Nissan LEAF - General

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#1622948 5-Sep-2016 11:04

Linuxluver:

This is all rapidly becoming academic. Four new 50kw fast chargers have opened in Auckland in the past 2 weeks. A new 50kw fast charger just opened up in Thames this week. There is a 30amp charger just 16km down the highway at a Spark phone box at Waitakaruru. There is a 50kw fast charger being installed now in Rotorua. Tokoroa to follow. There soon won't be any scope for 'range anxiety' because there will be enough chargers around you can't get stuck anywhere unless you've lost the plot.

Unless you are in the South Island .. doesn't seem to be the number of fast charges around or being built compared to the North.

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#1622958 5-Sep-2016 11:23

nzkiwiman:

Linuxluver:

This is all rapidly becoming academic. Four new 50kw fast chargers have opened in Auckland in the past 2 weeks. A new 50kw fast charger just opened up in Thames this week. There is a 30amp charger just 16km down the highway at a Spark phone box at Waitakaruru. There is a 50kw fast charger being installed now in Rotorua. Tokoroa to follow. There soon won't be any scope for 'range anxiety' because there will be enough chargers around you can't get stuck anywhere unless you've lost the plot.

Unless you are in the South Island .. doesn't seem to be the number of fast charges around or being built compared to the North.

They are coming. Charge.net.nz, in particular, is building fast chargers throughout NZ. Their map of planned installations is here.

Green is theirs and already running.

Yellow is under construction now.

Dark purple should open this year.

Light purple is next year.

Blue is already there, but on another network.

White is more than a year away.

By the end of 2016 they should have all of SH1 covered Kaitaia to Invercargill. In 2018 most EVs will be offering 300km range, so you'll only need 4-6 charges between Kaitaia and Invercargill.

They have so far focused on Auckland and Northland where about 75% of existing EVs are. Auckland alone accounts for 2/3s of all EVs in NZ according to the latest stats from the DoS.

Wellington wil begin to take off when the Otaki and Palmerston North and Featherston chargers are running. They are all under construction right now and should be open soon.

Unfortunately, the Palmerston North one is right in the Square downtown.....not really a good place for anyone passing through Palmerston North......

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#1625037 7-Sep-2016 12:56

Just took a 2014 Leaf for a test drive. Very nice car. I can see myself spending some money very shortly...

Can someone explain the model numbering - S, X, G - what is what, what features are where, etc?

old3eyes

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#1625067 7-Sep-2016 13:48

SumnerBoy:

Just took a 2014 Leaf for a test drive. Very nice car. I can see myself spending some money very shortly...

Can someone explain the model numbering - S, X, G - what is what, what features are where, etc?

What sort of price are they asking for it??

Regards,

Old3eyes

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#1625068 7-Sep-2016 13:50

$25K plus ORC

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#1625098 7-Sep-2016 15:02

I purposely took one for a drive that didn't have integrated audio/navigation. It had one of those carrozeria standalone units. As I have alluded to in the "make your dumb car, smart" thread Nissans are a nightmare to convert from Japanese because they integrate their climate controls etc into the infotainment system. The Japanese language thing may not bother the majority of buyers, but it bugs the crap out of me.

How many segments left on the battery capacity of the one you took for a drive? That seems to be the biggest determinant in price.

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#1625101 7-Sep-2016 15:06

It was still at a full 12/12. The guy had replaced the head unit with an after-market unit - has NZ radio, NZ maps, reversing camera, BT etc. Climate control is all by dials and knobs below. The only Japanese you see is in the dash display in certain screens.

RUKI

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#1625140 7-Sep-2016 15:55

Dingbatt: I purposely took one for a drive that didn't have integrated audio/navigation. It had one of those carrozeria standalone units. As I have alluded to in the "make your dumb car, smart" thread Nissans are a nightmare to convert from Japanese because they integrate their climate controls etc into the infotainment system. The Japanese language thing may not bother the majority of buyers, but it bugs the crap out of me.
.

USA AV unit works plug and play and if there were demand I could've brought few from USA's wrecks.

Linuxluver

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#1625198 7-Sep-2016 17:13

SumnerBoy:

Just took a 2014 Leaf for a test drive. Very nice car. I can see myself spending some money very shortly...

Can someone explain the model numbering - S, X, G - what is what, what features are where, etc?

Those are the Japanese "trim levels". The S is the basic. I have one of those at the moment....so has ECO mode, but no ECO "B Mode" (extra-aggressive regeneration). It also has a 3.3kw AC charger....which is fine for 16amps. But if you use a 30amp-32amp charger (like the Spark phone box 30amp chargers) you'll still only be able to do 16amps...and charge at half the possible speed of the charger. If getting the X or G includes a 6.6kw AC internal charger, then do that. I didn't...and I either charge at 'home' speed (7-8 hours from empty) or use a CHAdeMO fast charger. The 6.6kw internal AC charger lets you charge from empty in 4 hours on a 30amp charger...and that's very useful when trying to travel around between cities AT THE MOMENT...because there are a fair number of 30amp chargers around that could see you with a long-ish stop...but you can still get somewhere useful on the same day if a 50kw fast charger isn't around.

That said....there are more 50kw fast chargers almost every day. One opened in Thames last week and another in Rotorua this week. A year from now the 6.6kw thing won't be such a big deal....which is why Japan didn't include it in all models. They have thousands and thousands of 50kw fast chargers all over the place.....

Other options are cruise control, leather seats, a more efficient heat pump (instead of resistive heater) etc. My "basic" Model S has heated seats - front AND rear - and a heated steering wheel. Butno cruise control or heat pump.

The UK use different names: Acienta (the mid one?) and Tekna (the top one). I have a 30kw Tekna arricing on October 6th from the UK. The advantage of a UK car is everything is in English and the voltage of the EVSE is already 240v and doesn't need modifying. Japan use 100v standard on a power outlet. Their EVSE is 15amp. If you plug it into a Kiwi 16amp outlet the EVSE will typically die in a week or two.

To make it more confusing each trim level has options....and each buyer would select the ones they wanted to pay for. So not all X are the same...and so on. So best to look at the detail of each car.....and decide what you want and don't want.

I'm just doing a brain dump. I'm sure there are web sites that will lay it all out in detail.

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Linuxluver

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#1625200 7-Sep-2016 17:20

SumnerBoy:

It was still at a full 12/12. The guy had replaced the head unit with an after-market unit - has NZ radio, NZ maps, reversing camera, BT etc. Climate control is all by dials and knobs below. The only Japanese you see is in the dash display in certain screens.

I have not seen a Gen 2 LEAF with less than 12 bars. They are too new and the Gen 2 battery is a much better, more robust battery. There is a Gen 2 taxi in Scotland that did 160,000km on 12 bars. Apparently he's now over 300,000km and is now on 9 or 10 bars. Most cars would need a new motor by then anyway. Not the LEAF, apparently.

I also have an after-market head unit. The Japanese on the dash can be understood fairly easily using Google Translate on your phone. I managed to work out how to set the date and time in a few minutes.

NZ has the ideal climate for EV batteries.....not too hot or too cold.

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Linuxluver

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#1625204 7-Sep-2016 17:30

I'm going for a tour tomorrow (Thursday 2016 09 08).

With the new fast chargers in Thames and Rotorua going live this past week, I'm going to drive:

Auckland -> Thames -> Tauranga -> Rotorua (shoot some VR video at Whakarewarewa) -> Hamilton -> Auckland....I'll leave around 6am and and I plan to be home in time for supper.

....because now I can.

My primary aim is just to go to Rotorua, but I want to see what those routes are like, so a loop around them seems best.

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#1625242 7-Sep-2016 19:21

Linuxluver:

SumnerBoy:

It was still at a full 12/12. The guy had replaced the head unit with an after-market unit - has NZ radio, NZ maps, reversing camera, BT etc. Climate control is all by dials and knobs below. The only Japanese you see is in the dash display in certain screens.

I have not seen a Gen 2 LEAF with less than 12 bars. They are too new and the Gen 2 battery is a much better, more robust battery. There is a Gen 2 taxi in Scotland that did 160,000km on 12 bars. Apparently he's now over 300,000km and is now on 9 or 10 bars. Most cars would need a new motor by then anyway. Not the LEAF, apparently.

I also have an after-market head unit. The Japanese on the dash can be understood fairly easily using Google Translate on your phone. I managed to work out how to set the date and time in a few minutes.

NZ has the ideal climate for EV batteries.....not too hot or too cold.

The number of bars are a half-decent guide. If seriously considering a Leaf, I'd get a KONNWEI KW902 BT OBD-II (~$NZ20 delivered) paired with Leaf Spy app (free will do) and check the state of health (SOH). The first bar disappears after anywhere between 12-15% of lost capacity. A 12 bar with 99% SOH is a different beast from 12 bar 86% (or worse if there's been some chicanery to reset the number of bars).

SumnerBoy

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#1625244 7-Sep-2016 19:23

Linuxluver:

SumnerBoy:

Can someone explain the model numbering - S, X, G - what is what, what features are where, etc?

Those are the Japanese "trim levels". The S is the basic. I have one of those at the moment....so has ECO mode, but no ECO "B Mode" (extra-aggressive regeneration). It also has a 3.3kw AC charger....which is fine for 16amps. But if you use a 30amp-32amp charger (like the Spark phone box 30amp chargers) you'll still only be able to do 16amps...and charge at half the possible speed of the charger. If getting the X or G includes a 6.6kw AC internal charger, then do that. I didn't...and I either charge at 'home' speed (7-8 hours from empty) or use a CHAdeMO fast charger. The 6.6kw internal AC charger lets you charge from empty in 4 hours on a 30amp charger...and that's very useful when trying to travel around between cities AT THE MOMENT...because there are a fair number of 30amp chargers around that could see you with a long-ish stop...but you can still get somewhere useful on the same day if a 50kw fast charger isn't around.

That said....there are more 50kw fast chargers almost every day. One opened in Thames last week and another in Rotorua this week. A year from now the 6.6kw thing won't be such a big deal....which is why Japan didn't include it in all models. They have thousands and thousands of 50kw fast chargers all over the place.....

Other options are cruise control, leather seats, a more efficient heat pump (instead of resistive heater) etc. My "basic" Model S has heated seats - front AND rear - and a heated steering wheel. Butno cruise control or heat pump.

The UK use different names: Acienta (the mid one?) and Tekna (the top one). I have a 30kw Tekna arricing on October 6th from the UK. The advantage of a UK car is everything is in English and the voltage of the EVSE is already 240v and doesn't need modifying. Japan use 100v standard on a power outlet. Their EVSE is 15amp. If you plug it into a Kiwi 16amp outlet the EVSE will typically die in a week or two.

To make it more confusing each trim level has options....and each buyer would select the ones they wanted to pay for. So not all X are the same...and so on. So best to look at the detail of each car.....and decide what you want and don't want.

I'm just doing a brain dump. I'm sure there are web sites that will lay it all out in detail.

That is very useful - thanks for clearing up a number of questions. I have only looked at this one S model, but I am still looking, so will keep in mind the 6.6kW charger thing. I don't intend to do any inter-city travel in this car, the Sth Island just isn't geared up for that yet. So I think the 3.3kW charger will probably be ok for what I need. Plus, there are two fast chargers going in at the end of the street in a few months hopefully.

Cruise control I can live without for around-town driving. The heater would probably be worthwhile by the sounds, but the model I drove had heated everything as well (like yours).

I was intending to build a smart charger (from www.openevse.com) and have a play but if I only have a 3.3kW charger I am not sure there is much point.

SumnerBoy

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#1625250 7-Sep-2016 19:30

paulchinnz:

The number of bars are a half-decent guide. If seriously considering a Leaf, I'd get a KONNWEI KW902 BT OBD-II (~$NZ20 delivered) paired with Leaf Spy app (free will do) and check the state of health (SOH). The first bar disappears after anywhere between 12-15% of lost capacity. A 12 bar with 99% SOH is a different beast from 12 bar 86% (or worse if there's been some chicanery to reset the number of bars).

Great advice - just purchased from AliExpress. Can see this being an invaluable tool.

Scott3

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#1625319 7-Sep-2016 23:29

SumnerBoy:

Just took a 2014 Leaf for a test drive. Very nice car. I can see myself spending some money very shortly...

Can someone explain the model numbering - S, X, G - what is what, what features are where, etc?

Japanese Leaf's have heaps of options available, so even within spec's there is quite a lot of variation:

Full spec sheets (in Japanese) here and here, and the launch description for Updated (Gen2) leaf is here (in English)

Summary (Gen2 leaf's only):

Japan "S" Spec (Base spec)

16" Steel wheels
Din Standard Stereo (Not linked to Heater, air-con, charge timer etc), can be swapped for an NZ unit without loosing any functionality
Heated seats
Resistive heater
Fog lamps (Option)
Charge & Cabin Pre-heat / Pre-cool timer
Rear view camera(Option)
Tonneau cover (Option)

Japan "X" Spec (Mid spec)

Integrated stereo (in Japanese)
Heat pump for Heater (more efficient than resistive heater in S)
Rear view camera(Standard)
16" Alloy Wheels (Option)
LED headlights (Option)
Fog lamps (Option)
B-mode
Leather (Option)
Bose audio (Option)
Rear view camera(Option)
Around View Cameras (Option)
Tonneau cover (option)

Japan "G" Spec (Top spec)

17" Alloys
LED headlights (standard)
Rear roof spoiler with solar panel (charges accessory battery only)
Fog lamps (standard)
B-mode
Rear view camera(Standard)
Leather (Option)
Bose audio (Option)
Around View Cameras (Option)
Tonneau cover (Standard)

Note all Japanese Leaf's have the 3.6kw Charger (no faster AC option available)

UK Spec's are way easier, Read it yourself in English here or here. Far fewer options (more stuff standard on top spec). Faster AC 6.6kW charger, Solar spoiler & Privacy glass (on mid spec Acenta) are the only options. Of course the dash is in english to.

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