Did not deliver the range advertised

[wallslee]

We owned the Leaf for just over a year and recently traded it back in for a new end of year close out 2013 Sentra. We absolutely loved the idea of the Leafs intent and were very pleased with everything about it but two; the driving distance did not deliver as advertised and the heater was very slow to warm. We noticed after charging to a typical 85-90 top-off we would lose about 30 miles range within a very short distance (10 miles or so) thus eliminating a third on average of our expected traveling abilities. Then you had to be sure of charging again by the time you had 20 miles remaining just to be safe on the next days outings. We recently took a plotted 33 mile round trip in town and with 60 miles left on the indicator made it back home with a close call of 3 miles remaining which indicates roughly half the actual range. And yes we were in Eco, coasting when possible, braking, and running no heat even though it was on a cold December night. During the course of ownership it was easy to notice the gauge actually drop several miles in range after going only an estimated quarter mile. Again, the only other issue was the heater did not produce instant heat as one would expect being an all electric vehicle. My wife would have to put a blanket over her legs when going a mere 8 miles to work. By the time she hit the parking lot only then did the heat really start producing. Strange when considering our car is in a warm and closed in garage. Even so this should not have even been a factor when its all electric. Everything else about the car was pleasant. Because we lost so much of the indicated charge so soon (1/3 average) we gave it a personal rating of 7 on a scale of 1-10 on this basis alone. This was to big a hit regarding our daily commuting abilities to give it a better rating. I suppose the slow heater process would garner another point if we wanted to be really critical. If only the Leaf could give about twice the advertised range (with more accuracy) would it be really worth it. All said we are much happier with the Sentra and its unrestrained limitations of travel nor do I have to worry that my wife may end up stranded due to its unpredictable driving range. And with the Sentra getting 30 city and 40 hwy, a very economical compromise in the end.

 

[jelloslug]

 

[epirali]

We owned the Leaf for just over a year and recently traded it back in for a new end of year close out 2013 Sentra. We absolutely loved the idea of the Leafs intent and were very pleased with everything about it but two; the driving distance did not deliver as advertised and the heater was very slow to warm. We noticed after charging to a typical 85-90 top-off we would lose about 30 miles range within a very short distance (10 miles or so) thus eliminating a third on average of our expected traveling abilities. Then you had to be sure of charging again by the time you had 20 miles remaining just to be safe on the next days outings. We recently took a plotted 33 mile round trip in town and with 60 miles left on the indicator made it back home with a close call of 3 miles remaining which indicates roughly half the actual range. And yes we were in Eco, coasting when possible, braking, and running no heat even though it was on a cold December night. During the course of ownership it was easy to notice the gauge actually drop several miles in range after going only an estimated quarter mile. Again, the only other issue was the heater did not produce instant heat as one would expect being an all electric vehicle. My wife would have to put a blanket over her legs when going a mere 8 miles to work. By the time she hit the parking lot only then did the heat really start producing. Strange when considering our car is in a warm and closed in garage. Even so this should not have even been a factor when its all electric. Everything else about the car was pleasant. Because we lost so much of the indicated charge so soon (1/3 average) we gave it a personal rating of 7 on a scale of 1-10 on this basis alone. This was to big a hit regarding our daily commuting abilities to give it a better rating. I suppose the slow heater process would garner another point if we wanted to be really critical. If only the Leaf could give about twice the advertised range (with more accuracy) would it be really worth it. All said we are much happier with the Sentra and its unrestrained limitations of travel nor do I have to worry that my wife may end up stranded due to its unpredictable driving range. And with the Sentra getting 30 city and 40 hwy, a very economical compromise in the end.

1) Curious what was the range you needed? You never say.

2) Why wouldn't you just pre-heat the car while still plugged in? This assures a toasty warm car and much less hit from the heater.

 

[EngravEER]

LOL! Was just about to unleash the Jennifer Lawrence gif but Slug beat me to it :lol:

 

[GIBBER]

Why does this post stink of bull manure.

 

[nosuchthing]

There are all kinds. We're the electronauts, folks. They're not.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I get heat within a minute or so. The heater does produce it 'instantly' but it initially gets absorbed by the cold ventilation system. If the OP was serious, then the car was defective. I also don't quite follow the range complaint, although it appears to be based on fully believing the Guess 'O Meter at all times...

 

[jelloslug]

LOL! Was just about to unleash the Jennifer Lawrence gif but Slug beat me to it :lol:

I have been seeing some form of that post floating around here and there for a few weeks now. At least the trolls are getting smart enough now to not just post it verbatim everywhere they go.

 

[epirali]

LOL! Was just about to unleash the Jennifer Lawrence gif but Slug beat me to it :lol:

I have been seeing some form of that post floating around here and there for a few weeks now. At least the trolls are getting smart enough now to not just post it verbatim everywhere they go.

Whats funny is I have a sentry loaner while the heater on my Leaf is being fixed. I can't begin to describe how night and day it is. Honestly the Sentra is like stepping back 10 years in ride and pick up, not to mention the whole gas and noise thing.

No comparison.

 

[UBUYGAS]

Nice! LOL

 

[smkettner]

I have to agree with the OP. Range has always seemed lower than promised.

Compare to the promise of Toyota RAV4 to go 100 miles and it easily does.

Then there is the entire bit of a battery will go 10 years for most people holding 80% capacity. :roll:

Easy for a person to be misled into having range issues. ICE might run like a dinosaur but is gets you there and back.

 

[CRLeafSL]

I also agree with the OP. The range advertised and the range you get in cold weather is almost to an embarrassment level. In fact I have considered seeing what my options are getting out of my lease on the Leaf and getting back into a gas car cause this thing is absolutely worthless in cold conditions preheated or not. It's great in warm weather but horrible in winter. I have said it once and I will say it again. Nissan's biggest failure with the Leaf is there unwilling to put a TMS system on it to warm the battery in these cold temps. It absolutely needs it and I'm about to give up on mine cause it has so little range in the cold. Not a useable car in my book in the cold. Plus it needs at least twice the current range to even keep me interested.

 

[beachfitrob]

The three things you can do:

1. Preheat the car while it's plugged in. Just start it via the app some time before you leave.
2. Use an aftermarket heated seat cushion that plugs into the cigarette lighter. These actually get uncomfortably hot with outside temps in the 30s/40s on low. My feet do get a little cold. They are also are softer than the seats.
3. Charge to 100%. Well, yeah.

If I spy a 12V heater for cheap, I may try that out.

 

[elmobob]

We owned the Leaf for just over a year and recently traded it back in for a new end of year close out 2013 Sentra. We absolutely loved the idea of the Leafs intent and were very pleased with everything about it but two; the driving distance did not deliver as advertised and the heater was very slow to warm. We noticed after charging to a typical 85-90 top-off we would lose about 30 miles range within a very short distance (10 miles or so) thus eliminating a third on average of our expected traveling abilities. Then you had to be sure of charging again by the time you had 20 miles remaining just to be safe on the next days outings. We recently took a plotted 33 mile round trip in town and with 60 miles left on the indicator made it back home with a close call of 3 miles remaining which indicates roughly half the actual range....

I love my leaf and I don't think I could ever go back to a gasoline car as my primary, but I do agree that the 2010- 2012 leafs are not great in the cold. From what you're stating I suppose you have a pre 2013, yes the resistance heater does take long and is very inefficient when compared to the heat pump in the 2013's. The range in the winter is bad but I notice what makes it worst is that re-gen is completely gone specially when below 40f, the good news is that from what I've read in the forums these are non issues with the 2013's.

 

[kubel]

In defense of the OP, yes, the range of the LEAF tends to suck (especially in the winter and/or on the highway), and the guess-o-meter is almost completely worthless. For the average driver seeking to push the LEAF to its limits, the car is going to let them down. For that reason, the LEAF makes a bad choice for pretty much anyone except early adopters, geeks, and very short distance commuters. Most LEAF enthusiasts have an auxiliary battery status display in their car, because the provided dashboard information is... well... crap.

With that said, I'm not an average driver. I consistently push my car to the very limits. I have a long distance commute. And I live in a northern state that experiences tough winters. The car has never let me down, and the LEAF (despite its shortcomings mentioned above) remains to be the best car I have ever owned, and I would rather be driving the LEAF daily than any of the cars on the road that I encounter here.

 

[ampitupco]

The three things you can do:

1. Preheat the car while it's plugged in. Just start it via the app some time before you leave.
2. Use an aftermarket heated seat cushion that plugs into the cigarette lighter. These actually get uncomfortably hot with outside temps in the 30s/40s on low. My feet do get a little cold. They are also are softer than the seats.
3. Charge to 100%. Well, yeah.

If I spy a 12V heater for cheap, I may try that out.

None of these things will improve your energy economy in the cold, which I think is the real issue the poster was talking about.

 

[EatsShootsandLeafs]

sososososososo hot

I also agree with the OP. The range advertised and the range you get in cold weather is almost to an embarrassment level. In fact I have considered seeing what my options are getting out of my lease on the Leaf and getting back into a gas car cause this thing is absolutely worthless in cold conditions preheated or not. It's great in warm weather but horrible in winter. I have said it once and I will say it again. Nissan's biggest failure with the Leaf is there unwilling to put a TMS system on it to warm the battery in these cold temps. It absolutely needs it and I'm about to give up on mine cause it has so little range in the cold. Not a useable car in my book in the cold. Plus it needs at least twice the current range to even keep me interested.

Agreed. I am not renewing my lease and am also thinking of getting out early. This past winter has put me in the position I absolutely cannot recommend this car to anybody who lives in a cold climate. The Leaf is like a really hot girl who's got a great job and smart and nice except has a small niggling little habit to drown puppies. I mean, that's just her thing. If you can overlook that, she's awesome. Probably you can't, though. The Leaf's puppy murdering is its despicable cold weather behaviors. We need to join up and speak out against this vile habit people have of not driving with the heat. I know, I do it, too. We shouldn't have to, and when I tell people that's what I do sometimes and that's what others do they look incredulous. I have evangelized this car to people, but I caveat the winter range because it's very relevant.

As far as heat is concerned, using it is costly, but it's also the cold weather. Even without heat the hit in range is massive because cold batteries perform very poorly. I do think that--and I've no idea how costly it would be--some kind of variable insulation system for the battery plus the ability to run the battery heater when desired (or on some more liberal system than now) would be of great use. If well insulated (and variable, so that the insulation isn't there in hot weather) and pre-heated there's no reason we couldn't be driving around eith 5-6 temp bars down to 0F and the range would skyrocket.

 

[Nubo]

It does take some adjustment to get over the notion of "losing" imaginary range. For me it took a drive or two, for others apparently the illusion never fades. :roll:

I did have the benefit of others' experience from reading this forum and knowing what to expect. When I see a 1-post user launch into a detailed accounting of the car's "inadequacies" and every potential weakness of the vehicle is a deal-breaker for them, I sense troll. Who would lay down the money for this type of vehicle without having done any research into what it's like to live with one? Yeah...

No, my opinion this is a case of Brodering, without even bothering to go through the motions.

 

[dgpcolorado]

As far as heat is concerned, using it is costly, but it's also the cold weather. Even without heat the hit in range is massive because cold batteries perform very poorly. I do think that--and I've no idea how costly it would be--some kind of variable insulation system for the battery plus the ability to run the battery heater when desired (or on some more liberal system than now) would be of great use. If well insulated (and variable, so that the insulation isn't there in hot weather) and pre-heated there's no reason we couldn't be driving around eith 5-6 temp bars down to 0F and the range would skyrocket.

No, not quite. There seems to be a myth here that the drop in cold weather range is entirely due to reduced capacity of cold batteries (plus heater use). That's part of it, especially for those who have to park outside overnight (keeping the battery warm in an attached garage is fairly easy and it also takes less energy to heat the cabin). But what seems to be overlooked is that cold air causes more drag and cold tires and gear lube cause more rolling resistance. Add in snow, wind, snow tires, and the winter range would drop considerably even if you kept the battery warmed up to 70ºF. Just as happens with gas mileage in an ICE car, for those who bother to keep track of such things. Heater use — even with the new heat pump version — just makes that worse.

None of this is new, at least to early adopters in cold climates. We've been talking about it amongst ourselves for several years. Now, all of a sudden, people are shocked, SHOCKED!, to find that range decreases in winter in the snowbelt? I don't get it. The LEAF is a fine winter car if one's range expectations are reasonable. Otherwise it is not a good choice. Perhaps someday most EVs will have enough excess range, like the Tesla S does now, that the winter hit will become irrelevant for most. Until that time, buyers need to do their homework. If they don't, they get no sympathy from me.

 

[palmermd]

No, my opinion this is a case of Brodering, without even bothering to go through the motions.

Well the fact that the original poster joined at 1:47, posted at 1:47 and then has not been back to this site since 1:53 on January 29th should be a clue as to his intentions.