2016 release date

[Deleted member 9549]

Are there any rumors or predictions on when the 2016 LEAF will be released? Model years introduction date seems to vary wildly. Based on memory, I think the 2013 LEAF was released in January 2013, the 2014 was released around January 2014, but the 2015 with the hot battery was released mid year, giving the 2014 only a 6 month or so run.

When is the 2016 likely to come out? January, as in any day now? Mid year or fall.
Are there any major changes expected? Any chance the current LEAF body style will get a bigger battery?
Is the LEAF 2 planned to come out in calendar 2016 or 2017?

Our 2yr lease is up this May. I'm debating trying to extend a year into mid 2016 or getting a new 2 yr lease to have it last us until 2017. I'm trying to fill the time until a longer range vehicle comes in, either Nissan or Tesla or possibly even Bolt.

 

[Moof]

So far the most optimistic rumors for the next major overhaul is the MY2017, not likely to be available before the latter half of 2016 at best.

 

[tkdbrusco]

I doubt that you will see a 2016 model until at least July-Sept of this year and I don't think there will be any mind blowing additions to the 2016 model. Like others have said, it will likely be the 2017 model (released late 2016 or early 2017) that will be the Gen2 model, with longer range, etc... You're probably safe getting a new 2 year lease. I'm in a similar situation as my 2015 model will be paid off in May 2017. My big decision at that point however will be whether to get a Tesla model 3, a Chevy Bolt or Volt, Leaf Gen2, etc... and a lot of that will depend on whether the $7500 federal tax credit is still in effect on some of those models, as Nissan and Tesla will likely be hitting the 200,000 mark around then.

 

[DanCar]

I predict the inifiniti LE will arrive before the long range Nissan Leaf as Nissan has indicated. Might also see the e-nv200 with larger battery pack before long range leaf.

 

[tkdbrusco]

The Infiniti will arrive first for sure, but it will likely be pushing $50K I bet. That's a whole different price range.

 

[ObjetDart]

Our 2yr lease is up this May. I'm debating trying to extend a year into mid 2016 or getting a new 2 yr lease to have it last us until 2017. I'm trying to fill the time until a longer range vehicle comes in, either Nissan or Tesla or possibly even Bolt.

Why not simply extend your current lease another 12 months each year until a better option comes along? Each year, if the new EV options still aren't appealing, you can just extend your lease again. Seems much more simple and flexible than locking yourself into a new lease now.

My 2 year lease is up in July, and that's what I'm planning to do anyway.

 

[pkulak]

Depends what your payments are. You don't want to end up paying the redisdual down far lower than what it's worth. Hell, if your residual is thousands more than what it's worth when your lease is up, it kinda makes sense to have NMAC eat that and you get a new car.

 

[ObjetDart]

If I'm not planning to ever buy the car, I've never understood why it matters what the residual is. If you only intend to lease, the only thing that matters is the payment. Yes, if my current payment is high and I could lease a new car for substantially less per month, then getting a new lease could make sense. But if the new payment isn't less, and the cars are still more or less equivalent (e.g. a 2013 vs a 2015 LEAF) then I don't understand why you would ever bother to lease a new one, unless just having a newer car really matters a lot to you.

 

[Edy]

my theory is that for MY2016, Nissan will put only 3 KW more in the battery pack and thus achieve the magic 3 digits number (100 Real miles per charge ) then some fecial front and rear make up bumpers, headlights, tail lights etc. etc. and that will be very soon becouse the competition are putting more pressure every day, that is the easy and fastest way to keep customers happy and gain time for the big shoot..!!

 

[pkulak]

If I'm not planning to ever buy the car, I've never understood why it matters what the residual is. If you only intend to lease, the only thing that matters is the payment.

Yeah... and if you end up paying significantly more than the depreciation, your payment was too much.

Say you put zero down on a two-year lease of a loaded SL. You could have a $450 payment, mostly to cover the initial depreciation when you drive it off the lot. You'd be nuts to extend that lease more than a couple months.

 

[pkulak]

my theory is that for MY2016, Nissan will put only 3 KW more in the battery pack and thus achieve the magic 3 digits number (100 Real miles per charge ) then some fecial front and rear make up bumpers, headlights, tail lights etc. etc. and that will be very soon becouse the competition are putting more pressure every day, that is the easy and fastest way to keep customers happy and gain time for the big shoot..!!

Yeah, I'm hoping that the big re-design is in 2017, but that they will bump the current pack up a bit for next year. It'll take more than 3 kWh though to get to 100 EPA. Hopefully they match Kia and do 32. That should do it. They can't do it with their current battery, but if they switch over to LG for 2016, it's more than doable. If they used LG for 2016 and kept it at 24 kWh, they'd have to leave empty space in the pack enclosure!

It would be a real shame if they put out a whole new model year using their current battery tech that they've already announced they are abandoning. But, of course, I won't be surprised if that's exactly what they do.

 

[TomT]

Well, they can always manufacture hots dogs at that fancy new battery plant in TN...

It would be a real shame if they put out a whole new model year using their current battery tech that they've already announced they are abandoning. But, of course, I won't be surprised if that's exactly what they do.

 

[Deleted member 9549]

Our 2yr lease is up this May. I'm debating trying to extend a year into mid 2016 or getting a new 2 yr lease to have it last us until 2017. I'm trying to fill the time until a longer range vehicle comes in, either Nissan or Tesla or possibly even Bolt.

Why not simply extend your current lease another 12 months each year until a better option comes along? Each year, if the new EV options still aren't appealing, you can just extend your lease again. Seems much more simple and flexible than locking yourself into a new lease now.

My 2 year lease is up in July, and that's what I'm planning to do anyway.

That is my question and one of the options. Our lease runs out this year. I could extend a year till mid 2016, but if the extended range car doesn't come out until 2017, I'm not sure I could or would want to try and extend the lease for another 2 years in the same car.

I haven't heard if Nissan will extend the lease more than a year, and past 3 years, isn't the warranty over and you're now responsible for repairs as well?

We have a ridiculously low lease payment that I'm sure we could not get anywhere near as low next time, so I'm ok waiting if it makes sense, but doesn't seem like it makes financial else to extend 2 years due to potential repairs.

 

[ObjetDart]

I'm in the same boat, with a very, very low lease payment ($130/month) that I doubt I could get again. Also, I paid a fairly large down payment ($3000) so the longer I extend the lease for, the more time I can amortize that $3000 across and the lower my overall cost per month becomes. Also don't forget they hit you with a fee if you don't buy the car at the end of the lease (something in the $300-$500 range, I forget exactly how much.)

I don't know for 100% sure but I'm pretty sure Nissan will allow you to keep extending the lease for as long as you want.

Good point about repair costs, but again you would have to factor in expected repair costs on a LEAF during the 4th year of ownership against what your new higher payment would be. With a new lease and higher payment you could easily be paying an extra $1000/year. How much do you think the repair costs will be per year?

So unless something is wrong with your current LEAF, I still think it makes the most sense to keep extending your lease until Nissan (or someone else) comes out with an obviously superior EV in a similar price range.

 

[pkulak]

If I was paying $130 a month, I'd try to extend that forever.

 

[TomT]

Nissan Credit told me the extension limit is one year and that you can return it any time within that one year... But then, they have been wrong (many) times before...

I don't know for 100% sure but I'm pretty sure Nissan will allow you to keep extending the lease for as long as you want.

 

[ObjetDart]

Nissan Credit told me the extension limit is one year and that you can return it any time within that one year... But then, they have been wrong (many) times before...

In that case I'd better call them to find out. If the limit is 1 year then that will leave me stuck mid-2016 having to return my LEAF and quite likely with no better option to "upgrade" to other than another equivalent LEAF. Then I'd be locked into another multi-year lease right before nextgen options start appearing in 2017. That would suck!

 

[dgpcolorado]

...Then I'd be locked into another multi-year lease right before nextgen options start appearing in 2017. That would suck!

Not necessarily. If you were to wait an extra year to 2018 it would give you a chance to see how the new models in 2017 shake out. Then you can pick the one than seems best after the first year bugs have been worked out.

 

[w6vms]

...Then I'd be locked into another multi-year lease right before nextgen options start appearing in 2017. That would suck!

Not necessarily. If you were to wait an extra year to 2018 it would give you a chance to see how the new models in 2017 shake out. Then you can pick the one than seems best after the first year bugs have been worked out.

That was indeed my strategy when I extended my lease from March 2015 to March 2016 a few weeks ago. Next March I will get a two year lease on a 2016 SV, and see how things work from there.

In the meantime, the 2013 SV I've had for almost two years has been working great for me.

 

[evnow]

Well, they can always manufacture hots dogs at that fancy new battery plant in TN...

It would be a real shame if they put out a whole new model year using their current battery tech that they've already announced they are abandoning. But, of course, I won't be surprised if that's exactly what they do.

I don't know whether OP was referring to the reports of Nissan not sourcing batteries from AESC or not ... but, those were just speculations. Not "announcements".

In terms of actual battery tech, obviously if they are going with gen 2 batteries with Leaf 2, the old tech would be abandoned, unless it is cheaper.

May be they'll use old batteries for the base model and newer ones for the upgrades.

In anycase, MY16 Leaf is unlikely to sell well - as people wait for promised long range EVs from many OEMs.