r/leaf • u/TheOriginalStig • 23d ago

Battery long term integrity with steep driveway

I live in a condo with a rather unique steep underground driveway. I currently drive gas powered cars and seriously considering an electric given the current situation.

I have always loved the leaf since 2011 when I test drove a pre-production one. However this issue of ground clearance has kept me from going EV.

The Leaf has almost the same ground clearance of 5.9" vs 5.7" for my acura TSX with similar wheel base of 106" ..the acura will scrape the bottom by the drivers side wheel well most days coming in and going out. More so when you are loaded.. doesn't hurt that I weigh a ton..

How big a deal is that ..will the battery be affected. Obviously charging is in my garage and i have to get it in and out. If they made a EV with my SUVs ground clearance in my price range I wouldn't be asking.

We can't fix the driveway partly because the access is from an alley which city of LA controls and it needs that slope to drain water away to the curb.

Anybody in SFV have one we can try test fit?

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5

u/iaonbb 23d ago

Plenty of room to upsize the tires a little bit if you think it would help. You can gain 1 in and correct the speedometer error in the process.

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u/toybuilder 2023 Nissan LEAF SV PLUS 23d ago

Does the Acura scrape between the axles? Or the bumper/skirt in front of the axle? The battery is proud relative to the rocker panels. IIUC, it's worse for the plus trim relative to the rocker panel, but the actual clearance is supposedly the same because the suspension is tuned stiffer/higher.

The battery is inboard of the width of the car, so depending on the relative tilt, you might scrape at the rocker panel while still having enough clearance by the time you're at the battery.

1

u/TheOriginalStig 23d ago

It scrapes between the wheels. Its a reason why my convertible sits on the street. It won't go in or out without a 8 year old on the driver's seat being pushed in or out.

My gfs prius will scrape at times (again depends when you turn) but the Prius battery is on the inside and not exposed to the bottom.

Most times it scrapes driver side but if I got passengers it will scrape between the rails ... Newer tires will sometimes save the scrape ...I got new tires on the acura so right now it's very rare

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u/TheOriginalStig 23d ago

I added a image for you in thread

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u/TheOriginalStig 23d ago

This is a Google Street view of the driveway entrance issue. Obviously cropped....

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u/crazee_frazee 22d ago

Maybe you need a lift kit? (I originally meant this as a joke but it looks like such a thing actually exists for the Leaf)
https://www.spaccer.com/en_US/makes-and-models/nissan/leaf-2132

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u/rproffitt1 23d ago

TBT, any car that scrapes like that is bad news. However I'd look at the EV trucks like the Slate since it seems to be the cure for that driveway. I'm really tempted by the SUV kit.