After replacing our old Civic CNG with a new Model X in December 2017, we quickly realized that we were ready to be done with ICE cars completely. Our other car, a 2013 Ford Escape, quickly become the gas car that we hated to use. We found ourselves using the Model X for everything, from long road trips to errands. We have a Model 3 on order (waiting for short range) but we were ready to go all-electric now. We decided to replace the Escape with a 4000-mile 2017 certified used Nissan Leaf SV to serve as the local grocery-getter / errand-runner / daily commuter, and to save miles on the Model X. Here are my observations so far after 3 weeks of owning the Leaf.
The Nissan Leaf build quality is good, about on par with my former 2012 Civic CNG. It is very maneuverable in parking lots, and has enough acceleration for daily driving. My commute is only 9 miles each way, mainly back roads, and the parking lot at work is tight. The Leaf is much easier to park and really lowers the stress of parking the Model X in those tight spots. Maintenance on the Leaf appears to be easier for a do-it-yourself owner. I broke the door mirror glass when trying to pry off one of those little panoramic mirrors. Replacing mirror glass was as easy as getting the new part from my local Nissan dealer and popping it on.
Being able to remotely control HVAC in the Leaf is great, which is why I got the SV version. I find myself using the climate control timer feature daily. I wish I could set a schedule to turn climate control on at 4pm every weekday without having to set the timer daily. The navigation is very old looking, compared to Tesla, but that's to be expected for the price. Bluetooth works well with my Samsung S8, and overall ease of use is pretty good. There are way too many buttons on the steering wheel and dash, compared to Tesla.
As for EV driving, I wish the Leaf had stronger regenerative braking. Kinda silly having to pull the shift knob down to the Drive position twice to go to regen (B) mode. Regen should be default. Eco mode was on when I took delivery, making the so slow I thought it was broken. Then one day I decided to push the Eco button while accelerating, turning off Eco mode. The Leaf lurched forward like a whole different car, and I'll never use Eco mode again. I don't care about "building trees" or whatever, we're already doing that for real by only driving EVs. I bought a Level 2 16 amp charger for $195 from Amazon, and it's been working great to replace the 30 miles or so of charge we use daily.
I recently saw a video from Ben Sullens on YouTube, where he mentions he still has a pickup truck because of owning a home and needing to haul stuff. We fixed that problem also, by buying a little fold up trailer from Northern Tool last year. We move so much stuff with that trailer, and it folds up and out of the way when not in use. We get many comments from folks at Home Depot when they see the Model X hauling a trailer, loaded up with stuff. Kinda funny, but the Tesla doesn't even break a sweat towing stuff, of course.
Overall, the Leaf, Model X, trailer combo works out nicely for us. The Leaf is no Tesla, but it's not meant to be. It's a car we'll use in the metro area only, and will save wear and tear on our Tesla(s). Once we get the Model 3, we'll keep the Leaf as a 3rd car for snow / hail days. The Leaf has a long Nissan CPO warranty, and it should be faster / easier to repair than a Tesla, if damaged. Bottom line, we're able to do everything we need without having to fill up anything with gas. Even our lawn equipment is battery or corded, so we buy no gasoline at all, which is very unusual in the middle of Oklahoma.
The Nissan Leaf build quality is good, about on par with my former 2012 Civic CNG. It is very maneuverable in parking lots, and has enough acceleration for daily driving. My commute is only 9 miles each way, mainly back roads, and the parking lot at work is tight. The Leaf is much easier to park and really lowers the stress of parking the Model X in those tight spots. Maintenance on the Leaf appears to be easier for a do-it-yourself owner. I broke the door mirror glass when trying to pry off one of those little panoramic mirrors. Replacing mirror glass was as easy as getting the new part from my local Nissan dealer and popping it on.
Being able to remotely control HVAC in the Leaf is great, which is why I got the SV version. I find myself using the climate control timer feature daily. I wish I could set a schedule to turn climate control on at 4pm every weekday without having to set the timer daily. The navigation is very old looking, compared to Tesla, but that's to be expected for the price. Bluetooth works well with my Samsung S8, and overall ease of use is pretty good. There are way too many buttons on the steering wheel and dash, compared to Tesla.
As for EV driving, I wish the Leaf had stronger regenerative braking. Kinda silly having to pull the shift knob down to the Drive position twice to go to regen (B) mode. Regen should be default. Eco mode was on when I took delivery, making the so slow I thought it was broken. Then one day I decided to push the Eco button while accelerating, turning off Eco mode. The Leaf lurched forward like a whole different car, and I'll never use Eco mode again. I don't care about "building trees" or whatever, we're already doing that for real by only driving EVs. I bought a Level 2 16 amp charger for $195 from Amazon, and it's been working great to replace the 30 miles or so of charge we use daily.
I recently saw a video from Ben Sullens on YouTube, where he mentions he still has a pickup truck because of owning a home and needing to haul stuff. We fixed that problem also, by buying a little fold up trailer from Northern Tool last year. We move so much stuff with that trailer, and it folds up and out of the way when not in use. We get many comments from folks at Home Depot when they see the Model X hauling a trailer, loaded up with stuff. Kinda funny, but the Tesla doesn't even break a sweat towing stuff, of course.
Overall, the Leaf, Model X, trailer combo works out nicely for us. The Leaf is no Tesla, but it's not meant to be. It's a car we'll use in the metro area only, and will save wear and tear on our Tesla(s). Once we get the Model 3, we'll keep the Leaf as a 3rd car for snow / hail days. The Leaf has a long Nissan CPO warranty, and it should be faster / easier to repair than a Tesla, if damaged. Bottom line, we're able to do everything we need without having to fill up anything with gas. Even our lawn equipment is battery or corded, so we buy no gasoline at all, which is very unusual in the middle of Oklahoma.
