Found a 2011 Nissan Leaf for $5,900

[oil pan 4]

I didn't get to charge the leaf much due to a parade of thunderstorms so I took my firebird out.
Plus I figure I better get some ethanol free gas in the gas tank before the ethanol and ethanol decompression products eat the gas tank from the inside out.
I think the last time I put gas in the firebird was over a month ago.

[oil pan 4]

It's so hot today I'm at 7 battery temperature bars and I haven't even charged the car today.
The built in thermometer is saying 103F.
I guess I won't be charging it till later this evening.

[oldtamiyaphile]

Originally Posted by thingstodo

The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is a pretty good fit for my use case, can haul a small trailer once in a while, and appears to have good handling in winter and generally isn't hugely over-priced compared to the gas version.

Hyundai Kona EV is just around the corner.

[oil pan 4]

I have people ask me about and want to talk about my electric car.
I encourage them to get an electric if it's right for them.

Common misconceptions are that they run up the power bill by about as much as what you would spend on gas, that they are very expensive to buy, that you need to charge at some sort of thing like public charging station, that it still has a gasoline engine.

[oil pan 4]

My dash electric economy hit 4 miles per kwh today.
This is the long term average, I don't know if it can be reset, haven't bothered to try to reset it.
My short term resetable center console economy has always been between 3 and 4.7 miles to the kwh.
I only got down to 3 once when I was using the leaf as an improvised farm tractor to pull a chain harrow around.

When I got it the long term average was showing 3.6, the next day it went to 3.7 and stayed there for a while and it's slowly been working it's way higher since.

[Daox]

So, I've been looking around at things to replace my 04 Prius with. The Leaf seems like a really good fit. I can use the Mirage for the few road trips we take during the year, and the daily stuff can all easily be done with 80 miles of range.

Now that you have had yours for a while, what would you recommend when looking for a used Leaf? The 2011s are quiet cheap these days. However, I've mainly been looking at 2013+ models because of the redesign, heat pump, upgraded charger, etc. But, if I can get a 2011 and have Nissan put a new pack in it... thats hard to beat.

[ldjessee00]

When I was looking last year, I was looking for a 2 year old leased models and they were $10k for less than perfect battery (down 2 or 3 bars) to $15k for a used Leaf that had perfect battery health. That is when I found the deal with my local power company for a $10k off the top. Add to that the VW TDI money... going to pay it off in a few months.
The one feature I really wish it had was a charge % limiter.
Plugging in at home it charges so slowly, it is usually pretty easy to keep it from charging over 90%... but on a level two charger at work, it is hard to time it right between meetings, etc to keep it from charging over 90%. I know Tesla's have this feature built in, but just wish this car had it.
I would also like a limiter on battery temp, so it would adjust charging rate to keep the battery in a 'safe' zone for charging.
I also dream of the day some 3rd party builds a battery pack that has active heating/cooling built in... but I am not holding my breath.

[Daox]

I thought the Leaf did have option to limit max charge?

[oil pan 4]

If you set the charge timer you can set it to only goto 80%.
I'm looking around at leafs and I think I stole mine. A 2011 with a 2014 battery for $6,700.
For some reasons ones with 11 bars or less battery health are going for nearly $10,000 lately.

I can charge my 2011 faster than 6.6kw at home.
To get a 2013 at the time would have cost at least $4,000 more. I figured that I could pickup a home chademo for around $1000, well it turned out to be closer to $1,500 with shipping from canada.
Charges faster than a 2013 and overall cheaper.

[Daox]

And, the warranty covers packs with 8 or less bars, right?