The problem with the Leaf is that it has no battery thermo management, so the battery degrades very fast compared to other EV's. I know Nissan wanted to control the cost of the Leaf but you have to manage the temperature of the battery or else the degradation will significantly lower the range.
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Review: 2019 Nissan Leaf Plus Brings a Bigger Battery to the Popular CarPlay-Equipped EV
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laurim
macrumors 68000
I didn’t like the dashboard controls on Teslas and there’s no tax credit left to make them as affordable as the Leaf. The only differences I saw were the cute stuff I didn’t really need. My nephew has a Tesla and likes it so I won’t say they are bad cars. I just didn’t want to pay for one.
Oh, and if you do get a Leaf - throw away the tires that come with it. They are totally optimized for low rolling resistance so Nissan could quote higher mileage numbers. The car has more than enough torque and if you need that for emergency situations in wet or icy conditions all you'll do is skid. I felt that Nissan traded off passenger safety for a higher quoted mileage. I live in Massachusetts so that bugs me a lot more than if I lived in a continuously warm climate state where tires get better traction.
laurim
macrumors 68000
If that’s true, why are the batteries lasting past the expected lifetime of the car? https://insideevs.com/news/351314/nissan-leaf-battery-longevity/
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You could be right about that. I do notice a bit of skidding. Not enough to get upset about and about the same as regular cars I’ve owned but I might consider getting winter tires.
v0lume4
macrumors 68030
My vehicle doesn't get great gas mileage (it's only ok) and I change my own oils and fluids, and I have to say that avoiding doing all of that sounds pretty great. Haha. 😀
Do EV's have differentials? I know that's only like a 30-60,000 mile maintenance item anyway, so not like it matters that much. But I'm just curious.
Now that I think about it... you don't have to pay for new spark plugs either. Or timing belts.
Man. I wonder when they'll make an EV 4Runner. I do enjoy the sound (and range) of gas engines, but the responses in this thread makes compelling arguments.
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laurim
macrumors 68000
I was told my only maintenance was basics like tire pressure and wiper fluid and having the battery checked yearly to make sure it’s aging gracefully. But it’s the sales guy so I’d have to check the manual to be sure. I’ve only had it since June so haven’t done any maintenance yet.
If you are in the market for an EV under 30k, the leaf is an incredible car. But if you're looking to spend over 35k on the higher spec Leaf, spare yourself the mediocrity and buy yourself the Tesla SR+ Model 3.
- Longer Range - 250mi
- More Robust Battery Technology
- Faster
- Tesla Entertainment
- Tesla Supercharging
- Self Driving and Autopilot
- Doesn't Look Like a Dork
vipergts2207
Suspended
Continue to post? That was my first comment dude..
What flex? And the article says nothing about “guaranteed”. It says “reasonable life.”
laurim
macrumors 68000
Most of those things are irrelevant to me. I already accidentally speed in my Leaf if I don’t watch it. I have propilot assist and it maintains a lane and speed well but I don’t use it since I usually have short local trips. Don’t need supercharging and don’t know of any stations in my normal driving area. And I don’t look like a dork(I’m not 12)
laurim
macrumors 68000
I always say..."the drawer is full of butter knives, but I do own a few steak knives"...we eat more pancakes than steak.
ActionableMango
macrumors G3
I feel sorry you need to insult people's cars and casually mention your BMW.
blacktape242
macrumors 68000
Tesla also has a HUGE, i mean HUGE leg up on charging while you are away from home charging.... its really a no brainer.... I do hope others start catching up, now reason to pay for gas anymore.
laurim
macrumors 68000
In certain areas you’ll see a lot of Tesla chargers, like California. In MN, I see more non-Tesla chargers, at least where I go like the airport and grocery store. But I haven’t needed to use them yet. It’ll definitely be nice when they show up everywhere people are going to park for a while, like where you work, theaters, parking ramps, etc. We'll get there eventually. It just makes sense long term.
ActionableMango
macrumors G3
That sounds backwards to me, and a quick check comes up with these numbers:
Supercharger: 7,320 globally and 443 in the USA
CHAdeMO: 23,000 globally and 1677 in the USA
Edit: Those numbers above aren't fair. As I look further, some counts are for "stations" and some "charge points", so numbers I found earlier are not comparable as they are from different times and sources, and are counting different things.
But I did find a recent USA only comparison that comes from official numbers:
CHAdeMO: 2140 locations with 3010 outlets
CCS/SAE: 1888 locations with 3525 outlets
Supercharger: 678 locations with 6340 outlets
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Globally Tesla just reached 15,000 charging points. These are spread over 1,717 stations.
Check www.supercharge.info/map for a map showing locations.
ActionableMango
macrumors G3
ArtOfWarfare
macrumors G3
Just buy a Tesla and forget about CarPlay. The only people on the Tesla forums that are stressing about whether it has CarPlay (it doesn't) are the people who haven't bought one yet. The only superior maps experience to the 15" map on Model 3 is the 17" map on the S and X (and that's debatable, given the S and X's awkward screen orientation.)
Really, if we're going to get some tighter Apple integration, I want to be able to AirPlay some videos to my Model 3's screen.
Though Tesla can also use CHAdeMO chargers with the adapter right? In absolute terms, you'd add the number of CHAdeMO and Superchargers together for the Tesla to talk about total options for those cars, maybe minus places that have both?
Without active thermal management of the car's battery, I'd avoid this EV like the plague. Way better options out there with active thermal management (BMW, Hyundai, Jaguar, Kia, Porsche, Tesla... and pretty much every other EV coming out soon).
ActionableMango
macrumors G3
That's a good point, but the context of the post I was replying to said Tesla had a huge lead and others had to "catch up". If you count that adapter for the totals, there's no way to "catch up" because the Tesla total will always include proprietary chargers that others cannot use. Also I don't think there are CCS adapters for Teslas.
In any case, I hate that this is even a contest. I think what would be best for EV community as a whole is to collectively pick a year in the future and have every EV maker switch to one connector at that point. Then provide adapters for legacy cars made prior to that year. CHAdeMO is just for Japanese cars, Tesla charging stations are just for Teslas, and there's SAE and CCS too. I don't think it is good for the community to have this kind of mess.
laurim
macrumors 68000
FYI- with an adapter, any ev can use a Tesla charging station. But yes, a universal standard would be best for all involved. It seems to be Tesla’s attempt to create an Apple-like shutout which, like HomeKit, will end with a kumbaya solution.
AppleInLVX
macrumors 65816
I bet from a practical standpoint, the Leaf is a brilliant choice, and I was tempted too, but man, for me the auto industry simply hasn't come up with a way to make an EV anything but ugly. It's like all EVs are designed by the high-end sneaker industry. They must be seen, and so look as weird as possible. I'd love to see a leaf with the clean lines of a 2019 VW Golf or something. It's the main reason I was excited to see what Apple came up with the Apple Car was still a hope. I spend too much time in my car to look at something that looks like it came out of early 80s bad Japanese animation.