From: kodama@alumni.caltech.edu Date: Thu, 5 Dec 96 22:37:40 PST Sender: dak@sirius.eanet.com Subject: EV1 continuing adventures... To: "Siebert, Bob"Bob, For your EV-1 chronicles... - I looked again and found that the trunk of the EV-1 is opened by a real key, unlike the doors and ignition which work with an electronic combination (sequence of 5 keypresses with 5 choices). I later found that I hadn't noticed that there is a keyhole on the door. The only part which doesn't take a key is the ignition. - Saturn/GM refuse to deliver a car unless the 220V charger is installed at your home. They explained that the car should not be charged 3 times in a row with only the 110V charger or the batteries will suffer some sort of degradation due to not being charged evenly. I didn't press for further explanation as I don't think I would get a clear one, and anyway I probably can't assess it for validity anyway. - The service interval will be 5000 miles, mainly for tire rotation. The tires are apparently very touchy and will last only 20,000 miles. They are made by Michelin, but are only available through Saturn dealers. They will be replaced at 20,000 miles according to the lease agreement. The only other item requiring maintenance is a battery cooling fan filter which will be replaced at 30,000 miles. - The process of getting the charger installed is probably relatively streamlined, but still is cumbersome. Here's the general flow: 1. We commit to getting an EV-1. 2. EV-1 rep calls Edison electrical contractor. 3. Contractor calls me to set up inspection. 4. We meet for inspection (contractor takes photos) 5. Contractor faxes EV-1 rep with estimate. 6. EV-1 rep faxes me with estimate. 7. I sign estimate and fax back to EV-1 rep after talking to the him. 8. Edison rep calls me (leaves voice mail) to insure access to meter. 9. I call Edison rep to leave him voice mail assuring access. 10. Contractor calls me to tell me I must now call Edison's 800 number to request dual meter service. 11. I call Edison 800 number, negotiate voice mail maze, listen to lots of music, talk to 3 people, and accomplish getting the request in. 12. I find Edison installer has installed the skeleton of the meter and has left me a note saying now it has to be wired in by the contractor and when that is done, it has to be inspected by the city... ... and that's where we stand (waiting for the contractor to do his thing... One question I'm wondering about is whether or not Michael Eisner and Ed Begley, Jr. really went through all of this. [On 1/14/97 our Saturn EV-1 specialist wrote me and assured us that Saturn takes care to treat all of their customers equally. An example of this was the case of Jay Leno who wanted to purchase a car instead of leasing it. Saturn could not make an exception for him, so he decided not to get an EV-1] Dave --------------------------------- E-mail: kodama@alumni.caltech.edu kodama@EAnet.com ---------------------------------