Today’s Nice Price or No Dice Nissan Leaf never had great range due to its relatively small battery, and issues with this one’s battery have cut that number to what the seller says is “around town” miles. Could that still make this electric a viable contender?
James May recently made a couple of trips to Southern California to support awareness of his namesake booze, James Gin. Documenting these adventures has been Lucy Brown, the head of the Gin maker’s marketing arm and famous cheese-avoider. On multiple occasions in their videos, both James and Lucy have commented on the massive portion sizes of meals in the U.S. In fact, both have noted that everything seems bigger here, and that is typically true. Consider the 1986 Ford F-350 Crew Cab Dually pickup we discussed last Friday. With its for-doors, long bed, and extra-wide booty, it’s bigger and more roomy than James’ pub. The only thing that could be considered not-so-grand on that Ford was its $8,000 asking price. That earned the big truck an expansive 84% Nice Price win.
Electric Avenue
Last Friday’s F-350 may have been large and in charge, but today’s 2011 Nissan Leaf can only claim half that statement. With its 110-horsepower AC electric motor and 24.15 kWh lithium-ion battery pack under the floor, this Nissan is small and fully in need of charge when its electrons are expended.
Nissan introduced the Leaf in late 2010 for the 2011 model year, earning the car the distinction of being the first mass-produced battery electric vehicle (BEV) on the market. Many other manufacturers followed with electric versions of existing internal combustion engine cars, all in an effort to meet California’s 2011 zero-emission mandate. Nissan was the only major carmaker to introduce a ground-up electric to achieve compliance.
The introduction of the long-range Tesla Model 3 two years later made all of these “compliance cars” feel out of date, and of them, only the Leaf survives in production to this day, gaining range with bigger batteries and going more mainstream with less weird styling.
Going the distance
When new, this first-year Leaf could go somewhere between 80 and 100 miles between plug-in sessions, which is not particularly great by today’s standards. Being an early electric, its charging speeds were pretty pathetic as well, requiring overnight sessions even on 220-volt power.
According to the seller, a battery issue has compromised this Leaf’s range even further, with it now pooping out at “about 41 miles.”
It’s quite amusing that they claim the range to be “about 41 miles” rather than just “40 miles.” That extra mile is really the cherry on the top, I guess. The ad doesn’t go into detail regarding what has gone wrong with the car that is causing the range to be cut in half, but the culprit is likely the battery pack. Used packs are available for these cars, but, like buying a used engine for transplant into an ICE car, that’s a roll of the dice that might end up in the same place but around $2,501 poorer.
Grocery-getter
Perhaps it would be better to leave the Leaf as is and use it, as the seller suggests, “around town.” According to the ad, the car is in “Excellent” condition other than the constrained range, having done a mere 78,310 miles. Nissan built the Leaf to a price, meaning that some of the interior components are somewhat chintzy, but it does have a lot of comfort and convenience features like power windows and locks and a CD stereo. It also features some pretty cool blue lights inside, which, when it was new, was a common feature among many electric cars.
The exterior, in dark metallic red, looks to be in solid shape, although the expired HOV lane stickers on the corners are a blight. There’s no word on the age of the tires, but they don’t appear bald or anything in the pictures. The interior is also clean and seemingly well-maintained.
Cheap seats
This is a one-owner car and comes with a clean title. The asking price is $1,900. That gets you a comfortable and cheap-to-run car whose only constraint is that it has the battery capacity of an old man’s bladder. For someone with a short commute to work or who just needs to get to the local grocery store once or twice a week, this could be the perfect ride. Alternatively, it could be a fun project to buy and fix with a replacement battery reinstating the lost range.
What do you think about this opportunity and that $1,900 price? Does that feel like a great deal to get into the electric car space and save some money on short commutes? Or do this Nissan’s problems mean it’s a Leaf that’s better left alone?
You decide!
Nice Price or No Dice:
San Francisco Bay Area, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
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