My list of things I'd like to see changed on the Gen 2 LEAF

[BLUEH20]

Thank you Leafnode.

Living in a rural area as we do negates a lot of the immediacy of discussion items on the forum.

I must say though; really have garnered a lot of useful information that we can use out here in burbs.

We are really a growing LEAF community--4 of us now-2 Blue, 1 White and 1 Silver.

 

[GPowers]

1. Better way of interactively engaging the re-generation function outside of using the ECon mode.

2. Dump the white upholstery, dumb dumb, especial on arm rest, offer a darker color and leather, or even vinyl.

3. Tinted front windshield and optional tinted glass all around

4. Get rid or the nag screen on the nav PLEASE!

5. Better storage for the portable EVSE, current storage looks like an after thought

 

[jkirkebo]

1. Better way of interactively engaging the re-generation function outside of using the ECon mode.

Agree. I would prefer a third driving mode, maybe "S "for Sport. Pedal response like in D and full regen (even more than ECO) with a faster ramping on pedal up. Maybe a little faster ramping of power on acceleration too. More like the Tesla Roadster. And light up the rear brake lights on full regen too, like the Roadster.

 

[N952JL]

Agreed. I despise where it is on the Prius! It makes it look and feel like a cheap minivan...

No definitely DO NOT put the shifter where the Prius is.

I think they should use push buttons. I remember the 1959 Imperial which had push buttons automatic along the left side of the insturment pannel. There were Park, Reverse, Netural , Drive, Drive 1. We could have Park, Reverse, Drive, and Drive econ. Not sure if there is a need for Netural.

 

[N952JL]

Agreed. I despise where it is on the Prius! It makes it look and feel like a cheap minivan...

No definitely DO NOT put the shifter where the Prius is.

I think they should use push buttons. I remember the 1959 Imperial which had push buttons automatic along the left side of the insturment pannel. There were Park, Reverse, Netural , Drive, Drive 1. We could have Park, Reverse, Drive, and Drive econ. Not sure if there is a need for Netural.

On second thought, it might have been on the Right.

 

[GPowers]

On second thought, it might have been on the Right.

1956 to 1966 they were on the left. I remember when I first saw them, as a kid, and though how dumb they were? Now I think they were very cool and ahead of there time.

 

[GPowers]

Here are some thoughts from our 2 weeks with the car:

16. And while we are talking about the steering wheel controls, Why right and left for volume up and down? (But I noticed that all the Nissan steering wheel control UIs are just as un-ergonomic as on the Leaf, so it is a systemic issue that probably won't be fixed on one model line)

My Guess---Because the display on the nav screen, showing the volume levels, is a horizontal graphic. That way the moment on the nav screen, showing the volume level, matches the left and right buttons on the steering wheel.

But then you can say it does not match the volume button on the center stack. So who knows what the engineers were thinking?

 

[johntaves]

1) save money by eliminating the display that you see through the steering wheel.
a) Eliminate the trees and round thing that tells us nothing that is next to the trees, use that space for simple miles to empty and charge gauge. The miles to empty should be much more instantaneous. The idea is that if I am doing 70, I want it to show me the range if I continue at 70.
b) odometer can be placed on the upper display
c) warning lights for door open, seat belt undone, can all fit up there.
d) The pointless battery temperature thing should be a warning that shows on the computer screen "We are slowing you down because we can't keep the batteries cool enough".
e) The other things on that display are generally pointless. Huge bars for battery temperature and charge gauge? WTF is that? The white dots that go left/right! What a joke. Detail information, that is useful, should be put on the center screen.

2) They did not provide us a way to determine when friction braking is happening, but instead of providing that, just make the "gas" pedal do all go/regen and brake pedal is only for friction.

3) Option to have a smaller battery pack. This would be a large savings.

4) Position switches for the on/off control and D/N/R/P button instead of the idiot momentary switches. Why not make this one switch? It is all fly by wire, so the computer will not engage P when it is moving too fast regardless of what I do with that switch. Indeed, it could emergency brake if happened to put it in Off/P while moving. I turn on the car and get it in R faster than it is capable, so a position switch would be better. The computer can take whatever time it needs to get the car on and in R as long as I am allowed to set that fast allowing my hand to be free to get on my seat belt.

5) button to tell climate control to stay on until I get back to the car. It should auto shut off if distance to home is threatened.

6) The range/charge indicator should be much more focused on getting me home. It should know where I live and therefore have no trouble determining what kw will be needed to get home. It could show estimated "detour" range. In other words, it will tell you how far you can go before you need to go straight home. Furthermore, the pointless ECO mode (WTF is the purpose of me deadening my pedal for me? Is this the same nonsense where someone sets their own clock ahead by 10 minutes to help them be on time?) should be automatic and tied to distance to home. If the car is determining it will be difficult to get home, it should deaden the pedal and shut down the climate control.

Indeed their whole marketing is directed in the wrong direction. Instead of worrying about charging stations, they should make it clear this car is always full, so you never check the gas gauge. You determine if the car can make it there and back before you go, and that answer is yes for 100% of your commute days (or you would not have bought it), and 99% of your weekend jaunts. In short, they should not attempt to sell this car to real estate agents, and single car people. The market is enormous for couples where one car will be gas and hardly ever used, because the other is electric.

I agree with many of the other suggestions: leather, power seats, better carpet, better charge door open location. Eliminate the solar cells.

 

[johntaves]

"...the display that you see through the steering wheel."

I thought I would make it absolutely clear my contempt for the engineers that spent time creating this crap by imaging what they said in the meetings.

pathetic engineer (PE): We need a display that encourages them to drive efficiently!
Dilbert (D): Why? Don't they pay for their electricity?
PE: We could light up more things as their journey goes farther more efficiently!
D: If this actually encouraged anything, wouldn't it encourage longer journeys? Isn't it more efficient to not go?
PE: I got it! We could make the things be trees that grow!
D: Take me out back and shoot me now.

PE: We need a tachometer type display.
D: Why?
PE: So they can see how much power is being used and generated.
D: What would one do with that information?
PE: It will look cool. We will make round white dots that go right for power usage and left for power gain.
D: White dots? If you think that white dots are the answer, aren't you proving that it is utterly pointless?

PE: We need a temperature gauge.
D: Why?
PE: So they can see the battery pack temperature.
D: What would they do with that information?
PE: Tell their friends.
D: The car automatically slows when it can't dissipate the heat generated fast enough, right?
PE: Yes, but if it gets too high, they should stop the car, open the radiator cap so that steam vents in their face. Wait, there is no radiator.
PE: But still let's make it take a large chunk of the screen with bright white bars and a number and have it have some red and blue.
D: I will now light myself on fire.

PE: The charge gauge you made for the upper display is too plain.
D: "too plain"? It is merely a % full gauge like you see on your laptop. There's really no other information.
PE: It should have bars that get thicker at the bottom, and have a pointless notch in them.
D: Um, it should?
PE: It should wrap around the miles number.
D: really?
PE: If we make it flashier like I am suggesting, we will need another display.
D: Exactly. We should avoid spending money on a useless display. We should also avoid spending money on the design and on your salary.

 

[nlagnew]

:lol: Well presented... I could barely stop snickering and snorting, John.

 

[jkirkebo]

1) save money by eliminating the display that you see through the steering wheel.

Disagree. I like having much of that info. Like the cruise control display.

2) They did not provide us a way to determine when friction braking is happening, but instead of providing that, just make the "gas" pedal do all go/regen and brake pedal is only for friction.

Agree, put full regen on the "gas" pedal. Much better this way.

3) Option to have a smaller battery pack. This would be a large savings.

As long as I get an option for a larger pack. About 40kWh would be nice.

4) Position switches for the on/off control and D/N/R/P button instead of the idiot momentary switches.

Disagree. I'd have to manually put the car in "P" then, instead of just shutting it off.

5) button to tell climate control to stay on until I get back to the car. It should auto shut off if distance to home is threatened.

Just leave the car "on" and locked. It won't auto shut off though.

6) The range/charge indicator should be much more focused on getting me home. It should know where I live and therefore have no trouble determining what kw will be needed to get home. It could show estimated "detour" range. In other words, it will tell you how far you can go before you need to go straight home. Furthermore, the pointless ECO mode (WTF is the purpose of me deadening my pedal for me? Is this the same nonsense where someone sets their own clock ahead by 10 minutes to help them be on time?) should be automatic and tied to distance to home. If the car is determining it will be difficult to get home, it should deaden the pedal and shut down the climate control.

Disagree. I often go somewhere else to charge than home. It should't assume I want to go home. And I much prefer the pedal response in ECO-mode, I never use D. Too sensitive IMHO.

I agree with many of the other suggestions: leather, power seats, better carpet, better charge door open location. Eliminate the solar cells.

Hmm, I neither want leather nor power seats. This is actually my main gripe about the Tesla Model S, it seems it won't be available with manual cloth seats. The solar cells are already optional.

I would like a telescoping steering wheel though and so would my wife.

 

[johntaves]

1) save money by eliminating the display that you see through the steering wheel.

Disagree. I like having much of that info. Like the cruise control display.

Um, what information? I don't mean what display things, I mean what real useful information is on that display that cannot be easily fit into the one that has the speedometer (after removing the pointless round thing with trees), or put onto the nav screen?

3) Option to have a smaller battery pack. This would be a large savings.

As long as I get an option for a larger pack. About 40kWh would be nice.

Sorry, but a larger pack would require more space. In theory Nissan thought about what range and cost would satisfy the most. I am saying that for a small bit of engineering money, they can create a lower price point, and there are many of us that never come close to draining the battery on our outings. 100 miles is huge for a huge chunk of the two car families that this should be sold to. It should not be marketed as a gas replacement. It is an awesome always full, quiet, 39 miles per buck car that can do 95% of your driving.

4) Position switches for the on/off control and D/N/R/P button instead of the idiot momentary switches.

Disagree. I'd have to manually put the car in "P" then, instead of just shutting it off.

It would be a single switch with Off/P/R/N/D in that order. Hop in, throw it in R, put on seat belt, as soon as computers are ready it moves backwards. Stop, throw it in off, and leave car. This is fewer buttons to push, and if I push them too fast, I don't have to re-push.

5) button to tell climate control to stay on until I get back to the car. It should auto shut off if distance to home is threatened.

Just leave the car "on" and locked. It won't auto shut off though.

Yes, but this is a thread on what they can change to improve the car. Nissan should comprehend that this is car is great because it is always full of "gas" and there's so little cost to leaving the A/C/Heat on that we want a convenient way to do that. Instead of making the car as similar to a gas car as possible, they should recognize and sell the fact that this thing has a humongous pile of electricity ready to do my bidding. How about a drink cooler? Instead of whining about how that would drain the range, they should recognize that for 99% of our trips we have sufficient range and are willing to spend that extra electricity on a drink cooler and a car that is always the right temp.

6) The range/charge indicator should be much more focused on getting me home. It should know where I live and therefore have no trouble determining what kw will be needed to get home. It could show estimated "detour" range. In other words, it will tell you how far you can go before you need to go straight home. Furthermore, the pointless ECO mode (WTF is the purpose of me deadening my pedal for me? Is this the same nonsense where someone sets their own clock ahead by 10 minutes to help them be on time?) should be automatic and tied to distance to home. If the car is determining it will be difficult to get home, it should deaden the pedal and shut down the climate control.

Disagree. I often go somewhere else to charge than home. It should't assume I want to go home.

Yes, it should assume that going home is the vital range information. That is the vast majority of the driving scenarios: leave, return, charge. It is optimized for a driving scenario that matches a gas car, which is not how these are operated. Keep in mind that I did not say it should not also provide total range as it does now.

And I much prefer the pedal response in ECO-mode, I never use D. Too sensitive IMHO.

I agree. With a fly-by-wire system there's no reason not to give you a gain control on the pedal. Calling it ECO mode is silly. I find too many gas cars have an overly sensitive pedal. Too many people are fooled into thinking the car is faster with a more sensitive pedal (e.g. all the people on this forum that call ECO mode sluggish), so the engineers are forced to make the pedal step-in too sensitive.

Hmm, I neither want leather nor power seats. This is actually my main gripe about the Tesla Model S, it seems it won't be available with manual cloth seats. The solar cells are already optional.

Yes, I meant optional leather and pwr seats. True, the solar thing is optional.

I would like a telescoping steering wheel though and so would my wife.

I agree but I think that is a pricey/heavy option, but that is exactly the error Nissan has made numerous times. They are thinking that this is some sort of cheap econo box and buyers will be frugal. I will bet that if they offered these options, and priced them as if they were going on a typical $30k car, they would have sold most Leafs with leather, and tilt/telescope wheel, because we aren't being frugal when we buy this car.

 

[TickTock]

Eliminate the divider between the driver and passenger. I would love to see the front bench seat come back.

 

[Deleted member 3147]

Eliminate the divider between the driver and passenger. I would love to see the front bench seat come back.

Disagree. If my wife drives, she needs the seat most of the way forward, which would make it quite cramped for my long legs in the passenger seat. Also, if my wife is in the passenger seat, she likes to tip backward the seat back.

 

[N952JL]

I would like to see a 60kWh battery options. I need the range if I would like to drive to the airport for a flight.

2. Why is the charger part of the car and not part of the EVSE? Design a 240V50amp QC EVSE for home use and a 110/120 v 15Amp for storage in the car for away trips.

3. I would like to control the level of regen seperate from Econ/Drive mode. I would like a very aggressive regen without be forced to go into econ mode.

This is the most expensive car I have purchased/least in my 45 years of driving. I've put 100,000 plus on three, between 80,000 to 90,000 on one and over 200,000 on two and almost 300,00 on one. I would have paid more for more lux items.

I agree the display has lots of useless info that I will quickly ignore, but in the beginning it does have a certain amount of ahh to it.

 

[planet4ever]

2. Why is the charger part of the car and not part of the EVSE? Design a 240V50amp QC EVSE for home use and a 110/120 v 15Amp for storage in the car for away trips.

Two things you seem to be overlooking on external chargers:

• They need to be able to supply exact, but varying, voltages and amperage limits to the battery, as commanded by the BMS.
• They need built-in cooling systems.

My guess is that you are talking at least $10K for the big one and $5K for the little one by the time you take care of those minor details. I'm not sure how many buyers you would be likely to get.

Ray

 

[JohnP]

- Put turn signal indicators on the rear view mirrors. More visibility for drivers behind you.
- Both clocks should be automatically synced remotely and should know when day light savings time starts and ends
- Stop asking me to agree to have data sent to Nissan. I already agreed hundreds of times already. Why would the next trip be any different?

John P

 

[avanti5010]

HomeLink buttons on rearview mirror need to be illuminated and/or dimpled so you can easily feel them. Coming home in the dark makes them impossible to see/feel.
Illumination for the steering wheel buttons needs to be adjustable.

I cannot understand why the Homelink buttons are not illuminated and have some kind of touch feel code. They (Homelink) have been making them for years for many car companies and have not realized this problem?

 

[N952JL]

2. Why is the charger part of the car and not part of the EVSE? Design a 240V50amp QC EVSE for home use and a 110/120 v 15Amp for storage in the car for away trips.

Two things you seem to be overlooking on external chargers:

• They need to be able to supply exact, but varying, voltages and amperage limits to the battery, as commanded by the BMS.
• They need built-in cooling systems.

My guess is that you are talking at least $10K for the big one and $5K for the little one by the time you take care of those minor details. I'm not sure how many buyers you would be likely to get.

Ray

But that should lower the cost of the car. Or we could leave the car cost the same, and just include the external charger. One way or the other we are paying for the charger and an expensive charge cord. (current ESVE).

 

[TomT]

That ship has sailed and the spec is etched in stone. For Level 2, it is not going to change any time soon.

But that should lower the cost of the car. Or we could leave the car cost the same, and just include the external charger. One way or the other we are paying for the charger and an expensive charge cord. (current ESVE).