I've Owned The Cheapest Electric Car For 2 Weeks & I'm Absolutely Loving It!

Kyle brings you for an update on his 2012 Nissan LEAF SL that he purchased from an eBay auction. The car was the cheapest electric car for sale in the entire country and here's how it's going

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#Nissan #LEAF #Cheap

[dpevjen]

I live near Seattle and purchased my used 2011 Nissan Leaf in 2016 for $7999. Then I had the dealership install a 2016-era battery for $4000 so now I get about 100 miles after each charge. I've only used the 110 VAC charger that comes free with the car to charge it. There has been absolutely no maintenance ever needed. It's fun to thumb my nose at the gas stations as I drive by. This year 2022 in March we had solar panels installed on our house and our monthly bills have been $0, $0, $24, and $16 for the last 4 months. This includes charging the car, air conditioning the house, cooking, mowing the lawn, etc. In conclusion, I'm a happy camper!

[TheTaino]

I also bought the cheapest Leaf available in my area 4 years ago. It was supposed to be a 1 year test and I still daily drive my Nissan Leaf 2014. I do a 40 mile roundtrip commute. This is the best commuters car, very low cost of ownership.

[StephenColes]

I love that Alyssa is playing more of a role in your vids. Her occasional grunts of disapproval are great. “Assuming we don’t electrocute ourselves…”

[hectorsantiago]

I feel represented. I have a 2012 Leaf with full bars. I love my Leaf. Bought it just over a year ago for $6000. Best car I've ever bought so far. I'm also a professor, which I thought was funny. Lol

[CafeElectric]

A friend recently bought a Leaf for $2200 Net in Oregon.
She bought a 2012 Leaf SL from the local dealer, excellent condition, 69% SOH with about 60 miles range.
The key is that Oregon offers a Charge Ahead rebate for low income families (low income is under 4x the poverty line) so purchase price was $7000 and after a little paperwork and a few months waiting she got a $5000 refund from the state. Additionally there was about $200 in registration transfer and EV fee, no sales tax here.

She loves it, it's a comfy car with heated steering wheel and seats, and when she wanted to go to Seattle, we swapped with my Tesla model 3. Yes, that's privilege, but a rental car also would have sufficed for those rare long trips.

Thanks for covering the fun low cost end of EVs!

[cosmodahlia]

I bought a used 2015 Leaf SL about 5 years ago. I currently have almost 97, 000 miles and LeafSpy says I have about 14% battery degradation with full bars. I live in the PNW so that helps, but they’ve improved the battery chemistry from the 2011 models to help with longevity. Only maintenance I’ve done is put in a new $20 cabin air filter. I’m sure I’m due for some basic maintenance, but overall it still drives great!

[GaborBona]

This just warmed my heart. I have the exact same car. 2012 LEAF SL. It still has 66% SOH and I could not be happier. I completely agree with you, this car is amazing. Once you get the onboard charger fixed you plug in at home in the evening and it's ready every morning. It is the best car I ever owned. Never gonna sell it. Enjoy the LEAF!

[kevywevy]

Bought our '13 leaf used in '16 with 26, 000 miles and now has 109, 000 miles. My daughter's customary leaf spotting when she was 3-4; was to sing "Leaf Buddy! Do do do do YEAH!"
It's a fantastic second car for a 2 car household. Just bought a 2020 Niro EV in May 2021, already 25, 000 miles on the Niro.

[acamilop]

Had a used leaf for nearly six flawless years. Great car. Underated as a city car. Sold it this summer for as much as I paid for it.

[nwsrcphotog]

I think covering affordable EV's is really doing the public a huge service.. most people can't afford those other expensive EV's... There are a bunch of cool Motorcycle EV's as well! Maybe you can expand to reviewing those too!

[Hitstirrer]

Kyle- Check the passenger side front suspension strut. These cars have a problem with a rain drain in the wiper spindle that dumps water directly into the top of the suspension strut connection and causes it to rust through there. Access via a small plastic mesh triangle. Always needs to be cleaned out and protected with grease and a lid to stop future water in there. Driver side in USA will be OK.

[devinself]

Thanks Kyle for making a relatable realistic used car review. I am very interested in learning how to replace the existing degraded batteries.

[jerrymildredpetersen]

Good job, Kyle and Alyssa!! I’m really glad you’re covering cars that practically everyone can afford and showing that they have a lot going for them. I hope you’ll soon be able to repair the charger and upgrade the battery AND have videos of those projects.

[Chrisbs]

I love this series. You do influence people and I hear all the time that evs are just too expensive. It’s 2 things. 1. There are affordable evs and 2. The use case for an everyday car. It will be important for this car to get the charger fixed for overnight charging at home. We have a Mini Cooper se and I hear from people that the 114 range is t enough. Yet we drive it more than our model Y. It’s the go to grocery getter or around town car. We rack up the miles on it and have never had any issue with range it’s full every night

[samuelweiner]

This is an important video for the future of EV's. Really good public service to show people that Used EV cars will become a viable affordable option.

[madmotorcyclist]

Am an original owner of a 2011 Leaf. I haven't fast charged the battery pack yet (use my garage 240V charger), but even after 11 years I still get 70 mile range on it (and still get all bars). The only maintenance I've had to deal with over that whole time was a flat tire, one accessory battery, two key fob batteries, replaced brake fluid, and just recently needed to get a water pump replaced (total maintenance cost ~$2000 for 11 years). The way to keep the battery in good condition is to never leave the Leaf fully charged for long periods of time, or just charge to 80%. Always if fully charged make sure your drive gets it down to 80% if you park it overnight.

[hazmatt]

also to add, when the battery does degrade to the point of un-usability, it would be amazing to see a recycling video with Redwood Materials. This will give insight to the entire EV close loop system. So many EV haters will continue to hate and talk down about what happens when the battery is no good. This process might help to shed light on the matter. Keep up the great content.

[davidmccarthy]

A few year old Leaf would be cheap and awesome for a 16 year old. No maintenance to speak of and the range doesn't matter since all they do is drive to school and a local job.

[berthogendoorn]

I recall one of the UK channels, they removed the pack and only replaced 4 swollen cells and were able to recover a substantial battery capacity, so that is another far more cost effective option

[stevenesheim]

We bought a used 2015 Leaf in 2017. We loved it. We had it for 5 years till we traded it for a Chevy Bolt. When we traded it was a month and 1/2 from 8 years old and the battery was at 80% health. We had lost 1 bar. The only maintenance we did was tires, wipers and the 12 volt battery. It met all our needs as a daily driver. We only traded it because its trade in value was high and the GM dropped the price of the new Bolts by $5, 900. I would recommend a used leaf as long as you know the battery state and that your daily driving fits within is range. We found we got real world rang of low 70s in the non winter times and low 50s in the winter. Mostly city driving.