hmm, I own a Leaf and I have not gotten this survey... though they hear from me probably more than they wish on their facebook page. I'm going to flip this around and ask, "can the Leaf survive if Nissan doesn't increase the range substantially, without raising the price?" Nissan so far seems too pleased with itself for being able to sell quite a few Leafs with it's 20ish kW's of range. we are now seeing the 4th year running without any change in capacity, just incremental improvements in efficiency. It would appear that they think there is a long term market for their 100 miles of downhill, back to the wind, range, something that is more like 70 ish miles on a good day and as bad as 45 on a cold, windy, rainy day. there are a lot of modest mouses around here who are willing to make this work for principles sake, but I think that market is limited and will be short lived. Seattle is one of their hottest markets, and I can tell you the mood around here is swiftly shifting as the charging ques grow long and their CHAdeMO plugs keep breaking. I think Nissan needs to offer 150 miles as the base and an upgrade to 200 miles to stay even close to competitive. the closer Tesla's E comes to being a reality, the steeper a hill the Leaf will have to climb. Tesla's charging network is hitting the ball out of the stadium. It feels a lot like game over for just about every other EV on the market, honestly.
I like the Leaf, probably will have to Lease another one in 2015 when the current lease runs out, to get us into X/E territory. I do hope Nissan gets it's act together. I have to agree with the previous poster that Nissan really has a credibility issue right now that dampens enthusiasm. I was told, under no uncertain terms, that the Leaf had been thoroughly tested, near Phoenix Arizona, under extreme heat and that after 6 billion in R&D, that the dealer was absolutely sure the battery was up to the task. I live in a cool climate, so in a way it's no biggy, but the fact is, the battery can't handle extreme heat, doesn't even handle moderate heat all that well, and how that effects me is in the value proposition, the residual value of the Leaf is terrible! Along with having poor resale value, the market is going to require proof of the new leaf's "heat resistance" before believing the same story as before. Nissan will need to do another round of great Lease deals to get this new battery out on the road, then after a couple of years and lots of user data, people may trust Nissan again... but by then, Tesla will have likely eaten Nissan's lunch, unless Nissan does something major to improve the value proposition!
