Leaf of Faith : Is Nissan’s New Car Stranding Owners

[C5Nate]

Now that electric-powered Nissan Leafs have been driven by the first owners for several weeks, Nissan’s claimed100-mile range is being tested in reality. The result? Reports of Leafs running out of juice and stranding drivers..............with little warning.

Although the details in the complaints on the MyNissanLeaf forum differ, the common thread in each is the Leaf suddenly paring back the estimates of its range in the middle of a trip, ending in a brief “turtle” mode — marked by an orange turtle icon on the Leaf’s dash — followed by the car shutting down to prevent battery damage.

The Leaf’s software is supposed to give drivers gradual warnings as they discharge the 24 kWh battery pack, with several visual and verbal notices including a “—” on the miles-to-empty indicator before the turtle icon switches on. But that wasn’t the experience of a Leaf owner from San Diego last month, who was the first to report a shut-down: “Went from 17 to — to turtle to dead in about 5 miles. 2.3 miles from dealer. 4.2 miles from home.

Part of me is amused that I may go down in history as the first dumbass to drive the car into submission. But I am slightly shaky and upset as I thought there should have been no problem getting home.
Nissan provides complimentary towing to Leaf owners for just such events; it had to provide the same service to a Barron’s reporter after she attempted an 82-mile drive to the beach.

In the Seattle case, the operators who took the tow-truck call asked if the Leaf just needed a jump start. Nissan has long maintained that how many miles the Leaf travels on a charge will depend on the driver, but has said the Leaf could go as far as 138 miles on a full charge, with an average driver getting 100 miles in city driving.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s official rating is 73 miles, and many owners on MyNissanLeaf report between 60 and 80 miles of range daily. The Leaf estimates the range left not just on how much energy is in the battery pack versus what’s flowing to the wheels, but also by tracking data on how aggressive the driver has been in the past.

But early Leaf owners may also have nature working against them, thanks to Nissan launching the car in winter. Electric car batteries hold less energy in cold temperatures, and unlike the Chevy Volt and other electric vehicles, Nissan did not build a heating system around the Leaf’s battery pack.

Nissan spokeswoman Katherine Zachary said while it has reports of a couple of “isolated” events, the automaker sees no trend of unexpected shutdowns among Leaf owners.

Early Leaf adopters are willing to embrace the range anxiety of electric vehicles, but the mainstream customers that Nissan will need to sell the Leaf beyond its 20,000 preorders

[ApexOversteer]

Nice Od'd title man... choice.

[high desert]

Not ready for prime time.

[Omega Man]

Serves people right. You buy a POS and you deserve to get stranded.

Stupid Basatrds.

[BondiBlue]

When I was selling cars, the sales manager wanted to make me the "go to" guy to rep the Leaf. Glad I got out of that job before this POS hit the streets. Kind of hard to sell a product you don't believe in, let alone one that looks like a gay bowling shoe.

[jeff w]

edit: Car is at the dealer now. Will have real world experience with the car soon.

[repo]

It never ends.

[Sea Six]

Originally Posted by ApexOversteer

Nice Od'd title man... choice.

Not bad.

[onedef92]

I agree. It's beautiful, man. Precision-crafted perfectly.

[onedef92]

Although the details in the complaints on the MyNissanLeaf forum differ, the common thread in each is the Leaf suddenly paring back the estimates of its range in the middle of a trip, ending in a brief “turtle” mode — marked by an orange turtle icon on the Leaf’s dash — followed by the car shutting down to prevent battery damage.

Kinda reminds me of the old C4 Corvette's digital fuel bar gauge and shet....

[Petew1971]

how could you tell your friends that you drive a Leaf..their all gonna laugh at you

[RedLS1GTO]

I can't imagine driving one of those things... the range is the equivalent to leaving your house every morning with 1/4 tank of gas and forgetting your wallet.

This has to be one of the dumbest ass ideas that a car company has come up with in a long time. It pretty much forces you to own another car seeing as you can't go more than 30 miles from home and still have the juice to get back.

Idiots.

[Petew1971]

Originally Posted by RedLS1GTO

I can't imagine driving one of those things... the range is the equivalent to leaving your house every morning with 1/4 tank of gas and forgetting your wallet.

This has to be one of the dumbest ass ideas that a car company has come up with in a long time. It pretty much forces you to own another car seeing as you can't go more than 30 miles from home and still have the juice to get back.

Idiots.

you know you want one

[RedLS1GTO]

Originally Posted by Petew1971

you know you want one

You caught me Pete. I'm a closet Eco-moron.


...and on a side note, I made the mistake of visiting MyNissanLeaf.com and looking around.

O M F G.

[Petew1971]

Originally Posted by RedLS1GTO

You caught me Pete. I'm a closet Eco-moron.


...and on a side note, I made the mistake of visiting MyNissanLeaf.com and looking around.

O M F G.

[lander]

Originally Posted by Petew1971

how could you tell your friends that you drive a Leaf..their all gonna laugh at you

That's why they make limo tint.

[jeff w]

Boss picked up the company car yesterday and drove it in this morning. The interior is nicer than the Volt's. The car is pretty quiet. It is ugly as sin. He got 60 miles out of it last night driving it "hard."

[onedef92]

It is ugly as sin.

Mofo looks like the bastard love child of an AMC Gremlin and a Toyota Prius.

[Omega Man]

Originally Posted by jeff w

Boss picked up the company car yesterday and drove it in this morning. The interior is nicer than the Volt's. The car is pretty quiet. It is ugly as sin. He got 60 miles out of it last night driving it "hard."

He should just drop to his knees and start eating link sausage while he is fondling himself in public.

[BuckyThreadkiller]

Originally Posted by Petew1971

how could you tell your friends that you push a Leaf..their all gonna laugh at you

fixed.