11 Months, 36,000 Miles In A Nissan Leaf Electric Car? No Problem Page 2

By Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield

Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield

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Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield is a self-confessed petrol head. She grew up in a carless family but was able at a very early age to name cars passing her on... More

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Steve Marsh's 2011 Nissan Leaf: 11 Months, 36,000 Miles

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36,000 miles, no hassle

While the photograph above shows a slightly lower odometer reading, Marsh now assures us he’s hit the 36,000 mile mark.  During that time he says, his 2011 Nissan Leaf has behaved impeccably. 

Driving between 62 and 65 miles one way, depending on the route he chooses, Marsh says he’s on track to be just shy of 40,000 miles this year. 

On his daily commute, Marsh averages 60 mph, and notes that while he does use the car on weekdays, it gets a little rest at the weekend for longer “500 mile weekend trips”.

The only down side? In colder winter weather, Marsh says he had to sacrifice warmth for range, in order to make sure he arrived.

“Using the heat for an hour plus would use the equivalent of 12 miles of range - so I went the whole winter rarely using the heat longer than it took to defog the windows,” he recounts. “Multiple layers of clothes, gloves and a hat on me, while the passenger window was cracked open helped. A seat heater plugged into the 12v adapter kept my back and backside warmer,” he continues. 

Marsh says he’s unaware of any loss in capacity, although admits he does have some concern that will happen.  He tells us that he has tried to notice, but like watching children grow, it must happen too gradually. 

2011 Nissan Leaf SL

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Nevertheless, Marsh is convinced the loss is negligible, telling us that he thinks his Leaf has lost maybe a few percent of battery capacity in the last 11 months. 

Critiques?

After 36,000 miles, you’d expect Marsh to know his car well, and he does. 

But according to Marsh, the only real bugbears with the Leaf is the lack of leather seating and intermittent connectivity to the Nissan Carwings onboard telematics system. 

After such a short time and such a long distance, Marsh’s story certainly helps blow away the myth that electric cars can’t take the daily strain of long-distance commutes. 

We’d like to offer Marsh our congratulations and wish him many more happy all-electric commutes, but have one question. 

Do you know of someone who has driven further in less time? 

Let us know in the Comments below. 

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