To contrast with Willie's oft reported and unfortunately terrible
experience with his early model, our 2013 SV LEAF has been a good
investment and overall reliable car. LEAFs had some upgrades that year
including a battery percentage display, charge connector lighting, heat
pump, and reportedly improved battery chemistry. Has heated seats and
steering wheel - great in winter.
Bought used with under 3k miles. Have replaced tires a few times, 12volt
accessory battery once, and brake fluid as recommended during the 80,000
or so miles driven so far. Down one bar (of 12) on the battery and still
handles our local driving needs, which is most of our driving.
Always fun to drive and we appreciate the practical hatchback design. We
weren't looking to pay triple the price or more for race car
performance, but the LEAF does have that instant EV torque and rules the
road in city driving.
There's a slight (and apparently common) problem with the driver's door
handle cover that we won't bother to fix. And the charge door failed to
open once, but fixed itself.
The ride seems nicer than the Tesla M3s I've ridden in and it may have
less road noise IIRC. Have not yet ridden in a Model Y. When the time
comes to replace our distance car (2007 Prius) we'll see if Tesla makes
a similar small hatchback by then, or what other such options may become
available from VW, Ford, KIA, Hyundai or others (Fisker PEAR?).
Hopefully Honda, Mazda, Toyota and other laggards will get their EV acts
together, too.
I'm among those put off by some of the negative aspects of Elon's
management style, penchant for drama and foot swallowing, plus
designed-in vehicle privacy issues, and the repair problems one of my
Tesla owning friends has experienced. That said, Tesla as a company has
certainly led the way toward the EV explosion thanks to the
contributions of MANY talented people, and, importantly, the continued
support of regional and federal government programs and incentives in
the USA and elsewhere.
Cheers,
-Jamie
On 5/18/23 10:56 AM, Willie via EV wrote:
On 5/18/23 11:41, EV List Lackey via EV wrote:
On 17 May 2023 at 22:49, paul dove via EV wrote:
So, what is your alternative. A leaf? They were the only ones that made
a usable vehicle.
Why not a Leaf? Early ones had problems in hot climates, and I'm
aware of
some warranty coverage gripes. Despite that, quite a few people,
including
members of this list, have owned them and have gotten good service from
them.
We bought a new 2011 Leaf. Here in Texas, the battery lasted ~20k miles
in ~2 years. Nissan dealers, on several occasions, declared the battery
to be "normal" even though range was about 50 miles. Down from ~90. I
could have joined the class action suit but did not want to fool with
it. Just as I will not fool with Tesla about reduced SuperCharging
power. But, I will never buy another Nissan car. Just as I will never
buy another GM car. I will, almost certainly, buy more Teslas. I still
keep track of that Leaf. It is near valueless. Not fooling with the
class action suit was the right decision. The participants got VERY
little satisfaction.
GM still gets much grief for their behavior with the EV1. IMHO, it was
their right to do what they did. There biggest sin was denying us NiMH
chemistry for ~10 years. With NiMH a FAR better Leaf could have been
developed and sold. As it is, EV adoption was delayed about ten years.
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