shortcircuit
Active member
After 3 years of ownership we returned our 2013 LEAF lease today. Although there are some features I'm going to miss (awesome 360-backup camera, BOSE stereo, comfortable interior, great reliability), I'm glad to see it go. Just in the last 8,000 miles our LEAF lost 3 battery bars:
Lost first bar: 35,000 miles
Lost second bar: 39,800 miles
Lost third bar: 43,000 miles
Range decreased from 90+ miles to a maximum of 60-ish miles with careful driving (more of my experience here). The LEAF's primary purpose was to get me to work and back reliably (63 miles), so it failed in its primary mission even though we racked up almost all the miles we were allocated.
After reading this Car And Driver article and other websites I chose the Chevy Spark as my next EV. Driving them back to back, the Spark feels like a race car. It's much quicker and feels more planted. It handles turns better than the LEAF and you feel less detached from the road. The brakes don't have that unpredictable bite that the LEAF's do. That said, the seats, infotainment center, and overall interior are better in the LEAF (SV) so if you prefer comfort the LEAF is the way to go. The OnStar app blows the Nissan EV app away in terms of functionality. You can remotely lock/unlock doors and see where your car is on a google map. Plus it actually works!
Lastly I think Chevy is making deals on the Spark EV in preparation for the release of the Bolt. I negotiated a 3 year lease deal at $171/month for a Spark EV 2LT (10K miles/yr). Factor in the $2500 California rebate and this works out to $101/month (+about $10 for TTL). That's less than our cell phone bill.
This is my first Chevy so I'm crossing my fingers it will be as reliable as the LEAF. Sure, the Spark's dashboard says "95/113 miles" range now, but then so did my LEAF when it was new. Hopefully, the Spark won't suffer the same degradation as the LEAF <knock on wood>.
Lost first bar: 35,000 miles
Lost second bar: 39,800 miles
Lost third bar: 43,000 miles
Range decreased from 90+ miles to a maximum of 60-ish miles with careful driving (more of my experience here). The LEAF's primary purpose was to get me to work and back reliably (63 miles), so it failed in its primary mission even though we racked up almost all the miles we were allocated.
After reading this Car And Driver article and other websites I chose the Chevy Spark as my next EV. Driving them back to back, the Spark feels like a race car. It's much quicker and feels more planted. It handles turns better than the LEAF and you feel less detached from the road. The brakes don't have that unpredictable bite that the LEAF's do. That said, the seats, infotainment center, and overall interior are better in the LEAF (SV) so if you prefer comfort the LEAF is the way to go. The OnStar app blows the Nissan EV app away in terms of functionality. You can remotely lock/unlock doors and see where your car is on a google map. Plus it actually works!
Lastly I think Chevy is making deals on the Spark EV in preparation for the release of the Bolt. I negotiated a 3 year lease deal at $171/month for a Spark EV 2LT (10K miles/yr). Factor in the $2500 California rebate and this works out to $101/month (+about $10 for TTL). That's less than our cell phone bill.
This is my first Chevy so I'm crossing my fingers it will be as reliable as the LEAF. Sure, the Spark's dashboard says "95/113 miles" range now, but then so did my LEAF when it was new. Hopefully, the Spark won't suffer the same degradation as the LEAF <knock on wood>.