Why would anyone buy a nissan leaf right now???

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Hi all, a lively thread. I've read backwards several months to catch up on the current experiences of Leaf owners.

Wife and I are likely going to buy a used 2019 in a month or two but have questions about how well the car's battery will do in my climate.
I live in western Massachusetts, in a community without garages and no opportunity to build one per our land trust restrictions.
We do have some shade on our parking space but only until about 10-12 am depending on time of year, then direct sunlight the rest of the day until 4-8:30, per the season.

Our average June-July-Aug monthly summer temps here at 900' altitude are 78-82-80. It's humid through a good part of the summer.
Highs can get up into the low 90s but typically hover in the hottest months in the high 80s.
Lows in those months are 53-57-55 but during typical heat waves (2-4 days) it can be as warm as 70 overnight but rarely warmer than that.

During the coldest winter months, although temps are noticeably less harsh from climate change over the last 20 years, average highs are 37-33-35 day time and lows are 18-12-14. We occasionally have night times below 0 and days below 15 in Dec and Jan. By March-May and Sept-Nov temps are much more nominal between those extremes.

I'd greatly appreciate any insights or speculation from any Leaf owners on whether, given the model's passive battery heating/cooling, I'm likely to regret having an electric car at all.

additional factors:
We don't plan on any long trips. Maybe 3-5K annual from local daily driving of 10-20 mi, with very occasional 100-mi round trips. Most likely to do 50 mi round trips
On winter snowstorm days, we may not drive the car at all for 2 or 3 days. We have our Prius for that which gets the job done.
In summer, the Leaf will probably be driven almost daily, as town is only 5 minute/3 mi drive. It'll be our second car.

I'm looking for a 2019 (possibly '18 but I've read that the first year of gen 2 had some issues with charging limitations on long trips - although a minor issue for us). I'm thinking I can save a $1-2K on the price if I get something in the 25-30K range as we will likely have the car for many years of low mileage usage.

Final question: Would having a white reflective car cover in summer and a dark on in winter on the car help alleviate some of the thermal stress the car will be heir to?

Or (honest opinions please) am I trying to cross a bridge too far buying any EV without a garage or all-day shade?

Thanks very much for any input!

Jim
 
I just got back from Boulder Nissan where I had the yearly battery check and tire rotation. Third year...12 bars...a little over 10,000 miles. Their lot was nearly empty of cars. A year ago the lot was full of new Leafs and used cars. The service department certainly wasn't busy.

It is a great town car especially with the 240V outlet in my garage for charging.
 
Leafman 7: I can reassure you on most of your concerns, as we live in Eastern NY (North of Albany) in a similar climate, and keep our 2 Gen II Leafs outdoors with no problems. HOWEVER, you are mistaken in thinking that "Rapidgate" was a problem for the 2018 model year only. It is not, but is instead an ongoing issue with the Gen II Leaf. So if you plan lots of trips with multiple fast charges per day, I suggest that you reconsider getting a Leaf.
Welcome to the forum.
 
LeftieBiker said:
Leafman 7: I can reassure you on most of your concerns, as we live in Eastern NY (North of Albany) in a similar climate, and keep our 2 Gen II Leafs outdoors with no problems. HOWEVER, you are mistaken in thinking that "Rapidgate" was a problem for the 2018 model year only. It is not, but is instead an ongoing issue with the Gen II Leaf. So if you plan lots of trips with multiple fast charges per day, I suggest that you reconsider getting a Leaf.
Welcome to the forum.

Sounds like he's not planning longer trips with this car. For the usage scenarios the OP has listed, the Gen II Leaf would be a fine choice.
 
LeftieBiker said:
Leafman 7: I can reassure you on most of your concerns, as we live in Eastern NY (North of Albany) in a similar climate, and keep our 2 Gen II Leafs outdoors with no problems. HOWEVER, you are mistaken in thinking that "Rapidgate" was a problem for the 2018 model year only. It is not, but is instead an ongoing issue with the Gen II Leaf. So if you plan lots of trips with multiple fast charges per day, I suggest that you reconsider getting a Leaf.
Welcome to the forum.
N.E. Ohio isn't much different in terms of climate. Cold weather parking outside hasn't been an issue for either my current '19 Leaf or the previous '14 Leaf. I've left mine parked out under a foot of snow for several days without concern. The key with my usage profile is longer commutes where the car's range is helped by rewarming the batteries after those events. So will take the car for a short drive after extended cold parking, and sometimes take it to a DCFC to push some heat into the batteries. My question for Leafman 7 would be how is this Leaf being recharged for daily use? Having a 240v. Level-2 would make this an easy decision.
 
Thank all of you above for your thoughtful and informed decisions.
Very encouraging! Great to hear from others in this region. And to learn my trepidations about the 2018 were inaccurate. That might very well influence my model year purchase. I am clear about wanting a gen II.
I’m also clear about not making this a touring car. I’ll replace our 2010 Prius in another year or two with a 250-300+ mi range EV. And finally be done with gas, oil, timing chains, pollution and the rest of the whole smelly mess.
I will likely put in a 240 v charger. The heat pump for the house will be about 20 feet from the car, it’s powered by 240, could possibly tap off that.
Thanks again all!
 
And to learn my trepidations about the 2018 were inaccurate. That might very well influence my model year purchase. I am clear about wanting a gen II.

Get a LeafSpy Pro reading for any Leaf, but especially for any 2018 Leaf, to make sure that there are no bad or weak cells in the main battery. It wasn't a really common issue, but it was an occasional issue. There were also, I think, more issues with Pro Pilot in the 2018 than in later years.
 
Leafman7 said:
I will likely put in a 240 v charger. The heat pump for the house will be about 20 feet from the car, it’s powered by 240, could possibly tap off that.

Check with a pro but I don't think you can simply split the circuit at the heat pump and run 240V to both the heat pump and EVSE on the same wiring. Best case you could put in a sub-panel near the heat pump and then run separate circuits to the heat pump and EVSE from there but that will still almost certainly require replacing the wire to the sub-panel with something larger than what supplied the heat pump.
 
Hey, it's not 100k cars, but it's something.

https://www.globalfleet.com/en/leasing-and-rental/latin-america/article/brazils-movida-triples-ev-fleet-nissan-partnership?a=DBL10&t%5B0%5D=Brazil&t%5B1%5D=FLeet%20LaTAm&t%5B2%5D=Movida&t%5B3%5D=electric%20vehicle&curl=1
 
Woah, Leaf out of nowhere kicking ass in Sweden.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/cleantechnica.com/2021/12/02/most-autos-sold-in-sweden-are-now-plugin-evs-over-54-in-november/amp/

Norway sales were strong too.
 
Huh. Imagine that. Build an affordable little commuter car suitable for urban corridors, and eventually, if you hold your breath long enough, some folks start to notice, even in the face of persistent bad-mouthing all over the internet. Who knew?
 
frontrangeleaf said:
Huh. Imagine that. Build an affordable little commuter car suitable for urban corridors, and eventually, if you hold your breath long enough, some folks start to notice, even in the face of persistent bad-mouthing all over the internet. Who knew?

As we all know, the accelerated pack degradation in hotter climates is a problem for the LEAF. But otherwise, far too much emphasis is put on range and charging time for EVs in general and some of that blame has to fall on the shoulders of the journalists and pundits.

For the vast majority of people who could install L2 charging at home, charging time isn't an issue and the 62 kWh pack provides several days of range.

Frustrating that more people don't understand this...
 
alozzy said:
As we all know, the accelerated pack degradation in hotter climates is a problem for the LEAF. But otherwise, far too much emphasis is put on range and charging time for EVs in general and some of that blame has to fall on the shoulders of the journalists and pundits.

For the vast majority of people who could install L2 charging at home, charging time isn't an issue and the 62 kWh pack provides several days of range.

Frustrating that more people don't understand this...

I'm not sure that pack degradation is still a problem. And with likely future cell chemistries, probably even less so.
 
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