The LEAF has been completely reliable. The only trips back to the dealer were for a software update and for the free six and twelve month checks. The battery check at the twelve month visit showed a clean bill of health with five stars on each of the measures, which include charging history, driving history and storage history. Note that our LEAF got this clean battery health report despite the fact that we usually charge the car to 100% rather than the 80% that Nissan recommends for "Long Life Mode". We charge to 100% because we want the car to always be ready for any unexpected driving need. One charging note: we set the charging timer to start charging only, but not to stop charging. So charging ends when the battery is full and the charging plug stays connected until the following morning. I'm not sure if this charging practice allows the LEAF's battery management system to balance the cells better, but we certainly seem to have a healthy battery. The only service that the car has had besides checks and software updates was a free tire rotation.
My impressions of the car are no different than they were when I wrote my first full review at two weeks into the journey. Link Over the last twelve months, the LEAF has impressed us further by its reliability and by how well it has served our needs for all of our local driving. It is definitely our primary vehicle. The car is roomy enough for a couple to feel very comfortable in the open and airy front seating area. And the rear seat is good for our adult children and their child in a car seat, with room in the hatch area behind the seats for groceries, diaper bags, beach chairs and the like.
As a driver's car, the LEAF is fun to drive because of its instant smooth torque, its effortless steering and the quiet of the ride. People often try to compare electric cars or hybrids with similar gasoline ("ICE") cars so that they can try to calculate the "payback period" of the extra cost of the electric drive train. But comparisons like this are often misguided if other factors than strictly fuel economy matter to the buyer, because electric cars like the LEAF are more than just an electrified version of a similar ICE car. This is because electric cars have the benefit of the smooth, quiet drive train that takes the car into a new category. Basically, it's a much nicer car than the ICE car that seems like a close comparison. I'm not exaggerating when I say that driving the LEAF has much in common with driving a small luxury car. Electric cars also have the convenience factor of allowing the driver to never have to visit a gas station again. So making a "payback period" calculation is often no more realistic than trying to make the same kind of comparison for a Lexus 350 against the Toyota Camry with which it shares a platform, or the same calculation for someone who chooses a BMW 3 Series instead of the "equivalent" Toyota (which really doesn't exist). The cars are not equivalent, and the buyer who chooses an EV is choosing a nicer vehicle in many ways.
As a person who is fascinated with the latest technical advances and with measuring the energy efficiency of devices that I use a lot, the LEAF provides me with a constantly fascinating driving experience. For instance, there is no other type of car that actually regains energy when driving down steep hills, and that's fun to watch.
And then there's that little thing about driving free of any fuel charges and without polluting. Because we have solar panels on our home's roof that produce more energy than we use in the home, by charging the LEAF at night we haven't paid anything for fuel for the 11,000 miles plus that we've driven the car. And we haven't used any imported oil to fuel the car either.
Even if we didn't have solar power, I've found that our cost per mile on electricity would be less than four cents per mile. That's less than half the cost of driving a Prius and about one fifth the cost of driving a gasoline car that averages 25 mpg. At today's four dollar-plus gas prices, if you drive a car 12,000 miles per year, that translates to an annual savings of about $600 on fuel for a Prius and over $1,400 for that 25 mpg car.
EDIT: Here's a link to an article about a study by the Union of Concerned Scientists that illustrates the savings by US region: Link
I haven't mentioned anything about the incentives that we got to lease the car. I will say that the tax credit and rebate that were offered were enough to get me interested in the LEAF when I wasn't sure if it was a good fit for us. But the car has turned out to be so much better than I expected when I first saw it. Would I have leased the car without those incentives? I probably would have because I really wanted to try an electric car. The incentives just made it easier to make that early adoption decision. For new car shoppers now, with a lot of good information available about how good the car is, the decision may be easier.
Do I have any complaints or criticisms about the LEAF? I certainly do. I would like more driving range. With experience, I've learned that the LEAF realistically has a range of 70 to 80 miles. It can be longer, up to 100 miles or more on local highways with top speeds under 50 mph, but with the frequent use of freeway speeds that is almost unavoidable in our suburban areas, 75 miles or so is about it. Living about 45 miles outside of the local big city center, round trips into the city or to pick up friends at the airport are hard to do without a charging stop along the way. A realistic driving range of 100 to 120 miles would make the car so much more usable for us. Though the acceleration of the LEAF is good off the line and up to 40 or 50 mph, I would like a bit more power for a more enjoyable driving experience. The front drive architecture and the simple beam rear axle also limit the LEAF's handling potential, and I would prefer rear drive with an independent rear suspension. The car needs a more accurate driving range display (called "DTE", Distance to Empty) and a real state of charge meter that shows the percentage of battery charge remaining. I would have liked the choice of power seats and leather in place of the fabric that is standard on the car (leather can be installed by after market suppliers for about $1,000). The carpeting in the car is barely adequate and it resembles thin felt that pills up if you scuff it. The floor mats are an absolute must have, but happily, they do eliminate the carpet problems.
All of that said, though, the good qualities of the LEAF shine through. When I think of the LEAF, I think of a really pleasant and fun driving experience with the luxury of smoothness and the quiet to allow normal conversation at all times. In the LEAF, Nissan has done an incredible job of building a reliable, usable, simple and enjoyable car. The fact that it is electric and saves us money as we drive it are bonuses.
Myths and Misconceptions about Electric Cars
The one year point seems like a good time to mention some of the misconceptions and myths about electric cars. I covered these in a previous post, so I'll just paste that text here, with a few additions:
How long does it take to charge?: About four hours, most nights, while we're sleeping. Quick charging stations are being installed which will charge a LEAF to 80% full in about 30 minutes.
Is it slow and pokey, like a golf cart?: Absolutely not. The LEAF is peppy and quick, like a normal small car, but it does it with incredible smoothness and quiet. It also climbs hills like a champ.
Doesn't charging an EV just shift the pollution to the power plant?: No, even if all of the power came from a coal-fired power plant, the pollution and CO2 produced would be less than from the same number of miles driven with a gasoline car. And don't forget that drilling, transporting and refining that crude oil into gasoline uses a bunch of power and causes even more pollution. By contrast, electric cars can be charged using power from cleaner sources, such as hydro, wind, geothermal, natural gas and solar, as our car is.
Won't we need to build a lot more power plants to charge EVs?: No. EVs are most cost effective when charged during late night hours, when electrical demand is low. We could put millions of new EVs on US roads without building a single additional power plant.
What about maintenance costs?: So far, our maintenance costs have been zero. That includes the one year maintenance at 12,000 miles and the first maintenance at 7,500 miles, which included just a tire rotation and some inspections. Because the LEAF has so few mechanical parts as compared with a gasoline car, maintenance costs are expected to continue to be low.
But what about the cost of replacing the battery?: The main batteries of the LEAF are warrantied for eight years and 100,000 miles. When they need to be replaced, the cost will be several thousand dollars. But these costs are expected to drop over time, as have the replacement costs of Prius hybrid batteries. And compared with the expected maintenance costs of a gasoline car over eight years, the costs will likely be similar. But our choice was to lease the LEAF for 39 months, so we won't be paying for any battery replacements.
Will all of those dead batteries end up in landfills, causing an environmental problem?: Unlikely. Once the battery packs will no longer hold enough power for use in an EV, they will still be useful by power companies or solar or wind power generators to store the power made during peak times. In addition, the batteries can be taken apart and many of the parts re-used for future battery packs.
Aren't electric cars dangerous because they are prone to catching fire?: No. Gasoline powered cars with large tanks full of flammable fuel and an engine based on thousands of explosions per minute are much more prone to catching fire. Gasoline car fires number in the many tens of thousands per year. Only one Chevy Volt has caught fire, and that was three weeks after a government crash test, after which the car was improperly stored without discharging its battery as the manufacturer recommends.
What problems have owners been having?: Very few, really. Some have recently reported that the sidewalls on the tires are not very durable, and there has been some edge wear on the front tires. The car lacks a spare tire, which, given the relative fragility of the tires, seems short sighted (though the LEAF comes with three years of roadside assistance and towing). Some windshields have cracked, but this is common on new cars, as the glass is made thinner to reduce weight. The brakes are grabby at very low speeds, like when driving slowly in parking lots. There have been a very few reports of unexpected electronic faults, but these have been unusual and sporadic. Some owners feel that the paint is thin. The climate control is designed so that if you need to defrost the windshield, the heater must come on, which reduces driving range. There may be a few others, but that's about it.
Infiniti LE Concept EV at New York Auto Show, 2012
A New Infiniti Luxury EV Concept
Since we're leasing the LEAF for 39 months, at this time it isn't too early to be looking ahead for our replacement EV. In this fast changing, highly technical new growth area of automotive design, new types of EVs are being designed to fill several automotive niches. As I mentioned above, I would like our next EV to have a longer range, at least 100 and preferably 120 or more realistic freeway miles. I'd like more luxury features such as power seats for finer adjustment of the seating position. And I want more power and a car that handles better in the corners and at speed. A new concept car from Infiniti promises to satisfy some of those desires.
Nissan Corporation's luxury brand Infiniti showed their first all-electric concept car last week at the New York Auto Show. The concept is called simply the Infiniti LE Concept. Other than Tesla's Model S sedan, the Infiniti is the first luxury EV to be shown for the US market. Infiniti says that the concept car represents about an 85% accurate view of the car that they will sell here in 2014, about two years from now.
Before I write further about the LE Concept, I want to be certain to talk about the size of the battery pack in the car. The concept car has a battery pack that seems to be identical to the LEAF's 24 kWh pack. With the LE being a larger and certainly heavier car than the LEAF, and with its more powerful motor, the driving range of the LE is likely going to struggle to be even as long as the LEAF's range. In my opinion, that is not acceptable in Infiniti's first luxury EV. While Nissan continues to label the LEAF as a 100 mile car, it is well known that the LEAF has a shorter realistic driving range. Infiniti definitely needs to put a larger battery pack into the production version of the LE so that owners will be able to make use of the more powerful motor for performance without sapping the range significantly, and have the option of extending the range to over 100 miles with more gentle driving at freeway speeds. Nissan would obviously like to leverage the manufacturing costs of the existing LEAF platform, including the battery, but to essentially make the Infiniti LE a LEAF with luxury but the same or lesser driving range would be a big mistake. Other than Infiniti's existing customer base, a potential source of customers for the LE is current LEAF owners. A good proportion of us will tell you that MORE RANGE is our primary desire in our next EV. In fact, many of us will not buy another EV without the option of more driving range when we need it.
Now back to the specifications of the Infiniti LE Concept. This is a five passenger sedan, apparently with a trunk rather than a hatch. The motor has more torque and more horsepower than the LEAF's motor, with 34% more horsepower (134 hp vs the LEAF's 100, though I recently read that Infiniti says that the difference is only 22%, who knows??) and 14% more torque (240 lb-ft versus the LEAF's 210). Infiniti says that the focus in the LE Concept is on performance with luxury rather than solely on economy. While most of Infiniti's recent cars have had rear drive, the LE Concept uses the LEAF's front drive platform. Hopefully, Infiniti will fit an independent rear suspension in place of the LEAF's simple twist beam rear axle and will be able to deliver on the promise of a good handling car.
Infiniti LE Concept showing Wireless Charging Dock beneath rear bumper
The LE Concept appears to have a great deal of luxury built in, including sport power seats with partial leather coverings and an interior design that is high tech and elegant at the same time. Photos of the instrument panel appear to show a state of charge percentage display as well as a distance to empty mileage display, something for which LEAF owners have been asking Nissan for some time. Being an Infiniti, it isn't surprising to see a feature called "Around View" for parking assistance. But the "Wow" feature that Infiniti has included is wireless charging. While the LE Concept does have standard ports for plugging in charging adapters, it also features inductive wireless charging. Inside the car, under the trunk is an inductive charging device that receives magnetic energy from a charging device on the garage floor underneath the car in order to provide charging energy. Infiniti has an elegant solution for positioning the car for wireless charging. The Concept features automatic parking for hands-free positioning of the car in the garage so that the car's wireless charging mechanism is directly over the matching device on the garage floor. This seems to be the ultimate and most appropriate feature for the company's first luxury EV, providing as it does an answer to some potential buyers' concerns about the ease of plugging in for charging.
BMW i3 Concept at the New York Auto Show, 2012
The other EV that seems most interesting to me at this time is the BMW i3. I really like BMWs for their performance focus, and the i3's rear drive architecture and light weight carbon fiber body structure make it very interesting. The BMW is a smaller car than the Infiniti, seating only four instead of five. And BMW has apparently decided to keep the battery size small, aiming for a driving range of about 90 to 100 miles for city use. That factor, along with the car's smaller interior dimensions, may keep me from getting the BMW as my next EV. BMW is reported to be planning an optional small gasoline range extender engine for buyers who need longer range from their i3, but there may be serious performance compromises when the range extender is in use. Lots more remains to be seen about these two fascinating EVs over the next two years, and you can bet that I'll be watching the developments closely.
BMW i3 Concept at the New York Auto Show, 2012
The Numbers:
2011 Nissan LEAF SL Placed in Service: March 30, 2011
All Home Charging Done Using: 240 Volt Aerovironment/Nissan Level 2 EVSE
Home Solar PV System: 24 Sunpower 215W panels totaling 5.16 kW DC mounted on a 20 degree South facing roof.
Total Solar PV Power Generated for Net Metering Year Ended February 2012: 8,568 kWh
Total Miles at Month End: 11,249 miles
Miles Driven in Month: 1,032 miles
Electric Power Used for Charging in Month: 320 kWh (measured at wall power source, includes public charging)
Public Charging in Month, Power Use: 52.3 kWh
Charging at Home in Month, Power Use: 267.6 kWh
Energy Efficiency, Month of March: 3.23 miles/kWh (wall to wheels)
Total Charging Energy Used, Lifetime: 3,519.3 kWh (Includes public charging)
Energy Efficiency, Lifetime: 3.20 miles/kWh (wall to wheels)Energy Efficiency, Lifetime: 31.29 kWh/100 mi (wall to wheels)
Number of Home Charging Days in Month: 21
Most Electric Energy Used for Charging in a Day in March: 20.7 kWh (5.6 charging hours)
Least Electric Energy Used at Home for Charging in a Charging Day in March : 7.4 kWh (2.0 charging hours)
Average Electric Energy Used for Home Charging in a Charging Day in March : 12.7 kWh (3.4 charging hours)
Household Power Used for Month: 823 kWh (without car charging)
Total Power Used for Month: 1,091 kWh (includes car charging)
Solar PV Power Generated for Month: 738 kWh
Net Power Used or Sent to Grid for Month: 353 kWh net used
March Electric Bill, So Cal Edison, Schedule TOU-D-TEV: $35.20 (A charge in this amount will be added to our net metering total charge for the year.)
Solar Net Metering Year Total Cumulative kWh Used at Month #1: 329 kWh (Total kWh net used for the net metering year. This is total household and EV charging usage minus solar PV generation.)
Solar Net Metering Year Total Cumulative Cost at Month #1: $35.20 (Total energy and delivery costs for all power usage for the net metering year.)
Cost for Charging Car in March: $0.00
Cost per Mile: $0.00
Cost for Charging Car, Lifetime: $0.00
Cost per Mile, Lifetime: $0.00
(If We Didn't Have Solar Power, Est Cost for Charging Car in March: $34.79)
(If We Didn't Have Solar Power, Est Cost per Mile in March: $0.032)
Average (Mean) Miles per Driving Day in March: 36.4 miles
Average (Median) Miles per Driving Day in March: 28.5 miles
Longest Day's Driving in March: 85 miles (charging mid-trip)
Longest Day's Driving in March Without Charging: 68 miles
Shortest Day's Driving in March: 4 miles
Number of Times we Took the Prius Instead of the LEAF Due to Low Charge: 1
Unexpected Low Charge and Unable to Reach Destination: Never