Nissan LEAF - General

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#1599380 27-Jul-2016 09:49

Linuxluver:

...The problem is NZ's typically very short term private investment horizons. Only the government has ever been consistently capable building for.......the future. ..

Wouldn't it be nice to spend the Auckland City budget on Fast Chargers in parallel to/or maybe instead of that useless purple strip of cycling root in the CBD. I am in the area every day watching from above - rarely see any cyclists there... But the demand for the Fast Chargers is growing... Of course - Government've built that root for the future, no doubt :-) We will see crowds of cyclists there by 2020 standing in the queue to enter....

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#1599385 27-Jul-2016 09:53

RUKI:

Linuxluver:

...The problem is NZ's typically very short term private investment horizons. Only the government has ever been consistently capable building for.......the future. ..

Wouldn't it be nice to spend the Auckland City budget on Fast Chargers in parallel to/or maybe instead of that useless purple strip of cycling root in the CBD. I am in the area every day watching from above - rarely see any cyclists there... But the demand for the Fast Chargers is growing...

It doesn't cost that much.

Ontario, in Canada, are building 500 rapid chargers for C$20 million.

NZ could build 200 for $8 million. Less than one third the cost of a flag referendum no one wanted. That 200 would cover the main national highway network with a pair of chargers every 80-km100km. It would be a start.

SH1 is 2047 long. At 80km intervals (25 of them in 2047) a pair of chargers would consume 50 of the 200 chargers. There...Cape Reinga to Half Moon Bay (Stewart Island) covered.

SH3 - 487km long. They would require 5 stations of two chargers each - so another 10.

SH2 is 987 km long. So we're looking at 12 charging stations of two chargers....so another 24 chargers. That's 84 chargers so far out of 200....and we can now drive from Cape Reinga to Wellington by 3 different routes and to Invercargill on at least one.

So where do we put the other 116 chargers?

SH6, down the west coast of the South Island, is 1,197km. So that's 15 charging stations (30 chargers). Now we're up to 114......and we can get from Picton to Invercargill two different ways.

Where to put the other 86? Maybe double up (4 chargers) on higher volume routes.

SH 7 - 262km - 3 charging stations. 6 more chargers.

SH 8 - 457km - 6 charging stations (12 chargers)...and we're now at 130 out of our 200....and we have covered

SH 4 - 237km - 3 charging stations. 6 more chargers. That's 136.

SH 5 - 262km - 4 more charging stations. 8 chargers...and we're at 144 chargers out of 200.

This is not hard...or expensive. Remember, this isn't like petrol. Most people start off with a charge from home. They just need bridges to destinations. They can then charge at a hotel, home or wherever there is a power point.

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#1599434 27-Jul-2016 11:39

Yesterday I drove from Auckland to Tauranga and back in my Nissan LEAF.

It was interesting.......

I started from home on a full charge and drove 108km to WEL's rapid charger at Te Rapa. I got there on 26%.

To get from Te Rapa to Tauranga (118km to Bayfair Mall.....and over the Kaimais) I wanted to resume my travels with a full charge, so my daughter and I went to the nearby Donovan's Cafe and had breakfast and a coffee. We came back 50 minutes later to find the LEAF just finishing up on 98%. Good enough.

Off we went. Across Hamilton and we drove down the new SH1 past Cambridge and then went up SH29 and over the Kaimai range. I chose to climb the big hill behind a big, slow truck to minimise the drain on my battery. The hill isn't that high and this cost me only a few minutes in terms of overall travel time. We arrived in Greerton on 18%. So no problem getting to Tauranga.

But we have to get back from Tauranga...and a household 10amp charge from 18% to 100% would take 8 hours at least. Too slow.

Instead, I drove over to Bayfair Mall (took 10% from Greerton - I arrived on 7%) and used the rapid charger there to get back to 93%. That took 37 minutes. I had lunch and bought some stuff at Kmart. When I got back to the car it had just finished. This charger costs money...so I paid $11 for the charge up from 7% to 93%.

Back to Greerton...now on 83%. Plugged into the house charging point where we were visiting...and in a couple of hours I was at 98%. Good enough.

Back to WEL at Te Rapa....much less cautious about speed and use of heaters as I knew what to expect (this is all new experience....) and we arrived on 16%.

No need for a full charge to get home....only need 74% from WEL....so charged uyp to 86% (took 21 minutes) and took off.

Hit the bottom of Auckland on 21%.....MORE than enough.....so turned the heater on high and did 110kph all the way home.....arriving on 4%. That's another 6-10km.....and I didn't need to go that far. ;-)

I'm getting the hang of this. Enough is enough. Just make sure you have enough....and it's all good.

Total cost in 'fuel' of the return trip to Tauranga? $11.

The weather was utter crap. But it didn't matter.

Bottom line for me is that I have no issues ranging between KawaKawa in the North to Hamilton in the south...and across to Tauranga in the LEAF....and low cost + zero emissions all the way.

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#1603997 4-Aug-2016 07:31

An answer for those questions about lifecycle emissions of the LEAF compared to when the most efficient fossil-fuel cars.

At least 47% greener.

http://www.cheatsheet.com/automobiles/nissan-leaf-is-47-greener-than-most-efficient-gasoline-car.html/?a=viewall

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#1610758 12-Aug-2016 15:18

This thread has been enough to make be interested in the Leaf - and given there are now a decent number coming into the country (going by a number being listed on TM every day) I've started contemplating the idea of it being an ideal replacement for my wife's Jazz, which she only uses around or close to town 99% of the time. The problem's been that in the backwaters of PN no dealer has had stock available, but finally there are a couple around - I had a test drive of a 2014 model (http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/nissan/auction-1139860406.htm).

Must say I'm massively impressed. Not with the exterior, TBH, which is as unattractive as any Nissan from the past 10 years, but internally it's actually a nice cabin to be in - comfortable seats, good space and leg room in the rear. I particularly like that it comes across as pretty much a "normal" car, not some space-age try-hard Prius with fancy graphics showing energy use etc.

Eco mode is not that much fun to drive in, but I guess would come in handy when trying to preserve range, but standard mode is nicely peppy. The first time I really put my foot down I was somewhat unimpressed until looking down at the speedo I saw I was already doing 60 - the ease and silence in which it accelerates really gives a false sense of (lack of) speed. Not the same useful burst of acceleration on the open road, but we'd not be buying it for much open road driving.

The dealer said the current state of the Yen are Leafs (Leaves?!) making them more expensive to bring in at the moment, but I reckon I'd rather have a UK-sourced one or one converted to NZ content - the one I drove had an interface where a decent amount of the instructions are in Japanese including the GPS; didn't even have a band expander fitted!

If I won Lotto I'd certainly buy one tomorrow; back in realityland, I'd certainly be keen in the few years...

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#1610794 12-Aug-2016 15:53

jonathan18:

The dealer said the current state of the Yen are Leafs (Leaves?!) making them more expensive to bring in at the moment, but I reckon I'd rather have a UK-sourced one

The Whole Brexit-thingee has probably made it more economic to buy and ship a second Hand leaf from the UK than Japan,

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#1610983 12-Aug-2016 21:36

jonathan18:

This thread has been enough to make be interested in the Leaf - and given there are now a decent number coming into the country (going by a number being listed on TM every day) I've started contemplating the idea of it being an ideal replacement for my wife's Jazz, which she only uses around or close to town 99% of the time. The problem's been that in the backwaters of PN no dealer has had stock available, but finally there are a couple around - I had a test drive of a 2014 model (http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/nissan/auction-1139860406.htm).

Must say I'm massively impressed. Not with the exterior, TBH, which is as unattractive as any Nissan from the past 10 years, but internally it's actually a nice cabin to be in - comfortable seats, good space and leg room in the rear. I particularly like that it comes across as pretty much a "normal" car, not some space-age try-hard Prius with fancy graphics showing energy use etc.

Eco mode is not that much fun to drive in, but I guess would come in handy when trying to preserve range, but standard mode is nicely peppy. The first time I really put my foot down I was somewhat unimpressed until looking down at the speedo I saw I was already doing 60 - the ease and silence in which it accelerates really gives a false sense of (lack of) speed. Not the same useful burst of acceleration on the open road, but we'd not be buying it for much open road driving.

The dealer said the current state of the Yen are Leafs (Leaves?!) making them more expensive to bring in at the moment, but I reckon I'd rather have a UK-sourced one or one converted to NZ content - the one I drove had an interface where a decent amount of the instructions are in Japanese including the GPS; didn't even have a band expander fitted!

If I won Lotto I'd certainly buy one tomorrow; back in realityland, I'd certainly be keen in the few years...

The Nissan Leaf is quite a big hatchback, 450mm longer than Honda Jazz. Gives a lot more interior space.

If you are prepared to wait, and get one from the UK, below is a current pricing (4 days old, the post OCR announcement currency spike should make the pricing better still) indication. (Using a car import agent to source the car, and manage the process, Don't know if it is appropriate to name import agents here)

1 x Bronze 2016 Leaf 30kw [30kwh] Tekna 6.6kw onboard charger, 3000 miles - Forecasted just under $40k at current exchange rate.

1 x Bronze 2016 30kw [30kwh] Acenta, 10 miles. Forecasted: $36,650.

The "Tenka" spec is the highest spec, has things like leather seats, 17" wheels, Around view monitor, BOSE audio, LED headlights etc, Acenta is mid spec with 16" alloy wheels & cloth seats. All ex UK cars are obviously in English (GPS won't work here).

If you are looking at a $30k car anyway, you get a lot for the $7k step Acenta car above: 2 year younger car (pretty much brand new), 25% bigger battery (with 2 years less wear on it), English everything.

Remember to budget get a sparky to put a charging port in your garage. The charge cords cost quite a bit ($700+) if your car doesn't come with one (or you want more than what it comes with).

With the UK cars, under certain circumstances car's can be sourced without VAT (20%), this is how the above cars are at such a good price. Range available for export without VAT is limited so if you are super fussy with color you may have to wait for one to come available.

Regarding English in the Ex japan cars, best bet is to buy the Bottom spec "S" Gen 2 leaf, and swap in a double din NZ stereo to your liking (gps etc if you desire). Otherwise get a higher spec car, slap a band expander in, and use google translate on your phone to set up Bluetooth etc.

[Footnote] I think a dealer has brought that $37k leaf, and relisted it on trade-me: http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/nissan/auction-1139084713.htm

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#1611270 14-Aug-2016 01:35

This thread is a good justification for going nuts with a mains cable upgrade. Current cable is 60M of 16mm2 direct buried copper. Supposedly good for 40A according to Gencalc. But I can't go much over 20A without volt drop getting excessive. Due to the almost 50Year old underground street mains.

Would probably go for 95mm2 Al cables because overkill. And less need to replace internal wiring to make it compliant with volt drop rules.

Now if @vector could please replace the street mains and install Natural Gas while they are at it. Especially as I can't get 3 phase, my side of the street only has single phase.

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#1611275 14-Aug-2016 03:36

Renting a Leaf while I am in Norway. Must say I am enjoying it!

Renting electrical cars here is cheap, both because the cars are exempt of taxes - and because the rent itself is exempt GST. In addition there is no toll road to pay with an electric car. Access to a lot of bus lanes, and lots of free parking and charging stations in the cities.

I think the car is butt ugly from the outside, but driving it is not a bad experience, even after having test driven the Tesla Model S (which is a much more fun car to drive).

In Eco mode the car is pretty sedate, but still very comfortable. When Eco is turned off, its pretty zippy and ~~I think it does 0-100 in 5,8 seconds, which is not bad~~.

UPDATE: I seem to have gotten the notion that it could do 0-100 in 5,8 seconds. It does it in 10,2 apparently ;)

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#1611365 14-Aug-2016 12:41

Any colour but white looks good to me. Same with the Prius.

Is that your scrape on the front left bumper? ; ).

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#1611626 14-Aug-2016 23:24

gzt: Any colour but white looks good to me. Same with the Prius.

Is that your scrape on the front left bumper? ; ).

Its just the light/shadows messing with you :)

Being a rental it does have some scruffs here and there, but nothing on the left bumper and nothing that is of my doing :)

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#1611810 15-Aug-2016 11:04

BTW: Does any of the Leafs that people here own have one of these solar panels? The rental has one..

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#1611836 15-Aug-2016 11:26

jarledb:

BTW: Does any of the Leafs that people here own have one of these solar panels? The rental has one..

Ahh the Solar Spoiler, It tops up the 12V accessory battery, so is useful to keep the car cool when parked in the Sun, but from what I have read, it pretty much a gimmick

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#1611843 15-Aug-2016 11:34

wellygary:

Ahh the Solar Spoiler, It tops up the 12V accessory battery, so is useful to keep the car cool when parked in the Sun, but from what I have read, it pretty much a gimmick

It seems more like a way to wrestle some extra money out of the pockets of their customers, if you ask me. Pretty much useless.

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#1611846 15-Aug-2016 11:38

jarledb:

its pretty zippy and I think it does 0-100 in 5,8 seconds, which is not bad.

I though that sounds fast but then looked it up, you are a little off in that guess...

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