Another LEAF, are you insane?

 Yep, #3 is in the driveway. Previous one (2018 Leaf S) is for sale. [Edit: SOLD!!]

NOTICE: I was wrong! see **  below.

2021 Nissan Leaf S ePlus. 225 Miles of range on the hoof.

And yeah, the 50% increase in range is real. 30% more power ain't bad either.  See below.  

Insanity arguments:

Q: This thing has been in production for over 10 years! Why not get a newer design?

A: Money,    ...well, and in that 10 years it's proven fairly reliable.

Longer answer: Lots of money. Tesla and GM (Bolt) do not qualify for the federal rebate. $7500 is real money. Kia/Hyundai are about $8000 high for similar capabilities during real-world negotiations. Availability on those isn't great, and $8K is real money. Jaguar and Audi are expensive jokes. Ford? maybe someday. VW might be worth a look.  

Leaf dealers are already getting antsy about their stock levels so between Nissan's reductions and dealer reductions you're looking at $10K off the top. A $42K car is suddenly $32K, -before- federal and state rebates. Deals are out there. With the right combination of time of year (dealer incentives), state, federal, and sometimes local electric company incentives it is VERY possible to get the lower range model (40 KWh) down to $18K by the time all is said and done. Don't believe Idjits who tell you how expensive electric cars are. Teslas, yes -they- are expensive

Q: Leases are insane!

A: This was pretty thoroughly covered during the post on the previous Leaf purchase (the 2018.)

Besides, per another previous post leases are great if you don't qualify for the full federal tax credit.

And another thing that's not so obvious: The two previous Leafs have/had market values AT LEAST a couple $K more then the 'buy-out' cost at the end of the lease. Ya buy it out, title arrives, you sell.  That, plus Oregon rebate(s) have MORE than covered all DownPayment + Fees + Licensing +Taxes and leave something left over.

As a result total cost of operation; MonthlyPayment + Tires + Licensing + Maintenance + Electricity (fuel) + Insurance (yes I mean EVERYTHING) averages out to below 20 cents/mile. 

Try doing that, INCLUDING Depreciation, time-value-of money and Interest, on your current and previous vehicle(s) and you'll probably come up with double that amount, unless you're driving an unusually efficient and reliable older car. Personally, I'm driving new. Nice new!

Or, stated differently: Averaged across all three cars we've been looking at effectively below $200/mo. 
 ...total of all transportation costs for our average 1200 mi/mo.

Q: This has the old style Fast Charging connector that they're not installing many of any more. Isn't buying into that kind of dead-end technology at least sorta nutzo?

A: That's a good point. If we were keeping it for The Long Haul it might turn into an issue. However the first big batch of fast charge connectors/stations put in Oregon and Washington were mostly the kind the Leaf uses. Especially true of the parts of the states that are NOT Portland or Seattle. Yes the rate of build-out of the newer CCS charging connectors is about 5X more than the older one, but there's still plenty to cover the next three years of the lease. Even Electrify America (the 'charger' arm of VW) who have been most aggressive about phasing out older charge connector types, is still putting in new Leaf-style fast chargers throughout 2022 and it's not like those are just going to get turned off thereafter. At least in most places.

Besides, we charge at home 90+% of the time. Probably more-so with the longer range:

Yes that's our first full range run, full charge, driving home new from the dealer. 225 miles to empty (the --% remaining at the bottom).  About 80% freeway at 70 mph and the remainder in town at 'slow' with AC on around half the total time. And yes we went around the block a couple times to get to -just- zero out the charge% remaining.    Kids: Don't try this at home!.

____________

So how is it?

It doesn't feel insane at all ;-)

The Center dash screen is bigger and now supports more 'phone' functionality via Apple/Android compatibility. Having your phone's mapping app up on the big screen is nice, and you don't have to buy the up models (SV or SL) for $3-7K more to get 'navigation'. ...Besides, we hate leather seats.

Other than that and the slightly quicker acceleration (trust me there was PLENTY before) and the 50% longer range, it's essentially identical. The big front quarter blind spot for tall drivers is still present and they did NOT bring back the cool 'side shade' that was part of the visor in 2017. (see ** below)

The revised tires seem just a little quieter and maybe 2-3% more efficient. We're seeing 4.0 mi/kwh now in situations where 3.8 mi/kwh was the norm. Not a big deal but these things add up.

Mike Hendricksen, the Internet Sales Manager at Alan Webb Nissan in Vancouver WA was nice and responsive throughout the process and matched the lowest price elsewhere. Kudos!

The other six dealers we talked to? Not so much...

We'll edit this if anything new pops up. Thanks for reading!

** NOTICE: I was wrong! I've been beating up every LEAF version since our 2017 for not having the nifty sunshade/visor extender so you're not blinded from the side when you have a low sun angle therefrom. On the 2017 there was a panel you could slide out so your eyes were protected when you had the visor popped loose and flipped over to the left side, to make it 'wide' enough for when the sun was directly from the side, like driving North at sunset or South after sunrise.

While they DID remove that panel, it turns out they just made it so the entire visor slides sideways. This doesn't work quite as well, but better than nothing. I hereby apologize to Nissan for all the Darning to Heck things I said about them, or at least those related to this topic. 
Why didn't we see this or figure it out sooner? The text they added to explain about it is lightly embossed light grey on light grey and you can only see it when lit from a certain angle with the visor down. It took us over two years to find this 'feature.' We must be extra dense.

Update2Update

EDIT: Nov.1st.'20:

The annual killer deals on Nissan Leafs are in full swing. We've recently seen a base Leaf at $79 (plus fees) down and $79/month for 24 months in Portland. Even if you're not a fan of leases, this is still pretty sweet. Not sure if you can apply for state rebates on top of this, [Oops, apparently not!]

Many units up in Seattle for purchase. For buyers who will register in Oregon, Base models have hit around $16-17K again, but the big news is that we've seen the 'Plus' version with the 50% larger battery pack down to $21K after rebates/credits. Woo. 

This won't last, as usual

So, someone actually requested this awhile ago and we got much of it written, and then a pandemic.
...and I'm finally getting around to posting. There's very few edits involved in a four month delay. Surprised? You shouldn't be ;-) On with the show:

Although the truly amazing deals from a year ago (see previous posts) are gone, fear not, they will come again! In the meantime, you can still get a new Nissan Leaf for right at $20K after all (including Oregon) rebates. Don't pay attention to Tonkin dealership advertised prices, they are slime-mold and 'include' the rebates in the advertised price.

Firstly, our 2018 40KWh Nissan Leaf is doing fine. In fact more than fine. Absolutely no problems at all in the 25,000 miles we've put on it. It hasn't been into the dealer for the firmware upgrade that allows faster fast charging, so we still get only about 2/3rds of the 'fast' charge rate that our 2017 30KWh Leaf exhibited. Reports indicate it isn't all that much faster even with the update, except on second and third fast charges in a single day, like on a trip.  As a result the bigger battery does you only a little good when traveling. The Longer range is offset by longer charging times, depending on your trip route and conditions. In day to day local use this is partially offset by the faster AC/home charging, which is about twice as fast as home charging a 2017.  The 60KWh 2020 Leaf+ is apparently doing better, but it's still ~$10K more. See the -go-to- blog for Leaf facts & data: DaveInOly who has a GREAT post about the tradeoffs.
Still our Leaf gets us where we need to go, no fuss no muss no bother. We still hate the sun visors (See previous posts.)
Note that the four iMievs that we have local knowledge of are still doing fine as are the five Leafs.

Battery recommendations haven't changed. Letting the car sit fully charged, especially when it's hot leads to about twice the battery degradation (ie: half the battery life) than you'd achieve if you were paying attention and actually cared. Only charging to 80% is still the recommendation, except just before a long jaunt. If you NEED 100% on a daily basis, you'll get less life and probably should have purchased a different vehicle.  Obviously this is a bigger concern for the lower end EV crowd than for those with long range Teslas and proportionally deep pockets.

Rant about Toyota: Despite having some of the best plug-in hybrids out there (Prius Prime and especially the RAV4 Prime) Toyota has gone out of their way to kiss the trumpian ass, oppose fuel mileage standards, oppose EV legislation and put serious money behind lawsuits in support of those goals. They have consistently come out as promoting their bottom line and their lack of vision. being late to the EV party, and have shown themselves as a net detriment to society and the earth. We strongly oppose buying Toyota products at this time. Dumping their stock would be good too. </rant>

Updates on purchase recommendations:

Newly delivered Archimoto

There have been a couple questions about Arcimoto. They are cute, fun, locally produced (buy local!) and seem to work pretty well. They are also grossly unsafe, less than ideally suited to wintery/rainy climates and ridiculously expensive ($20K, no rebates) for what they do. Electric motorcycles are more fun and less expensive. However, if you have the deep pockets necessary to support this kind of thing, have at it. We've been in a pre-production unit and talked to an owner. They are a hoot.

The remainder of the recommendations are pretty much the same as previous posts.
If you want new, and have the required level of financial wherewithal to support it the top answer is still Tesla.
Sedan: Tesla Model 3, $36-37K after rebates.
Crossover/more capacity: Tesla Model Y, $44-48K after rebates. [remember Tesla and GM no longer qualify for the Federal Tax Rebate]
We still don't recommend the autopilot options unless you have a long freeway commute, in which case get a different job. The long range versions would be nice, but it's a large $$ jump for little day-to-day gain, except in certain cases. See 'long commute' above ;-) The Tesla Supercharger network is about 10X better than anyone else's distance charging 'solution' despite hype from other sources.
What about BMW and Jaguar and Audi and and and... High prices and unproven reliability vs. Tesla.
A case could be made for the Kia Nero or (essentially identical) Hyundai Kona, which give you the mini-SUV/Crossover thing for about $10K less than a model Y. We suspect that long term, battery life and resale value will cause the Tesla to come out ahead. YMMV.

The new Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid could be worth a look. In theory it will be under $30K after rebates if you get the bottom model and don't get screwed over by the dealer. The once and future Ford Mustang EV may still happen. We'll see how that pans out as actual vehicles get delivered someday. VW may also turn into something someday.

For those of you with lesser means, the best deals out there in our opinion are off-lease 2017 Leafs. You get the bigger and more capable battery (compared to the 2015's) and still should stay under $10K if you're smart and persistent. We're not worried, dumb and immediate gratification wannabees don't read this blog.

If you've only $4-6K to spend a 2014 iMiev or 2015 Leaf can do the job. See previous posts.
Granted getting one of those 'checked out' can be difficult. One thing that might help is reading up on CANion (iMiev) or Leaf Spy (Leaf, duh) with which you can check out the battery packs on your phone/tablet. Then leave the rest of the checkout to car-knowledgeable friends. If everything works, it will probably stay working. The battery is always the big and expensive question. See a previous post about that. Bad stuff you're looking for is a battery cell that's noticeably lower then the others when the pack is below 20% charge -AND- under load, like going up a hill. Seeing that cell temperatures are consistent is good too. This CANion/LeafSpy checkout, when done right will tell you more than even the dealer's battery check can in some cases (the dealer thing is still worth doing).
"Waaaa, that's too much bother!" Well, summon thy large bank account and go forth!

The NCTC No Charge to Charge incentive that Nissan offered is now dead. Make sure the charging you need is available. ...usually at home...

Also: True electric vehicle environmental 'cred' is still only available to electric bicycle pilots.

Dead-ish: Too good to pass up: New LEAF $15,000...or so...

Edit: It's dead Jim. ...sort of...

[Edit Fall 2020]: End of year deals are back, at least in Seattle or Portland.

Fed credit looks viable throughout most of 2021 for Leafs. Leafs no longer get the EZCharge card. Some areas are offering $250 credit with EVGo.  Rebates are dead for Tesla and GM.

[Edit Fall 2019]:
The Oregon state credit (and some in WA, CA) are still in force, and the Federal tax credit is still happening (probably throughout 2021 for Nissans) but the additional incentives for (most) power company customers in Oregon all went dead July 1st. All is not lost however, the Aug-Sept time-frame is when the dealers get additional incentives from Nissan to move 2019 inventory. Historically that has meant an additional $1.5-2K off, assuming you can find someplace with considerable stock levels. Oregon seems pretty tapped out in that regard, but there are still a fair number of units in the greater Seattle area, and since Oregon residents don't pay WA sales tax, the only real additional 'cost' is the bother of going up there and getting it. We highly recommend having all the negotiations completed over email before heading up there. The process can be fairly painless, and if you can get the NoChargeToCharge/EZ-Charge benefit working before you leave the dealer, the 'fuel' cost of getting of home should be minimal.
One other thing to consider: The Aug-Sept time frame has had the best deals for leases we've seen. As a result, folks that don't qualify for most or all of the Federal Tax Credit (generally incomes below $70,000) see our post on that topic: Link
Even right now (July'19) the dealer up in Bellevue has 51 LEAFs and an extra $1000 off for previous Nissan owners and takes an extra $10,100 off for lease purchases. Remaining financial engineering is left to the reader. ...remembering that there's still the $2500 Oregon credit...


Now defunct post remains for historical perspective:    ;-)
This deal has been out there for a month now and we only caught on last week. Granted the deal goes through the end of June, but for some of you that's hardly enough time to get your ducks (or beavers) in a row.

The basic thing is: PG&E, Portland General Electric, Pacific Power and EWEB customers get an additional $3500 off of a new Nissan LEAF (40KWh 156 mi. range) or $2500 off a new LEAF Plus (60KWh 225 mi. range) that they purchase outright before July 1st. Not applicable to leases, so if you don't make enough to qualify for the federal tax incentive, you're out of luck (in many ways... ;-)
YES! ALL THESE INCENTIVES 'STACK'




Lets do the math; for Oregon at least, there are somewhat similar deals going on in other states, WA and CA in particular.
New LEAF 'S' (base model, no leather or ProPilot, 150 mile range) $28,000 +Tax&Lic&Fees.
$28K - Fed $7.5K - Oregon $2.5K - PowerCo. $3.5K = $14.5K +Tax&Lic&Fees.

           [MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE that you're getting one that has the Fast Charging option, even if you don't think you're going to need it.]

New LEAF S-Plus (base model, no leather or ProPilot, 225 mile range) $36,500 +Tax&Lic&Fees.
$36.5K - Fed $7.5K - Oregon $2.5K - PowerCo. $2.5K = $24K +Tax&Lic&Fees.

First, find the lowest advertised price in Oregon or Washington for the general type of car you want.
We have historically started with pricing from the Seattle Area dealers (Bellevue, Younker or Campbell Nissan) and then take that link and use it to beat the dealer you're actually interested in buying from over the head. This has historically worked well with Dick Hanna Nissan and somewhat with Carr Nissan, both are PDX area dealers. It's a good idea to approach their internet sales department from the Costco dealer discount page (if you're a member) since that adds to their incentive-to-discount. Who knows, this could work with local dealers too. We always check... and it hasn't worked yet.
In the examples above we just did 10 min. worth of web searching. The low on a Leaf S was 27.9K from Bellevue Nissan and the low on a Leaf S-Plus was at Carr Nissan (Beaverton) and of course the 'loss leader' specials get sold out quick, but staying on top of it and retaining copies of the 'specials' actually works. We've been through this before ... and before.
"All this is just too much bother!"
Fair point, but that just means you probably aren't ideally equipped to step far enough outside your current 'comfort zone,' to where an EV is necessarily a good idea for you. It is admittedly quite a bit to deal with, most of it's calmly after the sale though.


Links:
Overview
Pacific Power
Portland General
EWEB

Downsides:
- Purchase deals only, no Leases. We have previously been fond of leases.
- The Federal tax rebate is easy to do, but you do need to have enough federal tax liability outstanding after all other deductions. Implying an income above $70K.
- The Oregon state rebate has a couple hoops to jump through but it doesn't have an income test. Can take over 9 months to get the money though.
- The rebates from the various power companies are supposed to be applied 'up front' ir at least that's what the paperwork implies. No income test. The obvious big issue is getting the transaction done in time (end of June.)
- If you want the lane-keeping auto-cruise-control (ProPilot Assist) and the fancy wheels and leather power seats then you're out an additional $7K
- In the worst-case real world, Cold blowing rainy day with lights heater and defroster on while doing 70+ mph on the freeway the range on the 'S' is below 120 miles and the S-Plus 160 miles. That's just physics, folks.

FYI we've had our 'New/Upgrade' model 'S' 40-KWh 2018 LEAF (see previous posts) for 10K miles now and it's been no trouble at all. Goes over 100 miles a day with no additional charging, couple days a week. Comfortable, quiet, corners and brakes well. Plenty of 'pep.'  Fits four real humans, plus a bunch of boxes and stuff in the back.

The Once and Future Tesla

Or, what to get now...?

I get questions, one of the most common being along the lines of "Yes, but which electric vehicle do you think I should get now?"  or the more usual:  "I was thinking about getting an electric to do -blank,- what do you think?" ...and as usual the answer, as always is 'It Depends.'  Keeping fully in mind that this advice is worth every cent you paid for it.

There's all kinds of stuff "Coming real Soon!" from just about everybody. The only one I suspect is really serious is Volkswagen. They should have viable stuff, sorted out and ready to purchase in 2021. If you can wait that long they might be good. Just don't expect them to be much cheaper than the $35K average of the stuff below. As for the eGolf? Don't.

Modified Slide from a Nissan L+ presentation

If you've got the bucks, the answer really is nearly always Tesla.
SUV kinda thing? Tesla Model X, about $100K.
Large-ish sedan? Tesla Model S, around $80K.
Smaller sportier sedan? Tesla Model 3, the bottom end of which has penciled out around $35-37K for quite awhile now when you include Federal incentives (assuming you qualify) and color choice and destination charges. Yes I know they say $35K up front how, but the 'mid-range' model back last year was around $36-38K after incentives and the 'new' Standard+ Model 3 is still about the same amount. [If you are going to argue about dinky 2-3% ($1K) differences, well, go somewhere else.]
If you think you're going to sign up for a base model (around $37K out the door) and get it in time to qualify for the 'half-incentive' that's still available for a couple more months, well, good luck.
The 'small SUV' cross-over version of the Model 3 [Model 'Y'] has been announced for sometime in 2020, and doesn't look worth the $5-7K higher price to me, but some people really go for things like  that.

Note: We actually had the money set aside for a Tesla Model 3, the base $35K one. after incentives here that would have worked out to a little over $26K all in. From our perspective here, just --barely-- worth it.
Delaying the introduction date of the lower price model until after the Federal incentive expired was cruel and unusual. Exactly the type of calculating corporate slime-ball-ism that Tesla claims not to 'be about.'  So now ...      I'm not buying one.

Tesla Model S's seem to be aging well so a 2015 well under $50K with high miles on it wouldn't bother me, earlier ones would become increasingly questionable. 2014 maybe... OTOH I'm not someone who is spending $50K on a car regardless. YMMV.
___

If, just by chance, you happen to live where they're available the Hyundai Kona looks like a fine deal. About $38K out the door and the Fed$$ are still available. Pretty nice form factor too, if you're into the mid-size SUV thing. Sounds like few of the dealers will get the base model, so it's probably an 'order and wait' thing. The previous Hyundai/Kia electric rig was nicely done.
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Ford and GM seem to be decreasing the availability of most of their options, although both have announced big plans for late 2020-early 2023 (we'll see...) with the exception of the Chevy Bolt, more on that later. If you need short range (20-30 miles) combined with gas hybrid capability the Chevy Volt can be a good buy. 2016's can be had around $15K. Nice!
For basically the same price as a Nissan Leaf Plus or a Tesla Mod.3 I just can't see the point of the Chevy Bolt. People who have them seem to like them and crow about  American Made [actually about 28% of the content is US origin, drivetrain, electronics, motor and battery are all from Korea. The body is made here, and the (awful) seats] They handle and accelerate well, but not by comparison with a Mod.3 and the Leaf+ is better at comfort and carrying capacity and has about the same range and price. Ironically the Leaf has much higher U.S. made content than the Bolt, but alas, it says Nissan on the badge...
___

If you have to get real work, day to day transportation done now, and you don't happen to have the XL size bank account then we're back to pretty much the same choices that have been out there for awhile now, with the one addition of the 'Plus' version of the Leaf and the Mod.3 Std.. Lets look at how the recommended options stack up. Here we're going to use real world range and Oregon-rebate-included prices, YMMV:

Tesla Mod.3 Std.                      $34K  Range 220 mi. note: Superchrgers are Nice!
Nissan Leaf Plus.                     $27K  Range 200 mi. note: Fast charging less available
Nissan Leaf 40KWh                 $21K  Range 120 mi. Good as the Plus if lower range OK
Chevy Volt (used 2016)            $15K  Range 30 mi. plus gas beyond that
Nissan Leaf 24 KWh used'15   $10K  Range 70-80 mi. Not a bad rig for the price.
Mitsubishi iMiev (used'12-14)  $5-6K  Range 50 mi.  *See notes below

Notes:
Buying used electric cars is not quite the same as buying a standard I.C.E. (gasoline engine) in that you can't take it down to your average shade-tree mechanic to get it checked out. Use CARFAX as usual to check history. There are previous posts on this blog about using Canion and LeafSpy to check the batteries on the Mitsubishi and Nissan respectively, but it will take some research time on your part to determine how to use these correctly. The MyNissanLeaf and MyIMiev forums are a goldmine of useful information. Having it into the dealer could be good too, although I've heard enough stories of the dealers' having little clue about battery testing (some only check the 12V battery, seriously!) that doing your own checking is wise.
Still, if you're willing to put in a couple hours effort (OK, 10-15 hours...) you can get around town in fine electric style for under $10K. 
The Volt's are nice although the maintenance costs can be a bit higher. (I'd look for an extended warranty...)

* We're (collectively) still using our 2012 Mitsubishi iMiev and have four friends that have them. They're all still going strong and some have over 7 years and 50K miles on them. Sure they're an around town runabout, with maybe occasional trips 10-15 miles out of town. For that they work great. They're basically useless for longer trips. Even the ones with fast-charging capability are lame on even slightly longer jaunts. Don't buy them for that. I'd hold out for a 2014 given the 2 years less battery ageing. Great 4 passenger local transportation that's awesome in traffic and when parking...
IF If if you have a Mitsubishi dealership with factory trained iMiev mechanics in a reasonable range of your house. If you can't get it fixed, don't buy it regardless of how good a 'deal' it is. That applies to the Nissan's too.

2017 vs, 2018, Realities collide!

Realities collide, and produce: ...meh...   not much.
Note based on feedback: This is a comparison of the early 2017 and late 2018 Leafs. Either one is head and shoulders above any other car we've seen or had (exception: Tesla Model 3, which is -still- out of our price range) and should be seen as a positive for both vehicles. The fact that we're arguing over such relatively small nitpicks speaks volumes about both cars. On with the show:

[Edit Spring'19] Almost 10K miles in, No problems except getting the NCTC ('free' charging) program going. They were handing-off between providers and the PITA process became an extra extra PITA process.
Still slightly more efficient than the 2017 model, which is good because it charges slower at 'fast charging' stations.  #1 irritant is the lack of a driver side sun visor extension. Yes, that's not a big list...

We're almost a thousand miles into our 2018 Leaf experience and it's probably time to compare the 2017 Leaf S+FC (last/best of the first generation) and our new 2018 Leaf S + Fast Charge, the first wave of the second generation Leaf. We should note up top here that it's really like the 1.5th generation, since nothing stupendous and gigantic has changed. Maybe the rumored 60KWh 2019 1/2 Leaf will change enough to warrant a real version 2.0 badge.

Yes, it's very blue and the wheel covers are not entirely tasteful.

It's basically the same body, doors, etc. as the 2017.  The front two feet of the nose was restyled and the back has the last foot or so re-done so it all looks more current/normal. The 'A' pillar is still gigantically wide so you can't see pedestrians in crosswalks until you've almost hit them*, even in broad daylight. This is something that desperately needed improvement and it didn't happen.
*I'm told this only applies to tall people. For those short enough to have the seat all the way forward, it works fine. You learn to move your head sideways a bit.  It's still a BAD design.

There is still no Thermal Management System (TMS) for the battery, so it's still going to degrade in hot climates. Think 10-12 year lifespan instead of 15+ years for a cooler climate. Fortunately we don't have much of that 'hot' problem here.

The larger battery feeds a bit more current to (basically) the same motor and controller, so there's somewhat more power to the wheels during acceleration.

The new ePedal function that integrates all the speed control (including normal braking) into the accelerator pedal is an absolutely great feature. All cars should have this!
Of course there is a major implementation problem: There seems to be no way to keep the ePedal turned on. You have to manually enable it every time you turn on the car. I'm told this is for 'safety' reasons, but it won't feel very safe the third time you coast through a stop sign or almost rear-end someone because ePedal isn't working.  "So just turn it on every time."  Mmmm, how'bout letting me just leave it turned on?  ...ya know, for safety reasons... [EDIT] Turns out the 'on' function is buried 4 layers deep in a menu, but its there. Yay!

The onboard L2 charger went from 6.6KW to 7.2KW which isn't much, although the charging cord (EVSE) that ships with it really is a bunch better/faster, was 1.2KW now 7.2KW. Assuming you have a 240V Dryer outlet to plug it into (we don't).

The car seems to be about 6-8% more efficient at highway speeds, showing 3.6 miles/KWh instead of 3.3 miles/KWh under the same conditions. Adding that to the larger battery: At 72-75 mph we can go 120-125 miles on a charge, assuming minimal elevation changes and headwinds, with a 'reasonable reserve' left over . The 2017 was good for 80-90 miles under similar conditions. The 2018 will go well over 150 miles at 60-62 mph. Maybe 165-ish? We haven't tested that completely.

EDIT 2019: It went just under 180 miles on a late spring day at 45-58MPH on local rural roads. Pretty good! although 75.deg.F no heating or AC, daytime, no lights and little wind at 50MPH average isn't exactly 'normal' conditions. As they say: YMMV.

One thing that really improved is the headlight coverage and 'reach.' We can how actually see pedestrians at the side of the road and decide whether or not to run them over.  Previously you couldn't see them until it was too late, leaving the whole thing up to chance.

Fast charging seems to be about as fast as before. It takes a bit longer (no surprise) since the battery is bigger.  There are a number of reports (search on 'rapidgate leaf') that the second and third charges on a given trip are much slower. We haven't seen this since no longer trips have been attempted.

NitPicks:

The paint is a little nicer, the wheel covers are considerably uglier, but supposedly more aerodynamic.

Maybe not a whole bunch, but it is somewhat quieter at speed. Road noise from rough surfaced pavement is about the same. Handling seems about the same too. The new contoured not-so-round steering wheel will appeal to some drivers and not others.

The center console was restyled to move the cup holders to where you'll hit taller cups with your arm and it looks a little wider so it makes the interior seem -slightly- smaller. Moving the cup holders does keep them from impeding access to the 12V socket you plug your phone/tablet usb charging adapter into. Of course that wouldn't be an issue of Nissan weren't cheaping-out by not providing one in the armrest like everyone else in the first place.
The console redesign did have the advantage of making the flip-up armrest storage area much smaller, it was so big before you could actually store too much useful stuff in it.

The cockpit display has a number of new options, including showing the current tire pressures, which is rather nice. A number of the display 'pages' are bigger and clearer. They are easier to navigate too, with buttons on the steering wheel rather than the dash.
In the not so nice category is that there used to be a big digital speedometer just below your line-of-sight, above the steering wheel.  You could actually read it with your peripheral vision. Now there is a 'normal' old-school gauge type speedo down in the wheel opening, just like with 'normal' cars but still slightly  more difficult to read at a glance. This was probably to reduce costs (only one display area instead of two) and to pander to clueless people who dislike change. (ie: digital speedo)  Not really an improvement.

Another irritating change that is that they removed the slider from the visor that could be extended to keep the glare from bothering you when the visor was swung to the side.  A 'vanity mirror' was included instead. This is a large dis-improvement for people with glasses and low sun angles. 

EDIT 2020: We finally noticed that you can slide the entire visor sideways. Opps.

The heated seats were removed from the 'S' model and now show up only in the SV and SL variants. Since we never used then, even at ten degrees below freezing it wasn't an issue for us. Yer butt makes cloth seats warm up so much faster than leather...

The effect on the Guess-O-Meter (range indicator) of turning on the heater or AC is less than on the previous model. If course given the longer range of the newer one this is to be expected. We'll have to go through a winter to see how the heater efficiency really works. We expect a real-world range of around 100 miles on cold blowy pounding rain days with the heater and defrost full on. That sounds bad but the 2017 would only go about 70 highway miles in those conditions.
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So summing up, it is over-all a nicer vehicle. Ignoring a few irritations most things work better, faster, longer. The additional range comes in Very Handy in our use case (100 mi. round-trip commute).

Q: Would we have paid more ($100/mo.) for this new vehicle if we didn't really need the additional range?
A: Maybe,  Although the weird financial quirks associated with leases and rebates played a large part.

Edit 2021: An even later Leaf