I have had my Leaf for a year and a half and many may disagree with my comments. I do not regret leasing my Leaf because I have always wanted an electric car. The Leaf is a car for early adopters and enthusiasts but not many more. Despite what some people have done, it is a 72 mile car, just as EPA said. Once you have driven the car a few days, there is no range anxiety because you become realistic about what the car can do. The car meets most of the mundane needs of most people because few of us drive more than 70 miles on our daily tasks. It is an extremely good car with a one and a half or two gallon gas tank that you cannot readily refill.
The lack of range is not a problem that can be swept under the rug. When most people spend the price of today's cars they expect to be able to visit relatives and take vacations with it. It is a continuing blunder that fast chargers are not installed on Interstates, their cost would be minor compared with many other investments that have been made in electric cars. Even if they were installed, while the customer base would be vastly enlarged, it would not be universal. Electric cars will replace ICEs as soon as someone develops a 250-300 range battery with fast charging capability. If you can believe Envia's claims, they can do it now. BYD's battery if it ever got to the U.S. would probably do as much good as the wide spread installation of fast chargers with the added advantage of not requiring you to stay on Interstates.
Finally, I am very disappointed that today's electric cars, except the Tesla, have a significantly shorter range than the EV1 or Toyota RAV4 Electric (I have heard all the responses to this comment). I hope that with the end of the NiMH battery patent in 2013, companies all over the world will build cars with it. I think that they have great potential (again I have heard all the counter-arguments). I am still hoping that before my Nissan Leaf lease expires, we shall hear of the battery (or ultracapacitor) breakthrough that we all want.
