2018 LEAF Drive Review

[DaveinOlyWA]

A lot of opinion with a few facts mixed in...



http://daveinolywa.blogspot.com/2017/09/2018-leaf.html

[DarthPuppy]

Cool story and good write up. Thanks for the insights.

[cwerdna]

Thanks!

Made sense to invite some folks who are active in EV social media space. You're pretty active on Facebook and you've your EV blog. Sal is also pretty active.

Hope I get to test drive one in the next few months and play w/the controls for the dash displays.

[EatsShootsandLeafs]

Great review. Also some of the down and dirty details that you'll just never see from car and driver or motortrend.

[DaveinOlyWA]

It was a great event but would have been so much better if they would have sat us all down after the drive event for a Q and A session. Seems like everyone came away with different and very valid questions. We were literally given no real instructions on the car and it was simply "start the car, turn right here and I will explain how to activate Pro Pilot on the way"

[GetOffYourGas]

Thanks for writing this, Dave. This is a great review, and one that I can really relate to.

I'm excited for Nissan's success, but it is still not enough for me. Upstate NY is not blessed with the same infrastructure as the Puget Sound, so I really do need more range. I cannot wait for the 60kWh Leaf. I only hope that the tax credit is still around when the car arrives.

[edatoakrun]

Good info, Dave.

...The Nissan site states 23.6 cu feet of cargo space behind the seats so no change BUT as you all know from previous blogs, I frequently use ALL 23.6 cu feet of my cargo space and the hatch area of the new LEAF IS BIGGER! which leads me to believe that LEAF Engineers spent so much energy on the new tech stuff that by the time it was time to measure the cargo space, they simply didn't have the energy to do it so just "cut and pasted the old specs...

One of the spec compilations I've read did report a few more feet of cargo space, which along with the larger door, will be quite useful.

I NEED a light colored interior for Hot Summers.

Did they give you an idea of when the tan/grey (?) interior will be available?

[OrientExpress]

It was a great event but would have been so much better if they would have sat us all down after the drive event for a Q and A session. Seems like everyone came away with different and very valid questions. We were literally given no real instructions on the car and it was simply "start the car, turn right here and I will explain how to activate Pro Pilot on the way"

I agree with Dave and am going to see if we can have a follow-up meeting or maybe a conference call to talk about the car some more with some of the technical staff.

[OrientExpress]

Good info, Dave.
I NEED a light colored interior for Hot Summers.

Did they give you an idea of when the tan/grey (?) interior will be available?

I completely agree and am lobbying for this. Right now, it looks like the full options list will be delayed 2 months. If you want a light colored interior at first deliveries your option will be to order an SL.

[Joe6pack]

Orient - Can you get them on the record (or even off) regarding battery temperature management, battery degradation expectations, degradation warranty, etc. The anti-LEAF crowd is running out of genuine things to gripe about, so they keep reaching back to this 2011/2012 model year issue.