Nissan Leaf

[Naked_Duc]

As of last night, we are the proud owner of the Nissan Leaf. It is our 3rd Nissan we've bought, all first owner. The very 1st was a '94 Altima that my wife bought while she was in school. It lasted 17 years and 225K. It was still running well, returning 24 mpg, when we donated it.

Whether you are a fan of the Leaf or not, it's quite an engineering marvel, a front runner in the EV world. I am kinda geeky so I am loving all the gadgetry that comes with it. Already setup the charging timer and climate control timer late night (both built in). My wife woke up this morning to warm car with a full battery.

We went from 2 vehicles with 24mpg (94 Altima) and 30mpg (07 Altima) 2 years ago to 2 vehicles with 100mpg (Leaf) and 70mpg (NCX) today. Can you imagine getting 70mpg on the NCX and I am still considered the gas guzzler in my house?

 

[Big-R]

Congrats! What made you and your wife decide to buy an electric car?

 

[Fuzzy]

As a Nissan employee my son got one for a year for a ridiculously low lease rate. He had to agree to let them gather data. He enjoyed it especially that his lease rate was less than his gas bill on his previous car. If you can live with the limited range it is great. Don't understand why yours only gets 100 mpg as it uses ZERO gas. When the lease was up he swapped for a 380Z. A different kind of fun and amazing benefit as an employee. By the way he is involved in making the batteries for the Leaf. They had the U.S. battery plant up and running making batteries for a year before letting one of the batteries be installed in a leaf. Amazing dedication to making sure quality was 100% before putting one in a car.

 

[buckshot]

Right on, hope it works out for you. Can't say I've ever had much interest in Nissan, though I do like the Z cars. That rev-match feature on the 370Z is really cool. I'm also looking forward to seeing how their new Cummins V8 Titan works out. That should ruffle a few half-ton truck market feathers.

 

[Old Can Ride]

It won't be long until we are all charging our vehicle:

Electric Cars Can Now Travel From Montreal To Detroit Via Sun Country Charging Stations

 

[Naked_Duc]

Congrats! What made you and your wife decide to buy an electric car?

we were down to 1 car and it's racking up a lot of miles commuting. Plus weekend errands and trips, we are adding on 15K+ a year. Since we need a second car anyway, we figure we might as well get commuter car that's easy on the gas. The Leaf seems like the perfect car for daily commuter with its 100miles range. After extended research, I think it checks all the boxes.

- 100 miles range: we almost NEVER exceed 100 miles on a week day. The Wife commutes 46 miles round trip. Even with errands, it's well within the Leaf's range
- No gas needed: we figure we spend $200 on gas every month. Going all electric, it will cost $15 in electricity to charge the battery
- No Maintenance: no oil change every 3,000 miles, no engine/tranny tune up
- tax rebate of 7500, no sales tax, dealer incentives, the fully loaded Leaf is the same price as a Mazda3 Grand Touring

It all makes "cents". Between the 2 of us, we used to spend $400 a month on gas along. Now she drives the Leaf and I am on the NCX, we cut our gas bill to $40 (NCX) and $15 in electricity. For longer trips, we still have our gas-powered Altima. It will be used as the back up car and should last us a long while.

 

[Naked_Duc]

Don't understand why yours only gets 100 mpg as it uses ZERO gas.

It's the $ equivalent of getting 100+ mpg. After 2 days, we are averaging 4.5 miles per kw-h of electricity, which cost about $0.12. For $3.50 worth in electricity (= 1 gallon of gas), I should be able to go 131 miles. Well, maybe 110-120 miles since there is some loss in efficiency while charging.

 

[danrev]

More power to you (pardon the pun).

 

[DominusFL]

As a Volt owner, welcome to the world of electric driving!

 

[SergeantChuck]

I know nothing about electric cars. Just what I hear second hand. What is the battery life on the Leaf? Will it last 5yrs or more. And does the battery cell loose any of its capacity like a cell phone does over time. My wife doesn't work and just runs around town. Take the boys here and there. Well under 100 miles a day. She might make a quick trip to North Little Rock but that is only 50 miles round trip. I should try to talk her into one of these. I guess I'll do some research later today.

 

[kjang]

Were in the market for a new car soon. Sometime this or next year. It won't be a leaf though. Need something a little larger and able to travel more miles than the leaf can give. I do like the concept of the leaf. Need to do research soon though. Maybe a hybrid vehicle ??

Ken

 

[Naked_Duc]

What is the battery life on the Leaf? Will it last 5yrs or more. And does the battery cell loose any of its capacity like a cell phone does over time.

It's definitely worth looking into, Chuck. Battery life was my biggest concern going into it. All battery degrades over time and loses capacity. Although Nissan has a really good warranty on the battery, I still want to make sure it would still be useful and practical after 5 years.

There have been a lot of research by the Leaf drivers since it came out 3 years ago. A lot of geeky people who spent a lot of time compiling data on the battery life and building degradation model to see how it loses battery capacity over time. There is a time component (degrades over time) and a cycle component (how much you use it). What was surprising is the heat was found to be a battery killer as well. There have been cases in Arizona and SoCal where the battery would lose capacity rapidly in just a year or 2. Might have something to do with leaving the car out in the 100F sun all day and battery was fried.

Leaf Battery Degradation Model

In that model, I should still have 75-80% of capacity after 7 years, which is more than I would ask for.

I entered Little Rock, AR in the model. It predicted that you should still have 70% after 5 years. I think heat might play a bigger part in that. Keep it in the garage and you should see better results.

 

[SergeantChuck]

It's definitely worth looking into, Chuck. Battery life was my biggest concern going into it. All battery degrades over time and loses capacity. Although Nissan has a really good warranty on the battery, I still want to make sure it would still be useful and practical after 5 years.

There have been a lot of research by the Leaf drivers since it came out 3 years ago. A lot of geeky people who spent a lot of time compiling data on the battery life and building degradation model to see how it loses battery capacity over time. There is a time component (degrades over time) and a cycle component (how much you use it). What was surprising is the heat was found to be a battery killer as well. There have been cases in Arizona and SoCal where the battery would lose capacity rapidly in just a year or 2. Might have something to do with leaving the car out in the 100F sun all day and battery was fried.

Leaf Battery Degradation Model

In that model, I should still have 75-80% of capacity after 7 years, which is more than I would ask for.

I entered Little Rock, AR in the model. It predicted that you should still have 70% after 5 years. I think heat might play a bigger part in that. Keep it in the garage and you should see better results.

Someone spent a lot of time puttign that information together.

I read somewhere that the Nissan guarantees to replace or fix Leaf battery packs that fall below a certain performance level within the first five years of ownership, or 60,000 miles (96,540 kilometers). It didn't state the determined "performance level". It also stated that in the first half of 2014 they will be upgrading the current battery to the latest lithium-ion battery technology. Or offering some type of swap plan. I imagine it must extending the range or prolong life or they would not be doing it.

I can see how heat would be an issue. It reminds me of when I was a kid and my mom put the batteries in the refrigerator.

 

[Naked_Duc]

It also stated that in the first half of 2014 they will be upgrading the current battery to the latest lithium-ion battery technology. Or offering some type of swap plan. I imagine it must extending the range or prolong life or they would not be doing it.

I can see how heat would be an issue. It reminds me of when I was a kid and my mom put the batteries in the refrigerator.

I store batteries in the frig, too. Same kind of idea. Yes, I believe 2014 would have a more heat resistant battery pack for those in hotter climate. Nissan had been hard at work on that.

The warranty has been expanded to 8 years and 100K miles. I believe the threshold for warranty replacement is below 60% capacity.

 

[Fuzzy]

Be warned that using features like air conditioning or heater will reduce range. It does have a neat feature that you can use your smart phone to turn on heater while it is still plugged in to charger so car will be warm when you get in with full battery.

 

[kenf]

As a Nissan Employee in the UK and a proud NC700x DCT owner all I can say is You've made two great decisions, helping drag the world into the future with both

 

[Naked_Duc]

Help changing people's perception, one NCX and one Leaf at a time.

 

[Mukiwa]

Congrats,

Another NCX and Leaf owner here from Salt Lake City. We've had our 2012 Leaf for just over a year. Fantastic car, best decision I have ever made on car. We're averaging 120 mpg equivalent based on our electricity rates (11c/kwh), 3.7miles/kwh average consumption and $3.6/gal gas. We don't hyper mile and only use eco mode when going down steep hills for more engine braking/regen. The car now has just over 10,000 miles on the odo. We use it for all our daily errands, and commuting for my wife, which it excels at. You will find after a few months that range anxiety is a very overblown issue, and it will mostly likely disappear once you settle into a routine.

Cheers

 

[Fuzzy]

You guys can run that mileage equivalent up using public charging stations. In Tennessee Cracker Barrels are installing them in addition to others. Of course my son always plugged his in at work, but not everyone works at Nissan.

 

[670cc]

I sure like the idea of an electric car. Sounds very tempting. My electric rates in winter are under 5 cents/ kWh. I could drive that Leaf pretty darn cheap.

But, . . . I can buy an awful lot of gas for my 11 year old vehicle that only cost me $5k used 8 years ago, instead of buying a new $25,000 car (with tax payer help, no less). The cost of the car just has to come down first before it's feasible. Maybe someday it will make sense.

Greg