Getting a Leaf, looking for advice between S and SV

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LeftieBiker said:
I'm inclined to doubt it. The S was designed as a more stripped model, and the heat pump deletion was about half of the cost savings for Nissan, I'd bet. If they'd offered it in Canada they likely would have offered it in Europe as well.

Actually, per Nissan UK's website, they do have the heatpump on the base "Acenta" model for 2019: "Energy-saving cabin heating system with Heat pump"

https://www.nissan.co.uk/vehicles/new-vehicles/leaf/configurator.html#modal then click on "All Features" for each trim level, it's found under "Comfort and Convenience"

UK Leafs also include heated seats/steering wheel, and the Quick Charge package across all trims.
 
Interesting, but it appears to me that the Accenta is a base SV, not an S. Why? It has telematics as well as the heatpump. Unless we see evidence of a Canadian S with heatpump, I'm going to assume that the S isn't sold in Europe.
 
LeftieBiker said:
Interesting, but it appears to me that the Accenta is a base SV, not an S. Why? It has telematics as well as the heatpump. Unless we see evidence of a Canadian S with heatpump, I'm going to assume that the S isn't sold in Europe.

The Canadian-spec Leaf S also has included features that the US version does not have as standard, including Quick Charge, the dual-voltage EVSE, and heated seats/steering wheel. And that I can verify: https://www.nissan.ca/en/electric-cars/leaf/versions-specs/#!

My point is, you can't compare trim levels across international borders. The manufacturer network for each country specifies the equipment and features for each car that they think is best (or possibly legally required) for each country. So just because it's not standard or available in the US doesn't mean a similar (or similarly-named) trim level in another country will be identically equipped.

VW is the same way. In the US, the eGolf SEL comes standard with a heat pump. Yet in the UK, surprisingly it's a £830 option. Heated seats and an electrically heated windshield are also surprisingly optional (£320 and £300 respectively) for UK-spec cars when it's standard on even the cloth-seated SE and LE versions in the US.

I'm also old enough to remember that growing up in California, there was a time when our cars were differently equipped than the rest of the country when it came to powertrains, due to our emissions requirements. There were engines we couldn't get that were easily available elsewhere, and in a few cases we had engine choices that were not available in the other 49 (example: Chevy Monza with the 5.7L V8 was a California-only car -- my brother had one). Some cars could even be had in the other 49 states without a catalytic converter as late as 1980 but that was a requirement in California from about 1974 onward. A similar reality exists today in the plug-in world...there are cars available at my local dealers that you can't get in your part of the country.
 
I understand all of that. I'm saying that the S was introduced in 2013 as a way to get the Leaf base price under $30k, and they did this by not equipping it with the heat pump or telematics. All Leafs had the heated seats (front only, later) and wheel from 2013 until 2017. I now think that the S was for the US market in particular, since production of US Leafs also began here for 2013. If there are Canadian S trim Leafs with no telematics and a heat pump, then I'll know I was wrong.
 
LeftieBiker said:
I understand all of that. I'm saying that the S was introduced in 2013 as a way to get the Leaf base price under $30k, and they did this by not equipping it with the heat pump or telematics. All Leafs had the heated seats (front only, later) and wheel from 2013 until 2017. I now think that the S was for the US market in particular, since production of US Leafs also began here for 2013. If there are Canadian S trim Leafs with no telematics and a heat pump, then I'll know I was wrong.

Despite what you believe, I do think the "Acenta" version is similar in Europe, though with more content to suit consumer (and possibly regulatory) demands of the EU. But de-contenting doesn't always work across borders either; in Canada you can get some cars (Nissan Micra and VW Jetta come to mind) withOUT air conditioning, something unfathomable in the US today. Consumer demands are why stick shifts are a disappearing feature in US-spec cars aside from sports cars, ultra-cheap cars (though it's disappearing fast there too), and trucks.
 
Despite what you believe, I do think the "Acenta" version is similar in Europe, though with more content to suit consumer (and possibly regulatory) demands of the EU.

A Leaf S with telematics and heat pump is different from an SV without Premium Package how, exactly...? They can call it whatever they like, but if it walks like an SV, and quacks like an SV...
 
LeftieBiker said:
Despite what you believe, I do think the "Acenta" version is similar in Europe, though with more content to suit consumer (and possibly regulatory) demands of the EU.

A Leaf S with telematics and heat pump is different from an SV without Premium Package how, exactly...? They can call it whatever they like, but if it walks like an SV, and quacks like an SV...

Because Nissan UK has 3 trim levels like us, just called different names. If it's really an SV, they wouldn't need the middle trim level, they'd make that trim level simply an option package.
 
RonDawg said:
LeftieBiker said:
Despite what you believe, I do think the "Acenta" version is similar in Europe, though with more content to suit consumer (and possibly regulatory) demands of the EU.

A Leaf S with telematics and heat pump is different from an SV without Premium Package how, exactly...? They can call it whatever they like, but if it walks like an SV, and quacks like an SV...

Because Nissan UK has 3 trim levels like us, just called different names. If it's really an SV, they wouldn't need the middle trim level, they'd make that trim level simply an option package.

Look at it this way: if they have no S trim in Europe, then they'd have a base SV equivalent called the Accenta, a mid-level trim like our SV with premium, and a top end trim like the SL. I see no issue with that.
 
Let's compare a US spec Leaf S to a UK spec Leaf Acenta, and how they stack up to a US spec Leaf SV:

Wheels: On both specs: 16 inch wheels and 205/155/16 tires. US-spec S is steel with wheel covers, UK-spec Acenta is alloy. US-spec SV has the same 17[/b inch alloy wheels as the US-spec SL.

Seats: both specs cloth seat trim, but UK spec has heated seats and wheel as a standard feature. US-spec SV seats also cloth but heat for both seats and wheel is optional.

Infotainment: US spec has a 5 inch touch screen, no NAV. UK-spec Acenta has the same 7 inch touch screen with Car Play/Android Auto and built-in NAV as the US-spec SV.

Headlights: US-spec S is halogen, UK-spec Acenta is LED (which is optional on US-spec SV)

I don't have time to go over each individual spec, but while the base model in the UK isn't de-contented to the level of the base model in the US, I would hardly call it "equivalent" to the US-spec SV. More like a heavily-optioned S (though some features are not available even as an option for US-spec Leaf S). But in reality it's just "the base model in the UK", whatever it's called.
 
I'm going to make two more observations, then drop this. First, the US SV came with 16" wheels until 2015 - I wasn't trying to compare 2018 to 2018 model year only. IIRC, the OP was looking at used Leafs* and I was looking across the years at differences in used Leafs. Second, the two critical differences between an S and an SV are the heatpump (now an option on the US SV) and telematics. Things like heated seats don't strike me as a critical difference when they are standard on one version and optional on another.

* "I am looking at used cars, the new ones are a bit too much to spend on a car that isn't driven much."
 
LeftieBiker said:
I'm going to make two more observations, then drop this. First, the US SV came with 16" wheels until 2015 - I wasn't trying to compare 2018 to 2018 model year only. IIRC, the OP was looking at used Leafs*. Second, the two critical differences between an S and an SV are the heatpump (now an option on the US SV) and telematics. Things like heated seats don't strike me as a critical difference when they are standard on one version and optional on another.

* "I am looking at used cars, the new ones are a bit too much to spend on a car that isn't driven much."

And I'm comparing 2019 models to 2019 models, and not used because 1. that makes it FAR too confusing given the changes over the various model years (and which aren't always consistent from country to country) and 2. I don't know of any way to pull up specs for previous years just for US-spec cars, much less any other country's spec.

If someone can show me proof that the pre-2018 Canadian spec Leaf S did NOT come with a hybrid heater, I'll stand corrected, and have said so previously in this forum when I've been corrected. I have no problem admitting I'm wrong, as long as you can show me proof that I'm wrong. I just wish you'd do the same.
 
If someone can show me proof that the pre-2018 Canadian spec Leaf S did NOT come with a hybrid heater, I'll stand corrected, and have said so previously in this forum when I've been corrected. I have no problem admitting I'm wrong, as long as you can show me proof that I'm wrong. I just wish you'd do the same.

Not very classy. First you insist that I prove your claim, based on something you think you remember, then you tell me I won't admit to being wrong. Whatever. I'm not going to read your posts for a while. Too much spam to delete.
 
LeftieBiker said:
If someone can show me proof that the pre-2018 Canadian spec Leaf S did NOT come with a hybrid heater, I'll stand corrected, and have said so previously in this forum when I've been corrected. I have no problem admitting I'm wrong, as long as you can show me proof that I'm wrong. I just wish you'd do the same.

Not very classy. First you insist that I prove your claim, based on something you think you remember, then you tell me I won't admit to being wrong. Whatever. I'm not going to read your posts for a while. Too much spam to delete.

The issue is that for some reason, if I disagree with you, it seems like you take it very personally. And I don't know why, I think we agree more than we disagree. But when we do disagree, we REALLY disagree.

My burden of proof is as little as "I have a 2016 Leaf S Canadian-spec and it does NOT have the hybrid heater." That's far more convincing than the arguments you've proposed as to why you claim it doesn't, that's all.
 
Not picking sides, just want to settle the matter:

https://insideevs.com/2013-nissan-leaf-priced-in-canada-from-31698-will-arrive-in-early-summer/

See spec sheet at the bottom of that article...
 
alozzy said:
Not picking sides, just want to settle the matter:

https://insideevs.com/2013-nissan-leaf-priced-in-canada-from-31698-will-arrive-in-early-summer/

See spec sheet at the bottom of that article...

Thank you. I stand corrected then.
 
I just wanted to thank everyone for their input. My wife and I went over things again and even thought a small gas car would probably be cheaper we wanted an electric car. So we picked up a 2015 S with 27,000 kms and a battery health of about 94%. Other than how dead the steering wheel feels compared to my VW golf, the car is a pretty fun to drive around town. Have to charge the car about every 2-3 days and I am not all that light on the accelerator or the use of heat so that's great.

Thanks again.
 
instanoodles said:
I just wanted to thank everyone for their input. My wife and I went over things again and even thought a small gas car would probably be cheaper we wanted an electric car. So we picked up a 2015 S with 27,000 kms and a battery health of about 94%. Other than how dead the steering wheel feels compared to my VW golf, the car is a pretty fun to drive around town. Have to charge the car about every 2-3 days and I am not all that light on the accelerator or the use of heat so that's great.

Thanks again.

Congrats on the purchase. I've had my 2015S for the last 3.5 years and it has been the perfect commuter car for me. We've actually ended up using it almost exclusively on the weekends for running errands as well since it is easy to park and peppy between stop lights. I hope y'all enjoy it for years to come.

Just out of curiosity, did you get one with the QC package?
 
golfcart said:
instanoodles said:
I just wanted to thank everyone for their input. My wife and I went over things again and even thought a small gas car would probably be cheaper we wanted an electric car. So we picked up a 2015 S with 27,000 kms and a battery health of about 94%. Other than how dead the steering wheel feels compared to my VW golf, the car is a pretty fun to drive around town. Have to charge the car about every 2-3 days and I am not all that light on the accelerator or the use of heat so that's great.

Thanks again.

Congrats on the purchase. I've had my 2015S for the last 3.5 years and it has been the perfect commuter car for me. We've actually ended up using it almost exclusively on the weekends for running errands as well since it is easy to park and peppy between stop lights. I hope y'all enjoy it for years to come.

Just out of curiosity, did you get one with the QC package?

Yup, the dealer that imported the car from the US only brings in ones that have the QC package. I am enjoying it quite a bit right now, I like how high up it is because it was hard to get out of my golf wagon. For the moment we have both cars insured so if we ever need them a the same time my wife always takes the Leaf so she is enjoying it as well.
 
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