We purchased a new 2016 Leaf about 6 weeks ago and have put a little over 1,000mi on it. Thanks to Bitog members for the help when we were making the decision. So far, we are really liking the vehicle. We didn't need a new car, but we had planned on getting on within the next year, and there were some pretty good incentives going on. Plus this 2016 model has been sitting on the lot for at least a year, so the dealer was ready to get rid of it before the "all new" 2018s came out. Another thing to note is that this is not our only car, we still have the Honda Element for camping/road trips.
Car
The car is definitely quirky looking. It's not for everyone, but the looks have grown on us, and the smooth and quiet ride, plus cheap operation helps the curb appeal to us. The size is small, but not tiny. It's probably about the same size as the 2008 Civic sedan we had (maybe a hair narrower). The hatch trunk is useful as well. It's a surprisingly tall car. It almost looks like a mini crossover from the front. It handles well, but the EPS is incredibly light at low speeds, but better at high speeds. Not a lot of steering feel either way, although, this might be a side effect of pumping the tire pressures a couple PSI higher at the suggestion of other Leaf drivers. The ride is smooth enough. It's absolutely an appliance.
The low end torque makes it feel fairly fast, but it's no Tesla. The new 2018 models seem like a good compromise in power. The air conditioning works well and uses surprisingly little power. Our model has the upgraded Bose speaker system, which is fine, but not really necessary for us. We have the highest trim model, the SL, but there are still a couple little things that I would have liked, such as power front seats/driver memory and a power hatch. I know it's just a Nissan.
Our model has the LED headlights that seem to light the road very well without any glare to other drivers. I'm not too picky about visibility and haven't noticed any annoying blind spots.
Range Anxiety
Our longest trip so far has been to a friend's house in Elgin, IL, which Google maps said was 88 miles round trip. At highway speeds (65-75mph), we get about 3.5mi/kWh (for comparison, our overall average for the 6 weeks of ownership is 4.5mi/kWh with an average speed of 14.7mph). Somehow, there's constantly traffic on the highways around here, so for that trip, we averaged about 3.9 mi/kWh. We had no trouble making that trip, but it's likely as far as we're willing to go. We've really had no significant range anxiety issues. In the winter, the range is suppose to take a bigger hit since the heater uses so much power. I already purchased an extra set of wheels from an Altima to use for winter tires, which will likely further reduce winter range.
Charging
The Leaf comes with 2 years of "Nissan No Charge to Charge" promotion where we can charge for free at participating charging stations. There's a Nissan dealership 1.5 miles away, so we've been going there to do the bulk of our charging. My wife's commute is about 2.5 miles, so most weeks, we only need to charge on the weekend. The dealership has a fast charging DC charger that will charge 80% of capacity in 30 minutes. We plug into the garage wall outlet (standard 120V/15A) to top off the night before we know we'll need max range. We will use the free fast charges until the 2 years run out, then we'll just charge at home overnight. I believe the retail cost of a 30 minute quick charge session is $10 (calculates to appx. $2.75 in electricity at $0.12/kWh), so pretty pricey for ~80 miles of range.
I've learned that there's 4 main charging connection standards, the slow charging J1772 (L1/L2), Tesla's standard, the SAE Combo (J1772+DC fast charge), and the Chademo standard. This Leaf has the J1772 and Chademo.
The standard J1772 connection is the standard for the Leaf, it will charge from a 120VAC to 240VAC outlet. Plugged into a standard outlet (Level 1), the Leaf gains approximately 4 miles per hour. From a 240V 30A/50A outlet (L2), it should gain 12-25 miles per hour. There are several J1772 Level 2 (L2) that are free at some stores like the local Walgreens (not all are free), but we've come to the conclusion that the charge speed is too slow to be useful for any real trip planning. It's great if you're shopping and want to take advantage of free electricity though. Living in a condo, I made an agreement with the HOA to pay for the electricity used to charge at a rate of $0.15/kWh (actual costs is $0.12). I use a Kill-A-Watt meter to track it. Topping off, we have only used $5 in electricity so far.
Maintenance
No oil changes. There is coolant and brake fluid though. Plus there's an annual "Battery Check" that must be performed by a dealer. It's free for the first two years, then costs about $60 after that. It's supposedly required to maintain the 8yr/100,000mi battery warranty, but I'm not sure how strict that is.
Thanks for reading!
Car
The car is definitely quirky looking. It's not for everyone, but the looks have grown on us, and the smooth and quiet ride, plus cheap operation helps the curb appeal to us. The size is small, but not tiny. It's probably about the same size as the 2008 Civic sedan we had (maybe a hair narrower). The hatch trunk is useful as well. It's a surprisingly tall car. It almost looks like a mini crossover from the front. It handles well, but the EPS is incredibly light at low speeds, but better at high speeds. Not a lot of steering feel either way, although, this might be a side effect of pumping the tire pressures a couple PSI higher at the suggestion of other Leaf drivers. The ride is smooth enough. It's absolutely an appliance.
The low end torque makes it feel fairly fast, but it's no Tesla. The new 2018 models seem like a good compromise in power. The air conditioning works well and uses surprisingly little power. Our model has the upgraded Bose speaker system, which is fine, but not really necessary for us. We have the highest trim model, the SL, but there are still a couple little things that I would have liked, such as power front seats/driver memory and a power hatch. I know it's just a Nissan.
Our model has the LED headlights that seem to light the road very well without any glare to other drivers. I'm not too picky about visibility and haven't noticed any annoying blind spots.
Range Anxiety
Our longest trip so far has been to a friend's house in Elgin, IL, which Google maps said was 88 miles round trip. At highway speeds (65-75mph), we get about 3.5mi/kWh (for comparison, our overall average for the 6 weeks of ownership is 4.5mi/kWh with an average speed of 14.7mph). Somehow, there's constantly traffic on the highways around here, so for that trip, we averaged about 3.9 mi/kWh. We had no trouble making that trip, but it's likely as far as we're willing to go. We've really had no significant range anxiety issues. In the winter, the range is suppose to take a bigger hit since the heater uses so much power. I already purchased an extra set of wheels from an Altima to use for winter tires, which will likely further reduce winter range.
Charging
The Leaf comes with 2 years of "Nissan No Charge to Charge" promotion where we can charge for free at participating charging stations. There's a Nissan dealership 1.5 miles away, so we've been going there to do the bulk of our charging. My wife's commute is about 2.5 miles, so most weeks, we only need to charge on the weekend. The dealership has a fast charging DC charger that will charge 80% of capacity in 30 minutes. We plug into the garage wall outlet (standard 120V/15A) to top off the night before we know we'll need max range. We will use the free fast charges until the 2 years run out, then we'll just charge at home overnight. I believe the retail cost of a 30 minute quick charge session is $10 (calculates to appx. $2.75 in electricity at $0.12/kWh), so pretty pricey for ~80 miles of range.
I've learned that there's 4 main charging connection standards, the slow charging J1772 (L1/L2), Tesla's standard, the SAE Combo (J1772+DC fast charge), and the Chademo standard. This Leaf has the J1772 and Chademo.
The standard J1772 connection is the standard for the Leaf, it will charge from a 120VAC to 240VAC outlet. Plugged into a standard outlet (Level 1), the Leaf gains approximately 4 miles per hour. From a 240V 30A/50A outlet (L2), it should gain 12-25 miles per hour. There are several J1772 Level 2 (L2) that are free at some stores like the local Walgreens (not all are free), but we've come to the conclusion that the charge speed is too slow to be useful for any real trip planning. It's great if you're shopping and want to take advantage of free electricity though. Living in a condo, I made an agreement with the HOA to pay for the electricity used to charge at a rate of $0.15/kWh (actual costs is $0.12). I use a Kill-A-Watt meter to track it. Topping off, we have only used $5 in electricity so far.
Maintenance
No oil changes. There is coolant and brake fluid though. Plus there's an annual "Battery Check" that must be performed by a dealer. It's free for the first two years, then costs about $60 after that. It's supposedly required to maintain the 8yr/100,000mi battery warranty, but I'm not sure how strict that is.
Thanks for reading!