Nissan LEAF - General

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Nissan LEAF - General

1 | ... | 156 | 157 | 158 | 159 | 160 | 161 | 162 | 163 | 164 | 165 | 166 | ... | 260

Circumspice
796 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 223

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2107481 13-Oct-2018 22:49

Lots of Leafs in Chch too.

2y ago when I first got mine, I'd see another once a week, then 1y ago it was most days, and now it's several per day. To put into perspective though, the other car in the family is a Toyota Blade, which I see at least as much as the Leaf.

Linuxluver

5833 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1639

Trusted

Subscriber

#2107486 13-Oct-2018 23:37

MikeB4:

The Stats say there are circa 5,000 registered EVs in NZ, it would seem that 93.75% of them are in Wellington given how many Nissan Leafs I see on any given trip around town.

10,114 light EVs registered in NZ as at the end of September.

Auckland has 4,984 light EVs registered as at the end of September.

Wellington is second with 1,308.

Canterbury 3rd with 1,267.

Otago 4th with 593

Waikato 5th with 572.

Lowest is West Coast with 7.

Gisborne is 2nd lowest with 23.

_____________________________________________________________________

I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

Linuxluver

5833 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1639

Trusted

Subscriber

#2107488 13-Oct-2018 23:50

happyfunball:

Population density is higher in Wellington so you see them more maybe? I haven't been to Auckland in years (except for the airport) but the southern suburbs in Welly are crawling with Nissan Leafs.

Whitby, Tawa, Karori and Island Bay are the leading suburbs for EVs. A dozen other suburbs have at least a dozen.

_____________________________________________________________________

I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

MikeB4

MikeB4
18776 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 12769

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#2108296 15-Oct-2018 16:21

If I were to buy an imported Leaf what in particular should I be weiry of andwhat model would be the best option. Not the new model, its makes no financial sense to buy that, I am thinking the ugly duckling model.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

mdf

3566 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1519

Trusted

#2108300 15-Oct-2018 16:27

Linuxluver:

happyfunball:

Population density is higher in Wellington so you see them more maybe? I haven't been to Auckland in years (except for the airport) but the southern suburbs in Welly are crawling with Nissan Leafs.

Whitby, Tawa, Karori and Island Bay are the leading suburbs for EVs. A dozen other suburbs have at least a dozen.

I live in Island Bay and can confirm that Bayvarians seem to be well represented in the Leaf stakes. Including some that clearly park on the street so I have no idea how they charge.

We're also home to the Bus Charger (it's been installed but I can't find a decent picture). Would involve some... creative... driving to get a leaf plugged in to that!

wellygary

8816 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5300

#2108306 15-Oct-2018 16:39

mdf:

We're also home to the Bus Charger (it's been installed but I can't find a decent picture). Would involve some... creative... driving to get a leaf plugged in to that!

Have you seen the reef street charger actually charging a bus??

All the comments I see on transport blogs indicate that it is still not operational... :(

Dyson

Shop now for Dyson appliances (affiliate link).

mdf

3566 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1519

Trusted

#2108308 15-Oct-2018 16:42

wellygary:

mdf:

We're also home to the Bus Charger (it's been installed but I can't find a decent picture). Would involve some... creative... driving to get a leaf plugged in to that!

Have you seen the reef street charger actually charging a bus??

All the comments I see on transport blogs indicate that it is still not operational... :(

Nope. I've only see the lesser-spotted electric double decker once, and that was in Mornington on the 7 route.

alasta

6891 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3365

Trusted

Subscriber

#2108313 15-Oct-2018 16:53

mdf:

wellygary:

Have you seen the reef street charger actually charging a bus??

All the comments I see on transport blogs indicate that it is still not operational... :(

Nope. I've only see the lesser-spotted electric double decker once, and that was in Mornington on the 7 route.

I have had an electric bus on the 23e route a couple of times last week. I assume it charges at Reef Street before heading to Houghton Bay to start its route.

I'd love to know how long it takes to charge after a return trip to town.

wellygary

8816 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5300

#2108314 15-Oct-2018 16:53

mdf:

Nope. I've only see the lesser-spotted electric double decker once, and that was in Mornington on the 7 route.

Was is in the morning ( no pun intended)??

its speculated that without the fast charger active they can only overnight trickle charge them at the Rongatai depot, so they only run morning shifts before they have to trundle back to the depot to charge up again for the next day...

mdf

3566 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1519

Trusted

#2108318 15-Oct-2018 16:58

wellygary:

its speculated that without the fast charger active they can only overnight trickle charge them at the Rongatai depot, so they only run morning shifts before they have to trundle back to the depot to charge up again for the next day...

Yeah, would have been 8.30 or thereabouts.

afe66

3181 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1678

Lifetime subscriber

#2108322 15-Oct-2018 17:10

A colleague rode to work in Dunedin and counted 15 leafs over the course of 5km ride...

Friend from chch who has been in ev community for 5 years was very surprised how many ev she saw in Dunedin.

There might be more in total in chch but spread over much bigger urban area.

I wonder how many Auckland ev are just registered there by companies but spread throughout the country. Ie nz post, anz, westpac etc

Dell

Shop now for Dell laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

SaltyNZ

8874 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9566

Trusted

2degrees

Lifetime subscriber

#2108391 15-Oct-2018 18:16

MikeB4:

If I were to buy an imported Leaf what in particular should I be weiry of andwhat model would be the best option. Not the new model, its makes no financial sense to buy that, I am thinking the ugly duckling model.

I suppose it depends how far you usually drive before returning to home base. Prior to the battery software update, with my car thinking it had a 75% SOH 24kWh battery instead of an 88% SOH 30kWh battery, I was still able to commute 110km comfortably without needing to stop and recharge. Having said that, when my wife drives it to Albany and back - half the distance - she usually returns with about the same amount of charge remaining as me on a full day's commute. So without getting into name calling, let's also stipulate that it pays to drive more gently.

I personally would steer clear of the ones with lower bars remaining as the replacement battery situation here is not great at the moment and it would be bad to find a couple of cells out and out failed leaving the car immobilised without a way to fix it. But to be fair I have not tried to source a replacement battery so my actual experience in that regard is worth exactly what you're paying for it.

Lastly remember the later models have a heat pump for the heater which has less impact on range than the resistive heater in the older ones.

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

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

paulchinnz

Circumspice
796 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 223

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2108399 15-Oct-2018 18:28

Also check the front wheel struts for rust. Some nice pictures posted by linuxluver earlier in this thread.

jonathan18

7415 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2850

ID Verified

Trusted

#2108405 15-Oct-2018 18:43

SaltyNZ:

Lastly remember the later models have a heat pump for the heater which has less impact on range than the resistive heater in the older ones.

Actually, I think with the 'gen 2' (and, yes, I know it's really 1.2), the cheapest "S" model still had a standard heater - a good reason to go for either the "X" or 'G".

@MikeB4: This site has useful information on the various models available - https://samholford.github.io/leafguide/

The "X' hit the spot for us - but for us it was more critical that it had a full suite of airbags as it ferries the kids in it every day (I got told 95% have only two), so we were willing to pay more for that than worry too much about other features. [Edit - to be clear, >2 airbags isn't model-dependent, but rather based on the initial owner's purchase decision; I assume it was an option for all three Japanese trims. I also assume the UK models come with the full airbag suite.] My sister's since bought a G for less money, a few more kms, but a pretty much perfect battery...

Also, check out the Leaf and EV groups on Facebook - there are some really helpful members on them.

Linuxluver

5833 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1639

Trusted

Subscriber

#2110109 17-Oct-2018 22:40

MikeB4:

If I were to buy an imported Leaf what in particular should I be weiry of andwhat model would be the best option. Not the new model, its makes no financial sense to buy that, I am thinking the ugly duckling model.

Depends on your needs.

I would avoid the 2011 and 2012 LEAFs. Yes, they are the cheapest. Yes, they can still do at least 70km reliably and many can do a lot more than that. Yes, you can charge them up overnight. No problem.

But if you want to travel further or drive more in the same day......they only fast charge at about 22kw.......and then only to about 90%....and that's 90% of whatever they can do now....not from original.

I recently drove one from Auckland to Taupo......and it got there without any real fuss. But it took a while. For every 45 mins driving I had to charge for about 45 mins.

The 2013 and later LEAFs charge at 48kw.....and will have greater range. The S model from Japan has a hungry heater. The X and G trims have a heat pump. Much more efficient.

There are people who can handle battery issues. At least two groups in NZ (EV Enhanced - Chch - and Blue Cars -AKL) are able to swap out bad cells and replace them. They can also swap entire battery packs, if necessary, but the replacement needs to be better than the one being pulled out, or don't bother.

Blue Cars also got EECA funding to develop a full replacement battery. They are currently trialing a 37kWh replacement for the 2011 and 2012 models....which would be awesome if they can get it sorted.

Basically, get the newest one you can afford with the best battery. Mileage doesn't really matter with EVs. In many cases, the cars that have been driven more are in better shape than those parked and left. Especially where the battery is concerned.

When you think see a car you like, you can PM me if you like. I'm also in "NZ EV Owners" on Facebook.....along with about 4,100 other EV owners in NZ.

_____________________________________________________________________

I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

1 | ... | 156 | 157 | 158 | 159 | 160 | 161 | 162 | 163 | 164 | 165 | 166 | ... | 260