My suggestions for Nissan to improve the Leaf, ordered from most important to least important. Overall I rate the car 4 stars out of 5. It's amazing what Nissan has done and they deserve the world of credit but inevitably there will be some glitches bringing out a new product:
1) The biggest hurdle to widespread Leaf adoption is RANGE. Fortunately, this could be VERY easily solved by Nissan. MAKE A GENSET TRAILER! These could be sold to Leaf owners for a few thousand bucks, or alternatively rented out by Nissan dealerships when people want to go on long trips. This would require that 1) the car will allow driving to occur while accepting a charge, and 2), that the charge port for this be moved to the back of the car somehow, 3) a trailer hitch is made available. Then you could go as far as your heart desires without ANY range limitations. Because every once in a while, you DO want to go longer than 130 km.
2) Charging. I did not get the level 2 charger because the amount of miles I drive daily doesn't justify it. Instead I use the supplied 120 V charger. But this has some irritations. I park outside and plugging it into the front of the car in the rain is a bit iffy IMHO. So I had to rig up a tarp to put over the front of the car when it's raining. The charger sits on a styrofoam box on the ground... Plus, the point of the 120 V charger is to be able to charge the car ANYWHERE. Now, are you really going to want to put that expensive charger on the ground just any old place you want a charge? I don't think so. This could be EASILY solved by Nissan by instead building the 120 V charger INTO THE CAR ITSELF. Then when you want to charge at a restaurant or your mom's house or wherever, you'd get an extension cord, bring it in to the car through a slot at the bottom of the rear hatch door, and plug it into 2 prongs that stick out of the interior wall somewhere. TOTALLY WEATHER AND THIEF PROOF. SUPER EASY. Done!
3) Heating system. I don't know if I have a faulty unit but my heater only goes down to 18.0 degrees. At 18.0, the heater is totally off. But when I set it at 18.5 degrees it seems to go way warmer than 18.5, more like 22. So what is a person like me to do when I want to drive 100 km on a cold day that's 0 degrees outside and I want to conserve power to maximize my range? If I turn the heater to 18.0 degrees it goes down to zero -- way too cold. If I turn it to 18.5 degrees the car goes up to 22 -- way too warm. Isn't there a happy medium somewhere so I could set it at say 10 C, which is comfortable if you are in your coat, gloves and toque? I don't like heated seats and steering wheels.
4) Propane heater. Nissan should provide the option of buying a propane heater that uses a little camping style canister, for those who want heating on longer trips but don't want to sacrifice range. It may go against the theme of "zero emissions", but how many emissions were released in order to manufacture the car? Some of the rules can be bent a bit because we don't yet have an infrastructure to support EV's.
Other than that it's a great little car, I love it. But if Nissan solves the above issues, then there will no longer be any legitimate reason for anyone to turn down buying a Leaf, other than the higher initial price.
1) The biggest hurdle to widespread Leaf adoption is RANGE. Fortunately, this could be VERY easily solved by Nissan. MAKE A GENSET TRAILER! These could be sold to Leaf owners for a few thousand bucks, or alternatively rented out by Nissan dealerships when people want to go on long trips. This would require that 1) the car will allow driving to occur while accepting a charge, and 2), that the charge port for this be moved to the back of the car somehow, 3) a trailer hitch is made available. Then you could go as far as your heart desires without ANY range limitations. Because every once in a while, you DO want to go longer than 130 km.
2) Charging. I did not get the level 2 charger because the amount of miles I drive daily doesn't justify it. Instead I use the supplied 120 V charger. But this has some irritations. I park outside and plugging it into the front of the car in the rain is a bit iffy IMHO. So I had to rig up a tarp to put over the front of the car when it's raining. The charger sits on a styrofoam box on the ground... Plus, the point of the 120 V charger is to be able to charge the car ANYWHERE. Now, are you really going to want to put that expensive charger on the ground just any old place you want a charge? I don't think so. This could be EASILY solved by Nissan by instead building the 120 V charger INTO THE CAR ITSELF. Then when you want to charge at a restaurant or your mom's house or wherever, you'd get an extension cord, bring it in to the car through a slot at the bottom of the rear hatch door, and plug it into 2 prongs that stick out of the interior wall somewhere. TOTALLY WEATHER AND THIEF PROOF. SUPER EASY. Done!
3) Heating system. I don't know if I have a faulty unit but my heater only goes down to 18.0 degrees. At 18.0, the heater is totally off. But when I set it at 18.5 degrees it seems to go way warmer than 18.5, more like 22. So what is a person like me to do when I want to drive 100 km on a cold day that's 0 degrees outside and I want to conserve power to maximize my range? If I turn the heater to 18.0 degrees it goes down to zero -- way too cold. If I turn it to 18.5 degrees the car goes up to 22 -- way too warm. Isn't there a happy medium somewhere so I could set it at say 10 C, which is comfortable if you are in your coat, gloves and toque? I don't like heated seats and steering wheels.
4) Propane heater. Nissan should provide the option of buying a propane heater that uses a little camping style canister, for those who want heating on longer trips but don't want to sacrifice range. It may go against the theme of "zero emissions", but how many emissions were released in order to manufacture the car? Some of the rules can be bent a bit because we don't yet have an infrastructure to support EV's.
Other than that it's a great little car, I love it. But if Nissan solves the above issues, then there will no longer be any legitimate reason for anyone to turn down buying a Leaf, other than the higher initial price.
