Questions for Older Nissan Leaf Owners

[Beach_Stache]

I'm fully open for a face punch here, so I'll brace myself.  We have a family of 5 (DW and 3 boys (11, 9, 6)) and I drive a 2003 Corolla w/165k miles, DW drives a 2013 Nissan Quest w/65k miles.  Most of our driving is local, w/in 20 miles, but will make 200 mile trips to see family a few times/year or for work.  I drive to take kids to sports each day, 20 miles round trip max most of the time.

My Corolla is doing fine but older so I worry about it falling apart.  As my 11 year old gets closer to driving age and wanting an extra reliable car in case one is in the shop I was thinking about a used Nissan Leaf or Prius.  I like the idea of a Leaf b/c reduced emissions, but don't want to be stupid and buy a car just to have a 3rd car when my oldest is still 5 years away from driving.  I saw a local 2012 Nissan Leaf for a reasonable price w/115k miles for $4400 and it seemed like a good deal, and the way I understand EV's is that you're dealing w/battery degregation (so years of the battery) and not necessarily mileage, so liked the idea of the leaf, but this one is close to 10 years old. 

I don't want to buy a used car just to have it for a few years, I am really interested in "no thrills" cars that get me there with as little maintenance as possible, so I am just trying to determine if going EV is what would fit our family best or not.

My questions for the dealer are below, but I realize I'm probably leaving a lot off of the table or not thinking about our situations.  Most miles are local, for family trips we'd take the van, for work trips it's 220 miles one way, so I'd need to take the Corolla, but most other mileage is short range w/in the community (< 30 miles round trip).  Anything I'm missing here, or do I deserve a double face punch for even thinking about a third car?  Bracing myself...

1. Is there battery degradation on this car and if so, what is the current charge is for the battery (i.e. how many miles per charge)
2. Typically how much longer do you think the battery will last past it's current period?
3. For my type of driving (less than 50 miles/day), can I do this with a normal plug in to the wall outlet, or do I need a 240V specially installed?  I'm trying to figure if installing a high speed charger makes financial sense.
4. Is there any "normal maintenance" beyond tire rotations?  I am trying to determine what my normal maintenance would be like.
5. If the battery does significantly decline, is there an option to replace the batter to get "full charge" again?  If so, what is the cost for this?
6. For battery replacement, if this is an option, is there the possibility for an "upgraded battery" where I can get beyond the 80 or so miles at full charge (so can I replace the current battery with a new Leaf battery that gets 200 miles/charge?)
7. If I were out and about and the battery died b/c charge was lost, is the only option to tow the car to a place where I can charge it?
8. How long for a full (or 80% charge) from a normal outlet vs a high speed charger?
9. I read something about pre-2013 Leaf's having an issue where you can over-charge the battery or something where you have to be careful about how to charge, is there anything to know about the pre-2013 Leaf vs. 2013-Present?

[shuffler]

Mostly I'd suggest this:  https://www.mynissanleaf.com/

... but I own a 2015 Leaf, so I'll have a go at giving an opinion on a few of your questions ...

1. Is there battery degradation on this car and if so, what is the current charge is for the battery (i.e. how many miles per charge)
There most certainly will be.
Don't ask "how many miles per charge" b/c that depends highly on route/style/weather/etc.
Typically people will talk about "how many bars of capacity are left" (or are "lost"), referring to the on-dash capacity display.

2. Typically how much longer do you think the battery will last past it's current period?
I don't have any real experience here.  The forum may give you a broader perspective.

3. For my type of driving (less than 50 miles/day), can I do this with a normal plug in to the wall outlet, or do I need a 240V specially installed?  I'm trying to figure if installing a high speed charger makes financial sense.
I would think you could do it with a normal plug-in to the wall.
Back before the end of times, I would drive 20-25/day, and had no problem using my normal plug-in.

4. Is there any "normal maintenance" beyond tire rotations?  I am trying to determine what my normal maintenance would be like.
I've not had anything other than tires in the past ~2.5 years.
Eventually I may have to replace the brake pads, but they last much longer on a Leaf (due to regen brakng) than you'd be used to from a ICE car.

5. If the battery does significantly decline, is there an option to replace the batter to get "full charge" again?  If so, what is the cost for this?
Check the forum.
In theory, yes.  I think it's around $6k + labor.  I don't know that people actually do it, or that it's readily available in practice.

6. For battery replacement, if this is an option, is there the possibility for an "upgraded battery" where I can get beyond the 80 or so miles at full charge (so can I replace the current battery with a new Leaf battery that gets 200 miles/charge?)
Check the forum.
Not from Nissan, I don't think.
In theory, there's an article about some 3rd party who would do this, but again, may not work out so well in practice.

7. If I were out and about and the battery died b/c charge was lost, is the only option to tow the car to a place where I can charge it?
If you were unable to get-to/find a higher level charging station, then your best bet would be to travel with the "normal wall outlet" charger in the car, and use your last bit of juice to get you to a wall outlet somewhere.  That'd slowly restore some miles/charge, but you'd be waiting for a while.

Also, I've heard that there are portable L2 chargers, and that some towing/roadside-assist vehicles may start carrying them.  But I wouldn't bet on it.

8. How long for a full (or 80% charge) from a normal outlet vs a high speed charger?
Lots of data on the internet for that.
I'd suggest that if you're planning to use a normal outlet, that you should really just think of that as an "overnight" solution.  Or perhaps a "for 8 hours while I'm at work" solution.  You can't count on it to charge a useful amount in a short time.

9. I read something about pre-2013 Leaf's having an issue where you can over-charge the battery or something where you have to be careful about how to charge, is there anything to know about the pre-2013 Leaf vs. 2013-Present?
Check the forum.
I don't recall seeing such a thing myself.  Maybe what you heard was about over-heating rather than over-charging?

[aetheldrea]

I bought a 2011 Leaf in January. It was cheap and the range is not great, maybe 42 miles or so when fully charged. I have 3 driving aged children at home but only one has a license, the other 2 are Not Interested In Driving, as many young people are not. Ours is also a third car to a minivan and small efficient car, and I think works well in that role. Since we bought it, about a third of our miles have been electric. My wife enjoys driving it more than the minivan, and I’m hoping that our other cars will last longer with less use. As the range continues to decline, it will get less and less useful, but still pretty useful, (my work 7 miles, wife’s work 2 miles, church 2 miles, grocery store 0.5 miles).

It sounds like you really don’t “need” a third car now, and won’t for at least 5 years. Adding another car now will probably be a cost rather than a savings. All things considered, it might be a wash. So I think it would depend on how strongly you feel about driving electric.

[Beach_Stache]

That's a good point.  I don't really "need" it, I just worry that when one of the cars goes then it'll be a mad scramble to not get what I want and not at the right price point.  But I guess there are always good used cars on the lot, so without being super picky it makes sense to wait and not have something else in the driveway.  I do drive daily to go coach, but that's about it right now, so really < 20 miles total each day, so maybe I just see how far the Corolla will go.

[Circuit]

I purchased a used 2015 Leaf last year when we needed to add a second car to our family, and I love it! I think you already got a good answer to your specific questions, so I just wanted to mention that this buyers guide article at Inside EVs was very helpful for me to understand the differences between the different model years, and how to get a rough estimate of the state of health of the battery by looking at the battery 'Capacity Bars' on the dash display:

https://insideevs.com/news/325877/used-nissan-leaf-buying-guide/

In addition, the 2011 and 2012 Leafs had battery degradation issues, especially in hot climates. It is quite possible that the one you are looking at has lost 3-5 (out of 12) capacity bars, indicating a significantly reduced driving range. On the other hand, the older Leaf models have taken huge depreciation hits and if you are patient, you can pick them up for pennies on the dollar as you have noticed. They can be great cars if you have low daily mileage needs and easy access to charging at home. Based on my rate of battery capacity loss, I estimate I can get another 8-10 years of useful life out of the battery in my car before the available range in winter is less than my commute. Theoretically its possible to replace them, but will Nissan or a third party vendor still be offering replacements in 10 years? Nobody knows. However, based on the low purchase price I got, my total cost of ownership will likely be lower than a similar gasoline car, even if it is worth $0 when the battery dies.