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Review: 2023 Nissan Leaf

Copyright © 2025 by David E. Ross

I bought an electric Nissan Leaf in 2023. After driving it for two years and 10,000 miles, I decided to write a review of it.

Having taken professional driving lessons with California learner's permit, I got my driver's license on my 16th birthday in 1957. (Yes, I am old!) Prior to 1964 I drove — but did not own — my parents' old car when they bought a new one. In 1964, I bought a battleship-gray Volkswagen beetle. (I have always owned each car for many years. Thus, I have always bought new.) Up to the time I decided the VW needed to be replaced because my family was growing, my wife did not drive. I offered to keep the VW and let my wife have a new Volvo, but she said she did not want to learn to drive. Thus, I traded in the VW and bought a Volvo. A few months later, my wife took driving lessons and informed me I needed a carpool to get to work. Thus, I bought a yellow Karmann Ghia. Thereafter, I had a VW diesel Rabbit, a VW diesel Golf, a VW diesel Jetta, and a VW gasoline Jetta. Yes, I really liked Volkswagen. All the VWs except the last one were "stick shift" as my wife — always since the Volvo — had a separate car with an automatic transmission. With retirement and our children out on their own, however, the possibility of us becoming a one-car household meant that the last Jetta had an automatic transmission.

After some 10 years, that last Jetta began to have problems. With gasoline prices fluctuating wildly — going up very quickly and down very slowly — an electric car appealed to me. I reviewed Consumer Reports and decided to test-drive a VW ID.4 and a Nissan Leaf. Both were okay. However, entering the VW required stepping higher than stepping into the Nissan. That could be a problem for my wife, who now has Parkinson's. So I bought a Nissan Leaf.

Here is my review of the car.

Charging

The need to charge an electric vehicle is what makes many car buyers hesitant to choose one. The operators of some public chargers fail to maintain them. Too often, apartment dwellers find a lack of charging stations within their apartment complex. In many areas, a lack of working public charging stations mean long-distance travel is not possible in an electric vehicle.

None of the above affects me. When I had a solar electric system installed on my roof, I had it over-sized in anticipation of buying an electric vehicle. Shortly after I bought the Leaf, I had a level-2 charging station installed in my garage. Because of my wife's health problems, we no longer do any long-distance trips.

Trump cancelled all federal funding for expanding and maintaining public changing stations (a bow to the petroleum industry). In many urban and some suburban areas, however, I expect that charging stations will eventually become as common as gas stations. Indeed, I expect many gas stations will also have chargers.

When I was a software test engineer working on the software used by the U.S. military to operate its space satellites, one feature dealt battery reconditioning. Many satellites had more than one battery. They were charged through solar panels. A battery would gradually deteriorate with frequent charging. (The following is a simplification.) The reconditioning software would control the chargers — one at a time — to completely discharge a battery and then fully recharge it. A similar situation exists for electric cars and cell phones. Lithium-ion batteries deteriorate not from the amount of charging but the frequency of charging, the number of charging cycles. If you keep on topping up a rechargeable battery, it will eventually fail to hold a charge. Thus, I run my Leaf until the current charge is below 50% before recharging it; I wait until my cell phone's battery is below 60% before recharging it. Note that using a fast charger (Level-3) also deteriorates a battery more quickly than a medium charger (Level-2); in my garage, I have a Level-2 charger.

What is Good

Adaptive Cruise Control: After setting a speed, the cruise control holds that speed while going downhill. I do not have to use the brakes even going down the steepest grade. In heavy traffic, it maintains a safe distance from the car ahead of me. If that car ahead stops, the cruise control slows the Leaf and then stops at a safe distance. If the cruise control stops the car, a light tap on the accelerator is sufficient to resume moving when the car ahead moves; that tap is unnecessary if the stop only lasts a few seconds.
The terrain in southern California consists of valleys and coastal plains separated by mountain ridges. Thus, highways are characterized by level stretches between grades of various steepness. The Conejo Grade on the Camarillo side is steepest highway grade in California. Using cruise control, my Leaf ascends this without losing speed and descends it without accelerating. However …
Doors: The front doors of the old Jetta opened almost perpendicular to the body. Not only is that also true with the Leaf, but also true for the Leaf's back doors. The doors lock as I begin to drive; they unlock when I turn off the power. Unlike the Tesla, each door has a manual toggle to unlock it without tearing the door apart if an accident causes the electrical system to fail. The doors have a soft plastic trim on the edge to prevent scratches (shopping cart rash) on adjacent cars when we open a door.
Heater and Air Conditioner: When I turn on the system, it automatically resumes the latest settings.
Heated Steering Wheel: This might seem like a small thing. However, I no longer have to wear gloves when driving in the winter.
Parking Brake: With all prior cars, my wife had to use both hands to set the parking brake. The Leaf has a small switch with which we use a single finger to set the brake.
ECO Mode: "ECO" means economy. I use this while driving on city streets with traffic lights, boulevard stops, and turns. It inhibits useless rapid acceleration, thus reducing the demand for electricity. When driving on a freeway, however, I turn off this feature because freeway traffic often requires that I have maximum acceleration capability.
Vehicle Information Display: This is a display on the left end of the dashboard, controlled by buttons on the steering wheel. I have it set to display my speed, both digitally and on an analog dial; that display also shows the compass direction in which I am driving, the setting of the adaptive cruise control, the charge level of the battery, the outside temperature, and the time of day. I can manipulate the display to show the air pressure in each tire or to change the radio between FM and AM, among other things.
Head Lights: There is a setting that automatically turns on the lights when it gets dark, not totally dark but when lights are appropriate. When I turn the power off while the lights are on automatically, they turn off after a very few minutes. However …
Lane Departure Warning: If the Leaf starts to drift into an adjacent lane, there is a slight buzzing sound; and the steering wheel vibrates. This is handy especially when driving on a changing curve where I am not constantly adjusting my path.
Blind Spot Warning: This is apparently a feature of many cars sold today. A yellow light appears on the edge of an outside mirror on the side where a car is in a blind spot in an adjacent lane. If I have my turn signal on to change into that lane, I hear beeping. Since my Jetta was about 10 years old, this feature is quite new to me. In my old age, I have trouble turning my head enough to see if another car is already in the lane to which I want to go. Thus, this feature has become very important to me.
No Exhaust: Turning on the car in a closed garage does not generate toxic carbon monoxide. Also, without an exhaust system, there is no catalytic converter for thieves to steal.

What is Not Good

Owner's Manual: This very thick document describes features differently from how they exist on my Leaf and fails to describe several features.
Center Multi-Function Control Panel: This is a touch-screen display in the middle of the dashboard. Often, it fails to respond to my touch. If I brush dust from it, however, it responds when I do not want it. Touch-screens are a cause of distracted driving since the driver must look at the screen to make sure he or she is touching the correct spot. Video displays are okay, but touch-screens should be prohibited.
Glove Compartment: Called the "Glove Box" in the Owner's Manual. Many cars have a light that go on when the box is open; this one does not. When closed, there is a gap at the top of the back of the compartment. Thin items — such as my wife's handicap placard — can be launched through that gap when closing the compartment; they are then lost forever. There is no lock.
Head Lights: California law requires that head lights be on whenever windshield wipers are operating. Unfortunately, the Leaf's setting to turn the lights on automatically does not turn them on when the wipers are on unless it is also dark.
Entertainment: My wife is very disappointed that there is no CD player.
Adaptive Cruise Control: This feature is sometimes problematical when driving on a curve. On a curve to the left, cars parked on the right are detected as if they are in front of me. Similarly on a curve to the right, where cars on my left appear as if in front. The result is that the cruise control slows or even stops the car. Also, the cruise control will not stop the car if there is an unmoving object in front (e.g., a car stopped before the cruise control detects it).
Spare Tire: There is none. There is a kit to repair and re-inflate a flat tire. However, "repair" means filling the tire with some kind of foam that supposedly seals the leak. All this is insufficient if there is a "blow out", as I discovered early when I got too close to the curb when entering a driveway too fast.

30 June 2025

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