HXGuy said:
I've been following this forum for the past couple months and what I find crazy from reading all these posts is how careful you guys have been with your cars and yet are still having problems (referring to the hot weather people), but even for the people in cooler weather, all the precautions and knowledge you have to have.
When you bought your cars, did the sales guy go over all these things about not charging to 100% all the time? Or not letting it sit at 100% or not QCing too often or are these items you learned about from the owner's manual or here on the forums? When I was planning on leasing a while back, I figured I would plug the car in every night to 100% so that I had the range in case I needed it the next day. Only after reading on here that it's not good to do that I learned you're not supposed to.
Maybe it's just me but I think it's nuts to have to be this careful driving your car. Imagine if ICE cars were like this and you had to monitor every little thing and be so careful. I really had no idea that these cars were this high maintenance, I thought you could pretty much drive them like a normal car except for the plugging in part. Being a Nissan LEAF owner sounds like it can be a pretty stressful experience.
Crazy is not owning an electric car.
As with any vehicle, know what you are buying. Nissan wanted me to wait a week so they could have a specialist tell me all about the vehicle. I told them I didn't need it and didn't want to wait - I was on my way down with a check - have the car ready. Think about an ICE and what you needed to learn to maintain and drive it, and you will see the Nissan Leaf is far easier to learn and drive. If it wasn't for automatic transmissions, many people would not even desire an ICE, and many others would never figure out how to operate it safely. Likely a way to get more people to use mass transit is outlawing the automatic transmission - that would clear a lot of roads. Ever been stuck in traffic and have to clutch the car every time you want to move up a couple feet? Gets old real fast.
It is nuts to own a vehicle you would worry about. If you need the max range every day this is not going to be a happy choice for you. Most people (Even most that have lost a bit of battery capacity, or live in cold climates) ony use about half the battery in a day (Nice to have the excess, but actually needing it is rare - the range meter is designed to caution you and it can read low numbers even when you have a lot of battery capacity to use. Knowing how it works removes the stress it creates in new owners. Electricity is everywhere, so gaining access to it is a stress creator, not the vehicle itself. Want to plug in a laptop and no one bats an eye, but somehow a car battery is different. Most other vehicles carry a combustable liquid that smells bad and can catch fire from a static electricity discharge while refueling. People accept that as the price to get around. That is nuts. So it isn't just you, the world is nuts, and the Nissan Leaf is a bit of sanity. Glad you are seriously considering one.
As for stress - so much stress relief from going electric, especially in the reliablility arena. No starter, no clutch, no transmission, no smog check, no oil change, no refill and no budgeting my income for fuel costs. Oh, and at least less worry about my contribution to the global warming thing - still have concerns about that, but hey, I am doing something which is better than ignoring it. Yes I now have solar power to offset my electricity use.
As for fun, charging to 100% detracts from the fun I have while driving the Nissan Leaf. Driving a power plant can only be done if you have some battery capacity to fuel up. I have over 18,000 miles on this car, and I still have a blast creating energy every time I slow down. I drive mountain roads and still have 95%+ of my brake pads, and often pass other motorists when it is safe to do so - which requires less space and planning than in an iCE due to the instant torque. After passing, unlike with an ICE, I slow the excess speed with a bit of regeneration, and nothing is wasted. Great feeling, and great stress relief. The joy ride has been found, and it is electric.
One stress point I do have that is related to this topic - Not enough people are going fully electric and many car companies are only building compliance EV's. That is very sad and I would fear being unable to buy another EV ten or so years from now, but Tesla's model S has removed that stress point pretty well. With that car company out there, and the model S now being on the road, I am confident that I will have at least one EV when I opt to replace the Nissan Leaf.
