https://youtu.be/YkZeGpzcuzw?si=CVBwS6RsQvFc1WgS
They discuss the current Leaf. Nissan had a small budget to develop this and wanted it priced to a cheaper price point, with this comes come a bunch of shortcomings.
What were they thinking with those horrible black wheels?
I know a couple folks who roll with a Leaf and that does seem to sum it up pretty well.
What feels missing from the other EV videos is to look at the other vehicles in comparison. The Mach E, in particular, seems like an overreaction to the Leaf’s (or maybe the Focus Electric?) issues. The big takeaway I got off the Mach E video was not that it was bad, but that the price on it was bad.
Ford used 10% of the battery capacity as low/high buffer, while competitors use less than half that. That’s driving up the cost of the vehicle a few thousand right there. Dig around and find a few more of those mistakes (was a frunk even necessary or just added expense emphasize no-gas-engine?) and you’d have a car with pretty much all the good parts of the Mach E, but with a lot more attractive price on it.
I hope to keep seeing both Mark and Jack on here, you guys are honestly the fucking best.
Esp because some of the Mach E and EV6 GT reddit user replies were certainly… Interesting. Good to see you back here so soon haha.
It’s the usual for Reddit. If you insult sacred cows the pitchforks come out and something you probably already spent way too much time working on now requires even more time investment to defend. Refusing to respond just means their version of events wins by default.
People want cheap EV. No shit, who would have thought.
I didn’t know they still build that shit box. Why!?!?
I worked for a Nissan dealer for a bit, in an EV friendly area that had strong rebates available.
We had decent traction in selling clean pre-owned Leafs, and new units as well if rebates were available.
We had waiting lists in 18/19 for Leaf+ models with the 62 KW/H battery. Nissan was very poor in fulfilling units to dealers while the Leaf was a commodity.
The day the standard range Model 3 hit ground and qualified for rebates, it was over for the Leaf. Nissans unwillingness to do subvented rates or any promo wasn’t helping either. Making them effective as much as a Model 3 on a payment level.
While down on range vs a 62 KW/h Leaf, for most the difference in wow factor & offering a thermally-managed battery was more than enough to cancel their Leaf order anyways.
It’s as typical Nissan as it gets, a good innovative product muddied by lack of updates & refinement.
MY 2025 will be 15-years of production for the Leaf, there is still not even an option for thermal-management.
Nissan reminds me of Suzuki and Mitsubishi where they were pretty strong brands of car companies that eventually for one reason or another decided to stop and became what they are today, with Nissan only able to not become as irreverent thanks to selling a great mass-use car with the Altima and keeping the Z around in some shape or form.
Outside of the US Suzuki is fine, they never had a big market presence there anyway. The Swift, Jimmy and Ignis are all good cars