ElECTRIC Car Problems :: 3 Years Driving a Fully Electric Nissan Leaf:: Is an EV really Better? LNAB

[@m.necatisepetcioglu4391]

I have been owning a Nissan 2012 Leaf since August 2011. I bought it brand new for 28K CAD after tax rebate, etc. It has been 13 years. It is a great car. It was built in Japan and imported to Canada. I have had zero problems in the last 13 years.ZERO!! I have saved thousands of dollars for the family. Battery got degrated badly as seen like other 2012 leafs. we were able to find the donor 62KW battery. we had to do some additional modifications shock springs and shocks are replaced as well. Now it has second life with 430Km range. Absolutely love this car. 372,500km ODO.

[@tomgoodall1609]

One of the best things about the leaf in the winter is getting into a warm preheated car.This can be done with the phone app or timer in the car. I have never had to scrape ice from my car in the winter like you did and if it is plugged in the preheat takes the power from the cable saving your battery. Great video thanks.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

I need to try and get the app to link to my car- that does sound great!

[@LauraGYoga]

Dont mind the honking swan in the background 😂 i think he waits for me to make a video! And see if you can find my missed edit 🙈

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

The sounds of the majestic swan are all part of the experience...nature 😁

[@AsakuraClan]

this is a great video series. Thank you for taking the time to document this long term video project!

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

Glad you found it helpful- when i was prepping to buy my car I watched a bunch of videos & this was what I was looking for...so I thought I would share it 👍

[@usaverageguy]

I bought my 2012 Leaf in 2015. In 2018 I replaced the traction battery rather than buy a new car. The old battery was disassembled and good cells were reused as home energy storage. There are shops today that will replace a 24KWH battery with a 40KWH. Recycle and reuse. Take care of your Leaf and you will love it for years to come.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

I am so glad to hear this! when i purchased this car I hoped that this would be an option in the future to improve the long term use. This is a big step forward for EVs

[@paulhoulihan8711]

Thanks for your Leaf videos. I just bought a 2013 Leaf with 200,000 miles on the clock and 83% battery health. Car seems like new !!!

[@Youngandsuccessful33]

Wow that’s amazing

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

thats great!! my leaf is just rounding 50,000 so that gives me hope that she will be rolling for a long time to come!

[@donhogeboom]

Great video! I have 2015 Leaf as well with full battery bars and love it. I'm at 85.3% state of health so I will be losing one soon. Not too bad for 91,000 km's! They are great cars if you live in cooler climates.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

that is great for 91,000- Im impressed 👍

[@danpf7943]

Wow, your 5+ year-old Leaf still has the full 12 battery capacity bars. That's very impressive battery-life preservation. At this rate I think your Leaf will serve you well for many years to come!

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

Thanks Dan- I really hope so! trying to take good care of her 👍

[@Catman1798]

It only has 35,000 miles on it. Not exactly mind blowing. It better have the full 12 capacity bars lol. That’s too soon. I wanna see it at 100,000 miles. My 2015 vehicle has 41,000 miles now. If it was a EV and didn’t have full charge I would be pissed and worried. I heard replacement batteries are in the $10,000??? You may enjoy low maintenance now but that day will come when the battery won’t hold its charge anymore and probably won’t even get to use it anymore for a decent drive. Then what? Buy a new battery or new car? That’s where they got ya!! I’m sure most people would just buy a new car or another used one etc.

[@kyleb8117]

@Dan PF - I got a 2015 Leaf S about a month ago and it's at nearly 50k miles, 85% health, and no bar loss. I've seen people online say they lost their first bar around 70k miles. @@Catman1798 It's expensive to replace the battery unless you go through a Mechanic (Yay, right to repair!). Cost depends on the battery size. It *can* be up to around $10k, but that's for a 62kWh battery that has a range of around 230 miles. That should last quite a while if you use it properly and live in reasonable weather conditions. On a similar note, there's a company in New Zealand that's designing a battery with thermal management that will likely last 20 years, so you'd be likely moving the battery to a new vehicle. Haha. Another thing to consider is the use case of the vehicle. If you're commuting up to 20 miles one-way for work/shopping, you can run that battery into the ground and be fine. I've seen people with 7/12 bars still get an easy 50 miles (or 30 miles in extreme cold weather) out of it. The reserve battery (when it hits "---") is actually surprisingly long, though I wouldn't ever suggest driving on it. I had LEAF Spy app running and got an extra 15ish miles when I hit "---" range when I had to panic find a charger because of cold weather.

[@kyleb8117]

Also, what I forgot to mention is you can even have situations where you can swap out individual cells of the battery with a Mechanic and I'd bet that's pretty cheap to do compared to getting an entire battery replacement. LEAF Spy can tell you what cells are failing. It's a wonderful app. Highly recommend for any Leaf owner.

[@gwarlow]

If the 12 volt battery dies in an ICE vehicle, you can’t start it either. If this was the biggest “problem” you had, then consider yourself “happy”. Thanks for sharing this video. I am itching to get an EV. Might just get a used Leaf for the limited amount of driving that I do. Cheers.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

I was really glad it was just the 12v and it ended up being a quick fix- not bad for the only issue in 3 years of driving 😁👍

[@srilankancab7462]

we highly appreciate the way that you thinking

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

Thank you - we are slowly making changes in or life to live a bit differently 👍

[@nickborrrego]

Excellent video. I've had a gen 1 leaf down in Australia for a out a year and have been enjoying it. Easiest car I ever owned in terms of maintenance and smoothness of the drive. I charge it mostly with solar but occasionally from the grid so I appreciate you pointing out how charging sources can vary.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

it really is nice to have less maintenance! very neat that you are able to charge of solar- that is what I hope to do eventually 👍

[@cdmalcolm2524]

Cool video. Looking to purchase a used Leaf soon just for my local driving. Now I looked at your dashboard readings and put some information on your commute to and from work. I did this so that I can have an understanding of miles per charge. Ok here we go. Your start reading: 100% @ 77 miles of virtual range. (A) meter @ 253.8. Odometer @ 36949. Your end drive to work: 70% @ 59 miles of virtual range. (A) meter @ 267.5. Odometer @ 36963. Results of one way commute: you had a 30% drop from 100% and 18 virtual miles drop according to your display range. Your real mileage drop is only 13.7 mile. ( I am taking into account it is cold out and you need to turn on heat to stay warm. Energy lose.) Your commute from work to home: starting at 70% @ 59 miles of virtual miles of range. (A) meter is 267.5 miles. Odometer is 36963. Your end commute home reading: 37% @ 30 miles of virtual range. (A) meter @ 280.5. Odometer @ 36976. Results one way from work to home: You had a 33% drop with a virtual range drop of 29 miles. Your actual miles returning home is 13.0 miles driven. Your round trip results: 63% drop from 100% ending at 30%. …Virtual miles dropped from 77 to 30miles is 47 virtual miles dropped. You actual miles driving is 26.7 miles. Again this car was driving between 28 degrees Fahrenheit and 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Which means, a total of 20.3 miles was lost due to weather conditions and keeping our driver warm. So I expect a total going one way is 10.15 miles lost to a 13 miles trip. In other words, add 10 miles to every 13 miles traveled. Now when the leaf starts blinking “- - -“, you have about 8 to 2 miles left to find a spot to charge. The more you stop and go when it is blinking, the miles drops to more like 5 to 1. (That info was from another leaf driver pushing their leaf to the limit). I hope this helps. Questions: My question is why does an EV need a regular car battery if it has a massive battery pack? How does the regular car battery charge in a Leaf? Is there an alternator charging this battery?

[@Owsryudie]

Did you buy a leaf? and how is it - what model year?

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

You got a lot out of that video! Yes it has a regular car battery - not sure about an alternator. I think it just runs the extra systems in the car and the main Drive battery provides the energy to move

[@annusa3682]

Thank you for a wonderful review on the The Leaf. You answered many of my Concerns with an electric car. How much does it cost to charge your car?

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

Glad it helped Ann - It is hard to say how much it costs to charge as the electric for our house and the charger for my car are on the same bill and that changes from month to month based on our use of the heat/AC- but I can say it did not cause a significant jump in the electric bill from prior years

[@jaynope3437]

So a hundred miles is about $1.80 to $4.50 in electric. I hope it’s ok if I respond. I have a Kia, but the battery and software seem the same. I get 4 to 6 miles per kilowatt. And a kilowatt is about $0.11 to $0.18 . So a hundred miles is usually closer to $4.50 then $1.80 in electric. But the college and a Dr. office hasn’t charged me. The one time I charged on the turnpike it was $10.32 and I only got about a dollars worth of electric.

[@kyleb8117]

Sometimes you can be lucky (like me) and have free public chargers within a mile. I can technically run my car for free. I did have to emergency pay to charge because of my own dumb decisions in a major city and they charged me $0.49/kWh. I thought "That's like 4 times the cost to charge at home!" but I wasn't mad when I got home because I realized the entire cost for my 150 mile trip was about $3.20. Even a Prius owner would be shocked at how low that cost is. (I only paid to charge twice and it was probably around 30% of my "tank". The rest was free public charging.) You could probably use PlugShare to check your area for free chargers and get an idea if that's an option for you. Don't know how common that is. I think you could safely just assume it's $0.20/kWh to charge up (or use a quarter if the math is easier) and work off that number in general, like other commenters are pointing out. Charging at home during non-peak hours is the cheapest paid option unless you are lucky enough to find a cheap subscription service.

[@jolyonwelsh9834]

You need a level 2 (240 volt 50 amp) receptacle installed for a faster charge especially in winter.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

I was thinking about getting an upgraded charger after i got the car, but overall I've made it work pretty well with the standard charger (so far) for my current driving needs- but I could see where it would be necessary for some people to charge up faster 👍

[@jorgeflores5222]

It is really nice to know some people realize the real solution is not to drive, and THAT EV do have an impact on the environment some times higher than gasoline because the battery do not last 20 years and is the most polluting part

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

energy always comes from somewhere- there is always a cost to everything & sometimes we forget that because we are disconnected from the process. Hopefully access to effective battery recycling methods will be available quickly with all the new EVs coming out

[@rp9674]

EVs do not pollute more than ICE, even if the power comes from cold, don't believe the disinformation

[@engineerjay420]

Wow I can't believe your 12v battery lasted that long and your traction battery looks really healthy! My 2013 Leaf has over 104,000 miles and has lost 3 capacity bars. I had the same issue with the 12v battery so now I have a backup starter battery pack and 200 watts of solar on the roof to charge the 12v battery. Gas cars are less then 20% efficient as most of the energy from the gas produces wasted heat but the electric motor and battery are around 80-90% efficient so I think you made the right choice.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

over 100,000 is amazing! that is so encouraging to me 😁 I think we made the right choice 👍

[@richieannarelli5714]

When you have Three bars flashing the range you have left is 9 miles to go

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

Good to know!- did you find that out from experience?

[@bertkelly7650]

My Mopar battery that came with my new 2001 Dakota truck lasted 7 years before replacing. A walmart mower battery I bought lasted 6 years. I guess the normal is 3 years? So yours lasting 5 was pretty good. I have an '04 Dodge Neon that gets 30 mpg and haven't done anything major to it except for a cam sensor and brakes/ tires. A new Ram to haul my camper around.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

i guess 5 years is pretty good then!

[@samjud2411]

Every leaf owner knows that the 12 volt battery is the main reason of any problem period… it happens to me and immediately changes the battery

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

I was soo happy it was an easy fix 😊

[@SNORKYMEDIA]

still look to have all 12 bars after 3 years!!!

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

yup all bars still there 👍

[@get2zero]

We have a Volt, and we bought the electric hybrid because our commute was 110 round trip. So far we have 85k miles electric only and another 10k gas-electric on the car. I saw at the dealer a guy trade in his 1st generation volt... it had 250k on the original batteries. I am encourage by the change-over. We bought a Subaru to tow the new Scamp and I am so not used to buying gas! So, a two car family.. one gas the other not. Great detailed video and the info on driving in the ice.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

Thanks Rick- sounds like you have a great set up! the electric hybrids sound great since you can drive farther, but still get lots of the benefits from electric

[@bretgross3379]

Nicely done!

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

Thank you Bret!

[@ken12269]

Sorry to hear of your troubles with the Leaf but glad it was just the 12v battery. I speak from experience, EVs are hard on 12v batteries and it will do wonky things without telling you “hey your 12v battery needs replacing”. Which would be nice.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

It is funny how I never thought about the 12v battery- but that is part of the experience of driving an EV- you dont have to think about maintenance too much 😁

[@jahangiribrahimsingapore]

Nice

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

Thanks for watching!

[@humnpwr]

Very nice vide3o

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

Thanks Gord 👍

[@jakkautube]

Simple solution Car docking station! No need to plug every night. Just dock and it charges based on battery percentage. Manufacturers may think this

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

I could see that coming in the future in parking spots all over 😁

[@thomasdepaor1518]

No mention of how the heater effected the range, or how/if you used the heater, did you manage to use it without having to much effect on the range, especially in such cold conditions

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

running the heater will impact range slightly- during the few times that I ran the battery low I would turn off the heat/ac and put it in eco mode just to make sure I got home- but that has only happened a few times in the 3 years of having the leaf. The outside temperature has the biggest impact on range

[@Michael_the_muffinman]

I just got a 2017 leaf as a work car. It has insanity low miles. I guess people didn’t want to drive it. What kind of distance do you get on a single charge? I’m only one week in.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

I think it works great as a commuter car! In warm weather its close to 85 miles, in colder weather around 65, but it depends on how much is highway driving as that drains the battery faster. good luck with your Leaf!

[@kyleb8117]

Really cool video. Love seeing people's experiences. I'm really curious on the longevity of my car as well. It's a 2015 Leaf S (My first EV!) and currently at about 49k miles, roughly 85% health. I'm a very economic and safe driver because I've always bought cheap gas guzzlers and I never liked how expensive they were to run (my last one was 14MPG). Having this Leaf is really liberating. Sure, I'm probably making a massive change in environmental impact after my previous car, but for me it's so liberating having no oil changes and significantly less (technically free) "fuel costs". I'm also a forgetful person so not having to regularly maintain an ICE and watch for mechanical issues is huge. I don't have GPS in the S model, but I could just buy a Garmin or continue to use my phone. Thinking about getting something called OVMS in the future (it costs $255 for a Leaf kit) which should let me remotely charge, lock doors, run the climate control, check the charge level, etc. Being able to warm the car up from the house in the Winter would be HUGE.

[@kyleb8117]

Forgot to mention: I've never once in my life driven with heated steering wheel and heated seats. I feel so spoiled in a car that's about 7 years old and cost me around $11k (about 1/3 of what I thought it'd cost to get into the EV world).

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

It is great not having to stop for gas & not having constant maintenance 😊 I also feel spoiled by the heated seats and steering wheel- there are some really great parts of owning a leaf 👍

[@seismic6402]

Remote heating wasn't mentioned. That would surely be good to heat the car up in some of those conditions. I like the steel wheels - good in winter and don't give issues after a few years with the finish degrading and looking bad or causing air leaks. I think I would go for a basic model if I went ahead with electric - less that can go wrong.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

Yes- some leaf owners will preheat the car before driving- it is a nice option & I agree...simple = less that can break 👍

[@ritamariekelley4077]

Very useful! Thanks. There's soooooo much pushback and propaganda from Big Oil. I LOVE my LEAF.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

glad its helpful Rita! 😊

[@pedronogueira6897]

Tanks for your vídeo!

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

thanks for watching Pedro 👍

[@richieannarelli5714]

I just put 4 new tires on my 2017 Nissan leaf with 47,665 miles

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

it is great having that low car maintenance!

[@richardhobbs7107]

My 'opinion' . . . . based on MY 2015 Nissan Leaf SV . . . is that it will last 15 years or more easily in your climate and the way you are using it . The Subaru you had for 15 years required multiple fluid changes of oil, transmission fluid, & brake maintenance not to mention copious amounts of petrol ! ! ! To lower your stress/tension levels in life I recommend Angelina Jordan . She is from Norway & can sing . . . . & quite a lot more goes with this young gal . Spare time well spent . Not to mention there is no extra charge viewed on KZbin ! ! ! A m a z i n g ! ! Take care ! RH

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

oh I really hope it makes it 15 years- that would be worth my investment for sure! I will check out Angelina, thanks for the recommendation 👍

[@charlesantoney1769]

Nice review video there girl. TIP: When you feel that you've very little mileage left to get you home, an electric car can take you further than you may think, only if you know what you need to do. This is the time to drive as slow as you can and it will lose very little mileage and the percentage charge for a given distance. In other words, you need to drive with the power meter indicating as if it is at rest. (Only one white dot is showing) Try it and you will be amazed!!

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

thats a good tip to know! I have noticed driving more slowly makes a difference on the battery overall so it makes sense 👍 thanks Charles!

[@charlesantoney1769]

@@LetNewAdventuresBegin Most welcome. I was amazed! I learnt this when I had about enough charge to get me home in the middle of the night but worried lest it stalls. You'll surely love the trick.

[@chrissmith2114]

I have noticed a few Nissan Leaf drivers in UK driving verrrry slowly and holding all the traffic up - guess they were a bit low on range....

[@hphillips7425]

Good video. We considered an EV and found out the price of the vehicle and insurance was double the cost of an ICE vehicle. The insurance agent implied they do not like to insure an EV

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

oh, maybe it depends on where you live- my insurance went down slightly when I switched from my subaru to the Leaf, but that was several years ago

[@mrsmith1339]

$150 for a battery is cheap. Get one from AAA it will be delivered and installed but might be twice as much. Many "modern" cars require the new battery to be programmed usually by a dealer. I still don't understand the reason for a separate 12 volt battery. If an electric cxar can charge a 12 volt battery, it is producing 12 volt current. How's the heat? It must tank the range just as AC would.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

the heat is not too bad- I only had one time when I turned it off because I was getting range anxiety- most days now I blast it on high my whole way to work (its been in the 20's in the morning 🥶 )

[@gmankono]

I am also REALLY curious about the longevity, since the cars themselves can last much longer than gas-powered cars with fewer problems, since the electric motors will require much less maintenance, but the batteries have a mostly-predictable degradation curve. (I have a 2016 Fiat 500e.) I am VERY encouraged to see companies like Fenix Power getting into the business of offering battery replacements for cars like yours, and I'm hoping that they will expand their offerings to other "older" electric cars, as that would be the most significant improvement or maintenance option to extend the life of the cars. If we could buy a newer or remanufactured battery pack that fits the battery size we have now, but has higher power density because it has better batteries, we could double the range of our "small" cars and get a new lifecycle out of the same car. Without that upgrade option, I too will be surprised if I get more than 5 more years and 50k more miles from this car (though as little as I'm driving these days, I'll be surprised if I even get close to 7k miles per year).

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

It will be very interesting to see how things change over the next few years- soo much has changed in the 3 years since I purchased my leaf. I will keep you updated on how my car holds up 👍

[@kathyv310]

"since the cars themselves can last much longer than gas-powered cars"? My moms 1992 camry is almost at four hundred thousand miles and most lexus/toyotas can easily get past three hundred thousand with very little maintenance. Are electric cars normally doing way more than that?

[@michalerban3120]

I was wondering if you always charge the battery to 100%? Li-ion battery life will be improved if you only charge it to 80-90%. And only charge it to 100% from time to time when you know you'll need it. However, I'm not sure if the Leaf has an option to set a battery charge limit. Though, the situation is different with lithium-iron phosphate (LiFePo) batteries, which can be found in the latest lower models of electric cars. In fact, it is recommended to charge them to 100% regularly.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

In the summer I can get away with charging to 80%, but in the winter I usually have to charge 100% to be on the safe side. Its interesting that the new batteries respond better to being fully charged- thats nice!

[@michalerban3120]

OK, so at least during the summer the limit of 80% is fine. How about charging it up to 90-95% in the winter? The more the battery is charged, the higher the voltage. And that's exactly what you want to avoid. Not all new, only LiFePo cells are recommended to be charged to 100%. They have one fundamental disadvantage, which is a lower energy density, but many advantages. Because, for example, they do not burn in the event of mechanical damage and can have many more charging cycles, and of course they are cheaper, since they do not contain rare earth materials such as cobalt, nickel, manganese.

[@richardwallinger1683]

Your LEAF will breeze past 15 miles and mostly your servicing expenses will be wipers and tyres .. the brake pads last for ever because of the regenerative braking . My 2011 LEAF is driving like the day it left the showroom .. ok it has lost three capacity bars .. but still manages 100 km range . Last year I replaced the 12 volt battery and recently I had to replace the keyfob batters . Whatm were your servicing costs over the 15 years for your Subaru . I love my LEAF and I am a 77 year old ex Donnington GT champion .

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

I have really enjoyed the lower cost and time required for maintenance- one less thing on my to-do list is always nice! glad to hear you are enjoying your Leaf- I find that it is fun to drive as well 😁

[@justsaying7541]

Question: If you travel 14 miles to work, why did you travel 284 miles to get home?

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

you are very observant! my camera died so that footage was actually from a different day (but same issue)- something that often happens on youtube videos...the story gets put together in editing...and sometimes due to technical issues you have to fit some pieces together to make it work 🙈

[@alecjames1426]

Can you not turn the heater on to timer mode to heat the car overnight 🤔

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

I need to try again to link my car to the app- It didnt work when I first got it...but I am going to try again because getting in a warm car sounds nice 😁

[@skepticalmechanic]

Do you still have this in April 2022?

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

yes still have the leaf & especially glad to have it now 👍

[@skepticalmechanic]

@@LetNewAdventuresBegin glad to here that… I might get the 2023…

[@MHdollrevievs]

Consumer Reports says the Leaf is the least expensive to repair/Maintain. Our 2015 Leaf is incredibly reliable. We put a trickle charger on the 12 volt about once a month in Winter. We live in Calgary Canada 🇨🇦 Winters can get cold and even at -40 the Leaf is a great car,We put winter tires on over winter.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

it really has been a good experience overall! glad to hear you are enjoying your leaf in Canada 😁

[@Javaman92]

I want a Leaf so bad! I'm on a fixed income but I'm saving up so when my Jeep dies I can get one. I'm thinking for you that after 5 years or so getting a new battery, even as expensive as they are is more sustainable than another car and actually cheaper.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

that may be the plan- especially because vehicles are soooo expensive right now!

[@Javaman92]

@@LetNewAdventuresBegin I'm getting closer to getting my Leaf! My Jeep is still running pretty well but I've saved up a fair amount. How is your Leaf? Do you still like it. How is married life treating you? 😀

[@theGrayArea2]

I was like “ohhh noooo” 😂😂😂

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

car issues are never fun 🙈

[@zacharyknollman5731]

How well does the heater work and iz the heat instant

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

when paired with the heated steering wheel and heated seats it is pretty good. The heat is not instant, but it gets warm within a few minutes. Many people preheat the vehicle before driving so it is already warm 😁

[@Toshi99203]

I enjoy watching your videos. This might have asked in the past but I am curious...do you plug in every day, stage 1, after the use for the day? What effort do you put in to slow the battery degradation? I am impressed see that your LEAF still shows 12 bars at full charge. (:

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

Thanks Toshi! I usually do full charge my car each night. The battery seems to be doing well so far. Overall I just drive gently & hopefully that will keep the Leaf happy for a long time 😁

[@dobermanguy9437]

I was thinking of getting a Nissan Leaf but I can't get away with 90 miles range that's just not enough I need at least 200 I drive for Uber so 90 miles just ain't going to cut it plus the long range one is very expensive

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

check out the newer model Leaf - I believe it has a much better range

[@michaelcorey9890]

Have you ever changed the oil on the reduction gearbox? Don't buy Diehard batteries. They're not what they used to be as to quality and longevity.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

I had the brake fluid changed several times so far as the owners manual states, but not the gearbox- is that something that is important to do?

[@larrykramer6057]

For me a question would be when the main battery would die and the cost to replace it vs how much I have saved in gas/oil. After-market and rebuilt batteries have a bad reputation right now. Secondly, I would expect the trade-in value to be low as the next owner will really be wondering when the battery will expire on an older Leaf. Finally, I was an injury accident investigator years ago so you won't find me in a small car. The first, second, and third requirements of a car are safety, safety, and safety. Gas mileage and environmental concerns have been pushed to the top of the list by persons who don't care about you.

[@larrykramer6057]

@@jaynope3437 Thanks. Brakes can be expensive, especially if you let them go. I still want a big car around me, no matter the gas mileage. As the video pointed out, the other drivers can be the problem. I had 4 Land Cruisers-- the last one for 12 years. I now have down-sized to a Sienna. Of course, it doesn't feel safe. There is no "safe". It is just a matter of how far you want to go toward safe or away from it. Realize that good gas mileage can kill you.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

My biggest concern is the expense if the main battery goes- we will see! and after being an accident investigator you would look at cars differently for sure- the unfortunately the biggest issue is dealing with the other drivers on the road, but compared to my old subaru the Leaf has side air bags and some other improved safety features so I would say that is a step up 👍

[@lanceareadbhar]

@General Smedley Butler It would have been nice if the Leaf had liquid cooling. Other than extra battery management because of this design "feature", I love this car. It seems like you can get a great deal on the car too since I think many people are scared of the battery even though you can get the 62 kwh version and not have too much to worry about with proper care. I would not recommend this car to anyone that doesn't have access to home/work charging and doesn't have access to a second car for road trips.

[@skepticalmechanic]

Only 35,000 miles? You don't drive much... Thanks for the interesting video...

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

I dont drive much compared to most people & the leaf has really made me think about driving differently (in a good way)- mostly just use it to commute to/from work and get to the store so it works well for me

[@harriettanthony7352]

Well Done! There is a video of a Leaf with 75000 miles on it- so yours will do as well. Then when the main battery degrades, add circa $4000. and have a new main battery installed. Its a matter of 'plug and play'. Far cheaper than a new any sort of fuel car. OR you can upgrade to a used/new better tech EV, such as Hyundia, BMW, and more,and they now make- with 200+ miles of range, which means you can charge once a week, which is better for battery long life. Disclaimer; I own a 2021 Hyundia "IONIC" EV- and I will never return to a petrol auto.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

75000 sounds awesome 👏 I hope my leaf hangs in there that long!

[@speedermarto]

Why don't you preheat your car while it's still plugged in?

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

I was never able to get the Leaf app to sink with my car - maybe I will try to set up the timer when it starts to get cold again because it is a nice feature! 👍

[@stephenfleming7918]

I was wondering what sort of distance you can go with a single charge on your battery.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

Hi Stephen, average is about 70 miles - it goes up in warm weather and down a bit in cold weather. If you watch the first video I did - the 2 year update it has a lot more details about how the car works

[@TracyMarie]

How many miles do you drive to work each day? I'm not sure if you've said or not.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

Hello Tracy, it's approximately 25 miles.

[@TracyMarie]

@@LetNewAdventuresBegin I'm should have been more specific. Is that one way or round trip? I'm considering buying a used one, but just for my work commute. Still going to keep my 2011 Toyota Sienna as it was my parents. ❤️ It has over 136k miles tho & the suspension doesn't like the curvey road I have to drive every day. Also, it uses a 12v plug (standard US home outlet) for the trickle charge, correct? Thank you so much for your help and videos!! 😊

[@jorgeflores5222]

I hope one day we get cheap lithium ferro phosphate battery s that can last 20 years and those can be adapted to old LEAFS so we get a solution that do not pollute or not so much as current solutions

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

it will be very interesting to see how the technology advances in the upcoming years!

[@Condemn-Focus]

I have A Kia Rio 2023 it was cheap about 18k with taxes and all. Yes it's a gas car but, I do get 35/36 miles a gallon on city 39/40 on highway depending on speed of course. The new Nissan is 28k brand new I can use the 10k I save for gas so it pay off I guess. I'm really happy with my cheap hatchback Kia Rio 2023. The Kia Rio in 2024 will be discontinue you won't get a chance to buy a Kia Rio in 2024. Alot of budget cars are being discontinue I'm really sad about that.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

It is sad that car manufacturing is moving away from affordable cars to more luxury cars- not everyone wants to drop a year + salary on a vehicle 🙈 thats just crazy to me Hopefully our affordable cars will hang in there for a while 👍

[@stanjarmolowicz]

Can battery replacement be done on Nissan leaf 2011 with upgrade to 60 KWatt Hours ? Could also be done on its liquid temperature management instead of passive cooling as is now .? Dealer service is unreasonably expensive and I can't afford that ..are there independent mechanics in California for less than dealer prices? i just purchase Nissan Leaf 2011 with only 40 miles range ..battery is significantly downgraded (i live in countryside ) with hope in mind that will be cost effective to replace and upgrade the battery .. increase the range to max . be able comfortably go to town and come back without worry to be stuck in the middle with drawn down the battery . I even consider doing a DIY project by myself but know not much about electric cars and need to learn all ..where and how to buy batteries and components etc. but i would prefer to take it to a specialist and be done with .Please help with advice .thank you , Stan (Sacramento area )

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

I am not sure if there is anyone in my area that would do a battery upgrade...but I will keep you updated if I look into anything like that 👍

[@ellenroehl6022]

A shop in Portland does it. EV Sides, I think it's called.

[@ricksworlddereaux2397]

These old leafs with 24kw or 30kwh Batteries are obsolete,even the new 40kw Leaf is.outdated.....now just the 62kw leaf plus is up to date..🤔🇺🇸🇩🇪i got a 2019 plus..salvage where the batterie was swapped out..to a old 24kw batterie..😱

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

new technology evolves quickly! it still gets me to/from work so its a good car for me 👍

[@chiepah2]

Adding more nuclear to the power grid, especially thorium fluoride reactors, would really help to improve the environmental impact of EV's. Until then we need to settle for being slightly worse than high MPG cars.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

we still have a ways to go before EVs are as beneficial as we would like, but I think we will get there in time

[@chiepah2]

@@LetNewAdventuresBegin True, battery technology, lightweight materials, integrated high efficiency solar panels, more efficient electrical systems, and more efficient heaters will all help to improve the impact of EV's, but it doesn't get rid of the fact that we are still relying on burning coal. While coal in a large furnace is about twice as efficient as gas in a combustion engine both are still far less efficient than nuclear. Solar is the future, but that wont be until we can build solar farms in space.

[@eljefe5573]

Question, do you still have the leaf?

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

Yup still got it- she is still rolling 😊

[@skepticalmechanic]

The only real good solution is a Bicycle... I put 1,650 miles on my bike last year... Keeps you in good shape too!

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

yes! I wish I lived in an area where biking was a safe option- that is awesome - you get a workout and you get where you need to be- thats a win win for sure 👍

[@curbozerboomer1773]

Bikes are good...but more dangerous too! Icy conditions make for treacherous riding, people do not see cyclists very well--and they often resent sharing the road!...and hidden objects imbedded in a road can literally throw you off a bike....so no, in general, and especially for commuting, bycicles are just too dangerous, IMO.

[@skepticalmechanic]

@@curbozerboomer1773 depends on where u live… no ice in Florida…

[@walterkaiyuenpang3556]

.... can't take my parents on a bike !!! Also have 2 dogs that don't fit in panniers !!! Got a solution...? 🧐🤔

[@richardhobbs7107]

Trickle charging the system battery will add years to it's life in a Leaf ! ! Unless you say 'No!' the Leaf will transmit data back to Nissan about how the vehicle is being used . . . which is great for Nissan , but not so good for the system battery ! ! The 'system' (12 volt battery) only gets charged from the 'Traction' battery when the car is on in drive mode and also while the traction battery is being charged. I love my Leaf . . . ( duh ! ) Take care ! RH

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

lets hope the trickle charge makes my leaf last for years & years!! no car payments here 😁

[@gwarlow]

Yes. An EV is definitely better than an ICE vehicle. Just think of all of the parts/fluids that will have to be replaced in an ICE vehicle over its lifespan: coolant, coolant hoses, oil, oil filters, exhaust system components (pipes, mufflers), timing belt/chains, head gaskets (older Subarus, looking at you), spark plugs, fuel injector cleaning, air filters etc. The lithium battery disposal argument pales in comparison to all of the costs/pollution involved in creating the thousands of gallons/liters of gasoline a car will use over time. Plus, there is a lot of electricity used in the refinement process of petroleum. You made a prudent decision to buy an EV. Thank you.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

I wasnt really sure at first- but now I feel that it was a good switch. There is a lot that goes into making that decision but I dont miss all the issues I had with my old subaru...that is for sure!

[@MarceloReis1]

So you had to replace a 5YO 12V battery and you consider that a problem? ICEs have them replaced every two years. Your video is nice, but I wouldn't call it EV problems, but any car problems.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

any time I try to leave for work & my car does not start = a problem...especially if you ask my boss

[@siamean1]

Your man almost connected the battery terminals to each other with that long arse ratchet!!!!

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

woulda been worse if I tried to do it 😂😂

[@carlosguzman-md2mt]

Road trippin is a 25 miles driving and 1 hour charging

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

yeah not much of a road trip vehicle...but a great daily commuter for me 👍

[@justinhaller2055]

Do you care about the cobalt miners getting a living wage? a hybrid or small diesel car would be better for the environment.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

of course I care, the reality is there are no perfect solutions- everything has a +/- especially when you look past the surface

[@justinhaller2055]

@@LetNewAdventuresBegin so few people in America are willing to ride a bike less than a mile to the store which would create a lot of solutions... if your car doesn't warm up by the time you get there there's where the pollution happens

[@edwinmartinez9787]

To drive with that worry about how far and if I'm going to make it is not worth buying this car

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

with the older model like I have- the newer ones have much better range

[@emanuellara1904]

We just purchased an electric vehicle it’s a Toyota works great 250 mi range. but I want to buy a leaf for a commuter only. This way will not consume any gas anymore we will need to get solar panels to keep the electric bill down. All our car are 15 yrs old now it’s time to replace them. I think going electric helps offset the car payments as cars are expensive now.

[@emanuellara1904]

I think the leaf make a lot of sense because of the price

[@markplain2555]

I don't mean to be an a..hole but at min 0:56 you do see a typo right? Now here's some irony I had a guy approach me with some jumper leads asking me if I could give him a jump (his battery was dead). Huh, so I'm the one with the electric car and you are the one who needs your battery charged? . . Now can I tell you a story? (this is a little long - sorry): . . I asked my wife to take my LEAF to the local Repair company (Canadian Tire) to have a slow puncture repaired. They decided to rip off my wife with a "maintenance check" that included charging her for: changing engine oil, changing oil filter, changing air filer, checking transmission fluid and many more.... I lost my temper and had it out with the management who at first were arrogant stating that "of course they did all those checks" which I then started screaming at them. When they realised it was electric, they became VERY meek. . . Now you talk about driving in Winter. My old Ford Escape would seriously struggle to start in the winter and I would drive for about 5 miles freezing my butt off until the car became warm enough to turn on the heater. With my LEAF the car is crispy hot within 500 yards. That is civilised. . . There is, so far, one design fault in the LEAF: The "ball joint" is not strong enough for the torque the car puts out. My ball joint blew out at about 50,000 miles (ridiculously too early). After some research I found that the Nissan Juke has the same size ball joint just more rugged. On any maintenance inspection check your ball joints (look up on KZbin how to do it - very easy). If your ball joints are showing wear, then DO NOT GET THE NISSAN REPLACEMENT. The Nissan replacement costs $400 each (2 of them) and is defective. Get an after market Nissan Juke replacement for a mere $40. . Last bit of advice, try not to always top up your charge to 100%. If you can, on a regular basis, do your commute starting with 80%, you will save your battery for way longer. HAVE FUN !!!

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

if there is a typo you know I did it 🙈 some things never change 😂 it is always an adventure with an electric car 🙄

[@s1e1durham]

This is my first time here, forgive me if you do anything mentioned on other videos: In terms of battery longevity, there are battery recyclers (folks who only replace battery cells that no longer hold a charge), replacing your own batteries (fellow NJ resident ChrisFix did that to his Toyota Prius) or having it professionally done for you, lastly having a brand new EV battery unit installation done at home or done professionally. Included with the maintenance (in my view) Rain-x the outside Fog-x the inside windows and replace the cheap blue water windshield washer fluid for rain-x all season windshield washer fluid. Lastly, a good set of winter tires for three months out of the year ain't bad studded are better but noisy on the GSP/NJTA especially when there's no snow/ice or chains for passenger vehicles if you rather use the same tires all year round

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

Hi Scott, I am glad to hear of another NJ resident replacing his battery- I know there are many options in the UK where the Leaf has been popular for a long time, but had yet to hear of it happening here 👍 yes winter tires in the winter would be a good idea- we got off pretty lucky in south jersey this year, but who knows what will happen next winter! Thanks for watching 😁

[@kws1957]

An EV is good if the price for a kWh is low and you don’t have a too long way to work. In my case here in Germany with the price of a kWh is 0,31 € at home and between 0,50 till 0,80€ on the motorway and a way to work of about 250 miles an EV is no option. I buy my Audi diesel old with about 200,000 miles on the speedometer for 2,000-3,000€. I repair on my own and find many of my spare parts on the local junkyard. The Audi factory is also here in Ingolstadt were I live nearby. God bless you All.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

it really does depend on where you live and how much you drive- lots of things to consider before making any changes 👍 thanks for watching 😁

[@katherandefy]

Well yes but the Leaf is way cheaper to buy as well as cheaper to operate than a Subaru.

[@East17A]

That is so annoying!! So they can't make it so the car pin point exactly what is going on. Or just tells you that the battery need replacement!! Stupid engineers!!

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

you would think at this point the car could let you know 😂 that would be great!

[@myurgod7180]

If a city or state reaches 1 to 2 million BEVs on the road, that city will need at least 1 or 2 NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS to cope with charging those BEVs daily (e.g., ICE cars in CA: 15m, TX: 9m, FL: 8m & NY: 5m). Answer = Hydrogen car??

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

yes i have heard that hydrogen would be a better option in the long run, but I know there are some challenges with setting up filling stations and distribution. My end goal with this was to have solar on our property (which we have yet to purchase) to do at least some of the charging for my car...but that is rather expensive and taking longer than anticipated- we will see how things go in the next several years!

[@frankelf3151]

This guy has 338k KM. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nputmWekf5h8apY AFAIK this is gen 1 and gen 2 has better battery chemistry. I can't imagine how many miles can be achieved with gen 2 in cold climates. My 2014 Leaf with 72K miles still has full 12 bars. I don't do as many daily miles and only charge to 80% the vast majority of times with the limiter function. I only charge to 100% for longer road trips.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

glad to hear your leaf is doing so well! I hope mine keeps working for a while to come 👍

[@etherlord300]

hi there nice video hey i have been watching random videos have you ever thought about upgrading the battery here in this video they upgraded the battery on a 2012 it was upgrade to 230m+ on a full charge kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZvci36lnsuHiNE from what i read its costs about 12k about 9-10k for the battery and 1.5-2.5k for the labor just a thought. no more charge anxiety.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

thanks for the suggestion- It would be interesting to upgrade the battery at some point in the future 👍

[@mattjames8350]

About to buy this car.. this decision was made before I fell in love with you.. Let's run away together.. you don't have to work if you don't want to. I'm rich.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

😂😂 Enjoy your Leaf Matt

[@Arturas1244]

I will give you some reality about leaf or any ev. Enviroment yes it saves and talking about polution while digging materials or making battery is nonsence. Fuel cars need oil with oil. Same digging to make fuel car and more stuff polution pumping oil, than leaking oil to enviroment, remember than it leaked in ocean non stop killing everything. Also making fuel than burning fuel non stop. Next cheap driving you be electricity but its 10 times cheaper than oil. And soon oil prices will go up so much all those pickups will be gone and its happening now, world has about only 30years till oil runs out. The ev car has no oil inside it it has no moving components. Next about bad stuff worst is battery it will last 10 and more years , but it will loose range it cost around 8k$. main parts cost a lot, but good point they dont brake its simply computer on wheels. And yes you cant service at local car shop as they will have zero clue about this car. its better to find 3 party computer fixer. Well if you open main engine you will find its same as you would open your loptop just the case is from aliuminium :D . Battery degradation: do not do anything what dealer says or manufacturer says. You must not leave battery on charge all time. if it reached 100% than unplug if its pluged on 100% it degrades. Do not discharge to zero do not charge than you have 30 or 20% left. About range stop thinking about it, its same as you dont think about your phone battery. Most of the time you will never run out.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

there are a lot of things to consider in the area of EVs & there is no perfect solution- just the option that works best for each individual. I am happy to say the car has worked well for my driving needs and it has saved me a bit of money so far 👍

[@tommorgan1291]

Strange? Your title is "Electric Car Problems." But you did not give one example of electric car problems. Buying wipers, buying new 12 volt battery and getting new tires are not electric car problems. Perhaps you are just another "click bait" commoner?

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

When I try to go to work & my car doesn't start I call that a problem

[@razbadawi4822]

Electric car

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

yup, thats what it is!

[@sillyghost25]

Too much speculation and rambling. Low info. video. Waste of time.

[@LetNewAdventuresBegin]

first time on youtube i see 😂😂