I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

EV driving dynamics and design

  • Several comments compare EV and ICE dynamics: EVs praised for low center of gravity, instant response, and easy torque vectoring; critics say advantages are overstated, especially at highway speeds where many EVs feel slower.
  • Some find 0–10 mph torque “twitchy” and nauseating, blaming both car tuning and unskilled “binary” drivers; others say chill modes fix this.
  • Styling: disagreement whether EVs “must” look weird. Some argue packaging/aero drives shapes; others insist odd looks and color schemes are a deliberate marketing choice. Tesla-like “normal” styling is seen as a competitive advantage.

Leaf-specific pros, cons, and battery issues

  • Leaf singled out as an outlier: passive cooling, early chemistries, and CHAdeMO make it cheap used but less future-proof. Many commenters explicitly say its battery stewardship is “terrible” versus modern EVs.
  • Suggested longevity practices (avoid frequent DC fast charges, keep SoC ~50–80%, occasional 100% for balancing) are seen by some as off-putting “battery babysitting”; others say this is mostly Leaf-specific and not needed on newer, thermally managed EVs.
  • Mixed anecdotes: some Leaf/e-Up/Zoe owners report little degradation over many years; others saw range collapse quickly, especially in hot climates or with early packs.

Repairability, DRM, and hybrids

  • Concerns about EV and hybrid “ticking time bombs” once out of warranty, with proprietary electronics, DRM’d parts, and very expensive official repairs.
  • Several call for EU/US right-to-repair rules for cars, not just phones. Others note this is a general “computerized car” problem, not unique to EVs.
  • Hybrids in particular are portrayed as risky used purchases due to unrepairable battery packs and weird warranties capped by vehicle value.

Charging, range, and daily use

  • Repeated theme: for typical commutes (10–40 miles/day), home or workplace Level 1/2 charging makes EV ownership almost trivial; most charging happens while parked, and a 40–60 kWh pack easily covers a week.
  • Range anxiety is reported to mostly evaporate in daily use, but remains real for:
    • Long trips (200–500+ miles) where charging adds 30–90 minutes and infrastructure can be patchy or crowded.
    • People without dedicated home/work charging, who face “charge anxiety”: queues, broken stations, app hassles, and social friction around shared chargers.
  • Some argue renting an ICE/SUV for rare long trips can still be cheaper than buying a “chungus” long-range EV; others counter that frequent rentals are costly and inconvenient.

Standards, infrastructure, and payments

  • US: fragmentation between CHAdeMO, CCS1, NACS, and many proprietary networks/apps is a major pain point. Leaf’s CHAdeMO particularly limits DC options without an expensive active adapter.
  • Europe: commenters stress CCS2 + Type 2 are effectively universal; Tesla has switched to CCS2 there. Payment is still inconsistent: some sites offer tap-to-pay, others require buggy apps or QR flows; EU rules are starting to mandate card payment on new fast chargers.
  • Several note big improvements in charger count and reliability in recent years, but non-Tesla experiences are still highly region-dependent.

Economics, depreciation, and used market

  • Strong sentiment that new EVs depreciate brutally; many advocate leasing new or buying used only. Leasing can shift depreciation risk to manufacturers but doesn’t eliminate it; some leases rely on overly optimistic residuals.
  • OP’s used Leaf price (after tax credit) is seen as reasonable; others highlight even cheaper options (older Leafs, e-Up, Zoe, 500e) in Europe and some US regions.
  • EU commenters describe a vibrant cheap-EV market (Zoe, e-Up, old Ioniq), versus a thinner, more expensive small-EV used market in the US.

Alternatives: other EVs and bikes

  • Many propose the Chevy Bolt (especially post-recall with new packs), VW e-Golf, Ioniq, and BMW i3 as superior used buys: better efficiency, CCS, faster charging, often similar money.
  • Multiple people point out that for “a few miles a day” a (e-)bike would be cheaper, healthier, and often faster in cities—tempered by concerns about safety, weather, and poor bike infrastructure.

UX and ergonomics

  • Complaints about touch-heavy infotainment, laggy head units, missing physical buttons (e.g., no play/pause, clumsy pause via volume knob), and inconsistent implementation of one-pedal driving.
  • Some praise simpler, button-heavy interiors on models like Leaf, e-Up, or certain Hyundais as more pleasant and reliable than modern app-centric systems.