A thread for people happy with their Leaf

I had to make my first post here after seeing so many other negative threads about the Leaf. I have nothing but good things to say about my Leaf and am a bit surprised to see so many negative threads.

I bought a 2013 model S in 2017 for $14,000 CAD, which became $11,000 after rebates. It had 52,000 km on it and all 12 bars. I commute 60km each way to work, and prior to buying the Leaf was paying ~$300/month on gas for my commuter. There was a free level 2 charger where I worked, which is what made me consider buying an EV. When I did the math, it seemed like a no-brainer, despite not knowing anyone at the time with an EV, and my colleagues telling me I would regret it.

7 years later, it has paid for itself many times over in fuel savings. It now has 160,000kms on it and still has 10 bars. I have only had to replace tires twice and brakes once. It has a range of ~100km, so not enough to get to and from work, but I have been lucky to live in a rural part of Canada, and start work early enough where I almost never have to compete for the public charger. My colleagues now often comment on how wrong they were to try to talk me out of buying it.

I have never read this forum so until today had no idea about weak cells, potentially not having access to the final 25% of range, etc., which is now making me nervous. But this one has been so good to me I plan to keep driving it for a few more years. The climate here on Vancouver Island is ideal for the battery and I have almost never needed to DC charge it, so hopefully it keeps going strong for a while longer.

So far so good with my 2021 Leaf SV, loving it so far. It was an impulse buy, but it has turned out great. It replaced my commuter car, a 2104 Kia Rio. Since the Kia Rio is very basic transportation the Leaf is an improvement in every aspect. I feel like I went from the outhouse to the penthouse.

The purchase price was pretty good too. It came out to a total of $12.5k after the used EV tax credit.

I bought it knowing I would be able to save money on commuting costs. I find that we are saving even more money than I expected because we almost always drive it on the weekends now, too. It is a no brainer when I think that taking the Leaf over our other car saves $5 or more in gas when we want to go somewhere. Those $5 bills will add up to a good amount over the life of the car.

jmortstar said:

I have never read this forum so until today had no idea about weak cells, potentially not having access to the final 25% of range, etc., which is now making me nervous. But this one has been so good to me I plan to keep driving it for a few more years. The climate here on Vancouver Island is ideal for the battery and I have almost never needed to DC charge it, so hopefully it keeps going strong for a while longer.

Click to expand...

Like with any car, people can have problems, often when they do, they come to forums looking for help. If you read everything here you begin to think problems are all there are. But you experience and mine so far have been nothing but good.
That is why I started this thread, so people will see how many people are happy with what they have.

Had a first Gen 2012 Leaf with the Canary pack that I bought second hand with 51K km and 11/12 bars. Drove it to 123K km when it still had 9/12 bars. Zero issues, saved a ton on fuel and servicing and was a great town run around/ kid transporter. Seriously looked at battery replacement on when the range got down to inconvenient levels, but batteries are not easy to come by in Australia, and new replacement packs don't really make sense economically yet unless you turn the old pack into a Powerwall which isn't straightforward. So I ended up selling it and picked up a 2017 Japanese import Gen 2 in full G-Spec. I looked at other EV alternatives but for sheer cost it was hard to go past another Leaf and I know plenty of people who've had them with zero issues. Have had it for a couple of months. Here's a summary if likes and dislikes between the versions

Likes
- One pedal driving. Nissan nailed it with this version
- Heat pump, heated seats and steering wheel (First Gen Australian version didn't have any of these)
- More powerful drivetrain. I never bother turning ECO off as it has more than enough grunt
- Guess-o-meter has definitely improved
- Not having to constantly manage trips and charging because of limited range
- A good mix of physical and virtual controls
- Apple/ Android Carplay
- 360 surround view and rear view mirror video display
- Larger boot space, although this comes with a cost in the back seat (see below)

Dislikes
- Whilst engine noise is lower, wind and road noise is definitely more prevalent in the Gen 2 version. Those bug-eyed headlines might've looked wacky but they obviously served a purpose
- Backseat room I think is poorer because of the lower roofline and higher floor.
- I really liked the head up display style binnacle digital speedo in the older version as it was always in your peripheral vision.
- No roof mounted sunglasses storage
- Auto dipping headlights are hit and miss

Anyway at the end of the day I'm really happy with my Leaf experiences thus far. Sure if you live in a really hot climate, need to be rapid charging often or doing really long road trips there are better alternatives, especially since Chaedemo is dying out. But as a city/ short rural trip runabout it's a seriously practical option and good value on second hand markets.

I drive EVs to get in HOV lanes in Los Angeles congested traffic. 50 miles commute each way, every day.
My first EV was 2017 Hyundai IONIQ, fun to drive, sexy car, only 80 miles range. It was a no milage restrained lease, which I drove 96000 miles in 3 years.
My second EV was a 2020 Honda Clarity Hydrogen Fuel, which they paid $15000 toward the cost of Hydrogen. I spent most of my time looking for Hydrogen stations, waiting in line to fuel, or fulling the car. The $15000 was supposed to last 60000 miles but finished at around 40000. I fought and made Honda take the car back after 2 years.
I bought my 2022 SV +, couldn't get a high milage lease. Certainly the ugliest of the bunch, with the lowest number of frills and bells, but I am happy with the performance. I get about 200 miles per charge driving all highway 75-80 mph. After 60000 miles the battery still shows 12 bars, which I learned is good.
I never had to worry about my previous leased cars, but since I bought this one, I got interested in this forum, and am learning a lot.

I like em so much I bought two

Us too

I'm sure I am late to this thread, but I would like to share my story. In March my wife and I started looking into the EV world. We are both into lowering our carbon footprint and tired of high gas prices in Oregon. My two sons, 3 and 6, are also getting into what we can do about greenhouse gases and saving the environment (the "Magic School Bus" explained it pretty well for them). we weren't in the market to buy new, so we contacted a local dealer that only sells used EVs. After a test drive, the salesman urged me to wait another week to buy because Oregon was opening a $5000 voucher/rebate program. We ended up with a 2020 SV+ with tech package. We had already sold our 2016 Legacy, and decided to sell our 2013 Corolla. In the next few weeks we started the process of getting solar for our house since Portland General Electric are raising their rates to stupid high levels. Fortunately our house is a prime candidate and our solar will cover quite a bit more power than we use (installation will be soon. Permits take a while here). After being a 1 car family for a while we were realizing we needed another car. Fortunately I received an email saying my voucher was ready. It hadn't been ready in time for the 2020, so we had to do the application and wait for the $5000 check. I called the same dealer and they had a 2013 "Leash" for sale for $3600. They call it that since it only has 4 bars of battery. I only commute 6 miles a day and it was showing 35 mile range. They said that the state is running out of the rebate money and that day was the last day they were accepting vouchers. We quickly headed to the dealer after work, I test drove it, and was happy with it. After only 25 minutes the bill of sale, and a check for $625 were in my hand and I was driving home in my new-to-me 2013 Leaf S.
I haven't been an EV owner for long, but I am sure I will never go back to gas. Once the solar panels are installed charging our 2 EVs will be free and our carbon footprint will be much smaller.

DougWantsALeaf said:

Us too

Click to expand...

as you can see, so do we -- black Leaf is a sweetheart except it gets HOT if we can't find shade to park beneath; white Leaf has fewer miles, more bars, bought from couple who needed a Tesla for range; it stays cooler, though with 17" wheels / Michelins, it uses slightly more power than the black Leaf with 16" wheels / Ecopias

I should pile on with the Love...

My first EV was back in 2012, I bought a used 2012 S, it was bought under one of those "give you a few days and return it it for a full refund" things from the local CarMax. I was so impressed with just the "S" trim, I did return the EV for a full refund, but not because I wasn't satisfied, I wanted to "upgrade". I waited until late winter of the next year and bought a new 2013 SV that had everything the SL had except the Leather seats and Solar Panel, which at that time, didn't matter much to me. I drove it for 8 years without ever a single problem. I had my fair share of fun experiments on it, but never did it let me down. Especially once I switched the 12V battery over to LiFePO4 in 2015.

Finally in February of 2021, I bought another new 2020 SL Plus because it was a clearance model on the Lot and the deal was hard to pass up to drive basically the same EV I was use to but bigger battery and faster and more tech. I trade in my 2013 SV to the dealership (that was then sold by the dealership after only 2 days afterwards, it had a trailer hitch, upgraded head-lights, in excellent condition, etc.) and have been even more satisfied with my Leaf driving experience since then.

My 2020 + Leaf has been as far south as Florida, as far north as New Hampshire, as far west at Arkansas and as far East as South Carolina. Rural trips take more planning of course, but I've never felt "constrained" by the range of my new Leaf. It just took some common sense planning and some backup plans in case something didn't work out, QC wise.

My 2020 + Leaf has also rescued other vehicles via a tow dolly for friends (and myself) that range in size from small compact cars to full sized trucks. I've towed trailers and construction equipment that weight more than the Leaf itself in many situations where it's safe (not up the side of a mountain ) and pulled people out of ditches in the winter time when it made sense. I don't see the Leaf on the same level as a Tow Truck, but sometimes you only need to lend a little "help" that can save you or your friends a lot of money versus Tow Truck fees.

My 2020 + Leaf is also my "backup" power. I use to keep a nice gas generator for those purposes, but sold it long ago because the Leaf works just as well with no mess, no gas, no fuel maintainer or maintenance as you can't just let a generator sit, it has to be run periodically to make sure it will work when needed.

Finally, my kids have all grown up on "EVs" and to them it is normal. Gas cars to them seem like people driving around in Flintstone cars, lol. The concept of having to drive out to the gas station or the gas "smell" that all gas cars have is very alien to them. My kids want to drive some kind of "EV" when old enough, don't care anything about having a loud and stinky gas vehicle, so very different from when I was growing up, but so goes the generations to the future...

knightmb said:

My 2020 + Leaf is also my "backup" power.

Click to expand...

What are you using to get power to your house from the car? I have been thinking of doing this.

Klausstein said:

What are you using to get power to your house from the car? I have been thinking of doing this.

Click to expand...

I originally had a 3 kW gas powered generator. I had already setup a double-pole throw system where I could transfer power into the house to certain outlets. I could run anything that needed 120V, but not something like a clothes dryer or water heater (240V). Mainly, wanted to make sure I could power the fridge to avoid food spoiling and have a way to cook food, so the Microwave oven does that just fine. I also wired about 90% of the house lights into that system, so during a power outage, house lights would work like normal. I'm more limited because I'm using the Leaf's 12V system to power my inverter that connects to the house, 1500 watts is the safe max. Still, that is more than enough to run anything my family needs to stay comfortable during a power outage until power is restored. It's not a full house solution, but it turns out the 3 kW generator was overkill unless I was going to try and power a bunch of space heaters I guess. It only takes about 500 watts to run the fridge, 1000 watts to power the microwave at full power (I have an inverter microwave, so I can actually adjust the power levels it uses), along with lights which use practically no power as they are all LED, etc. If it was hot, the AC system already runs on 120V (600W) because it's a Geo-Thermal system, if it was cold, then low powered space heaters would be the solution, etc. It's certainly not a "live off the grid" setup for long term use, but between storm blackouts and rolling blackouts the power company does on purpose during extreme weather events, it fills the gaps nicely and can last for days if needed for extreme outages.

I'm fairly adventurous but I wouldn't tow a Leaf with a Leaf. We used my brothers Seinna with tow package to move mine from the Twin Cities to western Iowa. I purchased a used tow dolly and will be installing electric brakes on it for future tows.
We didn't have a problem with the tow, but all it takes is someone doing something stupid right in front of you to take a bad situation and turn it into a disaster. At 3600 lbs or there about pushing you, with nothing on its side of the pivot point adding brake power, it can easily push the whole set up into a jacknife.
I guess I've pull to many loads in the 170,000 lb range to cut corners on safety.
My current tow vehicle weighs more than double what the Leaf does, but I am equipping with an electric brake controller anyway, even if it is 6 volt positive ground!

Klausstein said:

I'm sure I am late to this thread, but I would like to share my story. In March my wife and I started looking into the EV world. We are both into lowering our carbon footprint and tired of high gas prices in Oregon. My two sons, 3 and 6, are also getting into what we can do about greenhouse gases and saving the environment (the "Magic School Bus" explained it pretty well for them). we weren't in the market to buy new, so we contacted a local dealer that only sells used EVs. After a test drive, the salesman urged me to wait another week to buy because Oregon was opening a $5000 voucher/rebate program. We ended up with a 2020 SV+ with tech package. We had already sold our 2016 Legacy, and decided to sell our 2013 Corolla. In the next few weeks we started the process of getting solar for our house since Portland General Electric are raising their rates to stupid high levels. Fortunately our house is a prime candidate and our solar will cover quite a bit more power than we use (installation will be soon. Permits take a while here). After being a 1 car family for a while we were realizing we needed another car. Fortunately I received an email saying my voucher was ready. It hadn't been ready in time for the 2020, so we had to do the application and wait for the $5000 check. I called the same dealer and they had a 2013 "Leash" for sale for $3600. They call it that since it only has 4 bars of battery. I only commute 6 miles a day and it was showing 35 mile range. They said that the state is running out of the rebate money and that day was the last day they were accepting vouchers. We quickly headed to the dealer after work, I test drove it, and was happy with it. After only 25 minutes the bill of sale, and a check for $625 were in my hand and I was driving home in my new-to-me 2013 Leaf S.
I haven't been an EV owner for long, but I am sure I will never go back to gas. Once the solar panels are installed charging our 2 EVs will be free and our carbon footprint will be much smaller.

Click to expand...

Great story. 2024 Leaf SV Plus owner. I too am happy with my 2024. I also was happy with my 2018 SL, 2020 SL Plus, my 2023 SV Plus was a lemon, but Nissan replaced in under the lemon law with the 2024 SV Plus. Happy with Nissan too.

I fond it humorous how many fewer issues I have had road tripping my Leaf vs. friends with Teslas and Lucids. Part of it is just plain expectations mgmt. and the other part is just the up front stop planning and plugshare check for station operability.
While Chademo is waning. Reliability has been excellent for me personally(for stations listed as in operation).

The ease of travel now vs. 2019 when I bought my Plus is night and day. So many options across Iowa, Missouri and even Illinois now.

All that said, I am tempted to buy an adapter to make it even easier. The A2Z users appear to be having good success with the adapter.

I am also very satisfied with my Leaf 30! It is just a perfect daily driver. From my sight as a car-mechanic the quality and the construction of this car is at top Level. And here in Germany we are obsessed with quality.... I bought it with crashed front and without battery. Nissan had a Program for renting the Batteries and after the crash they dismounted it. After restoring it did 55000 Km in 4 years without any issue. What I like the most is to get aware with the fact that you don`t need more. Yes there are cars that have more power and charge faster, but do I need it? Not really. It has enough power to go speedy overland and the precise handling makes it fun and safe. And growing kids with EVs is realy awesome, my anecdote: in Physics the topic was energy-transformation and as a matter of course my daughter wrote, that a car transforms electrical energy into kinetic energy.... what else ? (proud dad)

We have been driving Leafs since 2011 when we leased a new SL which came with an installed level 2 EVSE, courtesy of a federal program. In 2014, the car had about 30,000 miles and had lost 2 bars, although it had never been charged eith a level 3 charger. At that point, Nissan was almost giving away new leases so we leased a new 2014 S for two years at $99/month. In 2015 we bought a 2013 S lease return which had about 8,000 miles. In 2016, Nissan offered another year on the 2014's lease at $99/month, which we accepted. In 2017 Nissan offered to sell us the 2014 at a bargain price, so we bought it. We still have the 2014, which has about 90,000 miles and still shows 12 bars. Our son now drives the 2013. It has about 80,000 miles and shows 11 bars. The 2013 doesn't have level 3 capability and the 2014 has been charged with a level 3 charger once for about ten minutes. As they are strictly local cars, we're more than happy with them.

In early 2021 we leased a new 2020 SV+. At that point it was a buyer's market and the lease price reflected the federal tax credit and a factory rebate. We hoped it could be our trip car to replace the old Subaru and Volvo. Fate made it our trip car when the Subaru was stolen and the Volvo totalled by being rear ended. The first time we used a public level 3 charger was when I went to retrieve our son and his fiance from where the Volvo was totalled, about 120 miles from home. We stopped at an EVGO charger and it took a 20 minute phone call to get the charge started and a second call to stop it. Not a good sign. The next trip was 450 miles in one day which required three charges. Two went fine, but the charger died in the middle of a charge. Fortunately, there was another nearby charger, so we were able to complete the charge without too much delay.

The final straw was a 1,200 mile trip in the fall of 2022. While we were never stranded, we had problems almost every time. On the return part of the trip, my wife had to drive as I was ill. Charging in 100° weather where the charger failed part way through and nobody answered the EA customer service phone topped off the trip. We decided to either get a plug in hybrid or a Tesla. At that point it was a seller's market and car prices were high. Fortunately, we were able to sell the SV+ to friends as a second car to their Tesla for $5,000 more than the lease buyout price and get a used Tesla. In the multiple trips we have taken in the Tesla, we have never had a problem charging.

We are happy with the first generation Leafs. There was nothing wrong with the SV+, but the abysmal state of public charging and Nissan's abandoning Leaf owners has lost them a customer. While our next car may not be a Tesla, it won't be a Nissan. It will almost certainly be an EV. Right now my Tesla can charge at CCS chargers with an adapter, which I keep in the car. It could charge at Chademo charger, but I see no reason. It will take several years for non-Tesla EV's to be able to use every available as Tesla will have to upgrade older chargers to be CCS compatible.

knightmb said:

I'm more limited because I'm using the Leaf's 12V system to power my inverter that connects to the house, 1500 watts is the safe max.

Click to expand...

Not to derail the thread, but where are you "tapping" the 12v system? I am able to charge my EcoFlow Delta Pro (battery backup) from the Leaf's 12v lighter, but that's not a direct connect to the house/transfer switch.

I love my 2021 Leaf plus. I wanted an EV for a while but was put off by the price since I commute around 45 miles one way to work and had to have the extended range. I took my Nissan Versa in for oilchange one day about 18 months ago and came home with a used Leaf. It was leased and the previous owner traded it in for an Aria with only 20,000 miles. I charged at the dealer until my friend could put in a charger at my house, I got a $500 rebate on the charger, and a special rate from Alabama Power. It is the best car, I love it.

Couldn't be happier with my 2020 SV+. We're retired, and our driving is minimal when we're at home. Two years prior to buying the Leaf we put solar on the roof (with 20% more collecting capacity to prepare for a Level 2 charger). We charge the Leaf about once a week only, from 11 to 3 or so (if needed)...so our friend the sun gases us up! "Evelyn" (our Leaf) is a joy to drive!