. That would actually argue for the $8K number on the iMiEV being a bit high. I would argue that the MUCH larger number of Leaf sales have resulted in a more mature (read: realistic) market. Sounds about right to me.

So would I get a used iMiEV for $10-11K? Maybe if it's a 2014. Certainly not for a 2012.
I might try to find a nice 2012 with 10K mi. on it and offer $6K-7K. -OR-
I'd be even more likely to try and find a Leaf with similar miles for $11-13K.
Traitor!!?    I think not.
Nobody I know will argue that the Leaf isn't a better car for most uses. Better dealer/repair network too. It's just that they were $2X too much. Now that isn't true, I'd consider one. Especially if it hasn't lived in a hot climate and has been treated to a reasonable charge regimen. And hey, if it was me I'd hold out for a 2013 LEAF SV, nationwide there's dozens of them under $14K

[Edit: New info: It was just pointed out to me that one of the main reasons 2012 Nissan LEAF prices have dropped so much recently is the large volume coming off lease. Since the same thing is likely to happen to the 2013's here in a couple months it might be worth the wait, The improved charger and heating systems on the SV model are worth something... FYI I'm not a fan of the 2014 since they removed the automatic 80% charge option, which was a real help to the battery life for those of you who weren't in need of full charge range regularly. See the CaniOn post about using LeafSpy to evaluate battery packs.]

CaniOn Rocks!

OK this is just flat out cool.
There's a free application for your Android Smartphone/Tablet that allows you to look at most all the information that the car's computer system(s) know about in real time. You need an appropriate Android based tablet or phone with Bluetooth and a Bluetooth ODBII connector that plugs into your car.  Data includes individual cell voltages and temps, yes 88 of them at once, so you can see how your battery pack is doing. Current usage and watt/hr/mile and charge history and more other data then you'll ever have use for.
This might seem like overkill, but being able to peek into your battery pack while the car is running can give you way more information about pack health than even the dealer can get. Since most of the dealers don't have good battery testing facilities and are not doing anything significant in terms of yearly maintenance anyway (not to mention that the idiots keep sending coupons for oil changes - etc.), this becomes doubly important.
One other important thing is it can show you the actual battery capacity% so you can gauge how much (if any) your pack had degraded. The LEAF actually has a (somewhat crude) dash display for that but even there it's worth looking at the details. This is especially important if looking at a used one. LeafSpy is the equivalent app for the LEAF. See below.

CaniOn on Google Play store. Free (but you should donate!) and HERE is the ScanTool MX Bluetooth ODBII connector that worked (there are apparently others but they were all more expensive than the $70 here.) The cheap ELM327 based connector I had didn't work.
Issues: There is no 'Miles' mode. KM only (you can do the math.)  We couldn't get it to work with tablets that have the more square-ish (4:3) displays. The ones with a 16:9 worked: 848x480 and 1280x720 worked but 1024x768 didn't. The rare tablet with a RockChip processor didn't work either, though that may be version dependent. YMMV as usual.
The ScanTool MX adapter has the additional advantage that it has a 'sleep' mode so it won't drain your battery. If you're using one of the ELM327 ones you should unplug it after use.
Plug in, Turn on and Sync up! No, it won't damage your car's computer, well, unless you deliver a big static charge zap when you plug it in. Watch out for that on cold dry days...

Leaf Spy Info at MyNissanLeaf.com which is a site you should certainly be looking at if you're a Leaf owner. The interesting thing about this is that it was built from the ground up to use the ELM327 el-cheapo Bluetooth ODBII adapters you can get from Amazon and various Chinese vendors for $20 and under. The exact same ones that won't work with CaniOn. This makes the Leaf battery app 'Lite' a somewhat cheaper alternative than the iMiEV focused stuff.

If you're going to buy a used EV, I highly recommend having one of these this apps and adapter so you can check out the battery pack under all conditions like: Low battery level (mostly discharged, near 'Turtle' mode) under load. Monitor during charge. Look at temperatures during charge equalization as you approach 100%. Battery variance throughout the process, and capacity remaining once charged. Yes this will take -hours- but buying a car with bad cell(s) would be an even bigger bummer. You can also look at the charge history using the app. Like almost anything cool, functional and low cost, it's not available for iPhone. You'll be in the odd situation of knowing more about the used car you're looking at than any buyer of a 'regular' car would know...

Keeping up appearances

Yes, I washed the car.
No, it won't happen again, at least not soon.

The 'appearance' part has to do with National Drive Electric Week, and yes, The Car was there (and clean for a change) It was a Leaf Fest as usual but there was considerable interest in the much less expensive alternative. I was waiting until I had good pictures ...and ... I still don't.

2015 is already scheduled. September sometime. Watch that site for an event near you.
It's really kinda fun to hang out with the ever so evangelical newly converted newbies. It's still kind of cute despite having watched that happen for years and years now.
Also: the Corvallis EV Association/Club [kind of an arm or the Oregon Electric Vehicle Association, though I don't think there's any 'official' connection with the OEVA or the national EAA clubs]
 has continued to have meetings, usually the first Tuesday of the month. Link is to he mailing list.

Humming along

Yes, no posts for a long time. Why's that? Because everything JUST WORKS!
We're just at 10K miles and there's really nothing to report. I plug it in 2 or 3 nights per week and just drive it. Our poor Prius now only gets used once, maybe twice a month when we need a longer trip.
It did just fine in all the snow last winter. The heat doesn't bother it. It's carted back 600 lbs. of pavers and potting soil from the home center a couple times no problem.

Basically "No trouble at all" makes for a boring blog.  Sorry'bout that  ;-)

OK, actually there is one thing. A 'known issue' with one of the sensor boards causes the airbag warning light to come on. It will still work, but it's irritating.
I'm trying to get the dealer to actually have the part(s) I need in hand before I go down there since it takes 4 hours to charge before I can come back and I don't want to do that twice. Whaa whaaa, first world problems...

2014's are here! and $Cheap$

[Edit: Mar.2015: End of year deals on 2014's have pushed after tax credit prices in some markets below $10K. Buying a used one could be stupid with these prices for New]

There was no 2013 iMiev in the US since 2012 stock was still getting sold off.
However the 2014's have just shown up at our local dealer and they've done some NICE things!

They now all have 50% faster charging cords that they come with so you don't have to pay to have it upgraded somewhere else like I did. They all have high speed CHAdeMo charge ports and both front seats have heaters. Everything else pretty much just worked so they didn't mess with it. Smart!
-AND- they dropped the price.
Basically you can get the upgraded vehicle for around $15.5K after tax considerations.
Sure I paid more like $14K but that was 'special incentives' for things that had been sitting on the lot for a year.

Anyway. Great stuff, highly recommended. Mine is running great here on it's first anniversary.