I had quite the running thread about my first electric car the 2012 Nissan Leaf bought in December of 2011. A couple weeks ago we sprung for a new 2018 Leaf.
It took a long time for Nissan to come out with the second generation, and when they did it was almost a half measure. The first Leaf had styling only it's mother could love. Along the way while waiting for version 2, they changed the battery chemistry, doubled the charging speed at home and, then in 2017 added more range to take it from a 24Kwh battery to a 30 Kwh battery. Range went from 75 or so to 100 or so.
For 2018, the looks have really changed to make it look much more like a normal Nissan car. I find it very attractive
Mine is that color.
And they changed the battery to 40Kwh (150 miles). There is supposed to be a version that was 60Kwh (230 miles) that was going to come out in 2018 but it got slipped to "in the future"... so we bit the bullet and went for it.
They have really stepped it up for this car. Slightly bigger inside and out, it just has a real luxurious feel to it now. We bought the advanced technology package but this has some crazy tech on it.
Adaptive cruise control that will actually stop the car if the car in front of you stops. Automatic braking in emergencies (including to avoid hitting pedestrians), Pro-pilot assist that keeps you in the lanes when doing highway driving. Lane departure warning. Blind spot monitoring. The headlights dim automatically when a car approaches and then go back to bright when it is passed.
And one pedal driving. When switched on, you drive the car with only the "gas" pedal. Taking your off off the gas slows the car down with regenerative (motor) braking. The more you back off the gas, the more the car will slow. It comes to a complete stop. It doesn't take long before you get used it and don't have to touch the brakes. (now brakes will last forever!).
(While using pro-pilot assist, which can only be active with cruise control on, if you fail to respond to warnings to put your hands back on the wheel, the car will eventually slow to a stop, turn on the emergency flashers, and call 911)
So we've only hit the 700 mile point so far, but we love this car so far. The wife has let it be known this is HER car.