Down four bars with little effect

[Rat]

My 2011 Leaf finally lost its 4th bar of battery capacity. The GOM usually shows about 42 miles of range when charged. At times I've found it says it has 56 mi. of range if I've been driving slow without A/C or heat, although I'd never use it for anything over 35 miles or so. I've found the reduced range hasn't really affected me. Partly that's due to the pandemic and partly since I'm retired. I just don't have many places to go. A long drive is a 15-mile R/T to the doctor. Also, I can take my wife's ICE car for anything long. I'm looking to trade in the car for another EV very soon, but not because of the range, although, of course, I expect much longer range on whatever new EV I buy. I'm curious, though, if anyone else has run their 2011 Leaf battery down this far and continued to use it successfully. It seems to me it could be a great car for the proverbial little old lady who only drives to the supermarket and church on Sunday or even the commuter who has a relatively short commute and company charging. I could see it get down to five or six bars and still be usable this way.

[alozzy]

The other interesting outcome now possible is that you sell it for $3k and the new owner's intention is to buy a 40 kWh or 62 kWh pack from a wrecked LEAF, to give it a second life.

Based on the experience of another 2011 LEAF owner here, he/she spent about $12k total and now has a 62 kWh pack in a 2011 LEAF:

https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic. ... 90#p595977

This really is fantastic news for the long term viability of LEAFs, assuming more EV repair shops offer this sort of service in the near future...

[downeykp]

Aloha RAT. My 2011 is down to 5 bars. I can get to and from the places I need to get to. But anything else is not doable. Had to tow it from Hilo to new house in Kona. Set the parking brake on the trailer and forgot to turn off parking brake and tried to back off trailer without releasing parking break. Totally fuc$ed up parking brake and had to have it replaced at $1900. I am out of owning an ev. It was fun for a while but nissan will not be getting any more money from me.
When is next book coming out? Have read all of them. Good stuff. Keep them coming.

[SageBrush]

I'm looking to trade in the car for another EV very soon

Why ?

[Rat]

Aloha RAT. My 2011 is down to 5 bars. I can get to and from the places I need to get to. But anything else is not doable. Had to tow it from Hilo to new house in Kona. Set the parking brake on the trailer and forgot to turn off parking brake and tried to back off trailer without releasing parking break. Totally fuc$ed up parking brake and had to have it replaced at $1900. I am out of owning an ev. It was fun for a while but nissan will not be getting any more money from me.
When is next book coming out? Have read all of them. Good stuff. Keep them coming.

I'm glad to hear you like the books. I'm not working on one at the moment. I just finished up the last one a couple of months ago. I've said after each book that's the last one. Maybe this time I'll mean it. It takes about a year of work. If I get inspired maybe I'll succumb to temptation again. Sorry to hear about your brake disaster.

[Rat]

I'm looking to trade in the car for another EV very soon

Why ?

Several reasons, although none of them by themselves are all that bad. The worst is the lack of a functional heater. When Carwings ended I spent the money for the new widget to start the heater remotely, but it didn't work. I got a refund, but basically, the only way to heat the car is to turn on the motor and let it run for about three minutes. This is okay in the garage, but when I'm parked outside, I can't leave it that way since I'd have to leave the key fob. I don't like sitting in 35 degree weather in the car in my gym clothes before I can defrost the window and start driving. Even at its max, it doesn't really heat the car well. Other issues include the inadequate sunshade, the poor quality seats, poor visibility, and lack of more modern safety and convenience features like as decent sound system, lane assistance, heated seats. I'm looking at a Volvo XC40 Recharge now. I also want the AWD, additional height, and ground clearance of an SUV.

[SageBrush]

I'm looking to trade in the car for another EV very soon

Why ?

Several reasons, although none of them by themselves are all that bad. The worst is the lack of a functional heater. When Carwings ended I spent the money for the new widget to start the heater remotely, but it didn't work. I got a refund, but basically, the only way to heat the car is to turn on the motor and let it run for about three minutes. This is okay in the garage, but when I'm parked outside, I can't leave it that way since I'd have to leave the key fob. I don't like sitting in 35 degree weather in the car in my gym clothes before I can defrost the window and start driving. Even at its max, it doesn't really heat the car well. Other issues include the inadequate sunshade, the poor quality seats, poor visibility, and lack of more modern safety and convenience features like as decent sound system, lane assistance, heated seats. I'm looking at a Volvo XC40 Recharge now. I also want the AWD, additional height, and ground clearance of an SUV.

I hear ya. There comes a time when we age faster than our cars.

The Volvo checks off a lot of boxes. My main objection is 200 mile EVs: excess range for local driving, but not enough to be a convenient trip car. For a no-ICE household like mine, the Volvo and similar range EVs are a poor fit. The more I think about it, the more I'm fine with owning 1.5 cars. I think I'll end up with one 400 mile range car and one 100 - 150 mile range car.

Addendum: Here is a Bjorn Nyland review of the Volvo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPyAeAKYdtg

He likes the car although the UI is annoyingly slow and it is an energy guzzler.

[philip]

This is okay in the garage, but when I'm parked outside, I can't leave it that way since I'd have to leave the key fob.

You can't leave the car on and take the key fob with you? I could do this on my 2012 and 2015.

[Rat]

This is okay in the garage, but when I'm parked outside, I can't leave it that way since I'd have to leave the key fob.

You can't leave the car on and take the key fob with you? I could do this on my 2012 and 2015.

I could, but someone could drive it away. Of course I would lock it, but car break-ins happen all the time around here. It may not be any use to them once they turn it off, but that won't stop them from using it for joyriding, criminal conduct, or selling it for scrap or parts.