RonDawg said:
While the headlight reflector design of the Leaf is not the greatest, a car's low beams are really not meant for long distance lighting. They are a compromise for not blinding oncoming drivers.
Thanks. I guess with a compromise like this each car has its fine points, and Nissan didn't quite strike the right chord for me, but maybe I am meant to drive with the default being the high beams.
RonDawg said:
I find the low beams to be quite good actually, for low beams. While my area is not as rural as yours, there are some neighborhoods that I travel though where overhead street lighting is sparse or even non-existent.
What is terrible are the high beams. They are almost indistinguishable from the low beams. Only their slightly yellowish color (because Nissan cheaped out and put halogens instead of LEDs for the high beams) gives any hint that they are on, besides the blue warning light.
We are simply not at all having the same experience here. Are we sure that the lights for the SL are the same as for the SV?
For me, the contrast between brights and non-brights is as dramatic as in any car I've ever owned.
I've never heard of any headlight adjustment until this moment, but I see it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xnyYGjNIA4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
so when I return to my car I'll check it. If that is the answer, then I would rescind what I said about the headlights straight ahead (if the non-brights then become nearly as helpful as the brights).
RonDawg said:
Also check the headlight adjustment switch on your 2012 model. It might have been inadvertently set to lower the headlights for when the car is fully loaded in the back. When the car is empty it would cause the headlights to shine too low.
As far as side to side illumination in low beam, I don't find it any worse than on my 2006 Audi, or any other car I've owned. It would be nice to get swiveling headlamps like the Citroen DS had, but that would cost even more money than LED bulbs for the high beams.
IMO it's past time for all the auto manufacturers to get going with allowing us to see more clearly to the right and left at night. IMO, it's a safety issue and therefore not something to take another 10-20 years fooling around offering it as some luxury car oddity. As to the Leaf, it may be my middle aged eyes, but I think the problem has been worse with it. Maybe it will clear up a bit once I adjust the low-beams as you helpfully pointed out I could.
RonDawg said:
EDIT: just saw in your sig line that you already lost a bar in under a year. Ouch! but not surprising given your local climate. Good thing you leased.
Yes, thanks, I'll take this point, I'm 15 months into a 39 month lease (I was not able to get anything shorter) and it's getting a bit dicey to get to some of my destination points, and that's even conceding driving at 45 instead of at gasoline car speeds. My predicted range at 100% charge has dropped from 100+ to about 70 or 80+, depending on the previous day's driving speed and HVAC use.
I'm probably going to have to take some sort of expensive action to get a gasoline or diesel vehicle (beyond the very occasional rental) to supplement my Leaf for the remainder of the lease.
I go back to my main issue - the 24 kWh battery is not what I wanted. Basically, what I wanted would have been something like the 40+ kWh battery in the RAV4 EV, but at the time that vehicle was to expensive (for me) and carried the additional hurdle of not being available locally.
Anyway, having waited 20+ years for an EV, I don't want to sound un-grateful to Nissan (I will be forever grateful on the basic point of finally offering me a high-quality BEV and lease terms that I could deal with), but this thread was designated to state top-gripe, so it seems appropriate to lay it out clearly.