Drove Nissan Leaf EV

[Cobb]

Man, thats something many folks do not think about. Id hope the manuacture would have a system in place to disable the use of the battery like in a hybrid or have some forced cooliing system in place to prevent that.

Ive only been out west once for a week, otherwise in VA. In VA it gets humid, soo humid that you can just walk outside wearing anything or nothing at all and start sweating in a few minutes at room or 100+ degrees with the humidity here.

When I was out west it was 107 degrees, a heat wave according to a local radio, however I never sweated the whole time there. I can easily see how folks out there die from heat stroke, exhausting, etc without the sweating feature we have here.

Now that I think of it, the Leaf has a big honking temp meter on the dash, but no one Ive spoken to can tell me why, what to wwatch for or if its of any significants.

Originally Posted by 3-Wheeler

MN,

I hoping I'm wrong, but if we have our summer's hot similar to last year, and considering how much capacity my battery lost due to heat, I don't think that a 20 mile buffer will be enough.

Keep us posted!!

Jim.

[theaveng]

You have it backwards. In Virginia where you sweat but it doesn't evaporate..... that's when you can overheat. In the west the sweat dries immediately so your body stays cooler. I've been in >100 degree weather and felt cool because of the instant-evaporation mechanism in the west (Utah, Southern California).

[theaveng]

Leaf owners are now filing class action lawsuits. They are saying Nissan used misleading "100 mile" advertising when the official EPA rating was only 73. Also that Nissan never mentioned the car would lose 20-30 miles range after just one summer of ownership in hot zones like Arizona/Southern California. And therefore would become unusable to reach a job located ~45 or more miles from home.

[argentic]

Originally Posted by theaveng

Even Leaf owners are having trouble getting Nissan to look at their cars. They've lost 20-30% capacity in areas that are hot (Arizona) and Nissan keeps insisting there's no problem.

This is why I figure I'll be able to pickup a lot of cheap Leafs when the leases run-out (2013-14). Nobody will want to buy cars with diminished capacity of only 45 miles, and the pricetag will likely drop to $10 or 11,000. As happened with insights in 2001-2 (too much supply and not enough demand).

Do you own Nissan leaf ?
I live in La and i own one for more than a year and I dont have the problems that you described most of them read in internet.

[Cobb]

Mines was a rental for a day. When I attended the open house they showed the battery is made up of these tins and that yearly they can "service" the battery by swapping out tins or cells so they replace any faultly and mix n match them so you are dealing with a level pack.


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[Bugone]

I test drove one. I was impressed how much they'd make it drive like a petrol automatic. It's really very similar to my parents mk1 focus automatic.

However, for the same reason, I was also quite disappointed. I kind of wanted to feel like I was driving something new and 'different' instead of just an auto.

[freezin4]

I am now curious to test drive one too. And I just read yesterday that Nissan is dropping the price of the base model by $6000 in the US.

DailyTech - Nissan Leaf Base Model Price Drops by More Than $6,000 to $28,800

[samwichse]

Even more significant, not only is it just $21,300 after the FITC, they mentioned the car and batteries are now being made in Tennessee!

First successful electric car made in the US .

Sam

[argentic]

I love my nissan leaf


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[Hugh-Falls]

Originally Posted by Bugone

I test drove one. .....However, for the same reason, I was also quite disappointed. I kind of wanted to feel like I was driving something new and 'different' instead of just an auto.

Apparently, the dash button that activates the Vibrating Magic Fingers Seat Cushion Massage or the one that starts the Tea Brewing Toast and Jam Dispenser are not standard equipment for UK models.