2018 Leaf Thread

Kenneth Bokor

Kenneth Bokor

Active Member
Hi, I'm new to this forum but not to the EV world. Been doing an EV YouTube Show for over 2 years (Model 3 Owners Club, now called EV Revolution Show). Decided to get the new Leaf instead of a Model 3 for many reasons, mostly due to costs.

I've had my new Leaf for about a month now and absolutely love it. Would encourage any new Leaf owners to post to this thread with any questions, comments and pics. I live in Greater Toronto Area (Ontario, Canada) and am also looking to organize a Leaf meet up and short drive if we get a few folks interested. Some lovely roads to drive around outside of Toronto.

Here is me with my new Leaf. Hope to see more posts here and if you would like to, have a look at my YouTube show (with buddy Trevor) and subscribe.

Regards, Ken

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I guess this might be the appropriate place to drop in this episode of EV Revolution, which Kenneth co-hosts. You can watch him take delivery of his LEAF starting at the 17:10-minute mark (or just watch the whole thing:)).

 
Congratulations on your new vehicle.

What are some of the other reasons you decided not to go with a Model 3? Cost would be the biggest factor for me, as well as availability. I'd certainly entertain the $35k variant of the Model 3 if it were even available. I also like tech, and having the Android auto and 360 camera are two big considerations for choosing Nissan over Tesla for me.

Did you lease or purchase, and why? I am currently considering a purchase to take advantage of the potential tax savings ($7500) here in the US. My state also has another rebate that was recently approved last month ($2500). My region in the US also has decent savings ($1000 + 0% financing) through Nissan financing.

What kind of temperatures do you have to deal with in Ontario and are you concerned about high temperatures when it comes to the Leaf's thermal management? I am slightly concerned about the heat, since the summers here are roughly 100 degrees F with near 100% humidity. I don't plan on quick charging, just using the vehicle to and from work (15 mi one way).

From a cost perspective, what made you go with the SL instead of the SV with tech package? I personally like tech and I do enjoy the 360 camera on my Pathfinder, so I am leaning towards the SL as well since I would like the 360 camera. It's slightly harder to find a good deal on an SL with tech package because there are so few. I've seen a deal here and there for $1k - $2k off, but I am able to see tech package SVs for $3k off and I can probably push to $4k since they are more plentiful in stock.
 
Shadrach777 said:
Congratulations on your new vehicle.

What are some of the other reasons you decided not to go with a Model 3? Cost would be the biggest factor for me, as well as availability. I'd certainly entertain the $35k variant of the Model 3 if it were even available. I also like tech, and having the Android auto and 360 camera are two big considerations for choosing Nissan over Tesla for me.

Did you lease or purchase, and why? I am currently considering a purchase to take advantage of the potential tax savings ($7500) here in the US. My state also has another rebate that was recently approved last month ($2500). My region in the US also has decent savings ($1000 + 0% financing) through Nissan financing.

What kind of temperatures do you have to deal with in Ontario and are you concerned about high temperatures when it comes to the Leaf's thermal management? I am slightly concerned about the heat, since the summers here are roughly 100 degrees F with near 100% humidity. I don't plan on quick charging, just using the vehicle to and from work (15 mi one way).

From a cost perspective, what made you go with the SL instead of the SV with tech package? I personally like tech and I do enjoy the 360 camera on my Pathfinder, so I am leaning towards the SL as well since I would like the 360 camera. It's slightly harder to find a good deal on an SL with tech package because there are so few. I've seen a deal here and there for $1k - $2k off, but I am able to see tech package SVs for $3k off and I can probably push to $4k since they are more plentiful in stock.
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Hello Shadrach777, thanks for the long note. Cost was my biggest factor too. Plain and simple. The current Trim of the Model 3 is no where near the reveal advertised price of $35,000 USD ($46,700 CAD) and the base Trim will not be seen in Canada until 2019. With the Provincial Govt change that I feared would happen, I did not want to loose the Rebate so got the Leaf. Have absolutely no regrets, I love my Leaf!

I agree, the Tech on the Leaf IMO is pretty well at par with Tesla AutoPilot. It is really good and the overall value proposition of the Leaf is outstanding.

Looks like you have good incentives as well so I would certainly take advantage if you can.

For temps, in Southern Ontario we get it all. Summer highs that climb over 40degrees C with humidex, and winter lows that can reach -35degrees C or more with wind chills. I've only had my leaf for about 6 weeks so I can't comment on winter temps, but with the summer swings we are having now (couple of days ago we had a hot day of +35Degrees C) I am having absolutely no problems. I really don't drive enough to have to rapid charge so I am mainly Level 2 charging at home every few days - when I need to. Battery temps are fine. With your driving range needs, you will have no issues either. I am not concerned about the Leaf's current Passive Thermal Management. It is a non-issue for me and I knew about the throttling aspect BEFORE I purchased my Leaf, not AFTER. Yes, I purchased as I like to own my vehicles flat out since I keep my cars for 7-10 years.

I just wanted the fully loaded SL for the Bose and 360 cameras mainly. My wife and daughter are not the best at parking so I know the 360 cameras will help with this. It was not much more of a price jump and like I said, I will be keeping this car for at least 7 years.

Good luck in your hunt and from what I am hearing, the new Leafs are selling very well so you may not want to wait too long to do something.

If you watch my YouTube shows, you will see I did a video in April on the new Leaf and give my impressions. Check it out and it may provide some more info for your decision making.
 
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Kenneth Bokor said:
Yes, I purchased as I like to own my vehicles flat out since I keep my cars for 7-10 years.
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Well, good luck with your new car!

I hope you don't regret your decision to purchase instead of lease. Most Leaf owners just lease the vehicle, due to its well-publicized if erratic problem with premature battery pack aging. This is reported to be even worse with the newer 30 kWh Leaf -- which I guess is what you got -- than the older 24 kWh Leaf.

Living in Ontario, heat shouldn't be much of a problem, so your odds are better there that you won't have premature battery fade. But unfortunately, it's still a gamble. We've seen plenty of reports of premature battery fading even from people who live in northerly, colder regions.
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Thanks Pushmi-Pullyu, I'm not worried. Also, the 30kWh issue I believe was remedied by a recent software update to the BMS reporting algorithms. So I'm not sure it's as widely impacted as reports are over exaggerating it to be. I have an 8-year warranty and will surely act on it if I have too.
 
Pushmi-Pullyu said:
Well, good luck with your new car!

I hope you don't regret your decision to purchase instead of lease. Most Leaf owners just lease the vehicle, due to its well-publicized if erratic problem with premature battery pack aging. This is reported to be even worse with the newer 30 kWh Leaf -- which I guess is what you got -- than the older 24 kWh Leaf.

Living in Ontario, heat shouldn't be much of a problem, so your odds are better there that you won't have premature battery fade. But unfortunately, it's still a gamble. We've seen plenty of reports of premature battery fading even from people who live in northerly, colder regions.
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This, I believe, has the new 40 kWh pack, which is unaffected by that software bug.
 
Correct Domenick, the 2018 Leaf has the new 40 kWh pack - yes more dense (8 cells per pack versus previous 4) and more heat. However also runs a different chemistry and conservative BMS.
 
Kenneth Bokor said:
Correct Domenick, the 2018 Leaf has the new 40 kWh pack - yes more dense (8 cells per pack versus previous 4) and more heat. However also runs a different chemistry and conservative BMS.
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Ah, my mistake. Mea culpa. Thanks guys for correcting my misinformation!

Good to know that the 2018 Leaf uses a different battery chemistry. As has been pointed out, the VW e-Golf, like the Leaf, has no active thermal management system, yet we don't see reports of premature battery fade in the e-Golf. I certainly hope that Nissan has finally picked a battery chemistry more suitable for use in the Leaf!
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Pushmi-Pullyu said:
Well, good luck with your new car!

I hope you don't regret your decision to purchase instead of lease. Most Leaf owners just lease the vehicle, due to its well-publicized if erratic problem with premature battery pack aging. This is reported to be even worse with the newer 30 kWh Leaf -- which I guess is what you got -- than the older 24 kWh Leaf.

Living in Ontario, heat shouldn't be much of a problem, so your odds are better there that you won't have premature battery fade. But unfortunately, it's still a gamble. We've seen plenty of reports of premature battery fading even from people who live in northerly, colder regions.
​
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I keep hearing about "all these battery failures". Where is this coming from? Who besides Nissan would have access to this information? I wouldn't expect Nissan to be forthcoming with it. So on what hard statistical evidence are the claims of battery failures being made? My2016 30kwh pack is in great shape. I watch my temperature bars. So should everyone with a Leaf.
 
I think mainly from Forums and Social Media, are the sources. The amount of "failures" is very small. Remember Nissan has shipped over 320,000 Leafs globally, so even 1% would be 3,200 issues, which IMO is very high. Like most news that is to capture clicks and headlines, info can be overblown.
 
Hey Kenneth, welcome to the forum. Been watching your and Trevor's videos for a long time now.
Add me to the club- I decided my Model3 reservation has a very low chance of converting to an affordable car any time soon,
and bought a Jade Frost SV with tech and weather package. As things stand today, I can buy two of them for the price of Model3.
By the time base M3 comes out 6-9 months from now, it would be anywhere between $10k and $17k more.
I bought instead of leasing as the total cost ended up very close- something like $6k more to buy vs lease after all deals/discounts/tax credits
Could've probably bought SL for about as much, but I dislike leather :)
Passive TMS is also something I went into knowingly- the weather here in Upstate NY is fairly reasonable most of the time, and if things do degrade, the warranty threshold is good enough for my commute with a good margin of safety.
So basically once you look at all the tradeoffs, price, range, availability etc , the Leaf comes out as a very good value.
 
Reagle said:
Hey Kenneth, welcome to the forum. Been watching your and Trevor's videos for a long time now.
Add me to the club- I decided my Model3 reservation has a very low chance of converting to an affordable car any time soon,
and bought a Jade Frost SV with tech and weather package. As things stand today, I can buy two of them for the price of Model3.
By the time base M3 comes out 6-9 months from now, it would be anywhere between $10k and $17k more.
I bought instead of leasing as the total cost ended up very close- something like $6k more to buy vs lease after all deals/discounts/tax credits
Could've probably bought SL for about as much, but I dislike leather :)
Passive TMS is also something I went into knowingly- the weather here in Upstate NY is fairly reasonable most of the time, and if things do degrade, the warranty threshold is good enough for my commute with a good margin of safety.
So basically once you look at all the tradeoffs, price, range, availability etc , the Leaf comes out as a very good value.
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Hi Reagle, thanks for watching our shows - hope you are subscribing to the new channel too! My thoughts exactly on my decision to go with the Leaf - purely financial, plus I don't really drink the Tesla cool-aid as I once was enamoured to do so.

Good for you to get the Leaf, you will love the Jade Frost colour. I get a lot of compliments on it. We have pretty well same weather as UNY and I too will hold any degradation to the warranty if need be. I've been saying since my review of the Leaf that all around, it is one of the best values for the costing for a vast majority of EV adopters.
 
Kenneth Bokor said:
Hi Reagle, thanks for watching our shows - hope you are subscribing to the new channel too! My thoughts exactly on my decision to go with the Leaf - purely financial, plus I don't really drink the Tesla cool-aid as I once was enamoured to do so.

Good for you to get the Leaf, you will love the Jade Frost colour. I get a lot of compliments on it. We have pretty well same weather as UNY and I too will hold any degradation to the warranty if need be. I've been saying since my review of the Leaf that all around, it is one of the best values for the costing for a vast majority of EV adopters.
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Hi Ken,
I'm considering the Leaf as well so I'm wondering how long it took for you to receive your car?
 
Hello rickyrsx. For me it took 3 months. I am hearing in Canada they may be sold out for 2018 orders, however some dealers may be able to get some earlier due to changes/cancellations, etc. I am not sure where you are located, but if you are here in the Toronto area, let me know via email @ [email protected] and I can hook you up with a dealer that may be able to get you something sooner than later. Otherwise, your best to call your local dealers to see if they may be able to get you something sooner. I know the timelines in the USA and EU are different.
 
Kenneth Bokor said:
Hello rickyrsx. For me it took 3 months. I am hearing in Canada they may be sold out for 2018 orders, however some dealers may be able to get some earlier due to changes/cancellations, etc. I am not sure where you are located, but if you are here in the Toronto area, let me know via email @ [email protected] and I can hook you up with a dealer that may be able to get you something sooner than later. Otherwise, your best to call your local dealers to see if they may be able to get you something sooner. I know the timelines in the USA and EU are different.
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Thanks for letting me know. I had ordered a Honda Clarity and I’m waiting for it but many people were saying that 2018 models may not be in production anymore so I was looking for a backup plan to get the Ontario rebate before, if and when, Doug Ford cancels it. But the good news is that my car is apparently built and on its way to the dealership.
 
Kenneth Bokor said:
Hello Shadrach777, thanks for the long note...
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Good video and thank you for posting Domenick.

I ended up going with a used BMW I3 since I could not convince my wife to let me get a new Leaf. Even though the payments would be covered with taxes for the next 2 years, it was the following 4 years (at 0% financing) that concerned her. The dealers here in Texas are eagerly trying to push Leaf's since they've been on the lot for months.

Instead of having a $500/mo payment on a brand new leaf, I settled on a $260/mo payment on a 2015 BEV I3.
 
Shadrach777 said:
Good video and thank you for posting Domenick.

I ended up going with a used BMW I3 since I could not convince my wife to let me get a new Leaf. Even though the payments would be covered with taxes for the next 2 years, it was the following 4 years (at 0% financing) that concerned her. The dealers here in Texas are eagerly trying to push Leaf's since they've been on the lot for months.

Instead of having a $500/mo payment on a brand new leaf, I settled on a $260/mo payment on a 2015 BEV I3.
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Congrats on the car! Certainly a much better payment than the LEAF. There's a lot to like about the i3 too, though I think it's priced too high new.

Feel free to let us know about your experience with it in the i3 section
 
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