Nissan LEAF - General

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Uber Geek

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#2032764 9-Jun-2018 21:58

SaltyNZ:
dunnersdude:

gzt: Which Leaf exactly?

Does this matter if being compared to a PHEV?

Looking at the trims available I would be prepared to look for a G if the price was right.

When car listings say that the "dash has been converted to English" do they just mean the main information dash in front of the driver? Is the centre console able to be English converted?

No, centre console remains in Japanese. Only the dash information over the steering wheel is converted.

Some may replace the head unit with one sourced from an English-speaking country - based on the fact that the GPS in our Leaf claims we’re in LA ours clearly came from the US!

Such a head unit swap isn’t cheap, and I’m sure most are only done at the request of the purchaser, but it’s worth you knowing this is an option. Personally, I don’t regret the cost.

dunnersdude

162 posts

Master Geek

#2032779 9-Jun-2018 22:42

Cheapest recommended OBD2 scanner compatible with iOS and Leaf Spy?

eBay link maybe? or Aliexpress?

dunnersdude

162 posts

Master Geek

#2032800 10-Jun-2018 05:00

Jonathan why does it think you are in LA? Does the GPS itself not work within NZ? Or does it not have any maps?

jonathan18

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#2032803 10-Jun-2018 07:26

dunnersdude: Jonathan why does it think you are in LA? Does the GPS itself not work within NZ? Or does it not have any maps?

The maps cannot be updated in any original Leaf head unit, whether it’s retrofitted like mine, or the original head unit on a UK or Japanese import.

It’s one of the advantages of the lowest spec Japanese Leafs, in that, as it uses a standard head unit, it can be replaced with something else - and many put in a unit that can run local maps.

It seems most are happy to just cope with the original Japanese on ex-Japan cars, using Google Translate etc, but just for WAF it was worth the new head unit (unfortunately for me it’s my wife’s daily drive, not mine!)

MarkH67

518 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2032820 10-Jun-2018 09:12

For Satnav - I don't need it for the commute from home to work & back again, which is my main use for my Leaf.

For times I do want GPS navigation: I use a RAM Mount suction cup and attach the same arm & X-Grip that I use on the bike with my phone. I really don't mind not having the built-in Satnav working.

jonathan18

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#2032829 10-Jun-2018 09:40

Totally agree that lack of sat nav isn't an issue - I will often elect to use Google Maps on my phone over the sat nav built into my car. The rationale for us to switch head units was to have all text in English, which we are comfortable was worth the cost. Many disagree!

RUKI

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#2033154 10-Jun-2018 17:20

dunnersdude:

Hi everyone, very interested in a Nissan Leaf.

Then went to a car yard website that sells a lot of them and saw some Plug in Hybrid Priuses.

Leaf vs Plug in hybrid thoughts please??

I was in contact with boys from Russian Far East today - they import a lot of RHD cars from Japan. They even have huge hybrid clubs in every major city over there. Unfortunately hybrid clubs are non-existent in New Zealand, although number of hybrids is times more than EV and is growing fast.

Director of one of the clubs have traveled 170.00kms in his Prius Plug-In, one of the members made about 300.000 kms. Those are ZVW35 Prius with Li battery and around 20km on one charge.

Newest Prius Prime has newer type Li battery 8.8kWH and claims ~60km on one charge and 1000kms in hybrid mode. Prime is the second best selling Plug-in in USA and is on display at Toyota CBD in Auckland. Would appeal to those probably driving Auckland-Wellington non-stop.

My 3 "minus" for Prime: no spare wheel (same with Leaf); limited boot space (smaller than in Leaf); only 4 seats (5 in Leaf).

Besides those 3 for the price of $48K NZD Prime is competing with ZE1 Leaf which is currently $10K more expensive, but again every car is for purpose and if you are not for the long distance one day travel - there are a lot of choices.

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dunnersdude

162 posts

Master Geek

#2033250 10-Jun-2018 19:50

Does a PHEV still have an ICE? And therefore all the maintenance requirements of a standard petrol ICE vehicle?

SaltyNZ

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#2033462 11-Jun-2018 07:05

dunnersdude: Does a PHEV still have an ICE? And therefore all the maintenance requirements of a standard petrol ICE vehicle?

Yes, that's right.

iPad Pro 11" + iPhone 15 Pro Max + 2degrees 4tw!

These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

tdgeek

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#2033463 11-Jun-2018 07:19

SaltyNZ:

dunnersdude: Does a PHEV still have an ICE? And therefore all the maintenance requirements of a standard petrol ICE vehicle?

Yes, that's right.

And the ICE has to cart around the EV motor and batteries, and the EV has to cart around the ICE motor and gearbox

happyfunball

287 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2033620 11-Jun-2018 12:40

dunnersdude:

But when I saw PHEV it made me wonder if this would take away the range issue and still offer the benefits. Do PHEV have higher maintenance requirements than Plain Old Petrol Cars?

A PHEV is basically just an ICE car with better fuel economy. You will still go through some petrol, even if you do short trips and charge every day. You will also hear the engine from time to time. Petrol doesn't last forever and the system will use some petrol to keep the ICE engine lubricated and the fuel from going stale (petrol degrades after a few months).

Some PHEV's also use the ICE for additional power, for example if you are going up a hill. Living in Wellington, that scared us away from a PHEV and we decided to get a BEV instead.

happyfunball

287 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2033626 11-Jun-2018 12:44

RUKI:

Besides those 3 for the price of $48K NZD Prime is competing with ZE1 Leaf which is currently $10K more expensive, but again every car is for purpose and if you are not for the long distance one day travel - there are a lot of choices.

Hey RUKI do you know if the new Prime uses ICE for additional power, like when climbing hills, even if the battery is full? We noticed that with the PHEV Outlander, engine still rumbles on when we climbed hills, even though the battery was full :( Since we go up and down hills a few times a day that was disappointing, but it was nice and quiet on the flat.

A PHEV that behaved exactly like a BEV would be nice, but I guess thats more of a BEV with a 'range extender'. I'm surprised Toyota hasn't made that yet, it should provide even better fuel economy than the new Prime, but maybe not range.

RUKI

1402 posts

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#2033716 11-Jun-2018 15:00

happyfunball:

... do you know if the new Prime uses ICE for additional power, like when climbing hills, even if the battery is full? ..

have no idea. I lost interest to that model after looking into the boot ... :-(

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tripper1000

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#2034581 12-Jun-2018 19:10

IMO PHEV is cross over technology and that is fine and useful to people. It shuts down Detroit's arguments & miss-information because it uses petrol, and it is a good functional compromise for people not yet confident in BEV technology.

Hybrid started as a way to improve fuel economy, but slowly batteries are/will increase in size and the ICE is/will get smaller and less used until people wonder why they have an ICE at all and confidently buy BEV.

PHEV sits nicely with the automakers existing marketing strategies because it provides a brand new avenue for the marketing departments to incrementally upgraded the cars as an incentive to get customers to upgrade year after year - they can incrementally increase the battery size (as Nissan is/will with the Gen3 Leaf) as an alternate to (or in addition to) adding 20 H.P. every year or giving it a face lift etc.

frednz

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#2036144 13-Jun-2018 20:27

https://www.greencabs.co.nz/the-green-blog/30kw-leaf-batteries-flawed-maybe-not

The above taxi company doesn't seem to have a problem with fast degradation of the batteries of its 30 kWh Nissan Leafs despite the "Flip the Fleet" report and Consumer strongly warning people about the potential battery problem with this vehicle. In fact, Consumer says that:

"30kWh Nissan Leaf owners are being short-changed as their batteries lose capacity significantly faster than expected, according to a report by Flip The Fleet, a New Zealand-based “citizen science” project."

Now Greencabs asks how it's possible that their Leafs aren't experiencing this fast degradation problem:

"How is this possible when other Nissan Leaf owners are complaining their cars are the same age with only 10% of the use and their batteries are as low 80% or even lower already? Statistically it is we can’t draw too many conclusions. 3 Leafs does not a huge statistical population make. But it is interesting. At least on the face of it, it seems like the Nissan Leaf 30kW battery likes how we are treating it, so what do we do differently than a private owner may do?"

"So, all of this seems to indicate a couple of things.

Nissan Leafs thrive under harsh conditions.
Nissan Leaf batteries seem to enjoy the way we treat them.

Based on that, here's some recommendations that may help you get the most from your Nissan Leaf battery (from a taxi companies perspective, of course):

Charge to 80% rather than 100%.
Charge at 25% rather than running the battery low.
Use the car.
Don’t be afraid to fast charge."

It would be good if the "Flip the Fleet" people could comment on why not all 30 kWh Leaf owners are in fact experiencing the fast battery degradation problem. Is their research robust enough to take the above facts into account?

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