WetEV
Well-known member
garsh said:For some reason, people like you seem to think that the batteries are only going bad in places like Arizona. That's not true. They're going bad sooner in Arizona. It happens much more quickly in a hot climate. But the batteries are losing capacity no matter the climate. It just takes longer in a mild climate. But here I am, sitting at 100k miles on my Leaf, and I can no longer use it as a daily driver. I now have a commuter car that can no longer drive far enough (at least in the winter) to make a one-way journey to work.
When I joined this forum in May 2012, I was far more pessimistic than the group. The LEAF was the Wondercar! I was a fuddy duddy.
It was amazing how, in just a few months, I was changed from the Marvin of the group to the Pollyanna. Without any noticeable change in my views.
Batteries lose capacity. Both due to time and cycles. Faster in hot places. Different for different chemistries. And it is complex. Unless you are a real battery geek, the information you can trust is the battery replacement warranty. Expect that the battery will last the length of the capacity replacement warranty for most people. A few people in hot places will win the battery warranty sweepstakes, and get a replacement. (and have close to twice the time and miles!) People in cool places can expect to do better. As you have.
The 2012 LEAF came with no battery replacement warranty. Red flag warning for me. I didn't buy until Arizona's LEAFs had been around for more than a year. I figured that if a LEAF could last a year in real heat without serious problems, in the cool NW I would get 3 to 4 times till serious loss, and as my commute was short AND I was likely to have charging at work, I might get 8 years/80k miles. Just maybe 10, my usual time to own a car. I worked out that the LEAF had a "No Worries Range" of about 30 miles. Which was about my round trip commute. In 2012 this was raging pessimism. With a 60 mile commute, you clearly were far more optimistic.
And now you are not.
Have you worked out your cost per mile? Would you share it?
garsh said:But if you want to buy the car and plan on holding onto it for 10 years (like I did), you're going to be very disappointed.
If you start with unreasonably good expectations, you will likely be very disappointed. If you start with unreasonably bad expectations, you will likely be delighted. If you start with realistic expectations, you likely will be satisfied.
So can we try to set reasonable expectatons? The battery will last the warranty (with footnotes on hot and cool places). 8 years/100k miles should give a reasonable cost per mile if you buy the car. There are reasons to lease (tax credit, promotions were you can lease a car for less than buying, etc)
Do you take issue with that?