Thanks for the information.
I am hopefully a ways out from needing to replace the battery, but I want to stay current. I have a 2013 with about 30K miles on it and have yet to lose any bars, so I believe I am good to go for a while.
mtndrew1 wrote:I have a Soul EV and I've been very pleased with it. One note, the Soul EPA range is calculated like the 2011-2013 Leafs because it has (or had, when it was originally certified) both 80% and 100% charge modes. Extrapolated to 100% charge the range would be 103.
That said I would get the $1,500 battery and run with it for another 18 months as you've likely hit a floor on the Leaf's resale value. Eighteen months of lease payments are $3,600 so you'd already be ahead even with some additional Leaf depreciation.
If the Model 3 materializes anywhere near the promised specs the rest of the industry will be having a fire sale. Bolts are already kind of piling up on lots and that situation won't improve if the Tesla shows up at its promised price point. Getting the new battery and waiting a year and a half would save money and give you more options IMO.
rpmdk wrote:mtndrew1 wrote:I have a Soul EV and I've been very pleased with it. One note, the Soul EPA range is calculated like the 2011-2013 Leafs because it has (or had, when it was originally certified) both 80% and 100% charge modes. Extrapolated to 100% charge the range would be 103.
That said I would get the $1,500 battery and run with it for another 18 months as you've likely hit a floor on the Leaf's resale value. Eighteen months of lease payments are $3,600 so you'd already be ahead even with some additional Leaf depreciation.
If the Model 3 materializes anywhere near the promised specs the rest of the industry will be having a fire sale. Bolts are already kind of piling up on lots and that situation won't improve if the Tesla shows up at its promised price point. Getting the new battery and waiting a year and a half would save money and give you more options IMO.
Thank you for the reply, holding on to it for more than 8 months does put me ahead of a lease.
Interesting - I didn't know those EPA figures were based on an extrapolation of the 80-100% charge. I just always assumed they took it at the full 100% charge. In your experience can you expect over 100 real world miles in a Soul EV?
rpmdk wrote:I was just approved to have an out of warranty battery replacement in my 2011 LEAF with a $1500 "copay".
rpmdk wrote:I was just approved to have an out of warranty battery replacement in my 2011 LEAF with a $1500 "copay".
A couple days ago I would've been ecstatic. The plan was to get the battery replaced, drive around for a year or so and then get a LEAF2 or another longer range car on the market. It seems like next year the options get much more interesting. Hopefully I would recoup the costs by the value of the car going up at least $1500 covering the copay.
But, while I was wondering around dealership row waiting for my battery test to be complete a Kia salesman got me into a Soul EV (93 miles range). I swore I wouldn't get another EV unless it has a range, at the very least, greater than 100 miles. However, there are some very amazing deals at Kia right now. They offered me $3500 trade-in for the LEAF ( which at its current 55 mile range seems like quite a deal). I could be driving a new Soul for around $200/mo. lease.
I'm really not sure what to do now. I think I got very excited about a new car.
I'm weighing the pros and cons:
is 93 miles in a Kia Soul enough range?
more is always better but after riding around in my LEAF with 55 miles range, that seems like a lot.
With the new battery the LEAF will only have 84 miles range.
will the tax incentives still be there next year?
next year seems like a safe bet, but not much after that I reckon.
will I recoup the $1500 paid for the battery?
in 2018 will a 2011 LEAF with a relatively new battery be worth $5000 ($3500 trade-in + $1500).
pure vanity, but the Soul is marketed to a much younger crowd. Will this middle age guy feel a little silly cruising around in one of those gerbil mobiles?
Most likely I'll end up more confused, but if anyone has any thoughts I'd certainly appreciate it.