Consumer: Nissan LEAF Most Reliable Car (of 69 models from 23 brands).

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Consumer: Nissan LEAF Most Reliable Car (of 69 models from 23 brands).

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tripper1000

1617 posts

Uber Geek

#1897451 8-Nov-2017 11:23

Linuxluver:

Batman:

Top Gear are notoriously anti-EV to the point of lying. They had written the negative script about a Tesla before they even received the car for testing. Elon Musk outed them on that one.

Journalism vs reporting - people confuse the two. Journalism is about entertaining stories, Reporting is about stating the facts - essentially fiction vs non-fiction.

Old Jeremy Clarkson was great for entrainment value, but a dubious source of facts. He did an about face on hybrids rather rapidly once he discovered that hybrid technology could make super cars better (faster). Like J.C. the rest of the world will follow, once E.V.'s and Hybrid's are better that ICE in their estimation. Better is subjective for each driver and can be cost to run, cost to purchase, speed, style, handling, safety, conformity/fashion, eco-credentials etc.

Dugimodo

168 posts

Master Geek

#1897453 8-Nov-2017 11:25

I'd be very interested in some real world numbers on actual range achieved in NZ driving conditions. I like the Idea of a Nissan Leaf but I think they'd need to double the current range before I could consider it as an alternative to my corolla. As an exercise I tried to figure out if I could have done my last holiday in a Leaf. The answer is yes if I was prepared to detour out of my way to find a charger and stop twice to charge each way. What took a couple of hours in a conventional ICE car would have taken most of the day in a Leaf.

I'm sure it's a great second car for commuting around town, but as a single car owner I need it to be a jack of all trades. With a bit more range and a few more charging stations they would be a lot better. I'm planning to look into them again in a couple of years when they have hopefully improved a bit.

MikeAqua

7773 posts

Uber Geek

#1897455 8-Nov-2017 11:28

To be fair, if the leaves people have are meeting their expected uses then they are reliable.

But I agree they are a car that is hardly working. They are a little car used for a low intensity, high frequency work cycle. An ICE designed for similar use cycle would not have any trouble with.

The only part really being tested is probably the battery.

Urban runner is hardly a robust test. But if you want one for that, they will evidently perform admirably.

Mike

frednz

1467 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1897551 8-Nov-2017 13:33

Dugimodo:

I'd be very interested in some real world numbers on actual range achieved in NZ driving conditions. I like the Idea of a Nissan Leaf but I think they'd need to double the current range before I could consider it as an alternative to my corolla. As an exercise I tried to figure out if I could have done my last holiday in a Leaf. The answer is yes if I was prepared to detour out of my way to find a charger and stop twice to charge each way. What took a couple of hours in a conventional ICE car would have taken most of the day in a Leaf.

I'm sure it's a great second car for commuting around town, but as a single car owner I need it to be a jack of all trades. With a bit more range and a few more charging stations they would be a lot better. I'm planning to look into them again in a couple of years when they have hopefully improved a bit.

I agree that, if your primary aim is to have a car that is "a jack of all trades", then the range and price of affordable electric vehicles haven't quite made it yet. But, if you are prepared to own two vehicles and use a Leaf just for city driving, then it's probably a good choice.

However, if you're really passionate about reducing NZ's carbon emissions and see an urgent need to do this, then you wouldn't mind taking a few hours extra to complete your longer trips.

As I see it, there are EV enthusiasts who buy an EV primarily because they are driven by climate change issues. And there are EV owners who like EVs because they are very efficient, have low maintenance and low running costs.

And there are people who will buy EVs when they have greater range and are more affordable and there are those who will always prefer petrol vehicles (well until petrol prices increase to the point that ICE vehicles are no longer affordable).

Dugimodo

168 posts

Master Geek

#1897558 8-Nov-2017 13:56

I read an article somewhere that suggested when electric vehicles hit as low as 10% of vehicles on the road the effect will be hugely disruptive and will potentially cause a very fast snowball effect in the price of petrol and the adoption of electric. Which is just to say they may take over sooner than we think. I believe the 2018 model is supposed to have a reasonable increase in range so we are certainly getting there.

WyleECoyoteNZ

1049 posts

Uber Geek

#1897562 8-Nov-2017 14:01

tripper1000:

WyleECoyoteNZ: Also seems a little biased comparing an electric vehicle with very few moving parts, to that of an ICE with a more complex engine\gearbox etc.

It's a bit like comparing a handsaw to a chainsaw

I think you've missed the point of a reliability survey - they are biased towards reliability - not complexity!!!

Not at all.

Chances are, the more complex something is, the higher the chance of something going wrong\breaking, therefore the chances of reliability issues. The less complex something is, the lower the chance of something going wrong\breaking.

I'll go back to my handsaw vs chainsaw example.

What would\could make a handsaw unreliable? It's blade is blunt

What would could make a chainsaw unreliable? Chain is blunt, gears are worn, motor\engine issues, the list goes on.

In case you don't get it, the Nissan Leaf is the handsaw, and the ICE vehicle(s) the chainsaw.

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