At the beginning of the cold season in late 2020 I was getting tempted to trade the Leaf in on a 2020 Kia Niro which has far better range in the cold. The dealer didn't have a colour I liked and by the time they "found" one my enthusiasm had cooled.
The Niro doesn't have heated seats and steering wheel in the base trim level which meant I would have had to purchase a higher trim level. The difference would have been $37G !!! First of all heated seats and steering wheels are needed for all EVs sold in areas where it gets cold as they greatly reduce the need to use cabin heating which sucks up range.
Secondly I have a well maintained 1999 Saturn wagon which I bought brand new. It turns out it wasn't getting enough use and the brakes rotted away. Discs, calipers and one cylinder had to be replaced so that wasn't cheap for a car not used much at that point. I might add I need this car to declare as a "personal" car for tax purposes so I can claim the hefty depreciation on the Leaf as a business expense.
Thirdly the Leaf is really super comfortable and reliable. I've had no issues that have required an unplanned trip to the dealer. A break down with a vehicle used for business means the cost of lost billable time as well as repair costs. The Leaf is a real trouper in the cold and I've had no battery overheating issues during the hot weather as I don't take long trips that require more than one DCFC along the way.
I am nearing the end of my own "service life" as well. I had hoped that maybe a few more good years might enable the purchase of a Tesla model Y but the COVID has dashed all that with a loss of about $70G in revenue by the time the dust settles. At my age my next vehicle is likely to be my last so I'll keep the Leaf until the battery gets too weak or the "wheels fall off" as the saying goes. I've also "inherited" a second ICE vehicle from a sibling. I'm using both ICE vehicles for the long runs to keep the mileage down on the Leaf and preserve the brakes on the ICE cars.
The Leaf is truly the Rodney Dangerfield of EVs in forums like this. His famous line was "can't get no respect". Indeed it is a favourite target for trolls who have no experience with one but like to dump all over it to perhaps gain some sense of importance. It seems to get little respect from Nissan either. And their attitude towards the early adopters was truly deplorable.
So I have no idea at this point what my "last vehicle" will be.
The Niro doesn't have heated seats and steering wheel in the base trim level which meant I would have had to purchase a higher trim level. The difference would have been $37G !!! First of all heated seats and steering wheels are needed for all EVs sold in areas where it gets cold as they greatly reduce the need to use cabin heating which sucks up range.
Secondly I have a well maintained 1999 Saturn wagon which I bought brand new. It turns out it wasn't getting enough use and the brakes rotted away. Discs, calipers and one cylinder had to be replaced so that wasn't cheap for a car not used much at that point. I might add I need this car to declare as a "personal" car for tax purposes so I can claim the hefty depreciation on the Leaf as a business expense.
Thirdly the Leaf is really super comfortable and reliable. I've had no issues that have required an unplanned trip to the dealer. A break down with a vehicle used for business means the cost of lost billable time as well as repair costs. The Leaf is a real trouper in the cold and I've had no battery overheating issues during the hot weather as I don't take long trips that require more than one DCFC along the way.
I am nearing the end of my own "service life" as well. I had hoped that maybe a few more good years might enable the purchase of a Tesla model Y but the COVID has dashed all that with a loss of about $70G in revenue by the time the dust settles. At my age my next vehicle is likely to be my last so I'll keep the Leaf until the battery gets too weak or the "wheels fall off" as the saying goes. I've also "inherited" a second ICE vehicle from a sibling. I'm using both ICE vehicles for the long runs to keep the mileage down on the Leaf and preserve the brakes on the ICE cars.
The Leaf is truly the Rodney Dangerfield of EVs in forums like this. His famous line was "can't get no respect". Indeed it is a favourite target for trolls who have no experience with one but like to dump all over it to perhaps gain some sense of importance. It seems to get little respect from Nissan either. And their attitude towards the early adopters was truly deplorable.
So I have no idea at this point what my "last vehicle" will be.