Some mostly well thought out debate here. I just pre-ordered a 2018 with little reservation as to the durability of the battery, and here's why.
First, the Leaf is not a Tesla or a Bolt. They aren't the same price, so comparing isn't terribly fair. If I did compare and hold it against Nissan, or others that don't have liquid cooling, I simply wouldn't have entered the EV market as it would have been wildly outside of our budget.
Second, degradation of the battery happens in all batteries. Sure, a Tesla will lose less over time, but its also a 100 Kwh battery compared to Nissan's current 30 Kwh. From what I understand, the density of the two batteries is very different, albeit similar chemistry, and thus, not a fair comparison. Unless there is third party, impartial data being provided from manufacturers, all we really have are personal accounts, which is something, but frankly not entirely trustworthy.
Finally, the warranty from Nissan, and many others, is 8 years against capacity loss up to %30 (not the overall loss, but the 8 years is). I understand some are very cynical when it comes to these things, but I've read the document and its pretty straight forward and clear. I'm confident that even at its worse loss of 30% after eight years, I'll still be rolling on average close to 170 kms on a charge...not that bad.
I suppose thermal management is nice, but so would have been the budget to pay for it
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All submitted respectfully.