I just bought a 2023 Leaf, To me its exactly what I want. Ten years of proven reliability , ten years of parts and aftermarket development. Battery can be removed and disassembled into its cells for repair of replacement. Can bus software modifications to upgrade motor/batteries/inverters when your warranty runs out. I plan on keeping it for 20 years or so .
They're open-source now. Nissan released all of the data and there's quite a few people developing aftermarket PCM tech, AEM is the largest one. You currently can purchase an AEM EVCU and they'll assist with all the setup.
post again in 5 and let me know how much range you lost at full battery. lost more than 50% range in 5 years in my nissan. also in canada so its chilly..
@@beefweiner My brother has a 2016 which isn't a very old car, it's not new but his battery started tanking and is at 70% health now. He kept it for his daughters but had to buy a new car because it wasn't useable for his commute.
@@nomadchad8243yes those cars are not build for a longer commute, if you have to charge the battery from empty to full each day they won’t last long. Better to buy for short ish distances, so that the battery is mostly between say 25 to 75 ish %. Less would still be better…..
You missed the minor issue with the top of the front struts rusting because the tops act as a trap for water from the windscreen. A quick spray of grease and some after market plastic caps is an easy preventative measure.
Me too! Great car, with enough range for my daily needs. Really great value too. Just don't expect it to do a 200-mile road trip, but it's the perfect commuting or 2nd car.
I did buy a 2018 LEAF - a Japanese import. 40 kWh (they say, anyway). 170,000 km. Looks new unless you look hard. $30,000. 15.5% battery degradation (thank you OBD2 and LeafSpy). Effectively it has about 31 kWh usable (the 40 kWh figure was always marketing/optimistic.) About 250 km range around town. About 200 km range on the open road slightly downhill, and about 150 km range open road slightly uphill. Fine for me. I love the car. I believe though that as it is a Japanese import there is no warranty - and there may not have been at that mileage anyway. Some Nissan dealers apparently will not work on second hand imports - fortunately normal, independent mechanics will work on anything. (Other than the high voltage system, which virtually never goes wrong anyway.) I was aware of the limitations when I bought it; no regrets, and I am having a lot of fun with it… though I might get a speeding ticket if I am not careful, it gets up to speed much faster than I am used to.
Hi Glenn, I too have a 2018 Japanese Import mine had only 11,00km and your findings are nearly exactly the same as mine my SOH is at 91%. I must admit Im a tight arse since Ive had it and try only to charge at home because I have solar power, what a saving. I have had no problems and just love it even though I still suffer from range anxiety
@@9119lina I purchased it privately, it was advertised on the main Australian car sales web site. I THINK the previous owners purchased it privately also, but I am not sure. It must have been imported to Australia when it was only 2 or 3 years old, presumably due to the high mileage. I have done 17,000 kms in 6 months in it… it did get some pothole damage unfortunately but otherwise is going fine. Still beautiful to drive.
I run the latest 62kw UK Leaf. It is my third Leaf and have no issues with it or any of the 2 previous. It does everything quite well if not the best. Very good buy second hand and range of the 62kw better than 200 miles is plenty for most people.
Great overview of the rather unsung hero of the ev world. It’s a bit like your odd uncle who looks a bit goofy, but as it turns is always there for you, being reliable and a great member of the family. Space it’s got, grace is there if you are not too picky. The tech is OK with most of the things fitted to halo cars from other manufacturers. The operating system and graphics are a but sluggish. The USP for Leaf owners is that a whole load of non franchise garages and specialist EV workshops have developed the skills and knowledge to keep the Leaf and its battery in top condition.
Randomly had this in my recommended, great channel, great reviews, you got a new sub. I'm not even Australian, but your coverage is so in-depth it doesn't matter, I can apply all the info to international models. I would like to point out, though, that the vast vast majority of Nissan Leaf batteries, even the first gen ones, are still in cars on the road today. I know this because there was a grid power storage company here in the US that thought they'd be successful re-purposing recycled Leaf batteries to reduce grid load at peak hours, but they just haven't got enough Leaf batteries yet to actually scale the business. They just aren't dying as fast as predicted, even with insufficient cooling. Anyone who's EV-hesitant should see this and gain a lot of confidence in EVs by thinking "if even the lowest-end, oldest tech air-cooled batteries mostly haven't failed yet, only lost some range, then my nice new EV that I'll buy next year with liquid cooling will last 10x as long as that". That's the real takeaway here, the fact that even the least-appealing, least advanced EV still has so many pros over any ICE vehicle on the market.
Ah, the mighty disbelief. Every single one that came in for service I'd ask the owners, how do you like it, have you had any issues? Not a single bad word or problem reported from the owners, even an old 2012 high milage one. They all genuinely liked their disbeliefs.
Seems like there's a kind of resurgence of Leaf popularity lately, as used ones become more available and people start to realise it's actually a pretty good car. The main thing I don't like about mine is the Chademo charge connector - since everything else is moving to CCS, it's only going to get more difficult to find public rapid chargers in the future, and I've already been in a situation where I've had to wait for a charger to become available while a bunch of CSS ones next to it were sitting empty.
I love my Leaf for suburban and city commuting, and I'm lucky to have solar power at home. I also get a big kick out of being greeted in Japanese every day. IME the big downside is its wide turning circle and a tiny downside is that the touchscreen buttons are too small for my giant westerner hands to hit accurately 😅
I have a 2013 (24kwh) Leaf with 9 of 12 bars state of battery health. The batteries don’t die on you. Checking battery health is easy prior to purchase. Depends on if you travel less than 30miles a day if a used Leaf is a good buy for you. Mine at 100% gets around 70 miles per charge. It is insanely fun to drive. I wanted an EV true. I had no idea how fun it would be. Thrilling is not an exaggeration. 😊
I bought one with 65K miles. I removed the zero emissions emblems... "for aerodynamics" Edit: the re-gen actually feels the same as when you lift of the accelerator in a car with a manual transmission, but yeah if you are coming out of an automatic I can see how it would feel alien
actually regen braking is not alway`s good for your range...if your on the bigger roads it is better to roll and slow your speed if you manage to drive a little to fast. It costs more energy to get speed then you get back from regen braking. however regen braking is better then regular braking when you need to slow down fast. A colleague of mine is leasing a nissan leaf gen2 and the battery is air cooled and this turned out to be a big problem in the hot summer. The car could hardly accept any charge when they where at a public charger..took over 2 hours to get 50% battery charged. It is something to keep in mind. So for me a liquid cooled battery is what i want. BTW who wants an MX30? it`s way to expensive for the small 35.5kWh battery. Best used market EV for me is the Renault zoe 41 or 52kw/h model or if you pay a little more Kia e-niro.
Have had a 2017 ZE1 for 6 months now - can’t fault it. Given we’ve got a domestic solar PV system, charging for free is pretty great with diesel sitting above $2.00/L…
I'm amazed that a meh but overall decent car in 2018 has better performance than a performance/family/etc driven car of 30 years ago, better build quality, lower maintenance, lots of safety and comfort features, all that for something that can also take your friends or kids in the back and inflation adjusted a bargain of the price.
My parents have an Ioniq 5 and a Kona EV, and they love those cars. They also own their own house and have solar panels so their electric bill is incredibly reasonable at most. I don't own my own house and would bear the brunt of that electric bill plus the cost of the car, which would make it a bit more complicated for me.
Nothing like any kind of EV review or opinion piece for bringing out the electrical and infrastructure engineers that never finished high school, with their strong opinions.
Those recharging times were horrendous. These electric cars are great for inner city and suburban driving but thats it. For road trips and driving anywhere outside of a city/major populated areas, especially here in WA, you still need an ICE or hybrid car. Cant see that changing for at least 10-15 years
Most newer evs are in the 15-30 minute range depending on manufacturer. Good time for a snack compared to an overheated leaf struggling after 2 slow dc charge sessions. Do your research
@Samus Aran7 it all depends on battery size, the rechargers power output and any bottlenecks. Most newer cars have inproved the bottlenecks allowing up to 350kw or more rechargers which is probably what youre talling about. The issue is the recharging stations are so varied in power you could recharge your ev in 8 minutes or up to 60 minutes or more, depending on the size of your ev battery. But end of the day, its simple math. A 75kw superfast recharger will take 1 hour to recharge a 75kwh battery from 0 - 100%. A 300kw ultra fast recharger will do it in 15 minutes. EV companies out there are using a bunch of smoke and mirrors to adjust the numbers. But if look at the kw and kwh numbers, the math is simple.
IMO, LEAF is perfect if you have AC charging at home / work. DC charging is a pain and I wouldn't do more than one DC charge per day in the LEAF. The range with one stop for DC charging is limited to 100 miles (24 kWh), 180 miles (40kWh) and 250 miles (62kWh) realistically. It's not a long-range, road-trip car. But it's a fantastic, relaxing, stress-free commuting car.
Great vid as always! Could i just add a comment that I preferred the old format of building up to the driving segment? Not sure if you're piloting this or if there's a bunch of folks championing this change.. I'd vote to go back to the old format but will keep watching either way 👍
Air cooled battery and a 50kW limited CHAdeMO DC charging port? No thanks. I'd rather get something with a CCS2 port and a liquid cooled lithium iron phosphate battery. 🙂
I thinks BYD’s Atto 3 changes the game in terms of value. At $40k, I would not be getting a Leaf. The atto 3 has a better battery that doesn’t degrade as badly, and will have more years of warranty- plus a new manufacturer eager to please a skeptical public.
I love my Nissan Leaf Plus, and it's the 2019 model. I preordered the Hyundai Ioniq 5 first, but as it turned into a 2-3 year wait for delivery, I turned my eyes on the used EV market and found the Leaf in excellent condition and battery health. Here's my story and experience: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-k_uW7FCbPxw.html
If you're not sure on full electric yet ..Get its little brother and have no range anxiety. JDM import Nissan Note hybrid E- Power. no plugs but electric drive with a small 3 cyl petrol [91Ron] generator. And no CVT, effectively the Leaf electric drive train. If you want one of these with a bit swagger grab the Nismo or Nismo S version. Nismo comes with a cool body kit, the S version has bodykit but with 25% extra output for walk the talk. Its a 5 door hatch, like a tardus inside, 40Ltank will get you 800kms + of driving, they have instant torque and acceleration from its electric drivetrain, [the 3 cyl only acts as a generator]. They have a small battery pack 1.5kW that sits under the front seats, one pedal driving [switchable]. Base models come in to AU from low 20s to the Nismo S models with recaro seats etc low kms 2018-20 models in late $30ks range. A cracking car Ive had one [Nismo S] for 8 months and love it, they're fine on the highway doing 5L/100 and around town as low as 2.9L/100. I wasnt ready to go full electric, this is a great mid step. The series hybrid drivetrain has proven reliable enough that an upgraded newer version is being used in the new 2023 XTrail hybrid here in AU. Plenty of safety tech in them too, and nicely put together [made in Japan quality and materials]. Well worth a look.
I like the look of this thing. It looks cool. The 2-tone paint is nice. I love that it doesn't have the stereotypical electric car look. Nice big windows for the back and rear sides. The screen is pretty low for using waze... though! the vent is PERFECT for mounting a phone. Though I'd rather use Waze and stuff on a big screen. The shape of the opening to the boot area, is not ideal. Small, and tall, and rounded... That boot is not good with the space... for some reason, despite being the same size car as a Mazda 3 and those cars. Why can't the seats fold down properly lol.
Glad you ( well Jim actually) mentioned the elephant in the room being the battery with zero thermal management. Even the 2022 still omits it. Hope you were joking about the Mazda MX30 with its pathetic sub 230km range. That and the Mini electric are hopeless. The Hyundai Ioniq creams the Nissan because it has thermal management of the battery as does MG both better bets than the Nissan. Once the Nissan drops to 9 bar battery knock $10k off its value. Great report and whilst I am less knowledgeable than you guys I believe my points are valid and worthy.
Today my Nissan Leaf has to go to Nissan heaven 2013 MK1 Purchased from Nissan Dealership, full service history and all repairs completed at Nissan and today at only 48k, yes 48k! miles the error code of inverter and motor was found with an estimated repair bill of £9800 pounds. Nissans response was car is over 8 years old so we cant help. - purchase with caution
Reviewers tend to get a bit over-excited about the "no need for big repairs" in EVs. Now these cars are getting older, we're hearing about lots of big expensive parts failing on some of them. The LEAF tends to be more reliable though overall - it's rare to get problems with the reduction gear / inverter / motor at 48k miles. My suspicion is that going heavy on the acceleration and regen isn't a good idea on any EV, even though it's fun. Or maybe there are specific issues in different regions (using different parts). An EV specialist in the UK told me that the on-board chargers sometimes fail on the LEAF but not usually until they get past 100k miles. Generally if the battery is in a good condition after high mileage, the rest of the 'engine' should be OK too. But it's a risk with all EVs until prices of replacement parts and labour costs come down to sensible levels. I've got two LEAFs and they are both fine, but I'm being very careful with them!
The thing for me is you can’t take a single model of electric car, and then proudly state that this shall be the electric car experience for all comers, now and forever. Also you nailed it when you said people are confused, as the bulk of the population have yet to make the transition. This has always been the case, otherwise the sky would have fallen in like it was supposed to back in the mid 80s when they took the lead out of petrol.
Sir: You're speaking too rapidly. You're slurring your words. Slow down please, and enunciate your words clearly, if you want to be understood. Taking swipes at older people is also a non-starter. We're not all technology averse. You might actually learn a thing or two from your elders. The Leaf is no longer produced for the North American market. If it is still being sold in Australia, you're fortunate. First generation Leafs are quite inexpensive here, but batteries are woeful, and the range is short. Its a pity Nissan never produced a factory upgrade for that generation of Leaf. There are non-factory upgrades available, but at considerable cost, and unknown reliability.
They seem to be really expensive there. You can buy new one around 25000-30000€ in Finland as it is not that wanted model because of chademo and it cannot compete with newer models from vag, stellantis or kia/hyundai.
Appreciate that this video is a year old so I though I'd give people an idea of leafs in the current UK market. I've just ordered a 2021 e+ Tekna (top spec with bigger battery) for £15000. Battery health is showing 100%. That's after 3 years. Also worth mentioning that in the UK Nissan offer an 8 year battery warranty.
Greetings from London. What range are you getting on a full charge? How long does it take to charge to 80%? Hope you will enjoy your new ride and gives you plenty of trouble free miles. All the best
chevy volt is better imo. mine has 130k miles on it and gets 50-55miles range still lol. and the gas motor means i can use it as my only car for everything i could ever need to, which means its not sitting at home depreciating as a 2nd car coz it would give me too much range anxiety to try and make the round trip with the unreliable overcrowded charging network. it cost me 7k and ive saved 2k in gas in the first year alone by putting 30k miles on it. most leafs dont have much more than 30k miles on them for the same year 2013 lol
can you review some chinese made cars great wall steed etc.... good to see how they fair after 5 years........... 100k sub party!!! love the redriven work has helped me inspect potential dual cab utes last few weeks
One of my coworkers owns one. He lives in a small bedroom community about 50 kilometers away from our place of employment. Our place of employment has no place to charge and the community he lives in has no public charger. Last year the area where we live was under a "POLAR VORTEX"and for two weeks the temperature at night plunged to between -38 and -44 Fahrenheit and the daytime temperature is never exceeded -10°. My coworker would arrive at work bundled up like an Arctic explorer because even fully charged his battery barely had enough for a round trip to work and that was not using the heater/defroster or any of the other electrical accessories.
I recently sold my 2011 Leaf and bought a 2023 new one. I bought the 2011 used with 17K miles on it. It had been leased for 3 years and I purchased it in 2014. When it was new-to-me the range was about 100 miles per charge. At the end of 8 years in December, the range was about 20 miles per charge. I only had one problem in 8 years. That came after a free rapid charge, and the regenerative braking stopped working. .Nissan wanted over $1000 to fix the problem and I refused. I drove it maybe 5 years with regen braking working only in warm months. I wanted a new Leaf because of the tax credit, and because I wanted only to do a trickle charge from a 124 volt line. I know that if I get it new, it will not be abused. The old Leaf did well with a trickle charge, and I believe this Leaf will last me 20 years. I have a second car, gasoline, for long trips.
Our 2016 Japanese import Leaf has a Type 1 J1772 charging port. Our battery has hardly degraded in the two years we have owned it. People say the degradation slows after the first three years. Old mate is right - it is a very easy car to drive but our model doesn't have one pedal driving. In five years replacement batteries should be cheaper. With the lack of supply of new EVs into Australia, it has increased in price from when we bought it.
My number one issue with the Leaf is simply this: it's undesirable. I just don't want one. There's nothing remotely fun, or characterful, or interesting, or attention-grabbing about it. It doesn't feel or look luxurious, or sporty, or stylish, or rugged. It reminds me a lot of the Opel Signum, if you remember those - a big soulless box which boasted an engine and a whole round steering wheel, and even seats, why could you not want those! Just... a blob of a car.
@@rorynicholson3295 Not at all! I love cars - and the oomph behind something like a Model S is pretty intoxicating. Who doesn't love being mashed into the seat? I miss manual transmissions, though.
Thanks for another great review team! The transitions between chapters of the video are very smooth too 👍 Would love a classic review of that W123 in the background at some point in the future 😉
Hopefully the cost of battery repairs / replacement will drop over the next couple of years as more LEAFs are scrapped, and more garages offer to do the work.
@@waynehobbs5175 Very true, this. This is Reason One that modern EVs DO have some species of thermal management. The Leafe battery is old technology, rather like buying a NEW gas car with a 06 volt battery and "Edison lightbulbs'.
Try to shade the car to let it cool down before charging in really hot weather, and keep an eye on the battery temperature gauge. Leave the car to cool down before any kind of charging, but particularly DC charging. LEAF can suffer from deformation of the battery pack when the temperature of the pack stays high for too long. This is a big problem on cars that have been rapid charged several times in one day for example (e.g. ex-taxi).
@@waynehobbs5175 I wouldn't say that; just don't expect the LEAF to be capable of doing more than two rapid charging sessions in one day. Use it as a medium-range car. I have two and they both get used for journeys of up to 180 miles per day (with one charging stop). That's the limit for the 40kWh IMO. 24 kWh is more like 50 miles on a single charge. 62kWh can do up to 250 miles with one charging stop. Any more than that - take the train!
Still too much. You can buy a new ev for under 40k with better battery, longer range, faster charging, choice of fwd/rwd and, V2L. Downsides are that I've had thou are: having to wait for delivery, solar installors being anti ev (they would rather sell a powerwall) and, uncertainty that that prices could be even lower next year or new cheaper tech comes available (like sodium batteries).
We picked up a 2022 SV with only 10,000 miles. It's new at a third of the price when it was new. Easy to program for length of time charging at home is so nice, we get a 50% discount if we charge at night. It came with the level 2 charger. We only so far been charging once a week. Plenty of cargo space for an airport pickup.
So, what happens to the car's secondhand resale value once the batteries have reached their expiry date? In other words, the batteries have a life span of max 8 to 10 years and need replacement ones and of what cost? If someone buys (?) your car at say 8 years old, are they willing to pay between $10,000 to $20,000 for replacement batteries. What happens to the old Lithium-ion batteries, there are currently no recycling facilities and may end up in some third world landfill. Then there is the mining for rare metals, which come at a huge cost to the environment with toxic waste runoffs. I could go on to prove to you how un - environmental EV's are. Remember Zero net emissions by 2035, what a joke. Unqualified politicians who have no clues.
The “transmission tunnel” is for the high voltage disconnect, and for wiring bundles. But true, they could have designed it flat by making a notch in the battery pack.
Thats a JDM version. Australian delivered LEAF's out of UK have leather trim, blue roof not optioned, and the indicators and lights are on the left hand side. Features shown in this video are different to UK variants. I own a LEAF and love the performance, cost of ownership and mostly the lack of fuel required to drive anywhere.
I don't think that I would commit that much money to a car that is rapidly becoming dated as newer, better, cheaper EV options are rapidly becoming available. It would only be worth it if it could be gotten at bargain basement price.
Did I hear correctly... Heated rear seats??? For a car that's 50k new, that's some luxury, right there. A new vehicle for 50k seems quite reasonable to me and I'm far from "loaded".
Wise move. I traded my Gen 3 Prius in for a 2018 Leaf. I regret it now. The Leaf is not bad for city or peri urban trips, anything more requires planning.
Bought a used 2018 Leaf just before prices went crazy. Year and a half and it's been great. Chademo charger and limited range keep it from being used on road trips. I live in Texas and the heat has had no real effect for me.
If you hate driving and only hang around metro and don't go very far, i get it. But they are not the answer for my situation, i like travelling and holidaying in different states and isolated locations. I very much doubt the battery technology will catch up that much. Just look at the fast charge points and places, next to none. We still use coal and gas burning power stations to this day, be lucky to have the infrastructure set in place by governments by 2065. Where is my flippin hover board?
