93,000 Miles in a 24kwh Leaf

They got their leaf not long after I got mine, many of you keep asking how they are getting along with their Nissan Leaf, so here is a quick update at 93,000 miles! Correct from what I said in video: 1 bar down out of 12, but that seems to have made only 5-10 miles difference in real world.
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[@antoniopalmero551]

My 63 plate leaf has done 194,000 miles and has 8 bars. Still goes great.

[@GavinScrimgeour]

You need to make a video covering the following: 1. The moment the clock changes to 200k miles 2. Explanation of the current range 3. Explanation of theoretical range in hot and cold condition 4. Information from Leaf Spy 200,000 miles would be a fantastic video for Nissan Leaf owners

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Nice!

[@xperyskop2475]

Please make video and statistics for 200k miles

[@lukereeves4448]

Really would love to see an update

[@ps7549]

I hope you update us on your LEAF!

[@SKTechnologySolution]

Just done 40,000 miles in my 2014 Acenta. Just a couple of things to point out to other owners (who may already know). Firstly there's a Lithium ion battery earth recall on the early shape and secondly water leaks through the gap in the drivers side windscreen wiper and rusts the shock absorber strut bolt and thread. I've cleaned mine up and protected it with silicone grease (which doesn't damage the rubber) and capped it with a cheap sink plunger which has worked fine. Done both sides but passenger side is nowhere near as bad.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Top advice! Thanks for sharing.

[@heatleynoble]

77,000 mike's on mine now Ian. You and Robert pushed me over the line in 2014!

[@heatleynoble]

Miles!

[@heatleynoble]

12v went on ours too! Got about 70 miles range now, as expected. Did have rear axle replaced under warranty.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

77k good stuff!

[@usaverageguy]

I am happy your parents are having such good luck with their Leaf. I was not so lucky. At 60k I replaced my 24kwh battery in my 2012 Leaf. I am hoping the new battery chemistry will last longer.

[@dickmartino9933]

Let's hope you are not the average guy.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Where abouts are you? As in climate? 2012 was first gen, they do sound like they has issue compared to the ‘lizard’ batteries in later models..

[@usaverageguy]

@@IanSampsonRLO I live In southwest Georgia. Average summer days are 90°F. Most of the heat related problems happened in the southwestern states like Arizona. Where temperatures exceed 100° on a regular basis. The replacement battery was built in 2018. So hopefully the new chemistry is better.

[@GavinScrimgeour]

Hello Ian, I’m looking forward to the 100,000 mile video with leafspy I hope 🤞 All the best 😄

[@Christer885]

Happy New Year Ian ✨😊👍🌹

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Happy New Year to you also!

[@reimiyasaka]

This is encouraging to see, as the owner of a 21,000 mile 2018 Leaf.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Hope it works out just as well for you! You keeping it long term as well?

[@reimiyasaka]

​@@IanSampsonRLO I think we're going to buy it out once the lease ends!

[@RWBHere]

That's brilliant news! Thanks for the update, Ian. Your parents might want to check out James and Kate's channel, for battery supplementation and low cost repair, should it ever be necessary.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Yeah I have passed along the Muxan details to them a while back, but its still pretty expensive for the return, one day though it might be in a sweet spot for doing it!

[@steveclarke3499]

Great video Ian. I'm amazed that the battery has no bar loss. My old Leaf lost one bar at 70k after 7 years from new. The 12v battery on my Leaf ceased working at 5 years - apparently it is a more common issue on the first gen Leaf than any other car; generally the 12v battery lasts 5 years according to my local dealer. When I sold my Leaf in March 2020 I was getting 55 miles range in the colder winter months here in the north Scotland climate. Build quality was first class from Nissan.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

To be clear - 1 bar gone - leading to 5-10 mile lost approx - which for 93,000 would have said that was very good. Sounds like you also had a good one at one bar loss in 7 years! 55 miles was with heating off I guess as well?

[@steveclarke3499]

@@IanSampsonRLO Heating off. We know the score !!

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Ha ha

[@Chrisb8s]

That is so awesome.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Cheers Chris!

[@JeanPierreWhite]

One bar lost is astounding!! I am on my second battery and it has lost its first bar already. 135,000 miles.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Wow! Thats crazy!

[@JeanPierreWhite]

@@IanSampsonRLO Now we know what we know about the older LEAF's here's my theory. Heat is one factor, Tennessee is much warmer than England in the summer months. Driving a lot on the motorway (interstate) is another. My guess is your mum and dad don't do that much motorway driving. I believe the LEAF was optimized for moderate speeds and works very well indeed in that scenario. 80-85 mph on the motorway everyday plus a rapid charge to get home not so much.

[@JohnDunkley]

Comforting to hear. 😊

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Thanks for following along!

[@nickieredshaw7835]

Wow 🤩 93 k with no bars lost is great!

[@IanSampsonRLO]

1 lost - but still amazing for such high milage AND age :)

[@decimal1815]

My Leaf has done nearly 80k miles and still has 11/12 bars. Planning to run it until can't go more than 40 miles on a full charge, which is a long way off yet. Still can do 80 miles with economical driving; much less when going 70mph+

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Thats really good!

[@Milhouse77BS]

Glad to hear their story. Wish Nissan had made upgrading batteries more reasonable for those with severe degradation.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Yeah cheap route to replace would be ideal

[@yvs6663]

i have a 2016 30kWh model and it lost a bar in the summer of 2022 after about 57 000 miles. but it was right after i(owner from summer 2021) completed some of the longest trips i intend to do with it so i reckon its going to serve me well enough.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

You might see 2 more bars drop in quick succession but then stabilise. The plus is the packs can actually be serviced and cells replaced etc so its not the end of the world.

[@yvs6663]

@@IanSampsonRLO if capacity loss was that rapid that would probably mean a cell has died which could be serviced. but i hope its just natural degradation which also makes sense given the capacity loss ive seen on other 30kWh Leafs is similar.

[@pioneer7777777]

Our 2013 is going fine at 60k miles, got it used for $9k. Got a Plus SL added to the garage now bought new that is just at 2k miles. First time being full electric at long last.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Congrats! Full electric fleet!

[@pioneer7777777]

@@IanSampsonRLO I still have our gas car around but have not used it since we bought the Plus and I will likely sell it this summer.

[@stevezodiac491]

The 24 kwhr battery was obviously more robust than the 30 kwhr and above because my 30kwhr hasn't done half of that distance and has lost 33%. The fixed size battery container with larger and larger battery capacities killed the batteries beyond 24 kwhr.

[@toddm6999]

Leafs are the best

[@PeterEVcharade]

Shows how much a cool climate helps to still have the traction battery in good condition since Nissan did not include any thermal management in the battery. I don't think any in Australia would be still so good. For this reason alone, I have bought other EVs but not a Nissan.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Wise decision, Nissan in hot climates seem to do really poorly!

[@lsh3rd]

It’s interesting to hear how well they hold up in mild climates... I think a friend lost his first segment at around 45k miles in Atlanta... mine was still 12/12 at 36k miles when it went back to Nissan. I felt like I lost probably 10 miles range compared to new, but it was hard to tell for sure.

[@poobank]

I live close to Atlanta and recall losing two or three bars by 36,000 miles. It was a 2012

[@lsh3rd]

@@poobank Right, the ‘13 and newer cars did much better. However, Atlanta can also be a crapshoot... I primarily used the car as a commuter, so heat in the morning wasn’t a big factor... would charge at work during the day in the garage at work and drive home after it started to cool for the day. I think, though people consider ATL as a hot climate, the car could probably handle it OK... I don’t think we are much worse off than even 6-700 miles farther north.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

hot climates kill first gen, then they brought out the 'lizard' battery that was better....but even then with no active cooling they still get smashed in hot climates.

[@AdrianColes]

No bars lost? Only looks like there are 11 on the opening shots??

[@IanSampsonRLO]

11 bars not 12 (see description for info)

[@Nobody_Famous]

@@IanSampsonRLO mild weather is certainly kinder to the passive cooled battery than the Harsh Australian Sun 🇦🇺 ☀️

[@xboxice2005]

@@Nobody_Famous yeah I have a lot Less ks and lost 2bars but that how I bought it last year still 10bars remaining 😊

[@louiserothman6566]

​@@xboxice2005 That's interesting; how does it work?

[@MykieG]

Mine 2014 has 186k km on and 10bars of battery, now in winter fully charged shows 127km, but in reality with heater on make 80km.

[@SirHackaL0t.]

Talking about 12v batteries, my last car, a BMW 320D Efficient Dynamic, didn’t need a new battery during the 9 years I owned it despite having the car Stop/Start multiple times every drive. I did wonder when it would need replacing but never had to. :)

[@IanSampsonRLO]

one strong battery! Had that in a smart car once, and the battery in that lasted my ownership.

[@SirHackaL0t.]

@@IanSampsonRLO I did wonder if the constant starting of the car meant it wasn’t always kept at 100% charge which kept it going.

[@MarkAtkin]

I'm getting deja vu seeing you back in a Leaf. I'd like to post a link to this video in the Facebook Nissan Leaf UK owners group. I assume you are happy with that.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Sure thing!

[@jasondawes684]

I had 2 leafs an 11 plate from new and at 45000 miles it had to go to Nottingham to sort out the high voltage ⚡ problem it wouldn't charge and was limited to 25 mph they had it for a month I kept it for 8 years in the family my wife drove it for the last 3 years it had lost 3 bars after 85000 miles . In 2015 I had the first 30kw tekna on the road in the country. After just under 2 years and 65000 miles this one also had major problems it cost £5'500 to fix , I kept it for another year when I sold it after just over 3 years it had done 110'000 miles and had lost 3 bars the same as the first one

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Wow, 2 major problems on the trot! What do you drive now?

[@iKaGe01]

The 24s really are resiliant. It has lost 1 bar though so is 85% or lower but even so, that is brilliant

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Yeah the 5-10 miles difference makes no real difference in there usage, and I think is perfectly reasonable to expect after almost 100k

[@iKaGe01]

@@IanSampsonRLO Definitely not! My car I have a feeling will lose its first bar in summer, at around 40k miles (give or take restrictions) as 30's degrade a lot faster regretfully :( Happy New Year for when it arrives btw :)

[@ram64man]

I’ll be intrigued to know what leaf spy says about the battery, in my case I found it didn’t correctly register the bar amount to capacity I would be very surprised if it read more than 15-16kw usable at this point, but it would also give us a better idea on how many rapid charges it got in is life as it seems still a little high mileage just to be fully ac 6kw all the time

[@IanSampsonRLO]

They rarely use rapid chargers, its predominantly at home, not 6.6kw either but 3.3kw! (Same as us and our Env200 - hardly any Rapids at all, but 45,000 on the clock ~3.5 years in)

[@pdken3081]

Excellent. My guess is they have saved about £6000 in fuel costs. Depends very much on what ICE you compare with and how much they pay for a kWh. Any idea what the resale value would be now?

[@IanSampsonRLO]

They have no plans on letting it go, she will be driven into the recycling bin :)

[@berniebne8243]

In defence of older drivers. The visibility, in the LEAF, when reversing is horrendous. Ours has a reversing camera which is not much use & no sensors. My other main vehicles have 2 wheels & no reverse so maybe my reversing skills aren't what they used to be. Although I seem to be able to reverse the caravan OK.😎 Our LEAF is a fantastic car, in very good condition apart from the battery. We are currently putting in a warranty claim for a new battery. The car was in storage for 2-3 years before we bought it, add in the 30+ degree days, the nights are 20+ for a lot of the year. The result is we seem to drop a bar every summer. Given we paid the same for the LEAF as we would have paid for an ICE & electricity costs us 4c/km I have no complaints. If Nissan upholds our warranty claim we will get 10-15 years use from the car with very low maintenance costs. I can't complain about that. If it only had 40km of range that would cover 80% of our needs. We are similar to your parents in that we have a petrol SUV to fill the gaps & pull the caravan, and that's about all the SUV does. Plus I have a motorbike & an electric pushbike. All the best to you & your family & your long-suffering parents😀. Enjoying the Honda E videos.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

I think they will be happy with your explanation of blind spots when reversing ha ha (Me, Mike and Susie each managed in all of ours for 4 years each..but you know its a good excuse ha ha) Really hope your warranty claim works out for you, that would be amazing to have a new battery fitted! (Would they fit new or refurbish?)

[@berniebne8243]

@@IanSampsonRLO Our Nissan Dealer is pretty good & they seem to have been getting new batteries from Japan. This is a common issue over here. They have been talking to us about it for several years. It goes in next week for assessment I'll let you know what happens. Somebody has just scratched the front wing in the shopping centre car park, serves me right for being a smart arse.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Shame about the scratch! Yeah let me know what happens with the battery

[@mikesimmonds1916]

Thinking of getting one myself. Prefer the Zoe buy the leaf might be a cheaper but more risky first ev

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Leaf is still going strong, so in terms of reliability cant fault it. Zoe didnt do well on its MOT with wishbones being replaced and a few other bits, came to around £800!

[@sinjinsmythe1]

Ian I picked up a 2015 leaf a couple of months ago, still got the 12 bars and 31k on the clock. Could I ask did your parents avoid rapid charging and charge mostly at home? Did they mostly charge to 80% or fully to 100? I'd like to make my battery last like your parents car and would be interested to know how they looked after theirs. I'm making my way through your leaf videos, great watching! Thanks :-)

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Welcome on board! They always charge to 100%, and rarely rapid charge

[@sinjinsmythe1]

@@IanSampsonRLO thank you :-)

[@Dr-EV]

My 2015 24KWh leaf completed 62,000 when it lost its first bar. No regrets getting it. The government should insist that all cars have a 2nd life battery option offered at a reasonable price by manufacturers that is double capacity of original. A battery tech is moving forward so quick over next 10 years, it's only fair early generation EV's don't get scrapped before they have truly died.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Yeah, Muxan offer some good upgrades and replacements, although even now still a little too pricey for my tastes.

[@Dr-EV]

@@IanSampsonRLO I have been keeping an eye on them as well but agree still a bit pricey. Also keeping eye out for one more local to me in UK. But TBH, as it's only lost the 1st bar it's still in good health, so probably better to buy car with bigger battery. And then it starts to come back to the value of an older degraded EV that no-one wants and so ends up getting scrapped due to the performance of its battery. It would be great if someone started applying Solid state cells to a pack, even if it is of a smaller physical volume but better than original capacity.

[@urbanfireblade]

Windscreen looked very misted up in that video, was it a case of not using the heater/air con as battery low, or was the heater blower not powerful enough to clear the screen?

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Not using it

[@haleroe9398]

I'm guessing they won't be replacing it anytime soon

[@IanSampsonRLO]

They certainly wont based on the cost of EV’s lol

[@benpaynter]

Got a 2016 30 kwh Acenta owned since new. . 75,000 miles, two bars gone, struggle to get more than 80 miles in winter and 90 in summer. It's been very reliable and great to use but have been very disappointed by the battery degradation and it doesn't appear to have bottomed out yet and I'm still slowly losing range.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Are you in UK or elsewhere?

[@benpaynter]

@@IanSampsonRLO UK, between Bedford and Northants. I do a bit of rapid charging but not much, 95% of charging via 3 pin socket. Have never run the battery flat, use a timer to avoid leaving it at 100% for too long. My concern is that I'm not going to be covered by the Warranty as stopped having it serviced by Nissan once my PCP ended as I was basically paying over £100 to have my windscreen washer topped up.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

@@benpaynter interesting, do you have a claim in?

[@benpaynter]

@@IanSampsonRLO No I don't. From what I've read I've got 8 years or 100,000 miles to drop below 9 bars which I'm not sure will happen given I've lost 2 in 75,000. However my argument would be that I've lost approx 30% range yet only 2 of 12 bars have gone, therefore they're not accurately depicting capacity. I have read that there were issues with US versions with software not accurately predicting range so I guess maybe I need to drive it till it runs out and see how far it actually goes.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Hmmm, time to drive it in a hot climate to kill it quickly!

[@GavinScrimgeour]

Hello Ian, I noticed the car passed its MOT in March 2023 with 120K miles on the clock. If you still have the car, can you please make an updated video?

[@IanSampsonRLO]

She is still going strong - with range loss of course - will do a video at some point yes

[@GavinScrimgeour]

@@IanSampsonRLO Fantastic, looking forward to your video 👍🏻

[@ecoterrorist1402]

From all you in chat & Ian, Curious to know what you're charging the cycles are for the daily grind i own a evn200 40kwh & zoe 24kwh, at the moment i set the charge to 75%, this gives me enough for 100miles in the van and 60-70ish in the car, thou i have quoted these miles In reality. the car does 10 miles a day and the van does 40 miles a day, The van displays full bars on the health thing. As I haven't gotten OBD reader, I will have to presume this is accurate.

[@Whereswally606]

I actually think the visias have a trump card if they have rapid. Which is it is possible to fit an android auto capable headunit and have uptodate maps.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Good idea, if you wanted to you can just pull this one out and replace like you say.

[@witchtalismanswitchcoven]

Hello just wanted to know HOW often your parents would charge. Mine is a 2016 with 30kw and have lost 2 bars and about 35,000 miles. Do they allow the battery to get to a certain number before charging it (like 20%) or do they just charge everyday even if they have 70%? I have a 120 and a 240 charger and use both of them. How often do your parents use the fast charge? Please give any tips of preserving the battery, thank you

[@IanSampsonRLO]

They whack it on charge every day and have always charged to 100%

[@witchtalismanswitchcoven]

@@IanSampsonRLO thank you so much for this reply, perhaps we should do the same by charging it daily.

[@knoxieman]

Visia didnt have rapid charging from memory? might be part of the reason for good battery life.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

They have rapid on it (when new it was an optional extra on the visia that happened to be fitted to theirs)

[@bugrats]

Is the Leaf the only one you leased , what's the advantages and disadvantages of both and what made you buy

[@IanSampsonRLO]

I leased my first EV (Leaf) through my business as I was looking for a company car. See early episodes where I cover it in full detail, but basically the cost of leasing the leaf was less than my fuel cost!

[@melvynburchell]

My 2014 has now covered over 45000 - zero issues, (perhaps 5 miles range loss) and the concept of "not starting" simply doesn't exist! What is not to like?

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Thats awesome, glad yours is going well also!

[@markfitzpatrick6692]

I have a 2012 with 48,000 I am on my 3rd 12 volt battery. I paid for 2 they lasted 4 years

[@simonyapp]

I change my 12v batt every 4 years as default now. Less stress.

[@steveclarke3499]

@@simonyapp Unfortunately the life of the battery in this model is generally 5 years max; very wise decision to renew when you do.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Thats some replacing there. So they are currently on 1 every 6 years pro rata

[@baoshawnjing3082]

i've a same specs and year used-Leaf in china,after few month to use,the battery only get 10bars(i brought it in 11 bars).i think maybe use the quick-charge too many times without slow-charge.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Possibly yeah. How many miles have you done in it now?

[@baoshawnjing3082]

@@IanSampsonRLO only 17,100 miles

[@IanSampsonRLO]

In total the car has done that or you have done it since buying it used?

[@baoshawnjing3082]

@@IanSampsonRLO it's a total, I've driven about 2700miles.

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Wow, yeah so really low milage, part of the problem for a car this age.

[@PlanetCypher_]

Does look like 11 bars not the 12, how many more miles would you expect to get in winter, another 5-10 maybe?

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Yeah think about 5-10 miles lost approx

[@Aaronhouston33]

So rare anyone needs to go on road trips I never saw the point of needing a petrol car full time

[@IanSampsonRLO]

What EV do you own?

[@Aaronhouston33]

@@IanSampsonRLO 2016 Nissan leaf

[@simonyapp]

Original brakes? Mine is 7 years old and the battery is at 89 SOH. We have only done 55K miles

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Yes all original :) Sounds like yours is doing well!

[@MCSMIK]

60-70 miles range in winter, hmmmm... My wife doesn't get that from our 30 kWh Leaf with 1 bar lost (78k miles). Range test video in realistic conditions, mix of motorway, single, dual carriage, town driving, heating... maybe?

[@IanSampsonRLO]

I wont be going back in their car probably until it hits 100k. (Its not mine after all, was able to pinch it whilst it was free for 15mins)

[@antoniopalmero551]

Ian

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Hi!

[@sgrdpdrsn]

Well - I can see from the video that the car has lost 1 og 12 bars...

[@IanSampsonRLO]

Yup

[@GV-xx7vh]

Main dealers will rip you off if they get half a chance!