Love and Hate about our new Leaf 2018

[webeleafowners]

Hey Sagebrush. Yah I don’t think I would dare to call it data. My “data” is my GOM readout LOL . It actually did drop a bit before the software update but now is pretty much the same to what it was when we got the car. About twice a month we go a certain route consisting of mixed driving speeds. It uses about 75 percent of our range and we have similar Kilometers left on the GOM as we did a couple years ago. Because of where we travel and speeds we travel, our GOM has always been very accurate. I realize this is not the case for everyone and has more to do with our conditions and speed limits.

Anyway, the car has been flawless and we really haven’t seen much change from new. I know, not very scientific right. . If Tesla comes out with a hatchback before are ready for our next car in a couple years we’ll consider that. Otherwise we wouldn’t hesitate to get another leaf...maybe a Nismo this time.

[SageBrush]

^^
If the trips are in similar road conditions, traffic and weather, it can be used as a raw gauge to trend but I would be wary of sweeping statements. I commute to work over a very predictable route using cruise control and still see 10% variation day to day. I presume wind is the difference although I rarely notice it.

[DaveinOlyWA]

Like any set of data collected in a highly variable setting, only several measurements tossing out the lows and highs can be used. I see the same variability on my work commute. RT distance is a rock steady 23.1 miles but speed is hardly consistent with 50 mph semi rural, 35 and 40 mph urban and 30 mph city streets. Traffic is anywhere from light to very heavy.

The other thing is we tend to blend driving experiences into each other thinking our driving, speed, conditions, weather, etc is the same when it really isn't. "close" isn't good enough when you are talking EVs with efficiencies in the 90's. At that level, EVERYTHING matters.

[webeleafowners]

^^
If the trips are in similar road conditions, traffic and weather, it can be used as a raw gauge to trend but I would be wary of sweeping statements. I commute to work over a very predictable route using cruise control and still see 10% variation day to day. I presume wind is the difference although I rarely notice it.

Yepir. And I like that term “raw gauge”. But for a non techs guy like me that’s about as good as it gets.

Interestingly enough we have also seen little degradation on our Electric smart. I think we have been lucky with our two EV’s. Both have been bullet proof and never needed a single repair. The smart is now just over three years old and surprisingly we are putting more mileage on it. But, it’s a convertible so......

[Newporttom]

Had our 2018 for almost a month and a bit over 1,000 miles. We put over 39,000 miles in close to 3 years on our 24Kwh Lizard replacement battery without losing a bar. So we "took a chance" on the 2018 without TMS.

Dislikes are pretty small. Wish the NAV displayed ETA. Wish the steering wheel telescoped. The center console gets in the way of my right knee. But since my wife drives it 90% of the time it's not a huge thing.

But we love the ride.... and wow do we love the range. She has a 52 mile commute. She would get home with 20 miles left on the GOM. Now she gets home with like 120.

Today she did her commute. We charged it for an hour, and then drove it 37 miles round trip toa restaurant and got home with about 118, Most of her driving is 45 MPH or less. About 10 miles each way is highway.

Tried the Lane assist a couple times. Wasn't crazy about it. Tried Lane Departure. It's ok. Like the Adaptive cruise control a lot. Like the E-Pedal.

[DaveinOlyWA]

Had our 2018 for almost a month and a bit over 1,000 miles. We put over 39,000 miles in close to 3 years on our 24Kwh Lizard replacement battery without losing a bar. So we "took a chance" on the 2018 without TMS.

Dislikes are pretty small. Wish the NAV displayed ETA. Wish the steering wheel telescoped. The center console gets in the way of my right knee. But since my wife drives it 90% of the time it's not a huge thing.

But we love the ride.... and wow do we love the range. She has a 52 mile commute. She would get home with 20 miles left on the GOM. Now she gets home with like 120.

Today she did her commute. We charged it for an hour, and then drove it 37 miles round trip toa restaurant and got home with about 118, Most of her driving is 45 MPH or less. About 10 miles each way is highway.

Tried the Lane assist a couple times. Wasn't crazy about it. Tried Lane Departure. It's ok. Like the Adaptive cruise control a lot. Like the E-Pedal.

In your climate I would strongly suggest not charging to 100% for the daily commute. I am currently experimenting on degradation verses temps at lower SOC (good results) against degradation at high SOC and cooler temps (not so good results)

[kosjet]

Here are my thoughts on the 2018 Leaf after almost a month. This is my 2nd BEV, my first being a 3 year lease on a 2014 Ford Focus Electric.

What I like:

• Range: The first thing for me is I never worry about range anymore on a normal driving day and day tripping (<100 miles round trip) basis
• The other thing I realize is that the larger the battery pack, the easier to keep the battery in it's optimal healthy range. For me, it's pretty easy to keep the car within the 40-80% range as that gives me 60 miles of EPA range, which is 2 days of normal commuting for me.
• ePedal: It's truly one pedal driving with a predicable linearly increasing regeneration as you lift your foot
• Pro Pilot: For what it is, an enhanced cruise control, it works quite well. Yes, it's no Auto Pilot, but as a $650 option, it's a serious value.
• Aux Jack: The audio connectivity options of the Leaf. I was surprised to find an Aux jack! I like having my cell phone connected to the Bluetooth, but like keeping my podcasts on an old cell phone. I'm actually able to keep this configuration with the aux jack!
• Climate Control: I like the ability to explicitly turn on the heat or AC or just run the fan.
• Acceleration: The car is peppy! Ok, of course it's not as quick as the Teslas or even the Bolt, but it can hold it's own.
• Build quality: I'm impressed by the solid feel of the car. The doors have a nice solid clunk to them on closing and the interior feels solid in it's fit and finish.
• Trunk space: The Leaf has a pretty good sized trunk. I can see us having enough space for a week long road trip with the kids.

Things I find that could be better:

• Trip Computer: For all the screens the Leaf has, I was surprised to see it did not have a Watt Hour meter on the trip computer. That was my go to metric for calculating and estimating range remaining. I can see why Leaf Spy is used by so many.
• Seat heaters: They seem pretty weak. Not sure it's because the seats in the Leaf are thicker than the Focus', but they definitely don't feel as warm.

[LeftieBiker]

I have to update my Tips & Tricks guide, because the 2018 Leaf has a BIG improvement in the climate control: you can use the Heat + Defrost setting with Recirculate! In the previous Leafs if you wanted to have a recirculate option, you had to use Floor only and turn the fan up a little. I was so used to that that I never tried to use Recirculate with that setting until recently, because I had been driving our Prius, which has that setting. I believe that partial/Auto recirculate also works with it.

[Sch]

Thanks. 3 more things I forgot to say adding to my LOVE bucket:

• - I really LOVE the B-Mode regenerative braking system. Love love love, both my wife and I never use D-mode. For those who used to drive standard transmission, you will love it. It's like shifting down to 2nd gear without the need to brake. In many cases, I didn't even need to apply brake to turn.
  - e-Pedal is very good for traffic congestion
  - The car looks very cool, I just tinted the glass last week. It looks like a sport car (although I am a bit old for that)
  
  

I’m a very new 2018 Leaf owner.
What’s the difference between B-Mode and the E-Peddle?

[HerdingElectrons]

I’m a very new 2018 Leaf owner.
What’s the difference between B-Mode and the E-Peddle?

"B" mode is a more aggressive regeneration setting so that when you let off the accelerator pedal you slow down more rapidly before needing to press the brake pedal & typically you use the brake pedal a lot less.

E-Pedal takes the extra regen of "B" mode & adds friction braking as the car deems it is needed & if you judge your stopping distances correctly you don't have to touch the brake pedal. Also you don't have to hold the brake pedal at a stop light or even on a hill. It's pretty nice IMO.