Nissan Leaf 2012 | A Review after Nine Years

[@showme360]

No it is now the king of the second hand market, and when a replacement after market batteries come out it will continue to be king!

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Good point! Thats definitely possible

[@SNORKYMEDIA]

In the UK there are companies fitting 40kw batteries into these

[@Randomadventuresebike]

So a decade later there isn't a aftermarket battery replacement and you still think it's coming soon? 😂😂

[@miloe436]

@@Randomadventuresebike Third party replacement has just been hacked, so yes, more and more companies will start offer 30, 40 and even 62 kwh battery upgrades.

[@millions2nette]

@@Randomadventuresebike 😂

[@roa3432]

Thanks for making this video! I was considering getting a 2012 nissan leaf that was $9k but I didn't know the battery degraded so much. You save me a lot of time and trouble! 🤗

[@nissanleafbattery]

Wow, That's a lot of money for a 2012, I just bought a 2012 for $2500 - But the heater is broken and I can get the part for $700 - The car will drive 40 miles - If your commute is less than 40 miles, the LEAF is a very inexpensive car to own and operate. All depends how many battery bars are left and how much you buy it for.

[@xhobv02]

I just bought 2015 (has 110k miles) for $12500 in Europe. The prices seem to be much lower in the US.

[@myyoutubechannel3161]

​@@nissanleafbatteryare we talking about the battery bars on right hand side .. there should b le 12 of them

[@NAY2GAS]

@@myyoutubechannel3161 Yes, there should be 12 of them if the pack is completely healthy. But the first bar is valued at 15%. so even if you have 14% loss on that pack it’ll still look like you have 12 bars Unfortunately, the Nissan leaf batteries constantly degrading All batteries degrade, but the Nissan leaf degrade more because they have no thermal management whatsoever And sorry to reply to you in this account , This is my main KZbin account, I didn’t want to switch the login from this account to my Nissan Leaf one

[@EdwardGarrenMFT]

I had a 2011 that had bad battery degradation, and I dold it, vowed I wouldn't get another Leaf. But this last April, I got a 2018 S (150 milews range) and I LOVE it. The battery degradation issue was "fixed" in 2015, and the 2018 has a second upgrade that further limits the possibility of degradation. The car is fun, solid, reliable, and just a great car, and used for $14,225 a great deal. You can probably get one of the budding Leaf battery rebuilders to upgrade your battery pack to 60 KW's which ups the range to over 200 miles. Look into that possibility, much cheaper thanb any of the new EVs or even most ICE cars.

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Thank you! Yes, the replacement batteries are a very intriguing option.

[@dustincmills]

How do you look for the battery upgrade for the 2012? Thanks

[@badfairy9554]

Fully charged show have a video on getting a upgrade battery plus they are coming to the US this year.

[@michaellippmann4474]

Lol...great video! We just bought a 2017 Leaf SV...still has battery warranty until May 2025 and still 45,000 km left before the 160,000 km. It is to replace our Toyota Rav4, our main vehicle is an Ioniq5 so we are now all electric. Leaf for basic running around, Ioniq5 for travel and longer trips. We just completed a 14,648 km trip over 6 weeks with the Ioniq5 and it was fantastic. Your point about driving EV being addictive is absolutely correct! We love it! Cheers Mike and Ally 🇨🇦

[@m.necatisepetcioglu4391]

i just got swapped the battery with 62KW with our 2011 leaf. it is back to live. 430 Km with single charge. we are so happy with the car all those years, we have her since 2010 August. it is at 310,000km , still runs great. tons of money saved up from not only gas. i would consider to buy old leaf and find a cheap - reasonable battery swapt and you are good to go. you don't need to spend 50K -90K to have EV. Prices are insane.

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Awesome to hear about your great experience! I think this is a fine option these days

[@lgrantnelson2863]

I waited and bought a 2014 Leaf. It has over 120,000 miles and still has 9 battery bars. They are great for local travel. There are quite a few in my area. I think they can still be an inexpensive entry EV. You just have to know what you are looking for.

[@dathyr1]

Thanks for your video and being one of the first EV drivers on the road with the Nisson Leaf vehicle. I plan to get a Chevy Bolt EV 2LT model this coming spring 2023 if all goes to plan. I am retired and will be using it around town driving and short single charge trips. Should work well with my needs. Enjoy watching videos on the EV's and your video. Take care.

[@jackweta]

i have a 2014 with 10bars i charge it at L1 most of the time to 80%. i hope to see no degradation for many yrs. Our ambient temps are 18-22° C. Daily commute is 26km & charge every 2 to 3 days.

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Those sound like ideal conditions for battery longevity. You should be looking good for awhile!

[@rhiantaylor3446]

Older Leafs are again blazing a trail, but now as the cheapest EV worth considering. As a second car, even 40 miles range would meet many people's needs provided you can charge at your destination. Outside the US, (such as here in the UK) 15 miles plus 15m return would cover a lot of needs.

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Yeah it obviously doesn't work for everyone, but there are plenty of folks who could find a use for them

[@nissanleafbattery]

Great Review, I would have said that an old LEAF is great for parents who need to buy a reliable and cheap car for their children to commute to college, Nice thing is they can't go too far :) - My 2013 SL has never had a failed part yet, But the battery is terrible, I can go like only 28 miles now. One thing to note, the 2018 and newer LEAFs have a much better battery, I have friends with 2018 and newer cars with almost 100,000 miles and they're seeing only like 10% of range loss. So a 2018 40kWh LEAF could be a very good choice for a low income family. In NJ where I am from I bought a 2022 LEAF S 40kWH in 2021 for $14,375 after all incentives. That's an amazing option for a low income individual or family.

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Agreed!

[@grapeknutz]

That leaf would defiantly a great candidate for a battery pack upgrade. it would be cheaper to do that as the new car costs and dealer charging $10000.00 in market adjustment ( or better calling this stealing as you are plain throwing away money) . Something to think about.!

[@FirewalkingJourney]

For sure! We gave the car to my wife's cousin but if he ends up using it for the long haul or needing to drive farther I'll definitely recommend upgrading the battery!

[@abhishekbanerjee3486]

i am seeing one for less than 7K. is it worth checking out, my daily commute is ~30 miles so 40 miles would work but charging that often is really not an option for me.

[@kzinful]

Great review! I want a leaf, but now I'm bummed that Nissan ( quietly ) hiked the price for the replacement battery over $7,000! I have a older Toyota RAV4, I live in a city environment and never really drive to Vegas for the weekend ( HA! ). Im so tired of ICE hassles: gas, belts, etc. Anyway, any thoughts on this?

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Thanks! Thoughts on what specifically? The ICE hassles? Yes, I think from a purely vehicle maintenance standpoint the EV experience has reduced our cost and our time hassles to a great degree. If your driving habits allow you to charge at home (and at night even better) without stressing about range anxiety then it's super convenient. And tire rotation is really the only regular maintenance necessary. If you want to road trip with an EV and if you need to routinely charge around town just to get to where you need to go then the time equation begins to look less favorable.

[@kzinful]

@@FirewalkingJourney + Thank you for replying. Because older Leafs are great buys, some purchase them with the hope of replacing the battery later on, but Nissan ( again, quietly ) is now costing them over USD 7,000. Is this still a feasible option to replace the battery later on to keep the car?

[@FirewalkingJourney]

@@kzinful This is a great question and I'm not sure I can accurately answer. There are definitely more and more battery option replacements now though. Someone in these video comments even mentioned refurbishing batteries!

[@live_the_moment_with_arnol5661]

Trust me u have the best vehicles for sure

[@timpalmer5805]

New Battery will be a 40Kw as they don't make the 24kw or the 30kw anymore. This will give the car a range of 160miles or so and a new lease of life. The new Nissan battery will come with another 8 year warranty. If the car is in good shape then this is a better option than buying a new car if you are on a budget. Car will also increase in value if you were to sell it on.

[@estujohnte1222]

You deserve a subs. Thanks for this video

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Thanks!

[@karmensergio]

Nice.. review I’m looking to purchasing a 2012 Nissan Leaf.

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Good luck!

[@andrewbrooks2001]

A year late, but from what I read about the car was that you can get your battery replaced for about 6000 USD. You would get your full range back.

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Yeah battery replacement is definitely an option to consider!

[@jolladevices]

SUBSCRIBED. And good luck with the Monetisation process

[@Chuck_G]

Nice review of a car I still see around quite a bit!

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Thanks! Leafs were the most common EV back in the day and I remember waving to them whenever we saw another leaf on the road. More often than not the other vehicle would be waving back excitedly lol

[@inkylumine8967]

I'm interested in a 2013 leaf with 50,000 miles for $8k. Do you think it's worth it? Is it too risky for a college student? There's not too many miles so I'm not sure

[@FirewalkingJourney]

I think the battery capacity matters much more than the miles. It seems like a decent price though, but make sure the battery is still working well

[@dademujohn]

Yep... I had a 2012 SL with 153K with even the second battery and it still end up with 32 miles range. So I had to sell it. But know that I drive an IC I miss it so much😂😂

[@schoc13]

Great video! just bought a 2011 leaf with 6 bars, my commute is 15 miles total in mostly flat in the Seattle, weather not too hateful, how long do you think 6 bars will last yourself??

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Haha I don't know but I'm glad it's working for you! We gave the car to my young cousin. He drives it about 15 miles roundtrip to school :)

[@schoc13]

@@FirewalkingJourney but meanwhile I am still for a battery, heard nissan wants 8-10k, absolutely not! :)

[@mike_t_007]

@@schoc13 It is if you find a 60KW/h pack from the newer model Leaf and have it installed under 10K. Now you have a 200 mike EV for 14200! Trust me you will not find a deal like that in this market

[@mustafanaji6591]

GOOD REVIEW & GREAT CAR.

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Thanks!

[@MatthewTownsend-m6f]

I bought a used 2012 Leaf SL in 2018 for $8000. It has been a good car for us. But my battery has degraded from 9/12 (2018) to 7/12 (2022) and it is getting harder and harder to use it for various drives. If Nissan had a decent battery replacement program in place I would consider keeping it, but more than likely I will be trading it in for another electric vehicle make and model. I too think there are better options now.

[@johnyjos3ph376]

Hello, please help. Should I get a 5 bar Nissan leaf? I drive 5 miles to get to work and 10 miles to go out. Please let me know. It costs 3500

[@smileychess]

If that's all the driving you do, then it should be fine. I would test drive it first and see. You won't get much more than that with only 5 bars.

[@facefacts3435]

Hell yeah that's a free car basically lol

[@abnav272]

Just got a 2012 with 49k miles and a range of 55 miles for 3500.... good deal?

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Congrats! I have not been researching the secondhand leaf market so I really do not know. If it actually provides enough range for your needs then it sounds like a good purchase though!

[@IM2awsme]

@@FirewalkingJourney it's like buying a motorcycle with 4 seats and a roof, it's an amazing deal for those who just want to run in-Town errands like buying groceries or picking kids up from school, things that are less than a 30mile round trip, the amount of fuel savings are astronomical.

[@FirewalkingJourney]

@@IM2awsme Yep I would agree with this!

[@rp9674]

Yes

[@kmixmashups]

Hi! Would you recommend a 2012 or 2013 model as a first car? Maybe if the battery was replaced for better battery life?

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Yeah i think it’s an excellent first car for getting around town. Not a good road trip car

[@dougabbott8261]

Good video. If you want to keep your Leaf there are ways to install a newer, larger battery in it.

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Yes thanks for your comment! I'll need to look into this again. I researched the options for battery replacement about 1.5 years ago and at the time it wasn't really worth it. But the prices may have come down since then and our battery life has gotten even worse thats for sure!

[@akselimarttila8676]

@@FirewalkingJourney I think a 40kWh pack cost nowadays around 6000€/$

[@FirewalkingJourney]

@@akselimarttila8676 Thanks! That's a little bit cheaper than before. For perspective, we got our current 2012 Leaf in early 2016, with 12 bars on the battery and pretty low mileage, for $8500. It was a really good price, I think most comparable Leafs with full battery bars were around $1100 at that time, we just got lucky. Yes the 40kwh would be a nice upgrade, so the question is whether it's worth it for the car itself.

[@xboxice2005]

So i just finish doing a fast charge temp here is 19c, charger stop at 87% battery temp was 19 before i start and it got to 22c at the end.

[@dougabbott8261]

@@xboxice2005 not a heat problem there. I think it really kicks in where the temperature is high ie Texas, Arizona ,California and people are driving at speed 60 - 70 mph and then plug them in with little to no cool down. I could see this doing damage but 22 c , just warm.

[@mbaxter22]

If you watch his rapid blinking closely, it's morse code for "help me".

[@FirewalkingJourney]

😆😃😃😆😃😆😆😆😉

[@FirewalkingJourney]

It actually means: i need more sleep 💤 😴

[@majorartking]

I just bought a 2013 Nissan leaf for 7k, 26k miles! Battery replaced last year!

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Awesome. With a New battery it should be a great car for ya!

[@DJLanta]

@@FirewalkingJourney yep! I am quite shocked! Worked out great so far!

[@Parabueto]

I'm tempted to get a secondhand Leaf as my first car (I don't like driving and managed to make it through my twenties without one) but soon I'll need to make regular short trips out to the countryside to fly my bird, which just isn't possible on a bicycle or public transport. Only annoying thing is range anxiety because I might need to semi regularly do a 100 mile round trip which for an older Leaf might be a bit tricky (again, public transport not an option). Also I live on a terraced house with no off road parking so I can't charge it at home (the council is installing chargers at request but you need an ev first), but there are chargers at work (The irony is I'd commute to work to charge the car because with traffic it's faster for me to cycle to and from work than drive!). Then there's cost. While no maintenance cost is attractive, I might have to lease the battery that might make it reasonably expensive to run compared to say, a diesel smartcar (which is easier to find a parking space for and will drive a long way, even if you won't want to do it very often). Then again I suppose I am fairly lucky in that if not for my choice of hobbies, I wouldn't even need a car.

[@FirewalkingJourney]

sounds like you have a pretty good handle on the situation. In a few years I think we will see some cheaper used EVs with long range hit the market. Good luck!

[@projectkod]

ok after watching a few video, I've decided against getting a used one to rent on Turo. I don't want to deal with low range and have to deail with the customers complaining.

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Yeah, unless you’re in an area where 90% of visitors will only be driving short distances, I’d avoid doing this. Maybe very soon you’ll be able to get a used one from the last few years, with much better range

[@geo4322]

I want this as my first car, it's around 5-7k, so I think it's pretry worth it (as a first car)

[@blakekersey4744]

So it goes at the Max, 80 miles before you have to charge it again? Trying to get this correct cause I see one for sale near me.

[@FirewalkingJourney]

When it is a brand new battery? Yes more or less. Our battery is old and warn down so

[@nerys71]

NO. it goes 80 miles (slightly more) with a FULL CAP battery on level ground at 70' in optimal conditions 55-60mph JUST like a gas car any change to those conditions alters how far you can go. drive around at 35mph taking it easy warm flat no hvac you might get 90 miles. go 75mph and it might be 75 miles. winter? resistance heater? 45-50 miles hitch up a trailer with 1200 pounds in the trailer? 50miles winter with heat? 40. it really depends. imagine a gas car with a 3 gallon tank. suddenly those changes in fuel economy become a much more noticiable concern. its not that the leaf is more effected by it. its that your range is SO SHORT that any change in that range is rapidly noticed and could be an issue. NOT trying to scare you just being realistic. I had a 2012 put 65k on it now I have a 2016 I put 42k on this and still going. as long as you understand the limitations and those limitations are compatible with your life situation its an AMAZING car. I have a hitch on mine I haul a trailer and cargo in it. I drove down to los lunas to melloy ford. charged up. drove to get my new boat drove back to Albuquerque to melloy nissan charge up then drove the last 24 miles up 1800ft elevation change back to home. with some planning and patience you can do amazing things on a seriously small budget with a cheap EV Like the leaf. My favorite activity. flipping the bird at gas stations as a whirrrr on by :-) hehehe Your best bet is a 2016 !!! (not the S) you want the SV or the SL. this way you get 2 VERY important things. ONE 30kwh battery pack. new 110-120 miles range. now 42k later 2 bars down I get about the same range as the 2012 got when it was NEW TWO you get the HEAT PUMP. the heater on the 2012 to 2014 or 15 was basically unusable it consumed such a god awful amount of power. the heatpump in my 16 consumes basically nothing in comparison oh and it heats up in SECONDS instead of minutes :-)

[@affectiveobserver]

Wow I’m buying a 2012 with 9 bars and was worried about range, but if you get 40 miles with half bars I think I’ll be fine!

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Yepp! It depends on the situation though, for me that's with limited highway driving. If I were on the highway driving 70mph (which i dont do) it probably wouldn't last 20 miles. If I'm only driving in the city streets at about 35-40mph cruising then I can probably get 50 miles. Luckily for us, even pre-pandemic, our typical day is maybe 5 miles 😆

[@Brian-om2hh]

There is a video on KZbin of a UK owned Leaf of similar age having it's battery pack refurbished. Some of the old cells were removed and replaced with new ones. The work took around 4 hours, and the cost was £600..........

[@affectiveobserver]

@@Brian-om2hh that’s a pretty good price

[@FirewalkingJourney]

That's awesome! How good is the refurbished battery?

[@JuanMoreno-kv2vd]

watch out because I know there is a way in how people can reset the setting on the battery capacity miter to a previous higher bar amount mi suggestion is to drive the leaf to see actually how many miles does provide and charge it tells is full see if it shows some battery bars amount.

[@MsShellybell12]

Thank you nice very video ...

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Thanks!

[@bananapatch9118]

We want to buy a used maybe 2017 or so but we do worry about getting hit with a $5500 replacement battery bill. Are after market batteries available ? Thoughts ? Thx !!!

[@FirewalkingJourney]

I don't have any personal experience but I think if you go on the nissan EV forums you'll find plenty of data points. Good luck!!

[@lanieparker5730]

Where are you able to get a $5500 replacement battery? Ive been driving a 2013 Leaf for the last 7 years and would buy a $5500 battery without blinking, however the cost I’ve been quoted from dealerships are more like $8500.

[@adnanalhawamdeh294]

It is similar to a new car. If you want to inspect a 9-year-old car, the mileage must be at least 80,000 miles.

[@gregorypetty6887]

I thought about getting a used 2012 Nissan Leaf that has 36,000 miles on it. But Nissan is coming out with a new electric car later on this year for the 2022 model called the Nissan Ariya. Supposedly the Nissan Ariya will get 300 miles on a single charge and the battery in it would be liquid cooled, unlike the Nissan Leaf which is passive cooled. Even though the Nissan Ariya will be to expensive for me, come 5 to 8 years down the road, I can always buy a used Nissan Ariya. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Ariya

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Yep good plan! Lots of new options on the horizon.

[@sean8081a]

How much is your electricity per kwh? In Hawaii it's $0.40/kwh. Comes out the same cost as gasoline.

[@FirewalkingJourney]

I think its at 11 cents here in Miami.

[@nerys71]

40c/kwh means you are going to pay roughly 9 cents per mile. even at 30mpg a gasoline car will cost you more. at 30mpg that is equivalent to 6.7kwh of power in the leaf. at your price that is $2.67 a gallon for gas. so above $2.67 the leaf is cheaper below $2.67 the gas car is cheaper FUEL costs only. also have to factor in maintenance costs. the leaf is basically $0. Your power however is UNUSUALLY expensive. can you get time of use power? I have expensive power here in NM as well. 18.3c/kwh I switch to time of use so now I pay 11.2c/kwh and 20.1c/kwh during peak time. so I just programed the car to not start charging till 2230 at night so I always charge at 11.2c/kwh RIGHT NOW your gasoline is $4.30 a gallon so the leaf is MUCH MUCH cheaper to drive even at 40c/kwh

[@aquaticamigo6439]

How many miles does it give you on a full charge?

[@FirewalkingJourney]

When we first got it (used) it was at about 70 miles mix of highway and local. Now our range is around 25 miles. Pretty terrible 😕

[@aquaticamigo6439]

@@FirewalkingJourney dang so don’t buy a used one

[@eddiepalomares7639]

How much does it cost to get a brand new battery 100 percent capacity.

[@victorgonzalez-ow2ro]

Around 9k

[@handsomeblackmuscle9845]

@@victorgonzalez-ow2ro 😩😫🤮😑

[@jolladevices]

I am looking for this car since almost one year, but she's always escaping me (and prices are arising instead of dropping lol, in Europe).

[@rp9674]

Someone should make plastic aero wheel inserts, like Fiat 500e has.

[@dustincmills]

Would you buy a used 2012 Leaf with original battery 40 mile range for $3500?

[@sharpy155]

I'm also looking at one that has about 40 mile range and I think as long as its a second car in the household and you don't plan on long trip its still workable but I have free charging as work here in the UK so maybe depending on your situation...

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Sounds like my car! lol. Pre-covid pricing I would have said never, but now, I guess it's reasonable assuming it meets your needs. Carvana offered us ~$4200 for ours!

[@MsShellybell12]

Is your electricity bill higher while charging this vehicle I try to manage my energy usage as a green person... or environmental mind set person..

[@pko6547]

Take a look at your electric bill and do the math to figure out your $ per kWh. The smallest battery option was 24 kWh and they eventually came out with 30, 40, and 66 kWh options. I live near Charlotte, NC and my electricity cost is about $0.094 per kWh. That's $2.25, $2.82, $3.76, $6.20 "fillups", respectively. Another way to look at it is that the Leaf batteries average ~3.6 miles per kWh. With my 60-mile commute, I'm looking at 16.67 kWh or $1.57 each day. My 23mpg car that uses $3.90/gal premium gas costs $10.17 each day. Over the course of a year (commuting 5 days a week), it's $408 vs $2644.

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Sure, it's a tiny bit higher. Philip gave you accurate examples

[@rafaelalvarez2288]

i have. same car but the baterry is almost dead do you know where can i change the baterry

[@FirewalkingJourney]

I don’t have one to recommend but it seems there are a handful of third parties who offer this service.

[@xboxice2005]

wow i have the same 2012 model and still have 10bars.

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Awesome! Have you avoided using level 3 charging for the most part? What is your advice for long-term battery care?

[@Ahda108]

Hot weather + excessive fast charges are very harsh to early leafs with the first gen batteries.

[@xboxice2005]

@@Ahda108 Thanks for answering bro :) i was meant to but it slip me.

[@xboxice2005]

@@FirewalkingJourney so i do use fast charger, I just don't use them when its hot, I try to only use them when its a 23c day at most, and when its a 30c day i don't even drive the car but this isn't practical for most people has the car was made to be driven :)

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Great info, thanks! 30C (86F) is pretty frequent here in Miami haha 🤷

[@YouTubeBlueButterflies]

Why don't you upgrade the battery

[@FirewalkingJourney]

I think I would do that now if I still had the car

[@3DJapan]

Can you charge it from a normal wall outlet?

[@kennethrobertson1733]

Yes, the charger it comes with plugs into a normal wall outlet

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Yep! Most wall outlets will work!

[@MHdollrevievs]

Yes But Level 2(220v) is better on the battery health/life. We have a 2015 Leaf bought used the first year we 110v charged it.I got Leaf Spy and it showed faster battery degradation using 110v.After adding the 220v battery degradation has slowed.Super cheap to own.

[@nerys71]

yes but its limited by typical us 15amp outlets IE 13amp charge rate 1.3kwh. so a fresh battery is something like 30 HOURS to recharge (it charged at roughly 5 miles per hour on the charger) with a 3.3kwh 220v charger you get 15miles per hour recharge. BIG difference.

[@live_the_moment_with_arnol5661]

I see a lexus in the ending of your video 7:52 minutes. Lexus NX 🥰🥰😍😍🤩🤩🤩

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Good eye!

[@erikalittlefield5361]

How much should I look to be paying for a used 2012 Nissan Leaf

[@FirewalkingJourney]

I can't tell you, maybe if someone else sees this they may be able to chime in. This current market climate is pretty insane. I will say that carvana recently offered us $4500 for ours, and I'd absolutely take them up on that offer if we weren't already giving our car to our family.

[@nickman888]

Subscribed!!! You have cool videos dude!!!

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Thanks for the sub!

[@jesuisravi]

skip to 1:21 to skip intro

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Great! Also fyi, I add chapters on all my videos so you can use them to skip to any part that you wish!

[@idmhead0160]

How many miles do you have on the vehicle? I have a 2015 with about 51,000 miles and still have 12 bars. I think there were improvements made to the battery since the original one. Hopefully, I don't see bars drop off like that. You fail to mention that the newest LEAF has a longer range. It doesn't have active cooling like some/most of the others do though. Though I think the Bolt had trouble with it's batteries catching fire. Why are you using a level 1 charger? I wonder if that has something to do with what happened to your battery.

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Hey thanks for your comment! We're at 50k miles, and we actually dropped to 5 bars since this video!! I think part of the issue is a worse/older battery, part is that we used level 3 charging quite often back when we drove the car a lot, and the people who borrow our car (parents, in-laws) leave it fully charged a lot of times. I try to keep it between 25 and 75%. Not sure what you mean by why we use level 1? I thought level 1 is the best for the battery longevity? Please correct me if I'm mistaken. And yeah, this video was thrown together as I recorded, I didn't script it or storyboard like I do with most of my videos. In fact I didn't even plan to post the video publicly...I made it public several weeks after posting cause I figured why not. So to your point, I really wish I had pointed out the differences between the 2012 version and the current model. That would have been far more appropriate since I then compared it to current EVs on the market.

[@idmhead0160]

@@FirewalkingJourney I think I heard that level 1 is worse than level 2 on the battery. I don't know why. I use level 2 for home charging, but, I use the level 1 cord that came with the car to charge while at work. I had about a 70 mile commute. So, it was worth it using the level 1 charger at work even if it only gave me about 33% charge over the course of the day. I've never used a level 3 charger. I have about 51,000 miles on mine which was purchased in October of 2014. I still have all the bars, though I think the range is less that it was originally. Hopefully, I won't start losing a lot of bars like you. It would be great if a cheap replacement battery would become available. Hopefully, someone will get the solid state batteries figured out.

[@idmhead0160]

Also, I switch to another vehicle in the winter. The car is kept in a heated garage, but, plugged in at 100%. I think you are correct about not leaving it topped off. I've been worried that I'm probably damaging the battery doing that. My 12 volt battery finally went dead. I think it's because the traction battery only charges the 12v battery when the car is running, or the traction battery is being charged. If it's at 100%, it won't be charging and so the 12v battery will go dead. My personal thought is to leave the battery at 80% or something like that while in storage. Then, use a battery maintainer on the 12v battery to keep it topped off, but, leave the main cord unplugged. Maybe I will try that next winter.

[@idmhead0160]

Also, I don't know if you have heard of the cell phone app called LEAFSpy. It gives you detailed info on the battery health. I've never used it personally, but, heard good things about it. I was reluctant to try it because I've heard of cheap OBDII devices causing shorts and I didn't want to take a chance messing anything up in the car.

[@FirewalkingJourney]

I really think that the major difference is the level 3 usage. It's great that you've never had to use it!

[@deetoxinz7252]

So where all can I recharge this?

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Any charging stations with a J1772 or CHADEMO connectors. Or your own home using the standard level 1 charger.

[@bananapatch9118]

Dumb question….if I have to drive somewhere for work and it is say 70 miles away…are there places to charge it ???….so I can get home….

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Try using plugshare.com to search for charging stations. But personally, if you don't have a charging station at work I wouldn't recommend the leaf for a 70 mile one-way commute.

[@bananapatch9118]

@@FirewalkingJourney I only make a long drive like 60 miles once a month

[@FirewalkingJourney]

@@bananapatch9118 oh gotcha. Not a daily commute. Yeah check plugshare, depending on where you live there may be very few options or there may be many.

[@bananapatch9118]

@@FirewalkingJourney Can I also assume every nissan place has a charger ? Free ?

[@FirewalkingJourney]

@@bananapatch9118 nope. In the past, much moreso, but nowadays quite a few charge or have their chargers in disrepair

[@badfairy9554]

One can get a second hand battery for a round $8000 with full bars.

[@futbol1972]

So how many bars do u have left and how many miles do u get out of it?

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Right now we are at 5 bars (out of 12) and probably get about 30 miles of avg driving.

[@zomgosz1503]

yea 50mile range is worthless. That's about halfway to work for me sometimes.

[@FirewalkingJourney]

yep

[@energieumbrella7140]

This came on like an episode of Smallville.

[@steventhegreat1887]

Before I traded in my 2015 Nissan Leaf for the bigger battery model it had about 50000 miles and 11 bars left still going about 70 miles. I wonder if that's because of an improved battery chemistry for that year, living in a cooler area (Pennsylvania), never supercharged it, or all of those things.

[@FirewalkingJourney]

I'd suspect that it was a combination of all three, though perhaps not supercharging was the most important factor. Thanks for sharing!

[@nerys71]

thats about right for PA you were on the verge of losing your second bar but traded it in before that happened.

[@robertjohnson-taylor1938]

Nissan give a 8 year warranty on the battery, you could have gotten the battery changed.

[@FirewalkingJourney]

That warranty is for the newer models with the better batteries. I believe it was 60 months/60k miles for my model, and the degradation at 60 months was not enough to warrant a battery replacement.

[@nerys71]

@@FirewalkingJourney no the battery warranty is separate from the 60k car warranty. its 3/36 B-B 6/60k drivetrain and I think 8/100k or something like that for the battery alone. but you are also correct your degredation was not sufficient to trigger a claim and they were very careful in picking those years and miles and excessive fast charging could void the warranty not getting the yearly battery checkup could void the warranty etc.. etc..

[@AZACKAL]

Okay but what about a 3500 2013 one with 8 bars left??? Because thats what im thinking really hard on lol would be my first ev

[@FirewalkingJourney]

If you’re ok with the limited range, $3500 is a decent price

[@ctbt1832]

I would like for it to go at least 200 miles

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Yeah, 200+ range is the minimum for wide adoption. Hence the Tesla 3, Chevy Bolt, etc all surpassing that on their base models.

[@ctbt1832]

@@FirewalkingJourney So where do you get upgraded battery for this it on the Nissan leaf

[@mike_t_007]

Upgrade the battery to a 60 KW/h version through an aftermarket EV Shop. Add up the cost and I'll be much cheaper vs a new EV with 200 Mile range!

[@agentemah5670]

THE WORLD BEST CARS ONLY JAPANESE AND ENGLAND THE WORLD FAST ELECTRO CAR IS JAPANESE 0-60 2 SECONDS 2000 HP

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Ok! 😀

[@basedvato]

You can find a 2011 with 10-11/12 battery for under 8k, still not a bad deal.

[@3DJapan]

Ok you tell us to listen for the sound of the car, then start playing music.

[@FirewalkingJourney]

hahaha that's a good point! I mean I gave it about 6 seconds, but yeah maybe I could have kept it silent a bit longer. Maybe you didn't realize that those first 6 seconds of silence while the engine was on was actually what I was wanting you to hear...the silence.

[@nerys71]

let me put it this way for you. I successfully sneak up right next to dogs and squirrels. and when I nuzzle up next to a human being I want to eat. let me tell you when I say high out the open window they jump about 2 ft into the air :-) want to see how high a squirrel can jump. trying going "high their buddy" while 3ft from one and it had no clue you were their :-) hehehe The only sound it really makes is a white noise like whirring sound and that is ARTIFICIAL coming from a small speaker when driving slowly such as in a parking lot. Its the ultimate stealth car.

[@relaxingnature2617]

Tells us to listen to the car drive away and then has music playing right at that moment 7:00 .. wtf

[@FirewalkingJourney]

Sorry I wasn't clear about my intentions! (You're the second person to comment this) I wanted you to hear that there was no difference between the engine being on and off. The engine was already on for several seconds before I started driving away and the music starts. You were probably waiting for something to happen, which made it more confusing to you, but that was the point, that it seemed like nothing happened but I was already able to drive away. Again, I realize that wasn't super clear, my bad!

[@carlosguzman-md2mt]

if you had to live in your car itbwould be priceless

[@FirewalkingJourney]

True!

[@chylimzbydzi]

The phrase "zero emissions" should be banned...

[@ohhchiclets2464]

Dang that car garbage.

[@FirewalkingJourney]

talking about my car? I completely agree. Talking about the Leaf in general...it's not that bad, depends on your needs.

[@ohhchiclets2464]

@@FirewalkingJourney yeah the leaf. Total waste of money and production. I mean if it had a msrp of $3000 for something that only takes you 60 miles at a max range

[@MHdollrevievs]

@@ohhchiclets2464 It was $30K new.It was the first mass produced EV(EV1 was but GM crushed them) Battery prices were very high back then(First HDTVs/Computers) Now they have the 2021 Leaf Plus(226 mile range) similar price.

[@matthewzizzo4586]

Try a Prius... economical... and no three-digit IQ needed .

[@MHdollrevievs]

@@matthewzizzo4586 Toyota/GM are anti EV. They had 55 lawyers trying to overturn the California EV mandate Wright up until the federal election. Toyota is still lobbying the Biden administration to ease the transition date.