The official "I got my Leaf" thread

[ejm4]

While I am only in my second day of EV life the car seems like it will be a perfect fit for my everyday commuter car. While we have larger SUVs for family trips, I do plan to take it on a mini-road trip to experience it and charging while traveling longer distances.

I hope you were made aware of "rapidgate" before you bought this car. If you take the Leaf on a roadtrip, expect to be sitting for 2-3 hours at a fast charger after your second or third charging stop.

Yes - I did my research before hand. For me the the deal was too good to pass up. The cars main purpose is a work / local commuter. I will take it on a small road trip to just try it out and see how it does.

Before leaving the dealership, the salesman told me Nissan likes to have the car back in 12 months so they can check over everything and download the battery information. I suppose this is so the can monitor battery performance, etc.

[Oils4AsphaultOnly]

Just took delivery of my 2020 SV Plus yesterday. This is my first EV car. I do have Mustang Mach E GT on reservation, but who know how long that will take to arrive and that's a different story.

My curiosity with EV's really started when I reserved the Mustang. My three kids all high school and middle school age think Tesla is the ONLY option for an EV. So after we reserved the Ford, I started watching YouTube videos on EV's and Tesla's (who watches cable anymore?) The more videos I watched I became even more interested in them. Since I am planning on taking delivery of the Mustang within 18 months I wanted something short term. Reference the earlier comment about my kids & Tesla... While I gave the Model 3 a hard look, the lease numbers were just not favorable.

My search then switched to the Kia and the Nissan. While here in PA the Kia is not offered in EV and I would have to travel to Maryland to purchase one. I did stop at the local Kia dealer and "kick the tires" on the ICE version, not really my cup of tea. The next day I made an appointment at the local Nissan dealer. They had the vehicle inside and the salesman was also a leaf owner which helped answer some real world questions about EV ownership. Due to C-19 they turned me loose in the standard SV model. 20 miles or so later I was enjoying the drive and the car. We negotiated what I thought was a crazy 24 month lease on a SV Plus model with heated seats, etc.

While I am only in my second day of EV life the car seems like it will be a perfect fit for my everyday commuter car. While we have larger SUVs for family trips, I do plan to take it on a mini-road trip to experience it and charging while traveling longer distances.

My previous commuter was a VW Passat TDI with no remote start. It was super cool this morning to open the Leaf's app and turn the climate control on and it was toasty warm when I opened the door to leave. For comparison here in South Central PA it's in the mid 20's in the morning and VW TDI would take at least 6 miles of driving before the engine would warm enough to produce heat.

While mentioned my previous commuter car was a low sipping diesel Passat and now no gas at all Leaf, I do love some good old fashion ICE cars and my gas guzzling Ford Mustang GT fits the bill when I want to raise some hell and race the Mopar Hellcat red light to red light!

Congrats on the new Leaf! Welcome to the club! And beware of dealer markup games on the mach-e! I'd advise you to consider the model Y (7-seater if your kids are under 6-ft) in place of the mach-e, but would only provide details if you're curious.

Thanks for the heads up on the Mach E, I have the car reserved thru a dealer that we purchase several company fleet vehicles thru and while we are fairly good acquaintances, I shop / check their price before I sign any papers. While I think Tesla is a great company and the Model Y looks to be great, I am looking forward to the Mach E GT. But... With that being said, my daughter turns 16 next year and most likely she will get a M3 or MY.

Give her the Leaf, or get a used Leaf for her. My nephew's 19 and wanted a Tesla too. But he bangs up his leaf and feels bad about it afterwords, but really doesn't have the presence of mind needed to own a nice new car. After a few scrapes, he understood why everyone advised against him getting a new car until much later.

[applephan]

Hello Everyone,
New 2020 Leaf SV owner here with Tech and Cold Weather. This deal was a unicorn for me (too good to pass up!). Our Leaf will be used strictly for commuting purposes. I am already loving the EV experience.

The Leaf is still on its first charge. At what percentage point should I plug it into a wall socket in our garage? - plan on adding a Level 2 charger later this year.

We are new to the EV party so any additional Leaf links or EV links in general you feel are must reads, please provide them.

Thanks in advance,

[Triggerhappy007]

Welcome. I saw you're leasing. How much down and how much per month?

As for charging, it depends on how much range do you think you'll need. I usually plug it in when it's below 50%. Read the owner's manual, there's a lot to learn about this car and that's the best place to start.

You meant to say add a 14-50 outlet since your car came with a Level 1&2 "charger", right? Call around for quotes to install a 14-50 outlet in your garage or if your handy, you can install it yourself. If you call, don't specifically say it's for an electric car or they may charge more.

[LeftieBiker]

Lithium batteries like to be in a state of charge from about 25% to about 75%. If you don't need more range, then keep it in the 25-70% zone. Try hard to avoid leaving the car sitting at 100% charge in hot weather.

[applephan]

Triggerhappy007,

Please message me privately. I do not know if the deal is repeatable.

[DaveinOlyWA]

Triggerhappy007,

Please message me privately. I do not know if the deal is repeatable.

Dont get sucked into salesman hype.

[applephan]

I’m no salesman. Just do not know if deal is repeatable that’s all.

[Triggerhappy007]

I’m no salesman. Just do not know if deal is repeatable that’s all.

I'm not looking to lease one. I was wondering what your unbelievable lease was. I usually see advertisements for leases <$100 and was wondering what the total cost of the lease was. If you would prefer to message me, I would appreciate it. Thanks.

[LilLeafie]

While I am only in my second day of EV life the car seems like it will be a perfect fit for my everyday commuter car. While we have larger SUVs for family trips, I do plan to take it on a mini-road trip to experience it and charging while traveling longer distances.

I hope you were made aware of "rapidgate" before you bought this car. If you take the Leaf on a roadtrip, expect to be sitting for 2-3 hours at a fast charger after your second or third charging stop.

Yes - I did my research before hand. For me the the deal was too good to pass up. The cars main purpose is a work / local commuter. I will take it on a small road trip to just try it out and see how it does.

Before leaving the dealership, the salesman told me Nissan likes to have the car back in 12 months so they can check over everything and download the battery information. I suppose this is so the can monitor battery performance, etc.

I did five quick charges on a recent 350 mile day trip and battery heat never got into the red. Granted outside temps were in the 30s and I mostly succeeded in keeping battery state between 20 and 80%.