General Opinions From Owners Please

[corwin]

When I traded mine in for a spark I had a battery report that gave me 5 stars across the board and 11/12 bars yet I was only getting 55 miles of range with no climate control. This means the leaf would be at around 20-30 miles of range when the "9 bar" warranty kicked in. Essentially the leaf is useless for a 50 mile commute after 3 years so you will see prices drop through the floor once the bulk of the leases start coming back.

As is often said, your mileage may vary. My Leaf is now exactly three years old and has about 40,000 miles. I commute from Capitola to San Mateo (65 miles with a 1600 foot mountain pass) once / week and typically do that on an 80% charge. If I fill to 100%, I have another 20 miles of range. I consider my range to be 90 miles if I don't do any significant hill climbing. There has been degradation, but not much. I know when I got the Leaf in March 2011, I could go 100 miles with range left over.
-Corwin

 

[WParson]

Having owned a leaf for almost three years myself I more or less agree. I don't think noise is much different at freeway speeds but the audio system, or at least the speakers, are much poorer than the leaf.

'13+ Leaf SV and SL have a better available stereo (2 choices: base and Bose) than the '11s and '12s which had 0 choices: base only.

When I traded mine in for a spark I had a battery report that gave me 5 stars across the board and 11/12 bars yet I was only getting 55 miles of range with no climate control. This means the leaf would be at around 20-30 miles of range when the "9 bar" warranty kicked in. Essentially the leaf is useless for a 50 mile commute after 3 years so you will see prices drop through the floor once the bulk of the leases start coming back.

As for your claims of Leaf range w/degraded battery, sorry, I don't buy it at all. That's WAY exaggerated. You were likely leaving a LOT of capacity on the table (I've seen people on MNL make outlandish claims about range being short and we find out they're using the stupid GOM and/or leaving 4+ bars of capacity remaining (out of 12) and calling it "out") or had the heater running (inadvertently due to the HVAC control quirks on the '11 and '12s) or driving WAY too fast. If you didn't have a gid meter, then its stupid GOM (guess-o-meter aka "distance to empty") probably gave you unnecessary range anxiety.

TonyWilliams did a range test of a bunch of Phoenician Leafs w/the very rapid degradation, including a car that had lost 4 capacity bars (having only 8/12 remaining). See results at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=228326. That car still made it 59.3 miles on his test which was at 100 kph (~62 mph).

I would personally at this point not recommend ANYONE in a hot climate like Phoenix, Texas or Vegas, buy a Leaf and even leasing one would be sketchy due to its lack of battery thermal management.

And yes, it sucks that Nissan seems to have misled people about the rate of degradation of batteries. They definitely were WAY off vs. their claims for those in hot climates. It seems they weren't that accurate either even for those not-as-hot climates (e.g. Los Angeles and San Diego areas). Only for those in places like Pacific Northwest do we seem to seeing much more modest degradation.

I was at 0 bars one day after a 46 mile commute with the climate control on sporadically during the drive. Also I was truck drafting that day to make sure I got home. So after going to the dealer and talking to them I made an appointment to drop it off to have the battery looked at. The next day I shot photos of the mileage at 0 miles, 22 miles and 44 miles, had 2 bars left WITH NO CLIMATE CONTROL and no speeds above 65MPH. Handed this in with my leaf for a battery check and they gave me a A+ (5 stars) report on conditions and said the battery had normal degradation. I would post a copy but I used it to increase the value of my trade when I go the Chevy. I could have gone so far as to program my OPEN evse that I built to record charge time but since the car changes to trickle after 80% time is useless. I also only charged the car to 80% in the first 1.5 years, If I did this now it would not make it home. Doesn't that show its below the 70% range mark as well? And yes I know about regen rate over 80% but that does not factor in freeway driving at stable speed for 90% of my commute.
My main point here is that 50miles or less at three years is what your going to get without hypermiling, and battery condition does not equal range. When you hit that "9 bar" warranty limit your leaf will be practically useless for any commute over 30 miles. If I was driving less than 30 miles I would buy an ice and save 10-15K and keep it for 10 years the cost would be way less in the long run. When I bought the leaf I calculated an ROI of three years based on the car I was driving. In order to minimize my loss I had to trade it in early and loss money on it vs leasing it. My bet is that in 6 months when a lot more leases start returning the word will get out about the poor range and they will be worth 60% of the current blue book value. EV's just wont last, or they will not be practical after 4 or so years unless your only using it for "very local" driving.

Time will tell I am just warning people based on my scientific observations, not my GOM readings.

 

[drivefast]

my sparky is probably going to hit 10,000mi today by the time i get home. i've looked thru all the opinions on this topic and i mostly agree with them. seems like the spark is attractive for a down-to-earth demographics, and is never going to have a "fan base" or an "enthusiasts" website. i'm going to try to explain my feelings from another perspective.

the spark is, basically, a $12k car. and it shows. it's uncomfortable, noisy, looks cramped and funny. people driving F150s will bully you. your kids will point to the escalade when you drop them off to school and ask when can mommy get one of those. (except for my kid. he proudly reminds everyone that "sparky is electric".) overall, the spark is not a car that your friends would consider to be an awesome choice. they wont consider you sexier, or classier, or something. if you need them to, there's always the... um, the fiat, right? i guess...

this being said, the spark is a car that will make *you* feel happy. it's inside happiness. none of the shortcomings i mentioned above are horrible, or really bothersome. after all, you drive this car for like 30 miles at a time, you will barely have time to notice the issues. it's not like you put all your family in the spark and drive to vegas. so it goes like this: you wont get back pain from the seats. the air and tire noise will sound louder because you dont hear the engine. and you'll be surprised how big the spark is on the inside.

more importantly, you still have a lot of fun, from a lot a things that you will get to see daily. a corolla pumping gas, a tahoe trying to park in a small spot, or (my favorite) the face of the mercedes drivers in the rear view mirror. it's happiness that you get to keep for yourself.

 

[nozferatu]

I'm a new owner...and I can now answer my own question...lol. Took me a while to get it but now I have one. I come from owning a Fiat 500 Sport.

To sum it up...it's a nice car....but it does take some getting used to. Compared to a regular car, you will feel like something is missing. The experience is clinical.

If you like a car with a firm suspension, this car isn't for you. It's rather wallowing...especially compared to a regular IC car. Why I don't know but for some reason automakers think only old farts should be driving EVs. Maybe they do..I don't know.

The Spark EV compared to standard cars seems to also be lacking some trim. HID lighting, side mirror indicators, moonroof, etc....it's a Spark with features taken out which may not matter to most because you get this car because it's an EV...but come on. You don't realize those other features are actually quite nice until you don't have them anymore.

Mine's pretty much new so no noises yet...and I hope it stays that way.

Make sure you like the EV experience...it really does take some getting used to...I know people may find it strange but I really do miss the rawness, vibration, etc of my Fiat. But of course, on the other hand, I don't have to go to the petrol station.

 

[Nashco]

I'm a new owner...and I can now answer my own question...lol. Took me a while to get it but now I have one. I come from owning a Fiat 500 Sport.

To sum it up...it's a nice car....but it does take some getting used to. Compared to a regular car, you will feel like something is missing. The experience is clinical.

If you like a car with a firm suspension, this car isn't for you. It's rather wallowing...especially compared to a regular IC car. Why I don't know but for some reason automakers think only old farts should be driving EVs. Maybe they do..I don't know.

The Spark EV compared to standard cars seems to also be lacking some trim. HID lighting, side mirror indicators, moonroof, etc....it's a Spark with features taken out which may not matter to most because you get this car because it's an EV...but come on. You don't realize those other features are actually quite nice until you don't have them anymore.

Mine's pretty much new so no noises yet...and I hope it stays that way.

Make sure you like the EV experience...it really does take some getting used to...I know people may find it strange but I really do miss the rawness, vibration, etc of my Fiat. But of course, on the other hand, I don't have to go to the petrol station.

That's funny...when I drive "regular" cars I think the same thing about missing something..."This thing is missing an EV powertrain." I don't miss "regular" cars at all when it comes to my daily driver! I don't agree that driving the Spark EV is clinical at all, we must have very different driving styles. I love that the Spark EV has no frills...I'd be pissed if the Spark EV was standard with a sunroof, I can't stand them.

If you're interested in putting your money where your mouth is to firm up the ride on the Spark EV, I'm working out the details to make a suspension kit available for the Spark EV:

http://mychevysparkev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3656

My goal was lowering it for racing, but since it's fully adjustable you can pick any ride height, damping rate, even spring rates can be changed if you don't like them.

Likewise, the Korean spec Spark has side mirror indicators. It will take a little legwork, but where there's a will, there's a way...you could have OEM GM mirrors with side indicators! While I would like nicer lighting, I can understand that most econobox car buyers wouldn't think it was worth the extra money, so I can see why GM has never put anything but halogen bulbs on the Spark.

Bryce

 

[nozferatu]

I'm a new owner...and I can now answer my own question...lol. Took me a while to get it but now I have one. I come from owning a Fiat 500 Sport.

To sum it up...it's a nice car....but it does take some getting used to. Compared to a regular car, you will feel like something is missing. The experience is clinical.

If you like a car with a firm suspension, this car isn't for you. It's rather wallowing...especially compared to a regular IC car. Why I don't know but for some reason automakers think only old farts should be driving EVs. Maybe they do..I don't know.

The Spark EV compared to standard cars seems to also be lacking some trim. HID lighting, side mirror indicators, moonroof, etc....it's a Spark with features taken out which may not matter to most because you get this car because it's an EV...but come on. You don't realize those other features are actually quite nice until you don't have them anymore.

Mine's pretty much new so no noises yet...and I hope it stays that way.

Make sure you like the EV experience...it really does take some getting used to...I know people may find it strange but I really do miss the rawness, vibration, etc of my Fiat. But of course, on the other hand, I don't have to go to the petrol station.

That's funny...when I drive "regular" cars I think the same thing about missing something..."This thing is missing an EV powertrain." I don't miss "regular" cars at all when it comes to my daily driver! I don't agree that driving the Spark EV is clinical at all, we must have very different driving styles. I love that the Spark EV has no frills...I'd be pissed if the Spark EV was standard with a sunroof, I can't stand them.

If you're interested in putting your money where your mouth is to firm up the ride on the Spark EV, I'm working out the details to make a suspension kit available for the Spark EV:

http://mychevysparkev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3656

My goal was lowering it for racing, but since it's fully adjustable you can pick any ride height, damping rate, even spring rates can be changed if you don't like them.

Likewise, the Korean spec Spark has side mirror indicators. It will take a little legwork, but where there's a will, there's a way...you could have OEM GM mirrors with side indicators! While I would like nicer lighting, I can understand that most econobox car buyers wouldn't think it was worth the extra money, so I can see why GM has never put anything but halogen bulbs on the Spark.

Bryce

Bryce,

I think your efforts are great in modifying the car but I think these should be at the very least options available from the factory. I like moonroofs...especially in an EV it'd be nice to open up the moonroof on a nice cool evening and drive around silent.

Just from a performance and safety point of view, a better suspension would have made this car accelerate more safely, corner better, and feel better. I don't know if you have bought or leased yours but I leased mine so I'm not going to touch the car at all. While this car is based on an economy car, this isn't an economy car budget-wise...it's almost $30K so they could have thrown in a few nicer amenities for the price. At least it'd separate the EV model from the base barrel scraper.