Ken Lee & Ann Ngo, Nissan Design employees, get up-close and personal with LEAF

Before we actually got to drive the LEAF, I snuck into some media events Nissan hosted over a couple days. As usual, the LEAF team had a packed schedule with special media guests and VIPs who were significant to San Diego’s partnership with Nissan. Mark Perry and Tracy Woodard were on hand again to tout the features and final details of our EV to the likes of a US senator, San Diego’s mayor, local corporate Chiefs, as well as local and national press, like Wired Magazine. A select few had the opportunity to drive the vehicle on a short loop in San Diego, and the consensus was of electric excitement by all.

Mark Perry shows off the VC lot LEAF to Edmunds.com and North County Times press

Finally, it was our turn. After patiently waiting until the end of the day, Big Tim, or Timbo, gave us the signal that we could check out the LEAF en route to a close-by photo shoot. We actually got to spend more time than we expected with it, capturing some photos and video of our experience.

Ken and I were ecstatic that Timbo let us drive the LEAf on its way to a photo shoot

Joyride sanctioned by Tim Gallagher, Corp Comm, who deserves a LEAF of his own!

Here are some thoughts from Ken after the drive:

• Initially I was skeptical about the LEAF’s design from pictures, but in person the car looks great.  It looks cheerful, upbeat, and futuristic.  Just enough EV cues to separate it from conventional cars.
• Clever details such as the headlamp fins that guide the airflow around the car are fun to look at and they add to the appeal of the car.
• Interior feels extremely spacious, relaxed, and modern. 
• The information display/ trip computer was very entertaining.  It instantaneously recalculates the driving range in real time, challenging us to constantly improve the range with our driving techniques. 
• The driving experience is natural and pleasant, with a seamless flow of power yet quieter than any car I’ve driven.  Feels more like being on a high speed bullet train than in a conventional car.

LEAF’s information display was interactive and fun, serving up data & maps real-time

Thanks to a concerted effort by Nissan’s partners and the government for infrastructure, this signals a shift to an era of EVs with real staying power. After my total LEAF experience, I’m still convinced that it would be a great vehicle and would fit perfectly into my life. The overall concept and execution is great; the styling is iconic yet quirky; the design is thoughtful. The LEAF surprises with its quiet quickness and it’s a real performer… and all eyes are now focused on how it will perform in the market. Based on my first-hand experience and glowing reviews by the media, LEAF will make an impactful entrance and be a keystone to Nissan’s mission of providing “innovation for all”.

NDA blogger Ann Ngo hopes to be one of the first Nissan employees to lease a LEAF!

Design Contest: NDA wins 2009 LA Design Challenge

by Matthew DePaula    11 Dec 2009

A future where environmentalists and car enthusiasts – not to mention sober-minded adults and thrill-seeking young people – all coexist in harmony just might be possible with Nissan’s V2G concept vehicle…

LA Design Challenge panel (Chuck Pelly, Stuart Reed, Tom Matano, Imre Molnar and Jason Hill) and Nissan designers (Robert Bauer, Ann Ngo, Satoru Hasegawa and Randy Rodriguez)

I was also quoted in an interview with AOL Automobiles (in Spanish!) in an article which was written by Carlos Ferreyra.

LA AUTO SHOW: Nissan gana el diseño del auto del 2030

publicado dec 6th 2009 5:00am: CARLOS FERREYRA

LOS ANGELES.- Seis jóvenes diseñadores de la Nissan ganaron el premio"Youthmobile 2030" en donde varias estudios de diseño del area junto con seis marcas, participaron por imaginar como será la transporación del futuro…

Ann Ngo dijo a AOL Automóviles que el premio se lo dieron por el concepto de "redes" para vehículos en el futuro. Ella estuvo encargada de la investigación del diseño y agregó que el futuro incluye la posibilidad de que la gente ya no maneje.

We’re international!  Go Team!

Last month I wrote about our design team’s entry for the LA Auto Show Design Challenge.  The theme was Youthmobile 2030 and we were tasked to “envision what a new generation of drivers – raised with cell phones, online communities and webcams – will demand from their vehicles in the year 2030.” 

This past Thursday, I headed up to the LA Auto Show with my co-workers (some of the very ones with whom I worked on this project) to hear the announcement of the challenge winner.  To our pleasant surprise, they announced Nissan Design’s V2G Concept won! I was so stoked and jumped up right away to try and steal some limelight.  It was really an honor for us since there were some pretty stiff competitors. 

This small victory makes up for the fact that Nissan didn’t even have a booth at the show, due to cutbacks.  It really made my day/week/month.  Here’s a pic I found of Robert, me, Hase and Randy… we’re laughing at the heavy trophy they gave NDA!  Photo credit goes to the Examiner article below.  Newsweek said they may be doing a small piece on it, too!  Hopefully the picture they select to use is better.   Maybe we can even re-take the pic with Steve who was the ring-leader of it all.

[Source: Max Donner at The Examiner]

Some of the news links:

http://www.examiner.com/x-12165-San-Diego-Fine-Arts-Examiner~y2009m12d4-San-Diego-team-wins-international-design-competition

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/los-angeles-auto-show-names-the-nissan-v2g-as-the-youthmobile-2030-design-challenge-winner-78464382.html

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2009/12/the-team-from-nissans-la-jolla-design-studio-took-first-place-in-the-annual-automotive-design-challenge-at-the-la-auto-show.html

http://wot.motortrend.com/6597038/future/2009-la-nissan-v2g-wins-2009-design-los-angeles-award/index.html

http://conceptcar1.blogspot.com/2009/11/v2g-unlmtd-nissan-electric-concept-car.html

Nissan LEAF is the center of attention during the press conference at SDG&E headquarters

I was able to follow the LEAF at four different locations during its ambitious San Diego tour. First up was the San Diego Gas & Electric press conference, which celebrated my residing city as one of the first to invest in the smart grid and to receive $28.1 million from the Department of Energy as a stimulus grant for renewable energy investment. SDG&E CEO Hal Snyder proclaimed, alongside the mayors of San Diego and Escondido, that “San Diego will be the Greenest and Finest City in America!” with a fast-growing EV infrastructure and cars like the Nissan LEAF.

Nissan Design America employees check out the LEAF up-close and in-person

University officials & students from UCSD (my alma mater!) drove the prototype and viewed the LEAF

Other stops included a short visit to Nissan Design America so that employees could meet the LEAF in person and to be showcased in CleanTalk SD’s monthly meeting. Across the street at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) university officials and students also had a chance to view the LEAF and drive the EV Versa Prototype in a short driving loop. I was lucky enough to drive it and was so impressed that if felt even smoother and zippier than the EV Cube Prototype I had driven. Paul Hawson, NNA Product Planning, told me that the production version will be even better!

Here I am right before peeling out with the EV (I think I scared my passengers)

Overall, the LEAF was a smash with the media and local dignitaries and the EV groundswell is building. At the last stop at SD Alternative Fuels Education Day, the LEAF shared the limelight with the likes of Chevy Volt, Tesla Roadster and other EVs, but it really stood out with the public. It’s strange to say it, but I feel like I’ve watched our EVs grow up and I am very excited to see what’s in store for our future!

Ann Ngo with the EV-02 prototype (Cube), the EV-12 prototype (Versa) and finally the Nissan LEAF!

BTW, I think Nissan LEAF’s promotion through its Facebook fan page and Twitter feed (@NissanEVs) is forward-thinking. It’s key to reaching a new generation of trend-setters who socially network with like-minded people interested in a blue-sky future. Being an ambassador to Nissan’s Zero-Emission goal has been inspirational to me and anyone can do it! I’m a Facebook fan of Nissan LEAF… are you?

So a project that I worked on has finally been released, and it’s seen some good press! (Isn’t that what you call 2 mildly positive blog entries, nowadays?)  Anyway, all the soul that I put into my work feels like it’s worth it when something I touch comes to fruition in any form.  The Nissan V2G, an electric vehicle designed for Gen Z kids in 2030, came from Nissan Design America and it was neat to see all the blood, sweat and tears from the team turn into something blog-worthy.  Check my name in the research credit! 

I also proposed the name which was chosen, that serendipitously turned out to be an electric vehicle system we’ve been talking about for a while.  V2G is a system in which EVs communicate with the power grid to supply electricity to the grid or smartly charge during off-peak hours.  Perfect for the story of Nissan’s future for EVs!

I shouldn’t forget about all the other projects I’ve worked on which has just hit the roads or will be launching soon!  It’s neat to say that I am actually driving the vehicle concept that I developed at the beginning of my stint at Nissan Advanced Planning.  The Nissan Cube!  I drove past one today and the girl who was driving it totally fit the target customer Sam (25 year-old Confident Creative Echo Boomer) that I fleshed out.  (Nevermind that the Cube also appeals to a bunch of old Boomers because of its super low price.)  “Yay!” to small victories.

Links to blogs:

http://www.laautoshow.com/DC09/Interface/NISSAN.html

http://gizmodo.com/5398227/the-v2g-automobile-brings-out-the-cautious-speed-demon-in-me

http://www.thedesignblog.org/entry/nissan-v2g-vehicle-is-a-grid-friendly-concept/

Though I am a researcher at heart, when I can design information that I’ve absorbed into meaningful innovation for humans or spark the imaginations of others, that is my nirvana. Using visual stories as my medium, I synthesize consumer trends and human-centric considerations into design inspiration. My arsenal includes graphic design, infographics and interactive media.

Ok, now that that’s out of the way, here’s why I’m writing.  So this my “about me” blog, which I’ve written after 10 months of sporadic blogging on WordPress.  (Better late than never?)  At first I posted personal accounts, but more and more I want to also add some of my thoughts about social trends I have noticed so that I don’t forget about them.

I love figuring out how things (and people) work and discovering those “ah ha!” nuggets of information that bring clarity to cloudiness.  Traits I aspire to embody: Open-minded, observant, insightful, articulate, meticulous.  I look at the world through a wide-angle lens, then work my way to a microscope.

Hopefully, you’ll enjoy my personal stories or my pedantic diatribes. Ha!

When it comes to generations, I’ve been categorized as a member of Generation Y (or Millennial or Echo Boomer or the many other names for us).  I typically agree with analysis and data that have been published about Gen Y, but of course there are exceptions.  In my role as a researcher, it is important for me to remain unbiased and to provide subjective information to my colleagues, so I try to be fair and open-minded when in discussions.  That said, a lot of what I personally think goes unsaid when I’m at work.

I have to give some background first.  Gen Y has typically been seen to possess these traits: optimistic, tech-savvy, collaborative, multi-taskers.  On the flip side, some would say that Gen Yers are narcissistic, self-entitled, aimless kids with ADHD.  Here’s where I take off my scientific hat and just rant.

In my social circle, I come across many Gen Xers.  This is a generation whose members were labeled as “slackers” (which Gen Y has now inherited, as well) and who were latch-key children of disenfranchised Silent Gen parents.  I generalize, of course.  There have been numerous articles published about how they feel squeezed by the Baby Boom and Gen Y cohort, and I’ve witnessed plenty of Xers voicing their disdain for other generations.  Here’s some Gen X vitriol:

"I don’t really understand the tyranny of the boomer moment," Gordinier says. "Great, you had a party in Haight-Ashbury in 1967, I’m thrilled for you. Can we hear about the flappers in the 1920s instead? How about the Great Depression? There’s other times in history that are interesting."

Gordinier is no more entranced with today’s teens and twenty-somethings: "They just love stuff. They love celebrities. They love technology. They love brand names. . . . They’re happy to do whatever advertising tells them to do. So what if they can’t manage to read anything longer than an instant message?"

Wow, talk about bitter.  I know some Gen Xers who pit themselves against the other generations and consistently try to tear them down, shitting on thoughts or ideas they didn’t invent themselves.  Because I know they must just be exhibiting their cynical DNA, I can’t help but get frustrated at unfounded antagonism.  Perhaps in these instances, my optimistic core thinks, “hey! that’s cool… how can we make it better?” instead of my sometimes cynical dark-side that could say “that’s crappy, you suck”.  It’s so much easier to be negative than positive, but is it really productive?

As more Gen Yers come into the workforce, it’s interesting to me to see how Gen X and Gen Y can work together.  I feel like I’m a minority where I work now, but I was once in the majority.  At that time, it was clear to the Gen X minority that sometimes crapping on ideas without offering any good alternatives up was a hindrance to the creative process.  Over time, those Gen Xers had to play nice to survive (many of them didn’t make the recent cuts) and they learned “if you can’t beat them, join them”.  If only their willingness to work with Gen Y was genuine, and not just to save their own skin, I think it could result in a lot more positive action.  But hey, what do I know?  I’m just part of the dumbest generation.

Anyway, I also thought that blogs should always be accompanied by some photo I had taken… and because I lost my Canon 20D that Hung bought me for Xmas (damn me!) I think a part of me died when I lost my first SLR.  I can’t bring myself to post pictures from my P&S camera… it makes me sad that I could have had a better quality photo.

So I was just thinking out loud there, but at work I’m working on a project that has gotten me back into reading books about social trends and generational differences.  I thought I would start posting some neat stuff that I found here to remind myself or be of use to someone else  (It was my original intent, actually.)  Don’t worry though.  I will continue to consistently be inconsistent about writing entries about my personal life… of that you can be sure.