ENIAC
Well-known member
If that's a major concern for you or your friends, then I would recommend leasing rather than purchasing the LEAF. However, I decided to purchase. When I have my pack tested at year one, I'll have my first data point based on empirical information. Here's how I believe it will play out. After 6 or 7 years my pack will have degraded to the point where I'll need to charge to 100% rather than 80% that I'm doing now. I will have recovered all of the range and more than when the LEAF was new and charging at 80%. Also, the ubiquitous EV charging infrastructure will make range issues moot anyways. At ten years, if I still own the car, there will be new and improved modules for the pack. So I'll have some modules swapped out and the result will be that I'll have even more kWh than when the pack was new! I'll keep the old modules and connect them to my solar system to charge during the day and draw from once the sun has set. After another decade in that application, I'll sell them to a battery recycler.Googler said:It's certainly evident from this forum that EV enthusiasts don't like a business case analysis, because their enthusiasm for EVs outweighs any economic factors. That's precisely why this forum is a questionable place for newcomers to get advice, and why people ask their friends for advice rather than strangers.ENIAC said:People don't do a business case analysis when they buy a car. If they did we would all be taking mass transit.
I was speaking about whether I would recommend it to my friends. Everyone I know makes their car purchasing decisions on the basis of multiple factors, including family size, commute distance, economics, color, driving characteristics, safety, etc.
As for the battery replacement issue - Nissan is not entirely forthcoming on the issue of battery degradation, but this happens to all batteries over time. The only issue is the rate, and this is hotly debated by people on the forum, but in the absence of definitive information it comes down to a risk evaluation by the consumer. If you are counting on using a Leaf for a long commute and you need to charge 100% to get that, then once the battery has degraded 10% or 20%, you may be in a situation where you can no longer make your round trip commute on a full charge. When advising my friends I warn them about this issue, though clearly some want to ignore it.
By the way, when you're looking at the new ICE cars, be sure to warn your friends about the CVTs. When those puppies fail, you're looking at $7500!