What's the thing you hate most about your Leaf?

[vrwl]

It seems like the thing most people dislike is the battery degradation. So, knowing that the range is 80-100 miles, did most of you guys expect to be able to do a 70-90 mile commute regularly?

If I drive around 45-50 mph, I can barely squeeze a 70 mile round trip out of it. It won't be long and I won't be able to do that anymore.

 

[TomT]

Yep, fortunately my work location changed about a year ago and is now only about 46 miles r/t or I'd be screwed with my current range. I'm just hoping to can make it to the end of my four year lease...

It seems like the thing most people dislike is the battery degradation. So, knowing that the range is 80-100 miles, did most of you guys expect to be able to do a 70-90 mile commute regularly?

If I drive around 45-50 mph, I can barely squeeze a 70 mile round trip out of it. It won't be long and I won't be able to do that anymore.

 

[apvbguy]

It seems like the thing most people dislike is the battery degradation. So, knowing that the range is 80-100 miles, did most of you guys expect to be able to do a 70-90 mile commute regularly?

If I drive around 45-50 mph, I can barely squeeze a 70 mile round trip out of it. It won't be long and I won't be able to do that anymore.

in my '13 sv I can go almost eighty miles going mostly 65 +/- mph

 

[vrwl]

Yep, fortunately my work location changed about a year ago and is now only about 46 miles r/t or I'd be screwed with my current range. I'm just hoping to can make it to the end of my four year lease...

It seems like the thing most people dislike is the battery degradation. So, knowing that the range is 80-100 miles, did most of you guys expect to be able to do a 70-90 mile commute regularly?

If I drive around 45-50 mph, I can barely squeeze a 70 mile round trip out of it. It won't be long and I won't be able to do that anymore.

Luckily I only have to make that 70 mile r/t about once every couple of months. And I can take surface streets, so that allows me the ability to drive slow enough to go the distance.

 

[DanCar]

in my '13 sv I can go almost eighty miles going mostly 65 +/- mph

2013 SL, I've done 94 miles a couple of times doing 62 or less. Less because sometimes there is congestion. Mostly freeway, but about 20 miles or less city. I'm careful to only use the regen brakes.

 

[cwerdna]

I only have mine for a month, so I can't comment on the battery issue, but what I dislike about the Leaf is lack of finishing touch in the design. After all we are buying/leasing a car in $35k range. How much can it cost to add power seats (it's freaking electric car after all!!!), turn indicators in side mirrors, blind spot monitoring or radar controlled cruise control?...

Leaf starts at ~$28.8K and if you lease, the $7500 Federal tax credit savings gets passed onto you. If you buy, many are eligible for $7500 Federal tax credit. And, some are eligible for additional state incentives (e.g. $2500 CA CVRP, no sales tax in WA, etc.)

Name $21.3K cars w/all of the above.... or better yet, name another BEV in the same price range as the Leaf w/all of the above.

Mazda cx-5, has all of those except radar controlled cruise control. I know that because I have one. In that's why it sticks out even more. Plus I really don't think I should give Nissan any levy here just because tax payers decided to support my decision with $7500 of others people money.

The CX-5 isn't a BEV. You're making an apples vs. oranges comparison.

From all indications, the required components for a BEV (mainly the batteries) cost much more than the equivalent required components in an ICEV.

 

[TomT]

I could too when my battery was new...

in my '13 sv I can go almost eighty miles going mostly 65 +/- mph

2013 SL, I've done 94 miles a couple of times doing 62 or less. Less because sometimes there is congestion. Mostly freeway, but about 20 miles or less city. I'm careful to only use the regen brakes.

 

[Tomasz]

The CX-5 isn't a BEV. You're making an apples vs. oranges comparison.

From all indications, the required components for a BE (mainly the batteries) cost much more than the equivalent required components in an ICEV.

Frankly I don't care how much it costs Nisan to make one Leaf. The fact is that whether 120 millions tax payers chipped in to help me or not in the end Nissan got paid $32000 for my Leaf. And for that I expect it to deliver safety features that are present on other $32000 cars. I would guess (judging from cost of aftermarket equipment) that adding needed hardware for all enhancements I've listed would cost them maybe $200 per car. Cheap change that would put them in another league all together. I'd gladly trade in Carwings and XM (that I'm sure costs them way more than that over the course of 3 years) for those features.

On the other hand - I took their 70 mile claim with the same grain of salt I do with any car manufacturers claims about fuel efficiency. Not a single car in my life could achieve EPA rating in real life driving, so I assumed that the Leaf has real life 50 mile range. And so far it exceeded my expectations every single time, even at 0F.

 

[cwerdna]

The CX-5 isn't a BEV. You're making an apples vs. oranges comparison.

From all indications, the required components for a BE (mainly the batteries) cost much more than the equivalent required components in an ICEV.

Frankly I don't care how much it costs Nisan to make one Leaf. The fact is that whether 120 millions tax payers chipped in to help me or not in the end Nissan got paid $32000 for my Leaf. And for that I expect it to deliver safety features that are present on other $32000 cars. I would guess (judging from cost of aftermarket equipment) that adding needed hardware for all enhancements I've listed would cost them maybe $200 per car.

You might not care, but Nissan and other makers of BEVs do care. Automakers are not non-profits and will not stay in business if they bleed cash. For what you're asking for, I think $200 extra cost is WAY low.

Again, name other BEVs w/the features you ask for w/similar price and range to the Leaf.

IIRC, even the $50K Rav4 EV doesn't have any of what you ask for other than turn signal mirrors. IIRC, the Model S starting at ~$71K doesn't have any of what you ask for either (not even as an option) except for power seats.

 

[apvbguy]

I could too when my battery was new...

I bet you could.

the take away for any lurking newbies is the battery issues is one huge reason to lease these cars, in 2 years the battery problems are Nissan's problem, not mine

 

[philipscoggins]

List of complaints (2012 SL)...
1. Battery degradation - I drive too much for the warranty to apply to me (14 months 29,000 miles, down from 281 gid to 240 gid)
2. Grabby brakes in the cold
3. Not able to just use vent to windshield in winter
4. No built in state of charge
5. No spare tire
6. Interior stains if you look at it too hard

But, all that said, I Love My LEAF! (I just hope I have it paid off before I have to replace the battery)

 

[planet4ever]

I still have all my GOM bars, and I skipped the most recent hardware flash.

Uh, the GOM is the big lying number, not the bars. Assuming you mean the twelve blue and white charge bars, you will always have all of them, no matter how much your battery has degraded. They tell you how fully charged your battery is, not how much energy it contains. 100% charge = 12 bars, even if it only takes you 40 miles. The battery capacity bars are the skinny white ones at the far right edge of the dash, with the bottom two red.

Ray

 

[N1ghtrider]

Windshield washer barely squirts a few drops at the bottom of the glass.

 

[philipscoggins]

Windshield washer barely squirts a few drops at the bottom of the glass.

If you're talking about your front windshield, you may want to have your dealer look at that problem. Mine is fine.

Now that rear wiperfluid, it just kinda runs down the glass. Strange, but still functional.

 

[TomT]

You must have one of the few then as I have not seen one yet that worked correctly. It is actually a design error since, if you try to raise the nozzle aim, it just hits the lip of the hood. I've never seen one that sprayed in the middle of the windshield as it should...

If you're talking about your front windshield, you may want to have your dealer look at that problem. Mine is fine.

 

[N1ghtrider]

Windshield washer barely squirts a few drops at the bottom of the glass.

If you're talking about your front windshield, you may want to have your dealer look at that problem. Mine is fine.

Now that rear wiperfluid, it just kinda runs down the glass. Strange, but still functional.

The front is the problem. This is my second LEAF. The dealer could not fix it on my 2012 so I did not think there was any point to taking my 2013 in for service on it. There is an entire thread on this problem:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=3038" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Staque]

I could too when my battery was new...

It's my Leaf and I'll cry if I want to.... cry if i want to! .....

 

[kevin672]

The crappy nav system is by far the worst thing about the car. It seriously detracts from what otherwise would be great driving experience. I still can't believe the radio button on the steering wheel can't be configured to skip the 3 XM preset's when you don't subscribe to XM. That's not the worst thing about it, but just an example of how bad the user interface is.

 

[mark1313]

That's its electric power, where can I get one that runs on GAS :lol:

 

[davidcary]

Great thread.

XM is probably free to Nissan since it only includes a trial period (by free, I'd say that XM pays them the $50 it took to put in the car). I'm not sure where power seats (+all the other things) could cost $200. There is certainly huge discounts in volume but the seats for the Leaf have to be a little different because the way the battery pack sits so they probably couldn't use a volume seat. The Leaf was built pretty ground up which makes some options/upgrades way more expensive than it would be on an Altima.

Power seats are also pretty heavy and don't exactly fit on an entry level car focused on efficiency.

Adaptive cruise control? It is a city car so I'm not sure this one makes any sense.

The thing I hate most is the lack of better control of the battery SOC. I want to be able to set the SOC to more than just 80 and 100. I want to be able to adjust via phone. I am forever plugging in for a little while to get from 30 to 60 for instance. When I have free charging and a longer drive, I'd like to go to 90%. Tesla finally got this....

The range is fine, my heat is fine, the SOC+GOM gives me plenty of info.