Used leaf for High School commuter car?

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BuckMkII said:
When most of the excess weight is battery under the seats, not steel in front of you, I think that's a fallacy. The crash test data isn't too bad, but I was worried from the start about the parking brake lever poised right in front of my left shin, and the offset crash results bear that out:

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/nissan/leaf-4-door-hatchback/2014

The Leaf is no Mercedes or Volvo!

The only IIHS test the Leaf scored poorly in was the Small Frontal Overlap test. And for that matter, so did quite a few high end cars at the time the IIHS first did such testing, including the Mercedes C-Class, so the Leaf isn't necessarily an outlier for that time period.

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/mercedes-benz/c-class-4-door-sedan/2012

https://www.reuters.com/article/autos-safety/luxury-cars-fare-poorly-on-new-frontal-crash-test-idUSL2E8JE6TA20120814

EuroNCAP gives the Leaf its highest rating of 5 stars: https://www.euroncap.com/en/results/nissan/leaf/10939
 
Yes, and a friend of mine got horribly injured in just such a crash (on a 30 mph street) a few years ago when some d-bag crossed the center line. Broken femur AND broken pelvis. They bought a big Volvo wagon after that. Those incidents are no joke and it's a fairly common type of crash. Nissan should try to do better.

I don't know about the Euro ratings, but I believe in the US ratings, cars are rated against other cars of similar size. A small car that gets a good rating is not as good as a big car that gets an equal rating.
 
But, in the last month as "winter" weather (Seattle winter, so you know, NOT really winter), my range has tanked due to using heat, defogging (not optional!) and lights and wind and rolling on wet road, which apparently all matters although you never notice it with an ICEV.

You need to avoid using both the heat and A/C at the same time - that's what's hurting your range, because the resistance heater is running as well. Let the heatpump work in whichever of the two modes is better at the time, and range will be better. You can also alternate them every 10-15 minutes or so.
 
PS - in the winter you are forced to use the heat and a/c to defrost and heat the interior.

Anyway, as a high school commuter car, I think the crash tests are not realistic. Those pictures were of a car that took a slice out of the area of the headlight. ANY CAR will take a bad hit there because there is only front bumper, a flimsy fender, and the wheel and suspension to absorb the hit. There is no structural strength at the left and right edges on any car.

What I am saying, is that I will have no problem having my children drive the Leaf.
 
powersurge said:
ANY CAR will take a bad hit there because there is only front bumper, a flimsy fender, and the wheel and suspension to absorb the hit. There is no structural strength at the left and right edges on any car.
No, there are big differences here. A really snub-nosed car like a Leaf is at a big disadvantage. Compare it to a Subaru Impreza, which gets a GOOD rating in a small overlap front crash. The Subbie is otherwise about the same size, but it has a huge amount of additional structure out there. There is some steel in that bodywork that is not insignificant. The Leaf gets a POOR rating. Not Acceptable. Not Marginal. Poor, because you have all the extra momentum of the battery under the seats, and nothing out there to crumple and absorb the work of slowing that down. It's really kind of a thing.
 
Because of the weight of the battery under the center of the car and energy absorbing crush zone at the back of the car I hardly felt the impact when my 2011 was rear ended by a 3/4-ton four wheel drive Diesel pickup that failed to stop for the red light (I was already stopped and waiting). I was even able to drive the car out of the intersection to a safe place to park. Most cars of all sizes performed poorly when the IIHS first came up with the minimal overlap offset frontal crash so I am not concerned about that issue.
 
BuckMkII said:
Yes, and a friend of mine got horribly injured in just such a crash (on a 30 mph street) a few years ago when some d-bag crossed the center line. Broken femur AND broken pelvis. They bought a big Volvo wagon after that. Those incidents are no joke and it's a fairly common type of crash. Nissan should try to do better.

BuckMkII said:
The Leaf gets a POOR rating. Not Acceptable. Not Marginal. Poor, because you have all the extra momentum of the battery under the seats, and nothing out there to crumple and absorb the work of slowing that down. It's really kind of a thing.

Looking at your signature line, apparently the Leaf's safety record is not enough of a concern to dissuade you from purchasing one long after its IIHS Small Overlap results were published.
 
RonDawg said:
Looking at your signature line, apparently the Leaf's safety record is not enough of a concern to dissuade you from purchasing one long after its IIHS Small Overlap results were published.
My friend's crash was several years ago, and they moved to another state soon after, so that became something of "out of sight, out of mind." I did not actually think of looking up the IIHS results when I was shopping for the Leaf.

In any case, there were not really any other EV models I was considering. My daughter was lobbying hard to get an EV because she considers herself something of a climate activist. Had I looked at the IIHS data before buying how would I have ruled on the small risk of a catastrophic crash that will immediately change your life vs. long-term risk of our small personal contribution to climate change? Hard to say.

After the fact, my response is to drive a bit more defensively and hope to get lucky for the maybe eight years we'll keep this car until it is ready to be scrapped.
 
FIGHTING CLIMATE CHANGE - as a reason to get a Leaf is pure BS. The world couldn't care a rat's arz if you drive an ev. There are millions in third world countries that are buying polluting cars and mopeds. One volcano that blows negates billions of gallons of saved gas.

Truth is that yes, the Leaf has a weak spot. Yes, it is still a car that I and my family will continue to be driving. Every step you take every day is dangerous. Let's not get on our soap box to point out all the fallibilities of the Leaf. Yes, the Leaf is a great first car for a High Schooler...... But they will not get mine out of my hands..... Yet!!!1
 
Totaled my 2017 Leaf SV last month. I was doing 45 mph when a Toyota Tacoma made an unsignaled left in front of me on a yellow light, entering my lane when I was 50 feet away. Front passenger side of the Leaf impacted the front passenger side of the Tacoma, spinning me around to my left and I was then immediately broadsided by a Ford Explorer that had been in the lane next to me on the rear passenger door.

Front and passenger side air bags deployed. Car was totaled. However, there was absolutely NO intrusion into the passenger compartment even though the rear passenger door was smashed in enough to see the entire width of the rear tire. No intrusion up front at all, just a few cracks in the windshield.

The deceleration was at least 30 g's. I might have cracked a lower rib, my left wrist was a bit wonky, and my right hand had minor contusions and swelled up like the Hamburger Helper mascot. Entire chest extremely painful from the seatbelt and a bit of whiplash. Got scanned head to abdomen at hospital and there was no internal damage, but it felt like someone had thrown me down the stairs 5 or 6 times. Didn't hit the airbag (I was bracing to brake the car, which explains the hand/wrist injuries). Overall, survived this near-death experience without any medical treatment beyond the morphine they put in my IV at the emergency room.

Just bought a 2019. Bigger is, of course, generally better. But (barely) walking away from two consecutive high speed impacts with vehicles both weighing over 4,000 lbs at 45 mph was pretty impressive.
 
Since this thread got surfaced, I had to add this here... :)

From http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=2429&p=531280#p531280
edatoakrun said:
I would have no problem with regulating teenage drivers to relatively low-speed and low-powered vehicles during the first few years of driving.

In fact, I have suggested to friends that they buy Nissan LEAF's for their teenage sons.

Not only for crash safety, but to reduce the risk of being responsible for an unwanted pregnancy to near zero...
:lol:
 
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