johnlocke said:
The battery ought to last at least 10 years or 150,000 miles with no more than 20% loss of capacity. You expect that kind of durability from an ICE so why should you settle for anything less just because it's an electric.
I bought a Volvo 850 in 1997 new from the dealer, and it was considered to be the best of the bunch. At 135,000 miles I gave it to by brother in law as it started to run like crap. However in the interim this is what happened:
I replaced the radiator because it started to overheat.
I replaced the water pump three times, along with the thermostat as part of the regular maintenance
I replaced the drive belt and timing belt twice
I replaced the AC evaporator behind the dash, the condenser, the compressor and the hoses because the AC stopped working because of a leak.
I replaced the complete EGR system
I replaced engine mounts and transmission mounts, twice
I replaced the complete suspension system
I changed plugs and plug cap and rotor every 30,000 miles and I changed the plug wires.
I also changed the gas recirc pump
I replaced the steering rack
I spoiled the car with full synthetic from day one, including transmission and brake fluid flushes as prescribed by Volvo
Plus I had to buy gas as it gave me 24 mpg from the start. This list is not everything either.
All this before 135,000 miles until the car started bugging out when I tried to start it in the morning. All the maintenance I did as I bought tools to do it myself to save money. I then went on YouTube and Volvo forums to know what to do. I am now a self proclaimed expert on the 850s
I have a '15 SV in the Atlanta suburbs, and my company is moving me to Miami in June 2018. I will take what I have been taught from this forum and use it in the heat of South Florida. If the battery starts to fail it will not come close to what I spent on the Volvo. Also, don't get me started on the twin turbo AMG
In short, let us not pretend that the Leaf is a car from hell, because there are worst examples out there that are ICE. The main difference is that some Leaf owners complain much more, while i only got 4 years and 50,000 miles... yeah, this was all after 50k