Update On High-Mileage 2011 Nissan Leaf Electric CarUpdate On High-Mileage 2011 Nissan Leaf Electric Car

Last year, we brought you the story of one Nissan Leaf owner really putting his car to the test, as his 130-mile daily commute had racked up 36,000 miles in just 11 months of ownership.
The car, owned and driven by Steve Marsh of Washington state, was one of the highest-mileage Leafs we’d heard of at the time–and it seems Marsh is still using his Leaf as much as ever.
Plugin Cars reports the Leaf is now up to 78,000 miles, with no ill effects.
Given his large daily distance, Marsh was quick to get his workplace to install a charging station when he bought the Leaf in 2011.
Now, he also uses a Blink DC rapid-charge station on his way to and from work–meaning he can drive a little quicker and also use the car’s heater in winter, rather than just wrapping up in extra layers!
Contrary to expectations, all that rapid charging–and indeed, all those miles–seem to have had little effect on the Leaf’s battery capacity. Not a single bar has been lost from the Leaf’s display, though Over the weekend, Marsh’s car lost its first capacity bar, with more accurate measurement showing around a 17 percent degradation in capacity–well within expected tolerances.
And despite the high miles, he’s only run out of charge on one occasion.
The rest of the car is standing up well too, apart from the Leaf’s light-colored interior which is starting to get a little dirty… with some assistance from Marsh’s dog.
He also managed to fix a broken window switch himself after buying the part online. Even the car’s tires have lasted–Marsh is about to start hunting for new ones soon.
Only Ecotality’s recent plans for a $5 fee to charge at Blink DC fast-charge stations concerns Marsh–the $10 per day it would add to his commute calls into question the economics of running an electric car.
Since he bought a Leaf deliberately to save money in the first place, anything that raises his running costs by any significant degree becomes a big issue.
Should such a fee be introduced, Marsh does have other options: adding an extra half hour of Level 2 charging each day, buying an aftermarket state-of-charge meter for accurate readings, and looking into the cost of replacement should his battery no longer be suitable for that long daily commute.
But charging concerns aside, there’s little to suggest the Leaf won’t keep on rolling–and Marsh will keep on burying the stereotype of city-only electric cars.
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