Are you sorry you bought a Leaf?

[HIOJim]

...I have pretty much avoided posting to this forum because of the "fanboy" syndrome that tries to drown out all rational discussion about the disadvantages of an electric vehicle....

so you read Nissan's range predictions, the EPA estimates then went out and bought a car you knew would not cover your apparently one and only need?

your comment about your hesitancy to post invites derision....

Dave, I think you just proved Googler's point. This thread asked a question, he answered it. You don't like his answer so you attack him with way more heat than necessary, IMHO. That is one definition of the syndrome mentioned.

 

[cyellen]

No regrets here - except what everyone else has commented...when I have to fire up my Mini (which is another amazing car to drive...) for longer hauls, I cringe a bit. While it is fun, I know I could be driving emission free.

 

[Clippy]

I have pretty much avoided posting to this forum because of the "fanboy" syndrome that tries to drown out all rational discussion about the disadvantages of an electric vehicle. I'm sure that there are many people who feel that their needs are fulfilled by this vehicle, but you should carefully consider whether it meets your needs before completing the purchase. I am planning to sell mine once I receive my carpool stickers, and I'll probably suffer a loss on it.

QFT. The problem for Nissan (and the EV "community," [shudder]) is how to convey the message of "This thing isn't right for you" without it being understood as "This thing isn't right for anyone." It's funny to see all the harshing on the Leaf coming from the Priuschat people. Gotta love it when fanatics fight.

The only other thing I would add is, sell it now, brah.

 

[abasile]

Does anybody wish it would go 150-200 miles?

Ideally, I would like to be able to go 300 miles per charge and have all-wheel-drive. Then I'd buy one more, and basically never burn gasoline. Realistically, as you mentioned, in a multi-car family it currently makes sense to have both LEAF and a Prius if you do a significant amount of driving that exceeds the range of the LEAF. If you only want to own one car, then in many cases a plug-in hybrid might be the best option. That said, I have a friend who is planning to own the LEAF as his only car.

Do most people have the 220 Volt charging station in their garage?

We have no garage. Our 240 V charging dock is in a sheltered area at the end of our driveway.

Are you happy with hill climbing and handling in curves?

Yes. See http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=3512

How will the battery life be after a year of steady charging and discharging?

I doubt we'll notice significant degradation after only one year.

 

[palmermd]

Dave, I think you just proved Googler's point. This thread asked a question, he answered it. You don't like his answer so you attack him with way more heat than necessary, IMHO. That is one definition of the syndrome mentioned.

Same thing I thought when I read it....

 

[Stoaty]

Dave, I think you just proved Googler's point. This thread asked a question, he answered it. You don't like his answer so you attack him with way more heat than necessary, IMHO.

Perhaps, but if you regret it because you didn't do even the most cursory research on the Leaf and its capabilities, that isn't a fault of the Leaf or Nissan. There are plenty of legitimate things to criticize Nissan for, but having the Leaf live up to its specs certainly isn't one of them.

 

[DeaneG]

I was hoping to get some feedback positive and negative on the vehicle. It's not an electric Maserati..

umm.. I have a Maserati, and though it can be great fun, I have not driven it in the month we've had the Leaf. The Leaf is just a much better tool for daily drives.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Dave, I think you just proved Googler's point. This thread asked a question, he answered it. You don't like his answer so you attack him with way more heat than necessary, IMHO. That is one definition of the syndrome mentioned.

Same thing I thought when I read it....

mods; split the topic. i will run with this.

its an online forum. if you that thin-skinned, go away. he did not have to make a post, but did it anyway because he had something to say.

but that is what this place is for. sure its topical, sure its biased, and that is why we are here. we "should" understand that we want this Leaf thing to work, so we are here to tout it, discuss it, etc.

when someone comes here to diss, we want to know why and let me tell you. most come here to diss but have NO evidence, details or any fricking thing else. they are here to make noise.

lets look at the post in question; he states it does not work for him, period. this implies his driving needs are NEVER below 73 miles? or he will not be caught dead under 80 mph?? or what does it say??

it says nothing. so why bother. this is not disstheLeaf.com is it now?

if you have a complaint, lets here it. but dont come here and say it sucks without a reason. like what are you?? 4? that is how my son talks. u r an adult... act like one

 

[ttweed]

...is anyone regretting their purchase of the Leaf?

Heck no! What I am regretting right now is buying into all the happy talk from Ecotality about the infrastructure installation in my town. I remember hearing when I signed up for the EV Project last year about the 1500 public chargers that will be available here and how they would be FREE until May of 2011 for all participants. Well, it is going to be May next week, and I haven't seen a single public charger show up on my Nav display anywhere, except for Nissan dealers, who seem to have dubious and varying opinions about the definition of "public" and "accessible." :evil:

The success of EVs depends on the infrastructure installation. All I can say is "GET ON WITH IT, ECOTALITY!" I have had my car for nearly a month and still can't use the Blink charger in my garage due to the lack of City inspection and SDG&E placement of the second meter. This part of the whole process has been the biggest disappointment to me, personally. If the guy who can't make it to work and back had ONE L3 charge station on his route, he wouldn't be bummed about his range. He could make a 10-minute stop and get plenty of juice for the round trip.

TT

 

[IBELEAF]

The question should be corrected to "If in 3 years when your battery performance capacity degraded to 50% and new pack costs $5k will you regret your purchase?"

 

[ttweed]

The question should be corrected to "If in 3 years when your battery performance capacity degraded to 50% and new pack costs $5k will you regret your purchase?"

There is no way that will happen. A 50% degradation in 3 years could never be characterized by Nissan as "gradual battery capacity loss" and not be covered under the battery warranty. If that turns out to be the actual performance of a large percentage of the packs, they will be facing a huge class action lawsuit. I am pretty confident that they are not that stupid.

TT

 

[GrumpyCabbie]

The question should be corrected to "If in 3 years when your battery performance capacity degraded to 50% and new pack costs $5k will you regret your purchase?"

Probably but Nissan are quoting 80% of battery capacity after 5 - 10 years. I'm guessing they've based this on average mileage and am guessing they're meaning 80% of capacity at 100,000 miles.

If I'm guessing wrong and the battery is worn out at 50,000 miles and I'm left with a £3,000/$5,000 bill for a new battery, then there will be big trouble.

 

[mwalsh]

The question should be corrected to "If in 3 years when your battery performance capacity degraded to 50% and new pack costs $5k will you regret your purchase?"

No. And if that new $5k pack has 300 miles worth of battery density in the same package, I might even jump for joy! :mrgreen:

 

[IBELEAF]

The question should be corrected to "If in 3 years when your battery performance capacity degraded to 50% and new pack costs $5k will you regret your purchase?"

There is no way that will happen. A 50% degradation in 3 years could never be characterized by Nissan as "gradual battery capacity loss" and not be covered under the battery warranty. If that turns out to be the actual performance of a large percentage of the packs, they will be facing a huge class action lawsuit. I am pretty confident that they are not that stupid.

TT

I wouldn't be so sure about that. It may not be a timing thing, but battery mileage, so lets say in the same 3 years someone may drive 75k miles (assuming average 70 mile daily commute) on the battery pack and quite possibly experience that 50% gradual degradation if that person uses a lot of QC or just drives aggressively or anything else that affects the battery performance. This may apply even more to people who are leasing the car and not care about taking care of the battery pack.

 

[Jimmydreams]

I wouldn't be so sure about that. It may not be a timing thing, but battery mileage, so lets say in the same 3 years someone may drive 75k miles (assuming average 70 mile daily commute) on the battery pack and quite possibly experience that 50% gradual degradation if that person uses a lot of QC or just drives aggressively or anything else that affects the battery performance. This may apply even more to people who are leasing the car and not care about taking care of the battery pack.

I'll be close to that. I'll put around 20K a year on my car. I charge to 100% virtually every time due to my commute. Even though I'm leasing, I drive 65mph or less and use ECO about 85% of the time.....so if 100% charging alone causes battery degradation, I'll be one of the first to see it. :?

edit: with over 5700 miles on my Leaf already, I see no degradation. I'm expecting 5-10% degradation after 3 years at the very MOST. Certainly nowhere near 50%!!

 

[RuneW]

...so if 100% charging alone causes battery degradation, I'll be one of the first to see it. :?

Keep us posted, then!

 

[DeaneG]

...someone may drive 75k miles (assuming average 70 mile daily commute) on the battery pack and quite possibly experience that 50% gradual degradation...

"quite possibly"? C'mon now, FUD alert.

 

[Anonymous]

Do I regret leasing the Leaf?
NO.

Would I have regretted buying the Leaf?
Not at this point, but perhaps later.

Are there things that annoy me about the Leaf?
Absolutely. Although I don't think there's a car in the world that I wouldn't have SOME complaint about. No vehicle is the perfect car for everyone. There are always tradeoffs.

Do I wish it had a longer range?
Of course! I wish it could go 500 miles on a single charge. But I also wish it could be recharged in 10 seconds, that it would cost less than $10k, and that it had the performance characteristics of a Lambo with the functionality of a minivan. Some things are just not realistic to expect, at least at this point in time of EV technology.

FOR ME, the Leaf is a very good fit at this point in time. I feel it's a very reasonable tradeoff between functionality, range, and price. That said, it's definitely not for everyone, just as no single car is adequate for everyone. Each person/family has their own unique needs. That's why there are so many different types of vehicles on the road.

Ideally, I want a vehicle like the Leaf, and another that would be a like plug-in hybrid (diesel) version of the Murano. Something that would normally have at least 40-60 miles EV range, but can go long distances and pull a tent trailer or boat and be loaded up with all our crap. Eventually, hopefully in the not-too distant future, that's what our garage will look like!

 

[mwalsh]

Ideally, I want a vehicle like the Leaf, and another that would be a like plug-in hybrid (diesel)

If we ever need another stinker, I want it to be a diesel. I've already found a number of places where we can get B99! :mrgreen:

 

[ERG4ALL]

Regarding the dissatisfaction of the LEAF (with the emphasis on "diss") because of range, I agree with Dave but not so stridently. Because someone's commute happens to be 70 miles at freeway speeds (70 - 75 mph?) and the LEAF doesn't meet those requirements, I don't see why Googler wouldn't recommend it to a friend whose commute may be much different. That also would not be reason to disparage EVs in general.

Face it some people aren't cut out to drive EVs at their present state. If the expectation is have it be just like an ICE, then they will probably be disappointed. Let's take a typical 65 mph road or freeway for a 70 mile commute. Driving at 70 mph vs 60 mph uses 36% more energy. Thus, if the car will only go, say 55 miles at 70 mph (which would not make it for Googler), it should be able to go 75 miles if one's driving habits were amenable to change. Driving at 70 mph would get you there in one hour. Driving at 60 mph would cost you 10 minutes more in your commute. If it's not worth the 10 minutes to lower the use of oil, or to save some of our national treasure, or lower our defense budget, or save the environment of our planet, then an EV may not be for you at this time.

When we ordered our LEAF we had to go through a screen that gave many of the typical range estimates, from 138 miles down to 62 miles depending on your driving style. When we took delivery on the LEAF we had to sign that same document at the dealership while we still had time to back out if we desired. Thus, I cannot find fault with the car for its range. I knew going in that it could vary considerably and the minimums would meet our needs. Thus, I would be somewhat embarrassed to complain about the range because it would be my own fault for not reading what I was signing.