Most Miles on Still-Operating Leaf?

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MartinChico

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 22, 2014
Messages
85
Location
Chico, California, USA
I've searched as well as possible, but I can't find an answer to my question; I hope I'm not double-posting.

What is the highest mileage Leaf--as reported here--that is still operating? In other words, how long can I expect my Leaf to still be functioning, albeit at a much lower range? 80k miles? 90k? 100k?

(I see a number of Leafs that have been "retired" at 40k or 50k miles, and this makes me a little nervous.)

Thanks!

Martin
 
TaylorSFGuy in Pacific Northest.
His last post on 19Dec2014 had the following in the signature:
TaylorSFGuy said:
Mileage as of October 24, 2014 is 132,000 - 177 GID at 100%
Takes the right climate, a long commute, he has charging at work, and he has a lot of demonstrated patience to wait for lots of DCQCs to keep using degraded capacity LEAF for a long commute.
 
MartinChico said:
(I see a number of Leafs that have been "retired" at 40k or 50k miles, and this makes me a little nervous.)
Examples?

Yep, TaylorSFGuy is the North American record holder than I'm aware of but I believe he switched to a '14 Leaf now. I believe the '11 might be relegated to shorter range duties (for his wife?)...
 
cwerdna said:
MartinChico said:
(I see a number of Leafs that have been "retired" at 40k or 50k miles, and this makes me a little nervous.)
Examples?

Here is a recent example:

Forum: Range / Efficiency / Carwings
Topic: 2014 Leaf battery monthly capacity values
Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2014 5:54 amDaveinOlyWA wrote:
44,598 miles on 2011 LEAF (retired) 2013 LEAF;16,022 miles.


Now that I'm reading this, I suspect that owners are using the word "retired" for traded-in or sold, not "disposed of."
 
TimLee said:
TaylorSFGuy in Pacific Northest.
His last post on 19Dec2014 had the following in the signature:
TaylorSFGuy said:
Mileage as of October 24, 2014 is 132,000 - 177 GID at 100%
Takes the right climate, a long commute, he has charging at work, and he has a lot of demonstrated patience to wait for lots of DCQCs to keep using degraded capacity LEAF for a long commute.

Thanks very much, Tim.

Is there a thread here that is something along the lines of "Highest Mileage..."?
 
MartinChico said:
...
Is there a thread here that is something along the lines of "Highest Mileage..."?
I had not seen one till this one.

Most of the LEAF retirements have been end of lease returns.
Those go to auction.
Apparently quite a few of those are being exported to Norway.

Have been a few that purchased that sold.
Some to upgrade to newer LEAF, but most like myself found that to be a big $ hit and did not do it.
Some have sold due to range issues.
One person sold because they have a Tesla S now and didn't have room or need for the four year "old" LEAF.
Oh to be so unfortunate to "retire" a LEAF that way ;)
 
There are other drivers that put the mileage on faster than me but aren't as consistent. Look at Carwings info. My name for the 2014 is SteveM2. But I think I still have the highest mileage on an operating LEAF.
I took the 2011 to work this week. It isn't getting many miles now but drove just as it always has.

65 miles is too far now as I did have to stop twice each way. Have been spoiled with the new one and had forgotten what a PITA that can be. I will update the signature with new mileage info later.

I'm hopeful that higher capacity batteries become an option for us early adopters but that is a subject for another posting.
 
TimLee said:
Most of the LEAF retirements have been end of lease returns.
Those go to auction.
Apparently quite a few of those are being exported to Norway.
Yep on the 1st point and most likely on most of the lease returns.

Yep, some have ended up in Norway but it's unclear what the numbers really are.

At the beginning, IIRC, if one wanted to lease a Leaf, only 3-year leases were possible. Nissan added 2-year leases long ago.

Mine will very likely be turned in at the end of my 2 year/24K mile lease as the residual is nutty (too high). If Nissan gives $5K off the residual AND I can apply for $2500 CVRP (2 year leases are ineligible), that might change my mind. I did get snail mail about extending my lease for another year.... if I can do that AND get CVRP, I might.

Re: DaveinOlyWA, I don't recall his personal situation but from skimming http://daveinolywa.blogspot.com/2013/12/eulogy-for-my-2011-leaf-goodbye-258-you.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, it looks like he returned his '11 at the end of the lease.
 
MartinChico said:
I've searched as well as possible, but I can't find an answer to my question; I hope I'm not double-posting.

What is the highest mileage Leaf--as reported here--that is still operating? In other words, how long can I expect my Leaf to still be functioning, albeit at a much lower range? 80k miles? 90k? 100k?

(I see a number of Leafs that have been "retired" at 40k or 50k miles, and this makes me a little nervous.)

Thanks!

Martin

I have 74K on mine and still going strong. My capacity is currently at 76%. Last January, my commute changed from 53 miles with no charging to 40 miles with workplace charging and my degradation seems to have slowed down. I don't have any current plans to stop driving, but I am trying to set aside money for a replacement pack in a few years.
 
MartinChico said:
Now that I'm reading this, I suspect that owners are using the word "retired" for traded-in or sold, not "disposed of."
I suspect that is the case. Unless the car was wrecked or something like that. There's no good reason for a Leaf to be retired from the road at that mileage. In fact, the only real problem that Leafs have ever had is problems with battery degradation. Otherwise the car is fantastically reliable. And you can always stick a new battery in a Leaf. So there is never any good reason to retire it from the road.
 
adric22 said:
... In fact, the only real problem that Leafs have ever had is problems with battery degradation. ...
Have you never experienced one of the three LEAF braking defects :?:
(Which they don't know how to fix :!: )
 
TimLee said:
adric22 said:
... In fact, the only real problem that Leafs have ever had is problems with battery degradation. ...
Have you never experienced one of the three LEAF braking defects :?:
(Which they don't know how to fix :!: )

Yes - I've owned two Leafs. And the defect in question simply makes the brakes very touchy. In time I've become accustomed to it and don't even notice it anymore.
 
(Thread resurrection as I couldn't find another on this, if there is one.)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BayLeafs/permalink/1729899870401000/ has pointer to a 325K km Leaf. That's about 201K miles. The car's down 6 capacity bars and the poster is in Spain.

VIN begins with a J, so made in Japan. Other stats there:
AHr: 33.60
SOH=51.22%
Hx: 29.36%
 
I would guess that in future there will be a 2013 (post April) from the PNW that gets to 200k miles with better stats. That's based on the fact that there are presently 70k LEAFs with 12 bars (barely) still remaining.

Extrapolating from 15% loss/5 years suggests that at least some higher mileage LEAFs will get to 200k miles with an SOH of somewhere between 60% - 66%

That assumes linear degradation though, YMMV ;)

I hope to be one of those owners, as the LEAF will be considered a classic EV by then :lol:
 
alozzy said:
That's based on the fact that there are presently 70k LEAFs with 12 bars (barely) still remaining.
How is that known ?
And if correct, does it only include cars that are 5+ years old ?
 
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