Hi everyone!
Just nosing around and figured I'd add 2 cents...as always
Okay...so fair warning...I'm "that" guy. I'm the guy who says if you are having battery issues, you need a custom ROM. After stabilization, most developers work on improving battery life and yes...I most always can tell significant improvements. Having said that, LTE is a battery killer and WiFi is MUCH easier on battery. Connect to WiFi when available.
The LTE Radio in this phone is not the best I have seen. From my testing, the Droid Razr (and even other "older" 4G phones like the Thunderbolt, Droid Charge, etc,) achieve better signal and hold 4G when the Nexus reverts to 3G. Not every market is the same but this is the worst 4G radio I've used. Really hoping for software updates that fix this. Haven't noticed the problems the OP mentioned about the battery draining in the car when being charged. I watch YouTube videos a lot in the car and despite more buffering issues due to the weaker radio...my phone gains a charge in the car if plugged in regardless of what I am using it for (YouTube, Pandora, Navigation, etc.).
Camera...yeah, it's a little on the unimpressive side. It's not a deal breaker by any means but the still camera is only decent, and the 1080p video capture is awful due to the jello effect. Not my favorite cell phone camera but I didn't buy it for that reason either so I'm not the harshest critic I'm sure.
This is a developer's phone...easy to root, lots of support, constant updates, etc. This is a major draw for this phone. If you are not rooted and rommed...then I encourage you to at least consider it...there are a lot of improvements to be had. See images below for a quick glimpse at some visual and functional improvements. After all...doesn't everyone need toggles in the notification drawer and a MiUi battery bar at the bottom so then can monitor battery when the notification header is not visible (during YouTube videos for example)? Just things I personally cannot be without based on how I like to use my device
Overall, this phone is the first phone that Verizon has released in a while that was a 2 year contract worthy phone. The next one was the Droid Razr Maxx simply because having good battery life never goes out of style. But my Nexus has been consistently providing me with 20-24 hour battery life with my usage patterns and that is a couple of hours more than the Razr (non Maxx version), and upwards of 8-10 hours more than my previous personal phone, the Thunderbolt.
One thing I have noticed (and I don't know if it is ICS in general, or possibly the custom ROMs I'm running) is that battery life will increase at times after usage. I will be playing a game or something else and notice that I am at 50% battery remaining (for example) when I put the phone down. I turn on the screen several minutes later and see my phone with 3-5% more battery life reporting. Again, not sure what's causing it...but it's a nice surprise to see the phone recalculating the remaining battery on the fly.
Hope everyone else is enjoying the Nexus as much as I am!