Poll : $100 a month replacement offer

[evnow]

What do you think about the new about $100 a month battery replacement offer ?

[jhm614]

I'm an edge case - high mileage, long lease in a hot climate - and it might make sense for me. I need more details, though.

[klapauzius]

At 12,000 miles per year and expecting a long time for my battery to degrade to 70% (maybe 8 years),
this rental deal as the only replacement option would be very bad for me. Paying essentially $9600 for a capacity upgrade from 70% to 100% destroys any economic sense the Leaf will make.

I was hoping to own and use this car for a very long time, i.e. +15 years, which means I was expecting to buy one replacement battery. Now it seems we have to put our hopes on an aftermarket solution.

[Stoaty]

I was hoping to own and use this car for a very long time, i.e. +15 years, which means I was expecting to buy one replacement battery. Now it seems we have to put our hopes on an aftermarket solution.

My guess is that in 6-7 years when the price has come down Nissan will sell you a replacement pack (I may need to buy one too, eventually, but probably not for about 10 years).

[LTLFTcomposite]

Since I'm leasing I don't have a dog in this fight, but was toying with the idea of buying it out at the end of the lease depending on the outcome of this, and this news has pretty much wiped out any chance of that. The Leaf has been an interesting experience but it cost me dearly because I was an early adopter. Frankly an inexpensive gas car like a mazda 3 is starting to look pretty appealing, and let others carry the EV banner.

[DaveinOlyWA]

At 12,000 miles per year and expecting a long time for my battery to degrade to 70% (maybe 8 years),
this rental deal as the only replacement option would be very bad for me. Paying essentially $9600 for a capacity upgrade from 70% to 100% destroys any economic sense the Leaf will make.

I was hoping to own and use this car for a very long time, i.e. +15 years, which means I was expecting to buy one replacement battery. Now it seems we have to put our hopes on an aftermarket solution.

then wait 8 years THEN sign up for the lease program!

[DaveinOlyWA]

Since I'm leasing I don't have a dog in this fight, but was toying with the idea of buying it out at the end of the lease depending on the outcome of this, and this news has pretty much wiped out any chance of that. The Leaf has been an interesting experience but it cost me dearly because I was an early adopter. Frankly an inexpensive gas car like a mazda 3 is starting to look pretty appealing, and let others carry the EV banner.

wow, i cannot believe you are serious about what you said. the true cost of burning gasoline is so much more than the cost of any battery. i have no idea how old you are but the changing evironment and the debate on its causes i have followed for decades and its beginning to become obvious that the "facts" we have now have been well known in the scientific community for years and that all the climate change debunkers were pretty much bought off by Big Oil.

On Earth Day 2012 I met the Asst. Director for the Dept of Revenue for WA State. He advocated green transportation as a way to save the State. He claimed that if everyone ditched their cars the state could save enough money from not buying oil to send every student in the state to college.

i found his statement to be a bit of a stretch and there are simply too many logistical issues with commerce and transportation of goods thru the state (bordering Canada means a LOT of stuff travels our roads by truck and rail) but at least he backed up his statement by riding a bicycle rain or shine (in WA it was MOSTLY rain!) every workday THIRTY ONE MILES ONE WAY!

[GregH]

You should put a dollar figure on this.. If a replacement battery ends up costing $2000 then nobody is going to take the rental deal.. If the replacement cost is $12,000 then I bet there are tons of takers.. I'm voting "like" I suppose because I'm assuming the replacement pack cost will be comparatively prohibitive..

[RonDawg]

Since I'm leasing I don't have a dog in this fight, but was toying with the idea of buying it out at the end of the lease depending on the outcome of this, and this news has pretty much wiped out any chance of that. The Leaf has been an interesting experience but it cost me dearly because I was an early adopter. Frankly an inexpensive gas car like a mazda 3 is starting to look pretty appealing, and let others carry the EV banner.

wow, i cannot believe you are serious about what you said. the true cost of burning gasoline is so much more than the cost of any battery. i have no idea how old you are but the changing evironment and the debate on its causes i have followed for decades and its beginning to become obvious that the "facts" we have now have been well known in the scientific community for years and that all the climate change debunkers were pretty much bought off by Big Oil.

And even if you believe that climate change is a myth, you can't deny that our thirst for oil has side effects on our foreign policy, and how we have to stay friendly to Saudi Arabia (a country not particularly well known for its human rights record) and tolerate the rantings of the late Hugo Chavez and to a lesser extent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. By driving my EV, I know I am contributing far less to that than I once did.

[TomT]

The problem with that whole argument is that it is overly simplistic and petroleum is used for SO many other things than gasoline that, even if every gas car disappeared today, we would still be heavily dependent on it, even just to manufacture the EV gas vehicle replacements and components...

And even if you believe that climate change is a myth, you can't deny that our thirst for oil has side effects on our foreign policy, and how we have to stay friendly to Saudi Arabia (a country not particularly well known for its human rights record) and tolerate the rantings of the late Hugo Chavez and to a lesser extent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. By driving my EV, I know I am contributing far less to that than I once did.