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One of the greatest things about owning electric car is the absolutely minimal maintenance. It's actually a simple machine even though it's got a lot of technol

One of the greatest things about owning electric car is the absolutely minimal maintenance. It's actually a simple machine even though it's got a lot of technology in it. With less moving parts there's less things breaking. This is great news for the battery. The $209 price puts a new Leaf's battery in the $5k range, which is slightly more than what Nissan currently charges to replace it. At $100 then a new battery costs just $2400, even less with a trade in. I can imagine pay that amount every 8 years.

manmal 9y ago
What I don’t understand about the Leaf though - it’s about €13k more expensive than my car when it was new 2y ago (Kia Ceed SW), which even has more extras than the basic Leaf. If the 40kwh battery costs about 8k now, and the rest of the car is cheaper to build - where does the remaining 5k go? Nissan’s pockets? Or is this owed to lower unit production?
- oillio 9y ago
  The Ceed is arguably the most mediocre car since the Pacer (with the possible exception of the Yaris). It is less expensive because it is cheaper, in every sense of the word.
  - paganel 9y ago
    Seems to be pretty damn reliable though, at least judging by the comments I could find online from what looked like genuine owners. Not a lot of people can afford nowadays to drive expensive stuff, i.e. cars that break when you least expect it and that have expensive repair bills.
- maxxxxx 9y ago
  I imagine it's the lower unit production.
- dangrossman 9y ago
  Nissan could almost certainly sell the Leaf for much less. When they wanted to clear out 2017 inventory, they offered $10000 discounts on top of all the government incentives. People took a brand new "$32,000" car home for $11,500 or less. But the market's currently willing to bear the price they're asking, so why not ask it? They sold over 20,000 units of the new 2018 Leaf in its first month on the market, and government incentives around the world make the actual buying price much lower than the sticker price for many buyers. I also have to disagree about the Kia Ceed being nicer than a basic Leaf. There's many years of fuel savings to factor in as well.
  - ec109685 9y ago
    They lowered the prices because they needed to sell a certain number for compliance reasons, so it was a better deal to sell them at a loss: Nissan says that lands the Leaf in a sweet spot between so-called compliance EVs—low-cost electrics with relatively limited range that manufacturers produce to meet certain regulations—and Chevrolet’s Bolt EV and Tesla’s Model 3, both of which offer greater than 200 miles of range but at a higher cost. https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2018-nissan-leaf-first-drive-review https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2018-nissan-leaf-first-...
    - dangrossman 9y ago
      That'd be a plausible explanation if they didn't run the $10K discounts outside CARB states, which they did. There were no "compliance" benefits to offset any theoretical losses on those sales.
- jacquesm 9y ago
  A good chunk of that difference is Korea vs Japan. Korean brands tend to be a lot cheaper than Japanese ones for the same level of trim and kind of car. And Nissan is one of the more expensive Japanese brands.

manmal 9y ago

What I don’t understand about the Leaf though - it’s about €13k more expensive than my car when it was new 2y ago (Kia Ceed SW), which even has more extras than the basic Leaf. If the 40kwh battery costs about 8k now, and the rest of the car is cheaper to build - where does the remaining 5k go? Nissan’s pockets? Or is this owed to lower unit production?

oillio 9y ago
The Ceed is arguably the most mediocre car since the Pacer (with the possible exception of the Yaris). It is less expensive because it is cheaper, in every sense of the word.
- paganel 9y ago
  Seems to be pretty damn reliable though, at least judging by the comments I could find online from what looked like genuine owners. Not a lot of people can afford nowadays to drive expensive stuff, i.e. cars that break when you least expect it and that have expensive repair bills.
maxxxxx 9y ago
I imagine it's the lower unit production.
dangrossman 9y ago
Nissan could almost certainly sell the Leaf for much less. When they wanted to clear out 2017 inventory, they offered $10000 discounts on top of all the government incentives. People took a brand new "$32,000" car home for $11,500 or less. But the market's currently willing to bear the price they're asking, so why not ask it? They sold over 20,000 units of the new 2018 Leaf in its first month on the market, and government incentives around the world make the actual buying price much lower than the sticker price for many buyers. I also have to disagree about the Kia Ceed being nicer than a basic Leaf. There's many years of fuel savings to factor in as well.
- ec109685 9y ago
  They lowered the prices because they needed to sell a certain number for compliance reasons, so it was a better deal to sell them at a loss: Nissan says that lands the Leaf in a sweet spot between so-called compliance EVs—low-cost electrics with relatively limited range that manufacturers produce to meet certain regulations—and Chevrolet’s Bolt EV and Tesla’s Model 3, both of which offer greater than 200 miles of range but at a higher cost. https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2018-nissan-leaf-first-drive-review https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2018-nissan-leaf-first-...
  - dangrossman 9y ago
    That'd be a plausible explanation if they didn't run the $10K discounts outside CARB states, which they did. There were no "compliance" benefits to offset any theoretical losses on those sales.
jacquesm 9y ago
A good chunk of that difference is Korea vs Japan. Korean brands tend to be a lot cheaper than Japanese ones for the same level of trim and kind of car. And Nissan is one of the more expensive Japanese brands.