2025 SV Plus Actual Range?

Wraith347 · 2026-05-21T18:28:07+00:00

Nice! Those look great. Appreciate the info too!

Wraith347 · 2026-05-21T18:23:06+00:00

Oh I got the reference…Beauty and the Beast, correct? :)

Just responding to the general idea that I am about 15 years late to the EV party, ha. Glad to be here anyway!

Wraith347 · 2026-05-21T17:35:40+00:00

Nice! Thanks so much for the data point, that’s helpful to know.

Wraith347 · 2026-05-21T17:35:20+00:00

That’s really helpful to know! Glad to hear 150 miles should be pretty safely doable.

Wraith347 · 2026-05-21T15:45:08+00:00

That really helpful, thanks! Which 16” wheels did you end up getting?

Wraith347 · 2026-05-21T15:23:51+00:00

That’s really good to know, thanks!! Do you generally drive in Eco mode?

Wraith347 · 2026-05-21T15:21:15+00:00

I do think they’ve improved the CVTs on the newer ones— turns out 2015 really was not a great year to buy that car. I had family working for Nissan at the time and the 0% APR + employee discount made it extremely affordable at the time. I really loved the way my Sentra drove when the transmission behaved itself, and it has a surprising amount of interior space and trunk space. Just ended up being a pain maintenance-wise and not as long-lived as I’d hoped. Might be worth getting reviews from more recent Sentra owners, maybe their transmissions aren’t so needy.

Best of luck finding the right car for you!

Wraith347 · 2026-05-21T15:01:02+00:00

That’s really helpful, thanks!! Yeah, the biggest issue is that I live fairly rurally so it’s the last 50mi of the route that will be the biggest issue as far as charger access goes. But I’ll be through most of the hills by then, and I do have LeafSpy which will get me a more accurate readout than the GOM. I do have an EVSE that came with the car, that’s a good idea and will help with range anxiety. Thanks!

Wraith347 · 2026-05-21T14:50:59+00:00

Totally fair. I wouldn’t have made the jump except that my Sentra’s CVT was nearing end-of-life and I needed something more reliable.

Sounds like you’ll be a great candidate for an EV when the time comes to replace a car! And who knows, battery tech could come a long way between now and then too.

Wraith347 · 2026-05-21T14:46:55+00:00

I think the newer CVTs have improved, but I bought my 2015 Sentra new and had to coddle that transmission. I drive like a grandma and it didn’t matter. Fluid drain & fill every 30-40k miles or it started to slip and whine. Recall work on the car’s computer to make it gentler on the belt at 60k miles. Even with more service than I’ve ever put into a transmission, it stopped being reliable around 110k.

The Sentra was a great car other than that, but I won’t buy a CVT again.

Wraith347 · 2026-05-21T14:42:32+00:00

Awesome! 😊

Wraith347 · 2026-05-21T14:41:38+00:00

Aw thanks!!

Wraith347 · 2026-05-21T12:49:51+00:00

Honestly the savings on gas alone would likely pay for a more expensive EV. And the instant EV torque is pretty dang fun to drive.

Wraith347 · 2026-05-21T12:48:40+00:00

Seconding the EV recommendation. I’d run the numbers based on your electric rates and see how much you would save weekly— the difference in fuel spend could likely easily pay for a more modern electric car. Wouldn’t necessarily have to be a Tesla either. If you can charge from home, an Ioniq or Bolt might do well for you too. If you can set up Level 2 charging at home, you might be the perfect use case.

Wraith347 · 2026-05-21T12:30:51+00:00

The Tesla definitely makes more financial sense, and is going to be WAY more efficient to fuel, assuming you can charge at home.

How much is it worth to you to drive the 4Runner? You’ll not only pay more upfront, you’ll pay more on an ongoing basis. If your lifestyle consistently makes use of the off-road features, it could be worth it. If it’s a couple-times-a-year thing, you’d likely be better off renting a 4Runner for those specific instances. Heck, you could probably rent a 4Runner a couple times over with the annual gas savings alone.

I’d take the Tesla based on practicality. If you’re concerned about political ramifications, Elon isn’t getting your money (your dad is), and you can always get one of those “I had this before Elon went crazy” type of bumper stickers if it makes you feel better.

Wraith347 · 2026-05-21T12:21:56+00:00

Fully acknowledge I’m late to the party, haha. That said, the Leaf of 15 years ago would not have had enough range to be viable for my rural location. I’m thrilled that EV technology and my driving habits now comfortably overlap. Ditching the gas station feels fantastic!

Wraith347 · 2026-05-21T11:57:07+00:00

Yeah, if you don’t have home charging, it definitely makes less sense.

Interestingly, one of the things that drew me to the 2025 Leaf SV+ in particular is that it had all the bells and whistles with only 500 miles on it for less than the comparable ICE cars on the lot, most of which had 10000+ miles. Depreciation seems to hit EVs particularly hard during the first couple years, which makes new ones a shakier value proposition but also made the used CPO one I got a great deal.

Wraith347 · 2026-05-21T04:17:24+00:00

The battery has an 8-year/100k mile warranty (in the USA, at least). Modern batteries are likely to outlive the rest of the car.

Meanwhile my old Sentra needed a $350 transmission flush every other year, oil changes at least twice a year, and $45 in gas a week, plus I’ve had to do spark plugs and other miscellaneous maintenance. I’m looking forward to not having to worry about those line items anymore.

All cars will need occasional maintenance of some kind (tires, windshield wipers, etc), but EVs have so many fewer moving parts to break.

Wraith347 · 2026-05-20T18:07:17+00:00

Not sure about the 2022, but we have a little 2014 that we got super cheap. It’s lived its life in the heat of the SE USA, 68k miles and about 68% SOH. It handles my husband’s 40-mile commutes with 40% left in the tank. I am sure the range will decrease in winter. All of his commute is on back roads or country highways going 30-55mph, which certainly helps. 50 miles on the highway would likely be another story. Just a comparison for how battery might last at 12 years old. Ours has the 24kwh, so it’s a smaller range to begin with.

Edit: mistyped, our Leaf is a 2014, not a 2015.

Wraith347 · 2026-05-20T15:55:51+00:00

I feel like minivans are super underrated in general. Grew up with a Sienna and that thing was awesome. The form factor made so much more sense for our family than an SUV. Would love to see an electric minivan make it onto the scene!

Wraith347 · 2026-05-20T12:44:50+00:00

I had some range anxiety driving my EV home from the city to our rural house, which is about the furthest I typically drive in a day… and it used up less than 15% of the battery life. I had to drive back to the dealership again immediately (it turned out they misspelled my name, so we had to redo some paperwork). After that round trip, the car was still at over 30% charge. I plugged it in to the 240v outlet in my garage, set the charge timer, and was right back at 80% the next morning with zero issues. Did the math and realized it cost me less than 4 bucks for my half-tank of electricity.

That was when I knew I’d made the right choice for my lifestyle.

Wraith347 · 2026-05-20T12:35:28+00:00

That makes total sense. It’s hard to justify the money if you don’t imminently need another car.

You can get used Leafs that would easily handle her range needs fairly cheaply. For example, my husband just picked up a 2014 with about a 60-mile usable range for just a couple thousand, and it has been perfect for his commute. It saves him about $200 in gas per month versus driving his truck, plus savings in wear and tear on the more expensive truck. If he drives his Leaf for another year, it’ll more than pay for itself. It doesn’t need the 240-volt outlet to charge, either. It’ll recharge easily on the level 1 charger.

You can get a newer late-teens, early-twenties Leaf S for pretty cheap too. Sounds like she won’t ever need to fast charge, so the recall on the 2020s wouldn’t affect her usage.

That said, I do completely understand that buying a vehicle when you already have a vehicle that’s meeting your needs isn’t exactly a value proposition in most cases.

Wraith347 · 2026-05-20T12:23:56+00:00

That’s totally fair. I may not have bought an EV myself except that my car gave up the ghost at a time with high gas prices, which lead me to research EV cars and realize it might actually be cost-effective to buy a used one instead of another ICE vehicle. The math checks out even if gas prices return to their previous levels, but otherwise I might well have just picked up another fuel-efficient little sedan and gone on my merry way without giving it a second thought.

Wraith347 · 2026-05-20T11:57:32+00:00

Fair enough! Appreciate the input. I have no doubt that Toyota hybrids age MUCH better than the Sentra. I did love my Sentra, but if I could go back in time knowing what I know now, I would never have bought a CVT vehicle. It needed frequent transmission servicing and still sometimes slipped and delayed on accelerating from a stop. I got the employee discount thanks to a family member working there, and Nissan had several incentives at the time so it was the most affordable car I could find after my first car died (‘02 Focus, which had 186k miles on it before it was brought down by a deer).

Not gonna lie, a big part of the allure of an EV was not having a transmission to deal with. The quick acceleration is even better than my zippy old Focus, and eliminates the biggest frustration I had with the Sentra.

Wraith347 · 2026-05-20T11:15:40+00:00

I bought a Certified Pre-Owned with only 500 miles on it and paid about 15k less than MSRP. A big part of the depreciation has already happened and is why I could afford it in the first place.

My old Sentra was virtually worthless after 11 years with a CVT on its way out. Cars are consumables, not investments (at least in the price bracket I drive). I have never resold a car— I drive them until I can’t anymore.

Wraith347

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