[jray3]

Absolutely- no insult taken, and my response was certainly more strenuous than your post that started all of this anyway!

Yes, I believe that the iMiEV battery is of a superior design to the LEAF, though of much less initial capacity (16 kWh nominal, 13 usable vs 24 kWh nominal, 21.8 useable kWh in a LEAF). My car shows no measurable degradation after 45,000 miles. However, when I first bought it I didn't know about the 20% reserve capacity that's built "into the turtle" or 'below zero' on the gauge that was designed as a buffer to offset capacity degradation during the warranty period. It still shows 81 miles RR on a warm summer morning after sedate driving the day before. The 50 a/h prismatic cells in series are easier to keep in balance than the LEAF's small series/parallel pouches, easier to do single cell replacements on, and more feasible to do DIY pack rebuilds on in the future with cells from other suppliers.

The main shortcoming, besides no upgrades in capacity since release, is that the pack will fill with water if you ford a stream deeper than 19" (via the cooling ducts). However, you're likely to have other problems by that point......