Go for 2013 or wait for 2014 ?

[mkjayakumar]

Well my lease after 24 months is ending on March 1st week. Given that I am at 29K miles now, I might be going over the allotted 30K miles by around 1500 miles which might cost me an additional $225. Now my question is:

- should I wait for the end of lease in March and also wait for 2014s to hit the dealers lot,

- or should I just grab one of the remaining 2013s right now, even though I might end up paying the last month of my current lease payment unnecessarily ? but then I might save on overage costs on the mileage.

I just finished my inspection with no issues and no additional payment from my side. NMAC is not giving me even one month of grace period in returning the car.

The few dealers I reached out to tell me that the 2014s are not coming in till April and there wont be any incentives on them compared to 2013s. Given that there is nothing of great interest that is in the newer 2014 models I am not sure it is wise to wait and pay more for the 2014s, or instead better off taking one of the 2013s now and work out a great deal.

Any thoughts ?

-Jay

 

[Stanton]

Jay: I remember when you wouldn't drive your Leaf in the summer and swore you'd never buy another!!
Living in Texas, you need to find out whether/when the first 2014's to hit the lot will have the "hot pack" battery. You'd think that Texas would be an early target for them, and I wouldn't even want a warranty replacement pack (in hot climates) that wasn't the "new" chemistry.
Please report back on what you find out.

 

[reeler]

With the heat in Texas, I would definitely go for the 2014 with its new battery chemistry. I thought 2014 models were already appearing on dealer lots so I suspect what you heard was to motivate you to buy a 2013 from a salesperson.

 

[TomT]

The "new" battery chemistry will not hit until some time from now, likely the middle of the year at the earliest... If that is important to you, wait.

With the heat in Texas, I would definitely go for the 2014 with its new battery chemistry. I thought 2014 models were already appearing on dealer lots so I suspect what you heard was to motivate you to buy a 2013 from a salesperson.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

A good sales person can get you out of the lease early, if you re-lease with them. Up to six months early I'm told. Plus, Friday ends the month, and you know they want to move one more. Couldn't hurt to fish for a hot offer.

 

[Stanton]

The "new" battery chemistry will not hit until some time from now, likely the middle of the year at the earliest... If that is important to you, wait.

With the heat in Texas, I would definitely go for the 2014 with its new battery chemistry. I thought 2014 models were already appearing on dealer lots so I suspect what you heard was to motivate you to buy a 2013 from a salesperson.

That's going to make it very interesting (and difficult) when buying a USED 2014 down-the-road: how will you tell if it's an "old" or "new" battery chemistry? Even if you could look at the battery modules, I doubt there will be any physical/mechanical differences; there has to be some sort of label (or serial numbers?) on the casings.

 

[mkjayakumar]

Jay: I remember when you wouldn't drive your Leaf in the summer and swore you'd never buy another!!

Stanton, I can't recollect if I ever said I would not go for another Leaf, but I do remember saying that I would not go for an ICEv again. But you are right that I parked my Leaf in the summer of 2012 for about 4 weeks in the hope of reducing battery degradation. But in 2013 summer I didn't care. And now I am at 29K miles and ZERO maintenance costs - except replacing front two tires at 26K miles. Lost two bars and currently at 222 Gids on a full charge.


[/quote]Living in Texas, you need to find out whether/when the first 2014's to hit the lot will have the "hot pack" battery. You'd think that Texas would be an early target for them, and I wouldn't even want a warranty replacement pack (in hot climates) that wasn't the "new" chemistry.
Please report back on what you find out.[/quote]

I cannot wait indefinitely for the 'hot battery' pack to show up, because I need a car to commute 75 miles everyday round-trip. I sold my van sometime earlier and so I am an ICEv short. The dealers don't have a clue about the 'hot battery' let alone knowing when they will get them. The best I have heard is mid-summer through some posts in this forum. Too late for me to wait.

As someone suggested, if I can broker a good deal for the month end and if the dealer can help me through some of my last month payment on my current lease and with the fact that I run the risk of overage miles - might be a good idea to lease a 2013 this week.

Without the 'hot battery' what is there in the 2014 that is of interest to anyone here ?

and oh, BTW my company has now installed 2 ChargePoint chargers with four reserved spots around them, free electricity to boot.. I drive with no care with heat blasting and at 75 mph on SH 121 and plug it in.

 

[dgpcolorado]

...Without the 'hot battery' what is there in the 2014 that is of interest to anyone here ? ...

Nothing that I've seen to the positive, and one big negative (at least for me): The 2014 reportedly has no 80% charge setting so that you can have regen brakes after charging. Probably not a big deal for most people.

 

[DanCar]

The "new" battery chemistry will not hit until some time from now, likely the middle of the year at the earliest... If that is important to you, wait.

That's going to make it very interesting (and difficult) when buying a USED 2014 down-the-road: how will you tell if it's an "old" or "new" battery chemistry? Even if you could look at the battery modules, I doubt there will be any physical/mechanical differences; there has to be some sort of label (or serial numbers?) on the casings.

I wonder if there was a battery change for 2013. Has there been battery degradation reported for 2013 model?

 

[DougWantsALeaf]

Does anyone have any data to backup that charging to 80% help reduce degredation?

 

[DanCar]

Does anyone have any data to backup that charging to 80% help reduce degredation?

If you go to battery university.com they talk about the loss of battery capacity over time and state that 40% SOC is optimal for storage.

 

[jsongster]

In my reading of that Plug in America Battery study... and most of this forum, it seemed that the problem wasn't caused by charging to 100% State Of Charge but rather by letting it sit at a high SOC in a high temperature climate like the American southwest. 80% mode let us charge most of the way... with no harm if it sat for an extended period. With the 2014 you would need to plan more to charge just before departure.

So... one way to avoid that problem is to use end timers... or at airports use the trickle charger and don't start it with CarWings until 24 hours or so ahead of driving time, especially in hotter climes.

Since I read that study I have been charging to 100 most days before leaving. Seems to be fine.

My main question is does balancing the cells 5 days a week cause any long term problems?

My driving style scores about 4.3 to 4.6 and I am starting the day with what looks like 88- 92 miles of range. I rarely go that far in a day, usually 30 to 65 miles. Rarely 120 miles via the local DCQChargers.

 

[Stanton]

Without the 'hot battery' what is there in the 2014 that is of interest to anyone here ?

and oh, BTW my company has now installed 2 ChargePoint chargers with four reserved spots around them, free electricity to boot.. I drive with no care with heat blasting and at 75 mph on SH 121 and plug it in.

That's great that you have an EVSE @work now! I can't think of any reason to wait for a 2014 other than the battery, and if no one really know when the "hot pack" will be shipping then there's no sense waiting. I still say it's going to be interesting trying to figure out which battery pack type is in a use 2014 down-the-road.