My kid will be driving soon and I've been looking at cheap cars. His high school commute would be 18-20 miles round trip. We're in Ohio, so deal with cold/hot temps throughout the year. Does it make sense to get him a cheap leaf? I'm looking at it from the standpoint of a climate controlled golf cart. And I'm looking under $3500 price range. Otherwise, it would be somewhere in the $5k range for a used Prius or maybe hybrid Camry but those are usually close to 20 years old. Seems like it'd be a perfect car for a kid to run to school/town with low running costs. I live in the country and have access to a NEMA 14-50 in my garage (installed by the PO).

Am I crazy? Once he goes off to college in 4 years, his younger sister could use it (she's 2 years younger) and once she's gone, we could use it to run to town, etc. In the case of not worrying about range, it seems like a no brainer? We currently drive a hybrid Rav4 and Honda Fit, so this would be our first foray into EVs.

Checked three dealers for a 2026 leaf. One has none, one has a top trim one that I'm not interested in and the one that's an hour away has four (including one I'm interested in) but they're trying to add on $2k in dealer BS + the 'usual' $900 doc fee.

Can't tell if they're in short supply because they're selling fast or because there just aren't any really being made.

I am thinking about buying a cheap Leaf with a failing battery - around 2,500 to 3,000 USD. The. Immediately swapping the battery pack out for a 62 kWh pack. My thoughts are that would give me a 200+ mile range EV for around 10,000, less if I swap out the battery myself. I am a mildly fare wrench. I have rebuilt engines, but I have never owned or worked on an EV.

Is this a stupid idea?

I thought I would post with my experience leaf with < 30 miles of range.

Why I bought the leaf and sold my old car

Before I bought the leaf, I had a 2012 prius that I bought from a family member and drove for 3 years. It was a great car and gots great mileage. But I was not really driving much, and the amount I was spending on oil changes every 6 months was close to about half the amount I spent on fuel. In the past I had gone without a car and used transit and bike commuting, for the majority of my adult life, to be honest. Spending money on insurance and oil changes seemed like a waste when I barely touched my car.

My original plan was to sell my prius and wait 4-6 months to buy a new car, and earn some interest on that in the mean time, and save money on insurance. I had never financed a car before, always bought with cash, and I was considering financing my next auto purchase to get something nicer.

In considering my next car, I was browsing fb market and found a leaf listed for $1800. Originally, I was just curious and didn't really expect to buy immediately when I set up a test drive. But with just one paycheck and a bit of savings and putting some other expenses on my credit card, I could easily pay for it in cash and pulled the trigger. I paid $1700 for the car, but registration fees cost me $400, because of the EV road use tax in my state.

What were my total costs? Did I get a good Deal?

• Purchase: $1700 (seller was willing to go $1600, but I didn't press the issue)
• Registration and fees: $400 (mostly ev road use tax, my state has a program where you can pay based on miles driven, but it doesn't apply to the initial registration)
• Repairs: $550 to get rear brakes and shock absorbers replaced.

Compared to some other leaf purchases with similar stats on this site, the amount I paid was significantly more. But the car has run well, and even though the battery is degraded, it would cost almost that much to buy a battery with similar capacity of 7-8kwh.

As for the mechanical work, I got really lucky in finding an affordable mechanic, and even a mechanic who would work on the car at all. Even though those issues weren't at all related to car's electrical drivetrain, from my subsequent research a lot of mechanics refuse to work on ev's for any issues at all.

I was a little bit shocked that the mechanic said the rear brakes were shot, because i almost never had issues with my brakes on my prius. With the regen the brakes were hardly ever used. But the issue with the rear suspension was blatant and obvious, and replacing those shock absorbers made the ride so much better.

I expect the leaf either had an accident or was driven very poorly over the 80,000 miles, because of those issues, but for a car that cost as much as an ebike, I still consider it a great deal.

The main thing I was worried about was the battery condition, and how it would hold up. It has held up great so far, and it was nice to get a range boost as it got warmer. One question that I wonder about with these degraded batteries, is whether the degradation accelerates, or whether it slows down with exponential decay. I've learned a bit more about the battery stats, the HX and SOH, so I know now what to look for if I buy another.

There are apparently issues with the front suspension as well, although I was told this isn't an urgent issue, and I almost never go on the freeway because one missed exit could use up all my range.

Meineke did a free inspection on it, and quoted me for some repairs, but I found an independent small mechanic who did it for cheaper. Meineke has mixed reviews, but if the shop in your area will work on EVs, that's an option to consider. The reason why places like meineke sometimes aren't great, is because you don't know how good the technicians or mechanics will be. But if there are few places that will even look at an EV, then your options are much more limited, and car dealerships can be even worse, the often won't even want to really service out of warranty cars and charge insane prices.

Who I would recommend buy a cheap Low Range Leaf?

The people who will get the most benefit from a cheap low range leaf, are people who would otherwise probably go without a car. The shorter your commute the better, at the time I bought it, my commute was <2 miles one way, just over 3 miles round trip.

But to be honest, I think at the price you can pick them up for, almost anyone can benefit from a low range leaf. The biggest benefit is getting experience with EV ownership, for a minimal up front cost.

If you do a better job of research than I did, then you can probably find something without significant mechanical issues. At the price I just wanted something that was driveable and then I was hoping it wouldn't fall apart or catch fire. If you can figure out leaf spy and pay for a mechanic to inspect the non-electric parts, like suspension, brakes, steering system, etc. I think that is a very smart move.

The biggest issue is not the up front price or even potential initial repairs, I think the biggest cost issue is whether the cost to insure your leaf is worth it for the limited amount you can drive it.

If you have never owned an EV before, then I think 100% this is a great option. You can always stop driving it and cancel the insurance.

Also, if you are considering trying a battery upgrade or doing modifications, I think it makes sense to buy a cheaper old leaf, so that you are spending less on the initial purchase. I would recommend not making any changes for at least a few months, so you can figure out what you like.

Learning To Deal With Limitations And Range Anxiety

If you want to use your EV to its full potential, then at some point you will need to charge at a public charger.

One of the most annoying parts of EV ownership still, is that public chargers are a total dice roll and completely unpredictable. Even if you are just using chargepoint, it is not clear whether you will be able to use a specific listed charger, whether you can even legally park at the marked charger, or whether it is even on.

Then you have lots of other charging networks: I have downloaded at least 3 to 4 other apps besides chargepoint.

My leaf only charges at 3.5 kilowatts, even if the level 2 charger says it can do 7 kilowatts. I avoid fast charging with chademo, but it has worked for me a couple times. This means that at a level 2 charger, I can still only add about 12 miles of range per hour of charging.

If your ev has limited range, you will get more experience with dealing with public chargers, and you will be able to figure out which chargers in your area work, and which don't.

My favorite way to use a public charger, is to wake up early, drive to a charger about 12 to 18 miles away, and then I can let it charge for 60 90 minutes. I recently switched jobs and I would pick up temp construction jobs that were at the very edge of my 25-30 mile range. I would drive over half way there, charge back up, drive to the work site, recharge, and drive back home.

If this were a daily commute, it could work, but it would suck. Because this was random short term jobs, it wasn't that bad. I could nap.

Emergency Charging: Generators and Random Outlets

One of the temp jobs I did, the closest charger was over 15 miles away, so I ended up not with enough range for the return trip. I was planning for this, and went to the walmart and bought a generator.

It didn't work at first, which I will explain why in a minute.

I searched public parks and LDS chapels in my area(they sometimes have pavilions with working outlets). thankfully the first park I tried had a working outlet and it was close enough. So even though the generator didn't work, I didn't have to call for a tow. But I spent almost 3 hours just to add enough range to get to the next charger. That charger was full and the next charger I could reach didn't have cell reception to use the charging app, so I was stuck at outside a truckstop overnight until I drove back to working charger that was full.

But this was something I was planning for. I didn't have a job to get to the next day, and was willing to take the risks.

Charging Costs

Believe it or not, about half the public chargers I have tried are free. A lot of the times, I would rather pay anyway, because the paid chargers are almost never occupied. The free chargers often will have a tesla or rivian just camping there for hours. Overall, in my area I just pay my landlord $0.15/kwh, which amounts to 23 miles per dollar. The public charging costs average to about the same, because while they do charge more per kilowatt hour, because so many public chargers in my area are free, the average cost is still about $0.15/kwh in my area. Keep in mind I have only used chademo a couple times.

The one fee that did get me, was a $0.25 cent per minute parking fee. I parked at a chademo station, because there was no level 2 charger, and I went to harbor freight nearby. I ended up getting charged $16 for my charge, and $15 was for the parking fee for an hour, which I didn't even see. Because my car charged in less than 30 minutes, it went straight to charging the parking fee.

TL DR;

1. Low range EVs are great way to get into ev ownership, especially figuring out public charging and how everything works. Worst case scenario you spend a couple grand and it fails after a month or two, but that's better than spending $5-10k and the same thing could happen. If you have ev experience you will be that much better prepared to buy confidently.
2. I strongly recommend waiting to sell your old for a couple months, or having some alternative at first.
3. You can upgrade EV batteries, but it is generally smarter just to sell it and buy another EV.
4. The big challenges are public charging, finding mechanics(although evs rarely have issues), and having to pay insurance for an extra car.
5. EVs will save you in costs, but are not for everyone.

Has anyone gotten their Leaf windows tinted? I’m in southeast USA and our summers get pretty hot. My Leaf will be garage-kept when I’m at home, but just sits in a parking lot at work.

I already ordered a windshield sunshade, but I’m thinking about getting my windows tinted with the nice ceramic heat-resistant stuff to help reduce heat in the summer.

Anyone have their windows tinted? Do you find it helps with battery temp/life?

My wife’s jeep gets 18mpg and my sedan gets around 25mpg so we spend a lot of time at the gas stations, especially with the prices reaching $5. During the summer I pretty much work 6days a week and my commute is exactly 34 miles round-trip. I was looking at EV‘s for sale and came across one on marketplace for $1000. Everything‘s good to go and comes with both chargers.
EXCEPT! it only charges to 25 miles max due to poor battery life. I have the capability of charging at my house and My Job. My shifts at work are a minimum of 7hours. Do you think it’s worth it to buy this for a $1000 and use it as my summer commute or is the 17miles on way too close for the max range of 25miles? Anyone with experience with low range EV’s?

Hoping for some real expierences to help me make a decision. I live in western NY, looking at a 2015 leaf with 59k miles and 12 bars showing on the dash for $6k. This would be a commuter car for my wife from April - November, we have a Tahoe for the winters. She has a 40 mile round trip commute, about 30 of those miles are highway with 70-80 mph travel. Traffic is not too bad in our area, worst case there may be a mile or two of stop and go traffic. We will have the ability to charge at home, and in a pinch she can charge at work. Would this be a realistic vehicle for her? Or is she going to be crapping her pants every drive home watching the mileage drop?