We hit 100,000 clicks this past weekend. Not bad for a car that “can’t go very far” LOL. It took us 4.5 years to do it. That’s 22,222 km per year, quite a bit more than I had originally predicted. And definitely more than any other car I had in the past!
Overall, the Leaf is still doing vey very well, with no major issues. The only out-of-the-warranty item I had to replace was a faulty switch on the driver’s power window. Nothing else. The AeroVironment charging station is still working as new.
Battery capacity is at 83%, still more than enough for my daily commute. It’s been almost a year since we lost the first bar at 84% so the drop in capacity has slowed down considerably. I don’t expect to need a battery replacement any time soon.
The Volt continues to work well as well. We barely use any gas in the spring, summer or fall, but in the winter it’s pretty much unavoidable. In the colder months, range drops to just 35 km, and the gas engine kicks in for a few minutes when temperature drops below -4C, which is pretty much the whole time here in Ottawa during the winter.
Future plans
We made a reservation for a Tesla Model 3, which is expected to be delivered some time in 2018. The 350+ km of range and the access to superchargers will be a dream come true.
The Leaf will be 7 years old when the Model 3 arrives. It will probably become my son’s car. The only problem is that my wife wants the Model 3 for her so I may end up driving the Volt… Hmmm. Maybe I’ll give the Volt to my son and keep the Leaf. We’ll see.
Another exciting news is that we should be getting a lot of DC Fast Chargers here in Ontario this year, as part of a 20 million dollars program by the province. The locations are expected to be announced any day now. We should also be getting more DC Fast Chargers along highway 50 between Ottawa and Montreal, in addition to the two that are already operational. On top of all that, the federal government just announced today that a national plan for fast charging stations will also be implemented across Canada.
These are very exciting times indeed!
Canadian Leaf 
Thanks for the update. What kind of maintenance has been required on the mechanical brakes?
Hi Bert. Every year the dealer tops up the brake fluid and measures the width of the pads. They haven’t seen the need to flush the brake fluid yet and the pads are still good. They did have to clean the brake calipers last year.
🙂
Checked the last service report from August/2015. Brake pads were 8mm thick (front) and 5 mm (rear). They’re 10 mm when new and need to be replaced when they reach 1 mm. They’re probably good for another 100,000 km. 🙂
congrats your blog looks awesome. I have leaf for last 2 years and planning to buy another one this year. Have you had problems with brakes in your first 100K?
I bought my leaf from kingston nissan from some strange reason and drove all the way to GTA. Please keep writing your experiences its pretty inspiring.
Thanks. I haven’t had any brake issues but I’m considering doing a full brake service after five years just as a precaution. I do have some annoyances related to the brakes though. One is the infamous “grabby brakes” issue that happens at very slow speeds. The other is the “pulsating brakes” which in my case happens if I hit break too smoothly. The first issue has been addressed by software, but not fully fixed. The second went away when I had the calipers cleaned, but came back a few months later. None are critical, just annoying.
Thank you for this blog – I’m also in Ottawa and considering buying an electric car. Very helpful information, especially regarding the cold temperatures!
Great blog. I’d love to hear what you think about the Volt. Are you going to blog about it?
Hi Maury. My latest update has some info about our Volt. It’s doing very very well!
Awesome blog, I am still living in Ottawa and thinking about leaf. I have some questions after reading your blogs about winter condition battery tests. My daily commute from home to company is about 25KM that means 50 KM for a round trip. How long do you think leaf can run in the worst case(-30 degree in winter, head light on, heated seat on, wiper on, heating system on, radio on, navigation on, anyway, turn on all can be on :-)) Thanks!
With the new 30 kWh battery pack, you won’t have any issue driving 50 km to work and back, even in the worst possible case.
Also remember we’re getting fast chargers installed everywhere in Ottawa right now so even if you need to run an extra errand under these conditions, the fast chargers will be there to help.
Thank you so much! the 2017 leaf uses 30kWh battery pack in all trims, you give me the confidences to drive Leaf. I tried Leaf last Saturday , it is amazing, no noise and easy to drive. Did you install fast charging system in your garage? The dealer told me that the government rebate can cover all installation labour and parts fee up to 1000 dollars and that means be free.
Any updates to this blog on the Leaf, or did you sell it? Its been a year since this post.
In the blog you note 35km range in winter – did that get worse this past winter?
I’m also in Ottawa and thinking my next car might be a used or new Leaf, since I don’t drive much, and when I do its mostly in town anyway. (Its usually cheaper to take the train to Toronto than drive, if you book early enough.) Tks.
Hi Rese. Yeah, that was a long time without an update but the 6-year report is finally out (just posted it). About range in the winter, yes it got worse because of the drop in capacity over time, but remember those 35 km were the worst possible case scenario. Most of the winter is not like that. Another thing that changed is the amount of fast chargers in Ottawa right now, so if you decide to get a used Leaf, get one with a DCQC charging port. All the best. Ricardo
Thanks for this great blog, It is reassuring to hear from a Leaf owner from Ottawa about EV. I’m thinking seriously about getting a new Leaf myself and I would like to pick your brain.
1. How do you do a 80% charge? from the wall charger or from the Leaf?
2. Do you use L2 charge at home all the time. I read in other blogs that they got away with just trickle charging at home.
Keep Blogging. Hope to hear about the Tesla 3 soon 🙂 KC
Hi KC. Sorry for the long time to respond… 1. We program an 80% charge on the Leaf but that’s longer available on newer models (> 2014). 2. We have an L2 at home. It has quite a few advantages. Not only it gives you much shorter charging times but it’s also more efficient in terms of electricity usage (a lot of the 120V charging is lost in heat). The L2 also allows you to pre-heat the car and the cabin in the winter. Hope that helps. Ricardo (I just posted a 6-year report — cheers!)