Leaf Gen 2 - New Nissan LEAF World Premier on Sep 5, 5:30 PM PDT

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Nubo said:
LeftieBiker said:
Maybe if the numbers were red, but they are white, so they'll wash out in sunlight. As for a test drive, I won't be able to take one before, I'm guessing, mid Winter. By that time I may be driving a Bolt, which I'll be able to test drive as soon as I walk into Chevy dealer that has them in stock. If not, then a test drive won't restore the 80% setting, or give me Pro Park. The latter bit is sadly funny: I didn't even know about it until this week, when Nissan trumpeted it, making me want it badly. Then we find out that the US won't get it. Nissan seems to be competing with GM all right - in the "Why the eff did they do THAT??!" department.

We'll disagree about the speedo.

I do agree about the lack of charge limiter; there's no technical reason for them to omit it and I don't really buy the EPA excuse. Tesla navigates that issue just fine. I think it's more of a PR move to not cause "battery anxiety". And that's unfortunate and ultimately self-defeating for Nissan because an 80% charge is better for the batteries if you don't need the range. The ability to choose a charging endpoint should be a standard feature on any EV.

I'd like more info on WHY Nissan is not activating the parking feature in US. Seems odd. Is American parking more difficult than Japanese parking? I'd suspect not; we have huge vehicles and the spots are usually sized to accommodate them. Probably some issue with "Lawyers in Love".

That being said, neither the charge limit nor the park deletion are major issues for me. I can get what I want with the timers and I know how to park and how to parallel park. Judging from the demonstrations I've seen, I can certainly park more quickly than the car can. And that's even without a 360-degree camera display, which will make parking childs'-play anyway.

But everyone's needs and wants are different. Bolt may well be the right car for you. The next few years are going to be great because the talk about EV's is going to be less about how they're Golf Carts, or how "Al Gore wants you to freeze to death in the dark", and more about which EVs people prefer. As we approach the steep part of the adoption curve.

Actually its just the opposite. the parking in Japan IS that much more difficult they need it. I could care less about pro park. What does it matter anyway? It's usually the cars already parked that is causing the issue.

As far as charging level? hmmm, might have something for that?
 
I looked for that on the photos of the app and didn't see any sign of it. If so, that would be very helpful. That must be their idea of a charge limiter: count hours and use the app to stop charging. Feh.
 
edatoakrun said:
SageBrush said:
edatoakrun said:
So, your point is?
More Nissan's point actually, that battery longevity correlates most strongly with average annual ambient temperature.
I don't recall any Nissan Rep ever saying anything that stupid.
Note: NEC (Nissan's partner in the AESC joint venture, which manufactures the battery packs for the LEAF) used Arrhenius Law in testing a new electrolyte additive that doubled the life of the battery. Interestingly, they found a factor of 3.2 in battery life between the hottest and coldest cities used in their simulation, close to the 2.64 factor estimated between Phoenix and Seattle. Using a model of 66% cycle time and 33% storage time they calculated a doubling of capacity loss with every 6.85 degrees C. increase in temperature for the newly developed battery.
http://www.electricvehiclewiki.com/Battery_Capacity_Loss

What you are able to remember hardly seems worth the effort.
 
Quite a few have now been able to look at 2018's in person, in the USA.

I assume All the LEAF's on display showed US build?

Anyone checking the LEAF's for production dates and serial #'s?

Reportedly, the 2018 is already in production in Japan, but I haven't seen announcement of when production will start at Smyrna, other than "later" this year.
 
Rumor is Smyrna is ahead of schedule and LEAFs could be available in December. The plan as I understand it, is for LEAFs to be available in all 50 states in January which means they could be available in some states earlier. As of this morning according to cars.com, there are less than 1000 LEAFs available nationwide.
 
edatoakrun said:
Quite a few have now been able to look at 2018's in person, in the USA.

I assume All the LEAF's on display showed US build?

Anyone checking the LEAF's for production dates and serial #'s?

Reportedly, the 2018 is already in production in Japan, but I haven't seen announcement of when production will start at Smyrna, other than "later" this year.

All the LEAFs for test drives were American (7 vehicles)
 
I recognize that this is a probably a question none of us have the answer to, but I'd love to fined out the width (from mirror edge to mirror edge). My 2011 is 77 1/2 inches. My garage is so old that we only have three inches or so to spare on each side. So if the Gan 2 is much wider than the 2011 (mirror to mirror) we're going to have to think about pulling one or both of them in as we park.

I'm sure that the manufacturer specs for width do not include the extra width of the mirrors.
 
One step backwards that Turbo3 pointed out to me was that the '18 Leaf (at least the vehicle on display at the Cupertino EVent) has NO sun visor extensions. It seems pull out extenders that got added on model year 2013 are gone. :( I confirmed it visually.

I hadn't noticed it until he pointed it out to me at the EVent.

We observed the red car at the Cupertino EVent (likely the same one that was on display a few days earlier at the EVent at Nissan's Sunnyvale research office) looked like a fully loaded one w/power seats, leather interior and what looked like ProPilot Assist given the blue button on the steering wheel and camera near the top of the windshield.

Turbo3 himself has an '11 Leaf and I think he installed the visors meant for the '13+.
 
One step backwards that Turbo3 pointed out to me was that the '18 Leaf (at least the vehicle on display at the Cupertino EVent) has NO sun visor extensions.

Oh, for Christ's sake! Do the mounts look the same? I'm definitely riding out my lease.
 
LeftieBiker said:
One step backwards that Turbo3 pointed out to me was that the '18 Leaf (at least the vehicle on display at the Cupertino EVent) has NO sun visor extensions.

Oh, for Christ's sake! Do the mounts look the same? I'm definitely riding out my lease.
Unfortunately, I don't recall since I didn't look carefully as I'd never swapped out my sun visors. There was no need.

This would be a nice photo request for anyone who next gets to sit inside a US '18 Leaf. Unclear if the missing visor extensions are only the case for pre-production cars vs. real salable units.
 
They really seem to want this car to be an agonizing decision for Gen 1 leaf drivers, as opposed to a no-brainer. Guess what salvaged Leaf part is about to become unobtainable...?
 
Via ABG, first test drive and review of the American spec car:
2018 Nissan Leaf Quick Spin | Another fork stab into the light socket
The Leaf is improved in all ways, but is this the EV that will energize car buyers?
https://www.autoblog.com/2017/09/20/2018-nissan-leaf-quick-spin-another-fork-stab-into-the-light-s/

Utility is about the least interesting reason for buying a new car. There's no exhilaration in signing up for 60 months of financing on an appliance that will never inspire passion. There's no joy in looking forward to taking something for granted. So, here's the second-generation 2018 Nissan Leaf — the all-electric future of ordinary. Don't get excited. No, really. Don't. Get. Excited.

While much has evolved from the first- to second-generation Leaf, it's what hasn't changed that's most important. The Leaf, in form and function, is still an economy car — a five-door hatchback in a world where the almost meaningless differences between a five-door hatchback and a five-door crossover somehow matters. People buy crossovers, and ignore the hatchbacks on dealer lots to get to them.

Nissan could have jacked the new Leaf up on its suspension, bolted on some off-roady-looking all-season tires, added some cladding and called this thing an electric crossover. Or even do what Chevy did with the Bolt EV and call it a crossover even though it clearly is not. At least some buyers would have been tempted by a "Leafinder" or "Rogue E" who otherwise wouldn't consider a plain old Leaf. So count that as a strategic marketing opportunity missed. . . .

What's frustrating here is that while the agony of this rollout persists, there's still reason to be suspicious that the electric car market is, in fact, a viable one. Worldwide, electric cars represented a puny 0.2-percent of the total car market despite such incentives as the $7,500 the United States government kicks back to those bold, brave or batty enough to buy one. It's hard to believe that this new Leaf will inspire a new wave of enthusiasm for electric cars.

There's plenty of talk about mandating electric cars in France, China and California, and there's probably been a half-dozen hyped-up announcements since you started reading this sentence. But sooner or later, buyers have to find electric cars so attractive that they'll dump their internally combusted dreams solely based on the zappers' merits. Only Tesla has drilled into the market consciousness to pull that trick off so far. And that's with vehicles that, as good as they drive, are as much virtuous status symbols for the wealthy as real cars.

Nope, we're not there yet. American buyers are bound to show up at Nissan dealers, look at the $30,000+ plus price tag on a loaded Leaf SL (even after the $7,500 bribe) and then walk over and buy a $31,710 top-of-the-line Rogue that has more room, drives great, will go about 400 miles between fill-ups and refuels in a few minutes at any of America's 168,000 or so gas stations.

Whatever government mandates lie in the future, the new vehicle market is still millions of people making individual purchasing decisions. Decisions that usually include taking on a load of debt for a machine they're actually excited to own for five, six or seven years. Most electric cars simply aren't able to attract those buyers. At least not yet. And it seems doubtful that the new Leaf will change that.
 
Nubo said:
GRA said:
...Nissan could have jacked the new Leaf up on its suspension, bolted on some off-roady-looking all-season tires, added some cladding and called this thing an electric crossover. ...
Oh gawd...
It would hardly be an unheard of modification - just think of the differences between the Subaru Impreza hatch and the Crosstrek, or back further the Legacy/Legacy Outback Wagons.

Jacked up suspension? Check.

Off-roady looking all-season tires? Check.

Plastic body side cladding? Check.

I don't know the relative sales split of the Impreza and Crosstrek, but IIRR the Outback outsold the regular Legacy wagon handily.
 
Subaru, Boring, CHECK! Nissan, still clueless conservative Japanese company making one car for two markets- CHECK!
 
GRA said:
,,,
...American buyers are bound to show up at Nissan dealers, look at the $30,000+ plus price tag on a loaded Leaf SL (even after the $7,500 bribe) and then walk over and buy a $31,710 top-of-the-line Rogue...
By 2019, Nissan should have its LEAF -based SUV on the showroom floor.

One of the Slow Ugly Vehicles Americans want, with the fed and state/local BEV incentives
Nissan LEAF-Based Electric SUV To Debut Next Month, Electric Sedan To Follow
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=24508&hilit=LEAF+suv

Nissan to reveal electric SUV to join Leaf
The world's best-selling electric car, the Leaf, will gain a bigger brother, to be unveiled at Tokyo motor show in October
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motor-shows-tokyo-motor-show/nissan-reveal-electric-suv-join-leaf

Hopefully, not too Ugly, when unveiled next month...
 
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