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The biggest selling electric car is from Japan. The Nissan leaf. Yes, you used the weasel word "reputable" - but what better reputation is there than having th

The biggest selling electric car is from Japan. The Nissan leaf. Yes, you used the weasel word "reputable" - but what better reputation is there than having the most sales? Nissan from Japan sells the most electric cars. Apart from sales, the Nissan Leaf scores 7-8/10 and 4/5 from the critics. Which is around the same as the Tesla model 3. If the critics think they are ok, and they sell the most of all electric cars... then they can be considered reputable.

technofiend 8y ago
He also mentioned a 200 mile range, which the Leaf is still working towards; Nissan's website clearly states the latest Leaf has a 150 mile range [1]. I've been lusting after all electric cars for a while including the Leaf but range is definitely a concern. Kudos to Tesla for breaking open the market and creating all electric cars with 200+ mile range. But I'm with the original poster in that I want 200+ miles and a quality product with no fit and finish issues or supply-chain problems when there's a breakdown. Tesla has one of three right now and eventually the majors will catch up. [1] https://www.nissanusa.com/vehicles/electric-cars/leaf/range-charging.html https://www.nissanusa.com/vehicles/electric-cars/leaf/range-...
- andrewmunsell 8y ago
  For anyone interetsed, the Leaf E-Plus is coming within the next couple months with a 200 mile range: https://insideevs.com/leaf-e-plus-nissan-joins-200-mile-club/ https://insideevs.com/leaf-e-plus-nissan-joins-200-mile-club... There's still no active battery cooling though, which is a disappointment.
  - technofiend 8y ago
    Particularly in hot climates there's concern both around battery performance and actual range. Practically speaking you need to factor in climate control use when driving, which lowers range.
- athenot 8y ago
  The Leaf Plus goes on sale in the US in spring, with a range of 224 miles. https://www.automobilemag.com/news/2019-nissan-leaf-plus-ev-range-mileage-specs/ https://www.automobilemag.com/news/2019-nissan-leaf-plus-ev-...
- loeg 8y ago
  Yeah, my ICE wagon has 450-550 miles rated range depending on city/highway rated mileage. Even if you assume that's somewhat optimistic (and it isn't that optimistic — my 15 year older, same model wagon got nearly the same mileage), it's still a lot more than 150. And it cost a lot less than $30k.
  - Scoundreller 8y ago
    I’d kinda prefer the low range: It would encourage me to rent a car for road trips and put the damage on someone else’s vehicle. Most of my road trips are the 1000km in 2-3 day variety anyway.
    - loeg 8y ago
      If I was going to rent for any drive longer than 150 miles, I wouldn't own a car in the first place. Renting is a big hassle and multiplied by N trips sounds unpleasant. My trips are shorter and probably more frequent than your 620 mile multi-day affairs, though.
      - Scoundreller 8y ago
        I guess my questions are: What percentage of cars go on more than 2x 150 mile+ trips in a year? (Or 300 mile round trips that can be charged at turnaround point). And the same question for 100/200 miles. I’m guessing 90%+ for personal cars. And many of the exceptions are multicar households that could shift their long-drives to the other car.
        loeg 8y ago
        To answer your question, I could only guess :-). I don't know how common it is, but we're a single-car household that goes hiking (i.e., no charging at the turn around point).
        loeg 8y ago
        FYI, the information for the US can probably be derived from the raw data available here: https://nhts.ornl.gov/ https://nhts.ornl.gov/ . The high level web summary buckets all trips of 31+ miles into a single bucket, which isn't helpful for your question, but if you want to do the analysis on the data, it's available. Cheers.
CompelTechnic 8y ago
GP probably was referring to legendary Toyota quality, as opposed to (good but not known in popular culture as remarkable) Nissan quality.
- throw0u1t 8y ago
  Toyota have traditionally built their reputation of quality by conservativly adopting new technology, especially when it comes to drivetrains. I'm not aware of any Toyota vehicles sold in the U.K that have a turbocharger, except the Supra which shares the drivetrain, suspension, platform and some interior with the BMW Z4. Heck, their Yaris GRMN uses the 1.8 supercharged engine that Toyota have been selling to Lotus for years. I wonder how Toyota plan to transfer this to electric vehicles given how new the technology still is.
  - cptskippy 8y ago
    EVs are dramatically simplified in comparison to ICE vehicles and thus the power-train is much more reliable. For any automaker this increased reliability is only going to help their reputation. This poses a problem for Toyota and others (e.g. Honda) who are known for having very reliable power-trains, not because their reliability will suffer but rather because other automaker's power-trains will get significantly better. That is assuming those other automakers don't find a way to screw up, I have no doubt some will.
    - throw0u1t 8y ago
      I'm concerned like this a quite a blanket statement. Are all EVs that much simpler? There are simple EV drivetrains and there are complex EV drivetrains. Not all EV drivetrains are the same. This also applies to ICE. Most ICE drivetrains that do not have forced induction tend to be quite simple. Forced induction makes the drivetrain much more complex and puts a lot more strain on the drivetrain, and is one of the reasons why Toyota has stayed away from forced induction. Is the drive train in a Tesla Model X P100d much simpler than that in a 1.5 NA Yaris? I'm not sure, and would love to be proved incorrect on this.
mikepurvis 8y ago
Kudos as well to Nissan for giving the Leaf a more conventional body in the 2017 model year. I think the weirdo bug eyes and strange rear end were a barrier to some people— the current look blends in much better.
- athenot 8y ago
  I had the 2013 and the 2015 models. The edgy design was on purpose, as the car appealled to a segment which is ready to try out something new and live with the rough edges. Branding actually reflects that even though it's subconscient to the user. Their move to a conventional body is in line with the signal that this is no longer just for the early adopter market but now for the mainstream.
jsight 8y ago
AFAIK, the first Leaf with >200 mile range is the Leaf Plus. It isn't shipping yet, at least in the US. I suspect this is what he meant, rather than pointing to Nissan as being not reputable. Although, the early Leaf vehicles had issues with battery degradation that could have been a factor as well.
syntaxing 8y ago
I wanted to buy one in 2017 for the 2016 model when they had this sale for a brand new Leaf for 18K take home (12K with incentives). But the 107 miles range was pretty disappointing hence why I didn't buy it. I'm sure it's a great car but range and battery life on them so far leaves a lot to be desired. I still rather own a Toyota over a Nissan though due to longevity of the cars And yes, I owned all the three major Japanese brands before and drives (probably my last) Honda right now.

technofiend 8y ago

He also mentioned a 200 mile range, which the Leaf is still working towards; Nissan's website clearly states the latest Leaf has a 150 mile range [1]. I've been lusting after all electric cars for a while including the Leaf but range is definitely a concern. Kudos to Tesla for breaking open the market and creating all electric cars with 200+ mile range. But I'm with the original poster in that I want 200+ miles and a quality product with no fit and finish issues or supply-chain problems when there's a breakdown. Tesla has one of three right now and eventually the majors will catch up. [1] https://www.nissanusa.com/vehicles/electric-cars/leaf/range-charging.html https://www.nissanusa.com/vehicles/electric-cars/leaf/range-...

andrewmunsell 8y ago
For anyone interetsed, the Leaf E-Plus is coming within the next couple months with a 200 mile range: https://insideevs.com/leaf-e-plus-nissan-joins-200-mile-club/ https://insideevs.com/leaf-e-plus-nissan-joins-200-mile-club... There's still no active battery cooling though, which is a disappointment.
- technofiend 8y ago
  Particularly in hot climates there's concern both around battery performance and actual range. Practically speaking you need to factor in climate control use when driving, which lowers range.
athenot 8y ago
The Leaf Plus goes on sale in the US in spring, with a range of 224 miles. https://www.automobilemag.com/news/2019-nissan-leaf-plus-ev-range-mileage-specs/ https://www.automobilemag.com/news/2019-nissan-leaf-plus-ev-...
loeg 8y ago
Yeah, my ICE wagon has 450-550 miles rated range depending on city/highway rated mileage. Even if you assume that's somewhat optimistic (and it isn't that optimistic — my 15 year older, same model wagon got nearly the same mileage), it's still a lot more than 150. And it cost a lot less than $30k.
- Scoundreller 8y ago
  I’d kinda prefer the low range: It would encourage me to rent a car for road trips and put the damage on someone else’s vehicle. Most of my road trips are the 1000km in 2-3 day variety anyway.
  - loeg 8y ago
    If I was going to rent for any drive longer than 150 miles, I wouldn't own a car in the first place. Renting is a big hassle and multiplied by N trips sounds unpleasant. My trips are shorter and probably more frequent than your 620 mile multi-day affairs, though.
    - Scoundreller 8y ago
      I guess my questions are: What percentage of cars go on more than 2x 150 mile+ trips in a year? (Or 300 mile round trips that can be charged at turnaround point). And the same question for 100/200 miles. I’m guessing 90%+ for personal cars. And many of the exceptions are multicar households that could shift their long-drives to the other car.
      - loeg 8y ago
        To answer your question, I could only guess :-). I don't know how common it is, but we're a single-car household that goes hiking (i.e., no charging at the turn around point).
        loeg 8y ago
        FYI, the information for the US can probably be derived from the raw data available here: https://nhts.ornl.gov/ https://nhts.ornl.gov/ . The high level web summary buckets all trips of 31+ miles into a single bucket, which isn't helpful for your question, but if you want to do the analysis on the data, it's available. Cheers.

CompelTechnic 8y ago

GP probably was referring to legendary Toyota quality, as opposed to (good but not known in popular culture as remarkable) Nissan quality.

throw0u1t 8y ago
Toyota have traditionally built their reputation of quality by conservativly adopting new technology, especially when it comes to drivetrains. I'm not aware of any Toyota vehicles sold in the U.K that have a turbocharger, except the Supra which shares the drivetrain, suspension, platform and some interior with the BMW Z4. Heck, their Yaris GRMN uses the 1.8 supercharged engine that Toyota have been selling to Lotus for years. I wonder how Toyota plan to transfer this to electric vehicles given how new the technology still is.
- cptskippy 8y ago
  EVs are dramatically simplified in comparison to ICE vehicles and thus the power-train is much more reliable. For any automaker this increased reliability is only going to help their reputation. This poses a problem for Toyota and others (e.g. Honda) who are known for having very reliable power-trains, not because their reliability will suffer but rather because other automaker's power-trains will get significantly better. That is assuming those other automakers don't find a way to screw up, I have no doubt some will.
  - throw0u1t 8y ago
    I'm concerned like this a quite a blanket statement. Are all EVs that much simpler? There are simple EV drivetrains and there are complex EV drivetrains. Not all EV drivetrains are the same. This also applies to ICE. Most ICE drivetrains that do not have forced induction tend to be quite simple. Forced induction makes the drivetrain much more complex and puts a lot more strain on the drivetrain, and is one of the reasons why Toyota has stayed away from forced induction. Is the drive train in a Tesla Model X P100d much simpler than that in a 1.5 NA Yaris? I'm not sure, and would love to be proved incorrect on this.

mikepurvis 8y ago

Kudos as well to Nissan for giving the Leaf a more conventional body in the 2017 model year. I think the weirdo bug eyes and strange rear end were a barrier to some people— the current look blends in much better.

athenot 8y ago
I had the 2013 and the 2015 models. The edgy design was on purpose, as the car appealled to a segment which is ready to try out something new and live with the rough edges. Branding actually reflects that even though it's subconscient to the user. Their move to a conventional body is in line with the signal that this is no longer just for the early adopter market but now for the mainstream.

jsight 8y ago

AFAIK, the first Leaf with >200 mile range is the Leaf Plus. It isn't shipping yet, at least in the US. I suspect this is what he meant, rather than pointing to Nissan as being not reputable. Although, the early Leaf vehicles had issues with battery degradation that could have been a factor as well.

syntaxing 8y ago

I wanted to buy one in 2017 for the 2016 model when they had this sale for a brand new Leaf for 18K take home (12K with incentives). But the 107 miles range was pretty disappointing hence why I didn't buy it. I'm sure it's a great car but range and battery life on them so far leaves a lot to be desired. I still rather own a Toyota over a Nissan though due to longevity of the cars And yes, I owned all the three major Japanese brands before and drives (probably my last) Honda right now.