My Life with Leaf

[Huie83]

Thanks for the review/info. I've been looking into EV's as my commute to work is only 12 miles each way, I usually stick to the side streets too.

We have a minivan for family duty and long trips. This seems like a perfect fit for commuting and local errand running.

I don't think I saw anything in the comments on monthly cost to charge the Leaf? I know it will be relative to miles driven and electricity cost. *Edit*, I found at 12 center per kwh, it costs around $3.48 per 100 miles.

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted By: Huie83
Thanks for the review/info. I've been looking into EV's as my commute to work is only 12 miles each way, I usually stick to the side streets too.

We have a minivan for family duty and long trips. This seems like a perfect fit for commuting and local errand running.

I don't think I saw anything in the comments on monthly cost to charge the Leaf? I know it will be relative to miles driven and electricity cost. *Edit*, I found at 12 center per kwh, it costs around $3.48 per 100 miles.


Please note you being in MN, cold (negative temps) could influence performance/range.

 

[pandus13]

EdwardC,

Have you used winter tires with your Leaf?
Also, any quirks particular to your city+suburbs drive?

Have a friend in Des Plaines who is on second leased Leaf, and very happy with what he has.
BIL, on the other hand in Northern suburbs has a 2017 and is very unhappy with winter (negative temps) range...But in regular weather did OK in Uber duty.

 

[Huie83]

Originally Posted By: pandus13
Originally Posted By: Huie83
Thanks for the review/info. I've been looking into EV's as my commute to work is only 12 miles each way, I usually stick to the side streets too.

We have a minivan for family duty and long trips. This seems like a perfect fit for commuting and local errand running.

I don't think I saw anything in the comments on monthly cost to charge the Leaf? I know it will be relative to miles driven and electricity cost. *Edit*, I found at 12 center per kwh, it costs around $3.48 per 100 miles.


Please note you being in MN, cold (negative temps) could influence performance/range.


Thanks, not something I thought of. I just read up on it, cold can really zap the range. Some reports are around 60% less range in 20 degree weather. That won't really work for me as a used 30KW model would only get 43 miles on a full charge in the winter. Not enough of a comfort gap for me even just back and forth to work especially if I cant plug it in as the battery heater would also be drawing from battery while not plugged in.

I need to read some more but that may be a deal breaker.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: spasm3
I see used leafs at really marked down prices. One would work for me as a commuter. But the CVT trans is what would keep my from ever getting one.

With the flat torque curve of an electric motor, i think a 2 speed ( mini powerglide) would be great. That or a manual.


Don't know why. It's not like one is trained to work on the rest of the car either......as far as the "power train" is concerned.


Generally-owners who have Leaf's sing their praises and are very happy.

Too bad you have fell victim to the anti-CVT here on BITOG.

 

[spasm3]

Originally Posted By: CKN


Generally-owners who have Leaf's sing their praises and are very happy.

Too bad you have fell victim to the anti-CVT here on BITOG.



I recently learned that the leaf is not a cvt! BITOG as nothing to do with my opinions on cvt transmissions. I form my own opinions. I don't like cvt's.

 

[Jooksing]

Originally Posted By: Scout1
Originally Posted By: macarose
Georgia used to be #1 for LEAF sales but once the state subsidies were eliminated, those sales went down by 90%.

The hot weather does a brutal number on these batteries. Even the new ones have trouble since the batteries for the LEAF are air cooled. We have tons of these vehicles at the auction and most of the Nissan dealers dump 'em instead of retailing them. This market is insanely oversupplied.



Interesting. If I recall correctly, the CarFax said my car came from Georgia. It was on a two year lease and I bought it with 15k miles on it here in Seattle. The oversupply of used Leafs makes these an extremely attractive deal. My car was around $30k sticker price, I bought it for $8995.

Nissan updated their battery sometime in 2013 to what they call the "Lizard Battery" which was supposed to handle the heat much better. Early Leafs in Arizona were suffering premature battery failures due to the heat. Like I said, I've seen no deterioration on my battery so maybe it worked!

I didn't get any federal tax benefit for being purchasing the Leaf as a second owner, but I did get a nice tax credit last year for installing the 240 volt charger in my garage.

Wow that is a great deal! I was considering a Leaf several years ago. @ 9k it is great even with out the incentive. How much is a battery swap? How much maintenance did you put on it?

 

[EdwardC]

Originally Posted By: pandus13
EdwardC,

Have you used winter tires with your Leaf?
Also, any quirks particular to your city+suburbs drive?

Have a friend in Des Plaines who is on second leased Leaf, and very happy with what he has.
BIL, on the other hand in Northern suburbs has a 2017 and is very unhappy with winter (negative temps) range...But in regular weather did OK in Uber duty.


I have, I got a set of the new Altimax Arctic 12 this past fall. I downsized and put them on 16" alloys from an older Nissan Altima. The tires have been fantastic this winter, good traction and very quiet. Thanks for the reminder, the snow tires could account for a few tenths of decreased miles per kwh.

The only quirks I would think of between the city and suburban driving is that in the suburbs, getting around would typically involve more highway miles in the 65-80mph range. That could easily be a 20% decrease in range compared to city traffic averaging well below 45mph. For example, the 70 mile round trip from Schaumburg down to Naperville on 355 at 80mph make induce range anxiety on the trip home. (And you may not even make it if the temps were in the teena.)

 

[EdwardC]

Originally Posted By: Jooksing
Originally Posted By: Scout1
Originally Posted By: macarose
Georgia used to be #1 for LEAF sales but once the state subsidies were eliminated, those sales went down by 90%.

The hot weather does a brutal number on these batteries. Even the new ones have trouble since the batteries for the LEAF are air cooled. We have tons of these vehicles at the auction and most of the Nissan dealers dump 'em instead of retailing them. This market is insanely oversupplied.



Interesting. If I recall correctly, the CarFax said my car came from Georgia. It was on a two year lease and I bought it with 15k miles on it here in Seattle. The oversupply of used Leafs makes these an extremely attractive deal. My car was around $30k sticker price, I bought it for $8995.

Nissan updated their battery sometime in 2013 to what they call the "Lizard Battery" which was supposed to handle the heat much better. Early Leafs in Arizona were suffering premature battery failures due to the heat. Like I said, I've seen no deterioration on my battery so maybe it worked!

I didn't get any federal tax benefit for being purchasing the Leaf as a second owner, but I did get a nice tax credit last year for installing the 240 volt charger in my garage.

Wow that is a great deal! I was considering a Leaf several years ago. @ 9k it is great even with out the incentive. How much is a battery swap? How much maintenance did you put on it?


We got a decently good deal on our LEAF new, there was a $10,000 credit from our local electric utility in partnership with Nissan (probably to help move the 2017 models before the new gen 2018s came out), then we got the federal $7,500 tax credit. Our model stickered for about $39k, got it for about $23k (paid tax on about $30k, got the credit just last week with the refund). We would not have bought it for anywhere near the sticker price.

 

[Scout1]

[/quote]
Wow that is a great deal! I was considering a Leaf several years ago. @ 9k it is great even with out the incentive. How much is a battery swap? How much maintenance did you put on it? [/quote]

Nissan has a new battery for $5500 plus installation and I hear someone is selling re-manufactured batteries for half that. I assume for those they just look for and replace bad cells. If my battery ever dies, I sure hope a retrofit would be available for a larger capacity battery but haven't heard of that yet.

I haven't really done any maintenance outside of the tires and wiper blades and now the new 12 volt battery. All pretty standard stuff. I hope to change the differential fluid sometime but probably doesn't really need it anytime soon. Oh yeah, my rear wiper blade needs replacing... the rubber got old