Amazing City Car - 2018 Leaf

Only got mine 10 days ago but enjoying it very much! It is my first EV. Was driving a 2016 Maxima. Feeling guilty while fighting Toronto's traffic commuting to work every day. Traded the maxima for the Leaf. For the 88km back and forth downtown, the maxima on average burns about $13 of premium gas every day. With the Leaf, it is about $1.6 a day of electricity! It is a saving of $2800 a year and knowing that there will be 2500L less of pollution! Better yet, with the $14000 government rebate in Canada, the leaf is actually cheaper than the maxima.

Before I got the car, I priced in the cost of buying a ChargePoint Home charger. After delivery, I realized that the portable charger that came with the car is just as good as the ChargePoint. Just need to get an electrician to install a 14-50 outlet, hang the included mounting bracket on the wall and is done. It is so fast that everyday only need to charge 2.2 hours overnight.

The Leaf is perfect for city driving. It is even more quiet than the Maxima. At city speed, there is little difference in acceleration and power. The Leaf picks up speed just as fast and more quiet. In B-mode or e-Pedal, the brake is little used. It is actually fun to watch other people's brake light lit up from time to time. EVs are really fun to drive. The ProPilot actually works well in traffic (although I have no use of it). As a bonus, gained rear seat heaters which was not on the Maxima. The only thing I miss was the panoramic moon roof and the much better arm rest on the Maxima.

Thanks for sharing. I thought I heard that rear seat heaters were no longer available in the 2018 Leaf? Maybe in Canada they are available and not the US?

The LEAF has a flat metal roof like most other cars, so no reason you can't add an aftermarket sunroof. I did several years ago and am very glad I did.

jake14mw said:

Thanks for sharing. I thought I heard that rear seat heaters were no longer available in the 2018 Leaf? Maybe in Canada they are available and not the US?

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In Canada, rear seat heater, quick charge port, battery warmer and portable L1/L2 EVSE are standard for all trims. Probably because it is cold up here.

PatricioEV said:

The LEAF has a flat metal roof like most other cars, so no reason you can't add an aftermarket sunroof. I did several years ago and am very glad I did.

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Cool! ......but I probably won’t spend money on that.

Deleted post about previous 120V only portable chargers, as those supplied with 2018s are apparently 120/240 as noted in the next post.

In Canada in 2018, they have the same 120/240 V charger that the SV and SL get here in the US. I sorta agree with the no-seat heater in the back, our 2014 had rear seat heaters and I don't think they were ever turned on. Nissan confirmed that is why they didn't include them, no one was using them, and they were trying to make the car more inexpensive. I am sure that there are some that it is important, but evidently not enough to configure the car with them.

OrientExpress said:

our 2014 had rear seat heaters and I don't think they were ever turned on. Nissan confirmed that is why they didn't include them, no one was using them

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It would be nice to get the "Canada package" in colder parts of the US. I'm pretty sure there are few Leaf owners in Minnesota who (A) have kids, and (B) don't use the rear seat heaters (if equipped). I added a pair of 36w heated seat covers in back of our 2017 S, but they aren't as warm as the 60w front seats. When car shopping, I was disappointed to hear Nissan had removed the rear heated seat feature from the SV trim (we find leather seats to be uncomfortable in cold weather).

Interesting: in my LEAF, the rear seat heaters have been turned on about 3 times in 4 years. That's just because I almost never have anyone in the back seat, since it's a commuter car.

Contrast to my Tesla, where the rear seat heater have been on for hours at a time, because we took it on more than one long family trip this winter.

In a way, I'm not surprised Nissan sees that they aren't used.

jlv said:

Interesting: in my LEAF, the rear seat heaters have been turned on about 3 times in 4 years. That's just because I almost never have anyone in the back seat, since it's a commuter car.

Contrast to my Tesla, where the rear seat heater have been on for hours at a time, because we took it on more than one long family trip this winter.

In a way, I'm not surprised Nissan sees that they aren't used.

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If the car is a commuter to work, sure.
But how about schlepping kids to school and activities ?

OrientExpress said:

In Canada in 2018, they have the same 120/240 V charger that the SV and SL get here in the US. I sorta agree with the no-seat heater in the back, our 2014 had rear seat heaters and I don't think they were ever turned on. Nissan confirmed that is why they didn't include them, no one was using them, and they were trying to make the car more inexpensive. I am sure that there are some that it is important, but evidently not enough to configure the car with them.

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Well rear seats get a lot less use for many people, period. I guess we're lucky they didn't just remove them altogether.
My dog, for one, LOVES the rear seat-heater.

I got the LEAF just as my schlepping days ended. Even when I was schlepping, most often I just had 1 kid with me, so they'd be in the front seat.

Meanwhile, driving 400 miles for Christmas or Thanksgiving had us all in the car, so the rear seats got used.