Nissan Leaf

[QueenV]

Can any Nissan Leaf owners share their experience, both good and bad?  Are they difficult or expensive to repair?  How much mileage do you really get per charge?  Is it a pain to keep it charged?   

[Pebs]

DH bought a used 2015 Nissan Leaf a few months ago. It's too soon to know about the expense for repairs but the idea is that there will be less overall maintenance/repairs as compared to an ICE vehicle. The guy who sold it to DH joked about getting "free lifetime oil changes" with the purchase.

A full charge shows a range of 85 miles but DH thinks he could squeeze out a bit more than that.  Very cold temps decrease the range. 

Our model does not have the super fast charge feature.  We have not installed a charging station either so we are trickle-charging.  Has not been a problem since the car is parked in the garage at night and plugged in as needed.

[QueenV]

Thanks!  That's helpful.  Prices seem pretty low on used models in my area right now, but my husband is concerned about the possible downsides of owning one.   

[Pebs]

It is worth thinking through the downsides:

1. It is QUIET so you need to be extra careful that you are looking for people/animals that may be in your path, especially as you start moving.  Backing up does have a beep-beep sound and moving forward at a slow speed does add a high pitch tone but we've noticed that no one pays attention to these sounds in parking lots, etc. People have commented that we "snuck up on them" and startled them.

2. I do not think I would want to have a fully electric as the ONLY vehicle available to me, just because of the limited range.  It works perfectly as a second vehicle to a couple/family. If the vast majority of driving is done locally, it could work as the only vehicle if you planned to simply rent on the rare occasion you need to drive long distance. The nation-wide recharge stations are just not yet where they need to be for reliable long distance travel.

3. Do you have a convenient place to park it where it can charge? Do you want to invest in a recharge station for faster charging or are you OK with a slower trickle charge? How far is your commute to work?  Can you charge there?

4. Are you more interested in a cheaper purchase price (by buying used) or would you prefer to pay more for a significantly increased range (wait - newer models are on the way!)?

For us, the upsides seem to outweigh the downsides.

Edited to fix a few typos that were bugging me.

[RelaxedGal]

We have a 2012 Leaf, purchased Certified Pre-Owned February 2015.

It's smooth, it's quiet, it's peppy, it's a great commuter car. We use is for my daily driver, all grocery runs, and most weekend running around.  My husband and I love to drive it, and he's looking forward to the day that I "hand it down" to him.

It does come with some caveats:

• The fuel economy is way better at 12mph than 75mph.  I thought that getting stuck in traffic would be my biggest fear; instead my biggest enemy is my own lead foot if I drive somewhere on a weekend/holiday and have all that wide open freeway in front of me.
  
• Cold weather impacts range, both because a cold battery doesn't work as well and because you'll use the heat.  On days below 20F I had a blanket on my lap, thick winter coat, hat, gloves all in an effort to minimize use of the heat.  This is just me being crazy because the heat isn't THAT big of a draw, but I compete with myself for better and better fuel economy.
• Battery degradation is real.  At 46,000 miles/4 years my car has only 81% of the original capacity. 
• Regenerative braking is reduced when  the battery is cold, and eliminated when the battery is full.

My commute is 18 miles each way. I was nervous heading into winter.  I switched from an 80% charge to a 100% charge in early December (A feature that I believe was removed in 2013 and newer cars).  I'm back to 80% now, and all that sweet, sweet regen on the first part of my commute.  Over those 3 months of winter there were only 3 days that I had range concerns.  On the first I had to use the defroster all of the way home - it was a freezing rain that would freeze to the windshield fog up the inside if I didn't.  I think I pulled onto my street as the Low Battery warning came on.  The second was both a cold day (10F) and I took the faster (65mph) way to work.  Battery was at 42% at lunch so I went to the Nissan dealership to plug in.  There was already someone at the Quick Charger when I got there, I used the Level 2 while her charged then topped up once he left, and someone else pulled in as I was leaving!  She and I exchanged e-mails later, she charged 3 times that day both because it was cold and because she's a solar panel salesman.  The third time was straight-up cold (0 F) and 42% SOC when I got to work, again used the free charger at the dealership.  Given that this was a mild winter for Boston I got off easy.  My plan is to use our other car as-needed next winter.

Other thoughts:

• We had a level 2 charger installed.  Many people are just fine with the included level 1, but I found that it didn't pre-heat as well as it does on Level 2.
• Maintenance has been non-existent.  I switched from summer tires to winter, and plan to switch back soon.  At the 4 year maintenance they swapped the cabin air filter, checked the battery, and rotated the tires.  Now that I know that's all I'll do the filter myself, hold rotation off for the summer/winter tire swap, instead just have them check the battery and do the complimentary multi-point inspection.  The Dealer did tell me that because the bakes aren't used much the rotors were rusty, should be resurfaced and the pads planed down ($472).  I took it for a second opinion at an independent shop and they said everything looked fine.  So either it needs work on the pads and rotors every year (remember, CPO one year ago) or the dealer was just looking for a high-labor filler.

To recap: we love it, it's a great car as long as you're not driving both fast and far, maintenance has been minimal.

You could also PM Sol, ForuMMM, and Zephyr911 as they all have Leafs.

[SpicyUnagi10]

I have a 2012 Leaf SL that I purchased used with originally 12.5K miles on it, full 12 bars of battery life. I have about 22K, still full 12 bars on the odo now.

I love this car, because it works for what I need it to do; get me to work, run errands nearby, and go home.

The only problem I have with it is that it is practically impossible to get the car to warm-up AND defrost the windshield if the temp is below 15F. My Leaf sat outside this winter during the workday, and after coming out, scraping ice, and starting it up, the heater just couldn't do it. I had a fogged/frosted windshield and had a hell of a time getting home. The 5.5KW heater just drains the whole damn system. It has been in the garage since that day about 3 months ago. I have relegated it to spring/summer/fall driving, taking my beater during the winter months. I can finally bring it back out today.

My intention before the end of this year, is to install a parking heater to alleviate the winter cold, and not drain the battery. The parking heater can be installed, and the current 5.5KW Eberspacher can be unplugged. The parking heater will get hooked up to the coolant, instead of the electric heater. This solves the super battery drain issue, and will actually help keep the battery warm.

http://300mpg.org/imiev-heater-installation/

If your intention is to keep this car for the long haul, then make absolutely certain it comes with a ChAdEMO port. If your state finally starts installing fast charging stations somewhere, then you'll be able to charge to 80% in under 30 minutes.

[sol]

I charge to 80% (unless I'm expecting to need more the next day) and start the day with an estimated 61 miles of range at 40F. My commute is about 12 miles including kid drop-offs, so on an average day round trip plus evening kid shuttling to activities, I usually deplete that range estimate down to the low 30s or high 20s.  Which is enough that we don't worry about it.  We run the climate control as much as we want, and we need it because the car fogs up quickly inside with four of us breathing in there on a cold morning.

My wife starts to freak out if the range estimate drops below 10 miles, even if we're only 2 miles from the house.  That causes tension.  I've tried to explain to her that the car doesn't die when the range drops to zero, it just defaults to turtle mode for the last 10% of the battery and you are speed/power limited while you waddle home.  She doesn't care, the mere thought of being stranded with a toddler terrifies her, even though she's been stranded by our old gasoline car several times (overheating, dead battery, flat tire, etc.).

I would be less comfortable with it if my commute was 35 miles each way, but for our lives it's worked out great.  We do have roadside assistance in our car insurance policy (much cheaper than AAA for the same protection, without the evil auto industry lobbying) so that provides some piece of mind.

And compared to our old car, it is much nicer.  The climate preheater is great, the car warms itself for our regular morning departure every day while still plugged in, so we get into a warm car without having to do anything.  The GPS navigation comes in handy, but mostly I like just always having a local map on display even if it's not giving me verbal directions.  The heated steering wheel is awesome, toasty hands in 20 seconds.

The backup camera I don't like.  It doesn't feel as safe as just looking around, and I find it to easy to tunnel vision in on the screen while backing up and not notice your front corners clipping something.  I'm trying to adjust.

[HipGnosis]

DH bought a used 2015 Nissan Leaf a few months ago.
The guy who sold it to DH joked about getting "free lifetime oil changes" with the purchase.

That brings up an interesting point - w/o oil changes, how often are you going to look under the car to inspect or lubricate the suspension and steering linkage??
Many things are easier and cheaper to fix when they are caught and addressed early.  Every paid oil change includes an 'X' point inspection (they want to make money fixing what they find) and DIY oil changers are going to notice oily or rusty etc. spots when they're down there...
With this in mind, I would be very hesitant to buy a high mileage electric car - even if the battery was just replaced.

[forummm]

We have 2 and no ICE. I've spent $0 on maintenance so far (21 months).

DH bought a used 2015 Nissan Leaf a few months ago.
The guy who sold it to DH joked about getting "free lifetime oil changes" with the purchase.

That brings up an interesting point - w/o oil changes, how often are you going to look under the car to inspect or lubricate the suspension and steering linkage??
Many things are easier and cheaper to fix when they are caught and addressed early.  Every paid oil change includes an 'X' point inspection (they want to make money fixing what they find) and DIY oil changers are going to notice oily or rusty etc. spots when they're down there...
With this in mind, I would be very hesitant to buy a high mileage electric car - even if the battery was just replaced.

I don't think the Nissan maintenance schedule even includes these things. Perhaps they are not needed?

[QueenV]

Thanks everyone for sharing your real world experience!  This gives me some good things to consider.  My husband drives a Nissan Versa for his commute, I work from home so the Leaf would replace the '95 Corolla I'm currently driving.  My thought was that we could use it for quick trips around town and we've got the Versa for longer trips.  It sounds like that is how others are using it too.  Weather is generally mild where I live, temps rarely drop below freezing, so it sounds like I wouldn't have as many cold weather issues as some of you, but it's good to know that weather can have an effect. 

Thanks for the tip to make sure it has the quick charging capability.  There are a few places around here that have charging stations and hopefully they will keep adding more.  Also helpful to know that each new model comes with new and improved features.  I hadn't considered that, but now that you mention it, it makes sense!  Seems like we might want to wait another year or two for the current models to drop in price. 

Question for Sol or anyone else with young children - how well do convertible child car seats fit in the back seat?  I have a one year old son, so we'll be backward facing for at least a few more years!

[sol]

Question for Sol or anyone else with young children - how well do convertible child car seats fit in the back seat?  I have a one year old son, so we'll be backward facing for at least a few more years!

My youngest is three years old and has already switched to forward facing (which fits fine) so I can't offer any advice on a convertible carseat.  We've only had all five of us in the car a couple of times, for short trips, but I didn't hear any complaints.

[RWD]

You could also PM Sol, ForuMMM, and Zephyr911 as they all have Leafs.

Pretty sure zephyr911 has a Volt.

[forummm]

Question for Sol or anyone else with young children - how well do convertible child car seats fit in the back seat?  I have a one year old son, so we'll be backward facing for at least a few more years!

My infant has a giant convertible car seat and it fits just fine facing backwards in the middle seat, even with the driver's seat pushed back to fit me (I'm 6'3").

This is the one we have (it was $60 when we got them): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014KJ04FM

[QueenV]

Thanks Sol and forummm!  My husband is 6'2" so it sounds like that would work for us.  I'm only 5'3" but even so, the child car seats only fit in my Corolla behind the passenger seat with the seat pulled forward (making it useless for an adult passenger).  Glad to hear this would probably work.

[chubbybunny]

We have a 2014 leaf, paid $12,500 new after state and federal tax incentives.  Just remember to do the tire rotations on schedule.  That's the only maintenance I've had to do on the car so far!  Our garage already had an outlet, so we got a level 2 charger on amazon for $500. 

Car's computer says it gets 4.4 miles/Kwh here in North Georgia, but I don't have to deal with the extreme temperature issues others have mentioned. Extreme heat wears out the battery (people in Phoenix are not happy). Running a/c or heater will drop your range, but it's not as significant for me (only changes my estimated range by a few miles when I need it). 

As mentioned earlier, no downside for me as long as it's used as second car.  We have another for road trips. 

[a1smith]

We have 2 and no ICE. I've spent $0 on maintenance so far (21 months).

DH bought a used 2015 Nissan Leaf a few months ago.
The guy who sold it to DH joked about getting "free lifetime oil changes" with the purchase.

That brings up an interesting point - w/o oil changes, how often are you going to look under the car to inspect or lubricate the suspension and steering linkage??
Many things are easier and cheaper to fix when they are caught and addressed early.  Every paid oil change includes an 'X' point inspection (they want to make money fixing what they find) and DIY oil changers are going to notice oily or rusty etc. spots when they're down there...
With this in mind, I would be very hesitant to buy a high mileage electric car - even if the battery was just replaced.

I don't think the Nissan maintenance schedule even includes these things. Perhaps they are not needed?

Yes, they are needed.  See 2015 LEAF Service and Maintenance Guide.  Note that you need to perform EV Battery Usage Report at the dealer every 15K miles or 12 months.  Here is quote from the guide:

To maximize the life of your Li-ion battery, have the EV Battery Usage Report generated and reviewed with you. Review of the EV Battery Usage Report is required as a condition of EV battery warranty. Refer to your 2015 LEAF warranty information booklet for details. Both the 12 month and 24 month inspections will be  performed by your Nissan LEAF certified dealer at no cost to the vehicle owner.

So, you get the first 2 inspections free and then you pay for them after that.  If you don't do them it sounds like you will void the warranty of one of the most expensive components in the vehicle.

Looking at the 2015 LEAF Warranty Information Booklet there is a 60 month/60K mile Li-ion battery capacity warranty (at least 9 out of 12 bars, 75%) and a 96 month/100K mile Li-ion battery warranty for other problems.  Note on page 9 the items that are not covered by the battery warranty - damage caused by high/low temperature extremes, low SOC for long period of time, etc.

The big maintenance item for an EV is going to be when you need to replace the battery.  Hopefully, your power electronics and motor don't go on you; they are only covered 60 months/60K miles by the powertrain and EV systems warranties.

[a1smith]

I charge to 80% (unless I'm expecting to need more the next day) and start the day with an estimated 61 miles of range at 40F.

Why do you usually only charge to 80%?  Are you doing regen braking early in your trip where you don't want 100% SOC?

Unless there is info specific to Leaf, you don't need to worry about not fully charging to improve battery life.  Most automakers are only using about 50% of available battery capacity so 0-100% displayed is really something like 30% to 80% of actual battery capacity.  This is done (along with many other things) to make the battery last a long time.

[sol]

Why do you usually only charge to 80%?  Are you doing regen braking early in your trip where you don't want 100% SOC?

Unless there is info specific to Leaf, you don't need to worry about not fully charging to improve battery life.  Most automakers are only using about 50% of available battery capacity

I'm charging to 80% because the manufacturer and the Leaf forum both suggest that this preserves battery capacity by slowing degradation.  On the Leaf, it's a standard feature you can set on the touch screen.  They call it "long life mode" or something.

When you say "most automakers are only using about 50%" I think you're talking about hybrid vehicles like the Volt and the Prius, which do in fact only use the middle portion of their charge cycle.  The Leaf and the Tesla, on the other hand, tend to use much more of their battery capacity because they are trying to maximize range, not just load-level the gas engine.

I'm less familiar with the Teslas, but on the leaf the zero battery charge is actually 10%. 

[sol]

The big maintenance item for an EV is going to be when you need to replace the battery.  Hopefully, your power electronics and motor don't go on you; they are only covered 60 months/60K miles by the powertrain and EV systems warranties.

I agree that will some day be an expense, but I'm not worried about it.  Engine/tranny replacement is an expense of gasoline cars, too.

There have been over 170,000 Nissan Leafs sold thus far, more than double any other electric car.  They've collectively driven over a billion miles.  Thus far, the battery/drivetrain failure rate has been less than 10% that of gasoline cars of the same age.  It's just a more reliable technology.  The Nissan powertrain warranty you quoted is comparable to what you get on most new cars so don't pretend it's a cause for concern, especially when the reality has been so much better.

That will rate will undoubtedly go up in the future as the battery packs age.  But at least for now, all the hype you hear about how "the battery will break and you'll need a new one!" has proven to be totally false.  Gasoline cars suffer engine/drivetrain failures over 10x as often as the Leaf has, thus far. 

With a battery, the "failure" is a slow and gradual process you can see coming, not a catastrophic failure like thrown rod or a bad transmission.  And the eventual costs of battery replacement are more than offset by the cost savings of charging vs buying gas and oil changes.  And with the current rate of advancement of battery technologies?  Who knows what it will cost to replace the battery in seven more years.  Today it costs $5500 for a new Leaf battery, but seven years ago it was twice as much so maybe it will be half as much when I need one?

[forummm]

Why do you usually only charge to 80%?  Are you doing regen braking early in your trip where you don't want 100% SOC?

Unless there is info specific to Leaf, you don't need to worry about not fully charging to improve battery life.  Most automakers are only using about 50% of available battery capacity

I'm charging to 80% because the manufacturer and the Leaf forum both suggest that this preserves battery capacity by slowing degradation.  On the Leaf, it's a standard feature you can set on the touch screen.  They call it "long life mode" or something.

It's only standard on 2013 and earlier models I think. By doing away with it Nissan was able to get an extra 10 miles EPA range. In the SL and SV you can monkey around with the start and end time to get approximately 80% charge based on what your current charge is. I just let mine charge to 100% overnight (stopping at 7am) using super off peak electric pricing and then my driving that morning and later in the day drains it down a bit anyway. I have an S so I just set it to finish charging by 7am and plug it in the night before I need more power (I charge about once or twice per week).

[a1smith]

When you say "most automakers are only using about 50%" I think you're talking about hybrid vehicles like the Volt and the Prius, which do in fact only use the middle portion of their charge cycle.  The Leaf and the Tesla, on the other hand, tend to use much more of their battery capacity because they are trying to maximize range, not just load-level the gas engine.

I'm less familiar with the Teslas, but on the leaf the zero battery charge is actually 10%.

Yes, I was thinking of Volt; I should have elaborated more but it was 2am. :-)  But the Volt is an extended range EV (EREV) and operates in pure EV mode until the battery SOC reaches the low end and then the engine will start.  Also, the engine will start if you are going up a grade and need more torque.  The engine is there to reduce range anxiety like your wife experiences.

If low end of SOC on Leaf is 10% my guess is high end is 90% and the life extending mode reduces that to 80% (maybe low end changes also?).  Using that, the Leaf is using 80% of battery capacity for its SOC range; the Volt is using 50%.  The Leaf would like to use 50% of capacity also for battery life reasons, they just can't afford to do it ($, mass, volume).  For the Leaf to only use 50% instead of 80% the battery would have to be 60% higher capacity.  Conversely, the Volt could use 80% of battery capacity for its SOC range and make their battery 62.5% of its original capacity.  It's a complicated engineering tradeoff decision involving other parameters as well.

It's nice to see that Nissan has a built-in user selectable battery life conserving mode.  So, they are allowing the customer to choose battery life over range for the people that usually only need the reduced range.  Then, if you go on a longer trip you can turn it off the night before as you mentioned and fully charge.

Well, forummm just posted they eliminated this feature after 2013 to get extra EPA sticker range.  That's too bad.  The change gave them 10 more miles for 84 miles.  So, the 10%, 80%, 90% numbers above sound reasonable - going from 70% to 80% SOC swing made them go from 74 to 84 miles.  So, it looks like roughly 1 mile per %SOC and the low end of SOC range probably doesn't change in life-extending mode.

Disclosure - I work for GM R&D.   The views and opinions I have expressed are my own, and not those of GM.

Edit - Just saw this in Wikipedia:

With the 24 kWh electric vehicle battery (total capacity; usable battery capacity is about 21.3 kWh)

Using this info, Leaf uses about 89% of battery capacity; seems to be 2012 MY information from references.

[forummm]

Yes, the Leaf hides some of the battery capacity from you so that you don't use it. That keeps it from getting up to the true 100% or 0%--thereby improving battery longevity. I think it's something like 7% to 97% that they let you use.

[a1smith]

The big maintenance item for an EV is going to be when you need to replace the battery.  Hopefully, your power electronics and motor don't go on you; they are only covered 60 months/60K miles by the powertrain and EV systems warranties.

I agree that will some day be an expense, but I'm not worried about it.  Engine/tranny replacement is an expense of gasoline cars, too.

There have been over 170,000 Nissan Leafs sold thus far, more than double any other electric car.  They've collectively driven over a billion miles.  Thus far, the battery/drivetrain failure rate has been less than 10% that of gasoline cars of the same age.  It's just a more reliable technology.  The Nissan powertrain warranty you quoted is comparable to what you get on most new cars so don't pretend it's a cause for concern, especially when the reality has been so much better.

That will rate will undoubtedly go up in the future as the battery packs age.  But at least for now, all the hype you hear about how "the battery will break and you'll need a new one!" has proven to be totally false.  Gasoline cars suffer engine/drivetrain failures over 10x as often as the Leaf has, thus far. 

With a battery, the "failure" is a slow and gradual process you can see coming, not a catastrophic failure like thrown rod or a bad transmission.  And the eventual costs of battery replacement are more than offset by the cost savings of charging vs buying gas and oil changes.  And with the current rate of advancement of battery technologies?  Who knows what it will cost to replace the battery in seven more years.  Today it costs $5500 for a new Leaf battery, but seven years ago it was twice as much so maybe it will be half as much when I need one?

Based on your reference, they've collectively driven over a billion kilometers, not miles. Using a simple average, that's about 3,655 miles per vehicle.  I understand some cars are older than others, some get driven more, etc but I did the average just to get some order of magnitude idea of how much field testing has been done.  The more important data will be at the higher mileages.

I agree on reduced maintenance needs and cost; my only point is that this is a new application of existing technology and we still have limited data on real world results.  Granted, car companies do very extensive testing prior to going to production and most, if not all, new failure modes are found and dealt with.

Regarding your 10x failure comparison, I found this in your reference:

The failure rate of the battery power unit is less than 0.01 percent - or just three units in total - a fraction of the equivalent industry-wideꜞ figure for defects affecting traditional combustion engines.

I couldn't find a 10X comparison; also, they are comparing failures to defects.  I'll just say that I think 10X is a high estimate of the difference.

I agree that battery costs are coming down for various reasons.  And the Nissan Leaf is using what I think is the best current cell technology - prismatic pouch cells.  They have four cells per module in 2S/2P configuration.  The prismatic pouch cell is superior to 18650 cylindrical cells (that Tesla has chosen to continue using) but that is a topic for another day.

Disclosure - I work for GM R&D.   The views and opinions I have expressed are my own, and not those of GM.

[a1smith]

Here is one interesting article I found regarding Nissan LEAF Gets Replacement Battery After Mysterious 4-Bar Loss In 4 Months

A lady bought a certified used Leaf and the bars went from 12 to 8 in a little over 4 months.  After some checking and inspections, it was determined that the battery health parameters in the LBC (battery controller) were reset.  A Leaf can't be sold as certified used unless it has 11 bars.  The happy ending is that the battery was replaced under warranty.

It looks like there is an easy way to tell if this has happened:

The certified safety inspection should of shown the LBC had been reset by not allowing a battery report to be printed.

So, if you buy a certified used Leaf make sure the battery report is included in the certified safety inspection.

Disclosure - I work for GM R&D.   The views and opinions I have expressed are my own, and not those of GM.

[fallstoclimb]

Curious for those who have it -- how much does daily charging of an electric vehicle increase your home utility bill/usage? 

[sol]

Curious for those who have it -- how much does daily charging of an electric vehicle increase your home utility bill/usage?

Depends on how much you drive it, and what kind of charger you have.  Where I live, it works out to about 2 cents per mile in electricity costs.   If you drive it 1000 miles in a month it would cost you $20.

Depending on temperatures and driving style, the leaf gets 3.5 to 4.5 miles per kWh.  I pay less than 8 cents per kWh for power.  8/4 is 2 cents/mile.

[forummm]

Curious for those who have it -- how much does daily charging of an electric vehicle increase your home utility bill/usage? 

About $5/mo per car for us net. We have super off peak rates at night. This also lets our A/C run at night super cheap.

[ShortStuff]

I would be less comfortable with it if my commute was 35 miles each way, but for our lives it's worked out great.  We do have roadside assistance in our car insurance policy (much cheaper than AAA for the same protection, without the evil auto industry lobbying) so that provides some piece of mind.

Thanks for sharing your experience. We are currently a happy 1 car family, but if our planned relocation happens, we may need a second car. A used Leaf is high on our list if we have to get one.

A major word of warning on having roadside assistance via your auto INSURANCE policy, rather than AAA. Yes, it is cheaper than AAA (AAA is $80/yr for 2 drivers vs. $10-12/yr via insurance co). However, many insurance companies process your towing roadside assistance as an accident claim.  In essence, the insurance company treats that call for a tow as a "claim" and puts it onto your "CLUE report" which is your claim history.  Whereas a call to AAA is completely private, and has no link to your insurance claim history.
Having that claim on there can really increase your auto insurance rates if you decide to swap insurance companies in the future. 

Don't believe me? See here:
http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/23/news/companies/towing_insurance/
and here:
http://www.clarkhoward.com/when-not-to-contact-your-insuran

For us, the cheaper rate from our insurance company is not worth messing up our clean accident history if we need a tow, so we've stayed with AAA.  Watch out for those sneaky insurance companies!

[forummm]

I would be less comfortable with it if my commute was 35 miles each way, but for our lives it's worked out great.  We do have roadside assistance in our car insurance policy (much cheaper than AAA for the same protection, without the evil auto industry lobbying) so that provides some piece of mind.

Thanks for sharing your experience. We are currently a happy 1 car family, but if our planned relocation happens, we may need a second car. A used Leaf is high on our list if we have to get one.

A major word of warning on having roadside assistance via your auto INSURANCE policy, rather than AAA. Yes, it is cheaper than AAA (AAA is $80/yr for 2 drivers vs. $10-12/yr via insurance co.) However, many insurance companies process your towing roadside assistance as an accident claim.  In essence, the insurance companies treat that call for a tow as a "claim" and puts it onto your "CLUE report" which is your claim history.  Whereas a call to AAA is completely private, and has no link to insurance history.
Having that claim on there can really increase your auto insurance rates if you decide to swap insurance companies in the future. 

Don't believe me? See here:
http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/23/news/companies/towing_insurance/
and here:
http://www.clarkhoward.com/when-not-to-contact-your-insuran

For us, the cheaper rate from our insurance company is not worth messing up our clean accident history if we need a tow, so we've stayed with AAA.  Watch out for those sneaky insurance companies!

Interesting.

Note that Nissan provides free roadside assistance for Leafs for at least 3 years. The downside is that they tow you to the closest Nissan dealer if you need something done. But you could always have it towed elsewhere if you preferred.