Nissan LEAF - General

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#1855978 31-Aug-2017 14:46

leaflearner:

First, an apology. I'm no geek and don't have the ability to become one. I've joined the forum not to share worthwhile knowledge but largely to ask questions of the contributors to this excellent LEAF thread, which I discovered only a few days after placing an order with a dealer (one on the "reputable" list fortunately) to import for me a 2016 Japanese 30kWh X model.

My situation is I wanted to upgrade from a 1999 manual Nissan Pulsar to a zero emissions vehicle that will serve me well in retirement doing mainly short journeys around Auckland but several journeys a year to Taupo. I have one-car garaging only and will somewhat regretfully have to farewell the ageing Pulsar.

I thought I'd done the necessary homework on the "range anxiety" issue, but having now read all 60 plus pages on this thread, I'm not so sure. Currently, I drive from north of Auckland to Taupo with one refuelling stop in Cambridge. I didn't accept that the 30kWh LEAF has the 200km range frequently mentioned in the headings of dealers' advertisements; I did accept the "realistic" view of various online reviewers that the 30kWh's true range was between 160km and 190km. That's okay then, I thought -- a first recharge at Te Kauwhata, then a top-up to 100% in Cambridge for the remaining 134km to Taupo, leaving me with a margin of 26km to spare out of the 160km.

This gave me peace of mind till I came across a message here from Linuxluver about an Auckland to Wellington trip. The Cambridge-Taupo leg was "horrendous" apparently, even for an experienced EV driver using all the tricks like trailing behind big trucks (ugh!!).

The planned fast chargers at Tirau and Tokoroa are still not in place -- just hoped for "by the end of the year", same as they were in 2016 I believe.

Has anyone else here besides Linuxluver tackled the Cambridge-Taupo journey in a 30kWh LEAF and what was their experience please? Should I be banking on the chance of a successful expedition in early November in my near-new LEAF? What pre-arrangements can be made to avert disappointment and huge inconvenience? What do you do if you run out of charge when the surrounding terrain is nothing but forestry blocks?

If you bought a Leaf with adaptive cruise control (ability to follow a vehicle from at a set distance with the car cruise control computer controlling the speed to keep the distance) you can follow a giant truck and have nearly no wind resistance all the way. But I strongly recommend getting one with crash avoidance system (autamatic emergency braking) just in case. Also make sure the truck is not white.

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#1856087 31-Aug-2017 17:57

This is a great thread but please don't quote long posts three times in a row.

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#1856108 31-Aug-2017 19:11

nickt: This is a great thread but please don't quote long posts three times in a row.

How long is too long?

JeezyKreezy

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#1856113 31-Aug-2017 19:15

Batman:

nickt: This is a great thread but please don't quote long posts three times in a row.

How long is too long?

Personally I would say 2 - 3 paragraphs probably don't need to be quoted, just the actual points/questions the reply is aimed at. :)

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#1856118 31-Aug-2017 19:32

My iphone can not do that.

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#1856119 31-Aug-2017 19:38

Batman:
My iphone can not do that.

But mine can?

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#1856138 31-Aug-2017 20:37

yours is bigger and better

Linuxluver

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#1856144 31-Aug-2017 20:47

empacher48: For those who do have a leaf, is it realistically possible to commute on the open road 60km each direction on a single charge?

I'm looking at options to replace my drive to work car and my commute is 60km each way on the open road. There are no charging stations at my work, nor on the route home. So it would have to be able to drive to work and home (120km open road driving, no stop start) before charging.

You would want a 30kWh LEAF minimum. About $30k-35k. For only $5k more.....a 40kWh Renault Zoe would perfect for you. 250-300km range....and only $39,990. No compromises on your commute.

But with a LEAF, you'd also want to drive it at 100kph generally.....but any opportunity to do 90-95kph shouldn't be ignored. Also....follow big tall trucks. If yu get one the whole way it can save you 10% 15%. The difference between arriving on 17% and 31%. I do this all the time. I did it yesterday and went Greenlane, Auckland to Kaiwaka (102km) for 51% of my battery. At that rate, my range would have been just under / almost exactly 200kms.

I regularly drive my 30kWh LEAF the 127km from Opotiki to Tauranga. Some days I arrive on 23% (fine day, mild winds) and other days on as little 5%......mainly due to very strong headwind and a lot of rain and maybe driving 105-110 instead of 100. But I always get there. I generally do 100kph minimum on this drive. If I could do 80kph, I'd arrive with over 30% battery left.

A Hyundai Ioniq would be a better choice....as it has slightly (10%) more range and lower drag. Or even a 94AHr / 33kWh BMW i3....which has about 20% more range than a 30kWh LEAF.

The problem you might face is that after a coupe of years the battery would degrade slightly and narrow your margin. Plugging it into a normal household plug for even an hour somewhere during the day would make a huge difference.

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#1856147 31-Aug-2017 20:53

PhantomNVD: If it comes with a ‘factory’ fitted NZ wall plug that’s a good sign, mine came with a commando plug, meaning it’s tge 16A version, which works wonderfully (double speed)in my home (with a $270 sparky fitted female Commano power point) but means I can’t just carry my EVSA around and plug in to a normal wall plug anywhere else.

Generally you’d need to be shown an NZ Electrical certificate for a Japanese modified Evsa (16A) or have an aftermarket NZ new EVSA supplied as the law requires dealers to supply an NZ legal charger.

See https://bluecars.nz/bc-shop/?v=8e3eb2c69a18 for types and prices?

A quick peak says they have the type2-type1 you were after on special at the moment for ‘only’ $190 too 😉

Buy a second EVSE. Being able to charge anywhere, from any household / office / hotel power point is the best insurance of all. :-)

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#1856153 31-Aug-2017 20:59

jarledb:

MarkH67:

Well, if I was buying NZ new I'd probably wait to check out the 2018 Leaf considering how expensive the Ioniq is. But if there was a 40kWh 2018 Ioniq being released then it would make sense to compare both of them. Unfortunately I can't afford to buy either car.

Don't hold your breath for Leaf prices as NZ new. The ones being sold in NZ are imports that has been subsidised elsewhere. They were trying to sell a fairly basic version of the Leaf in NZ for around $60,000 if memory serves me...

They were selling leftover Gen 1 LEAFS from Australia that may well have been baking in the sun somewhere. If someone with enough money had bought one they would have been sued within an inch if their corporate life. They were selling these 2012 models as 2014 and 15.

They were not that.

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#1856157 31-Aug-2017 21:07

JeezyKreezy:

Hi all,

I've been reading a lot of this thread with great interest as a bit of a windfall has meant that I could be a responsible fellow and look into getting an EV. I'm rather interested in the leaf (unsurprisingly) after seeing how low priced those 2011-2012 models are. After reading through it doesn't seem worthwhile to actually go down that track.

I'm located in Christchurch and have been looking on TradeMe and it just doesn't help that the prices fluctuate even within the same dealership. I'm not entirely sure what I actually want but I have a small family of four (my wife, myself, a 3 year old and a 9 month old) and we like to visit family in Oxford quite frequently (once every week almost).
My family in Oxford have just bought an Ioniq and are loving it, I imagine having the range of a 30X could be quite good but we don't really do enormous drives very often and will actually still be holding onto the petrol car for those long ones.

I personally love all this move to electric as I got myself a bike with an 8fun electric kit chucked onto it, it's a blast to ride on.

All this preamble aside I'm just looking for general advice especially in the Christchurch area, oh and if wanted to use the charger that my family in Oxford has installed (one of these https://emotorwerks.com/store/residential/juicebox-pro-40-smart-40-amp-evse-with-24-foot-cable) what would be involved for a leaf?

Prices will generally fluctuate according to year, trim level, state of the car and mileage. If you just want the electric car, you can go for the newer model of the lowest trim level (something like a 2015 LEAF Model S from Japan). It may have the same price as a 2013 or 2014 Model X (mid-level) or G (top level - all bells and whistles). Similarly the UK models, which command a bit of a premium because everything is in English, they generally (but not always!!) charge AC at 6.6kw instead of the 3.3kw that Japanese cars all do.....and they are a bit more rare. The UK trims as Visia (lowest - like Japanese Model S), then Acenta then Tekna (the top).

The matrix basically the year, the trims and the source, plus the Gen 1 (2011-12) and Gen 2 (2013-16 - though their batteries aren't all the same - later is better)...and then the 30kWh LEAFs....different again and with great range.

$15K will get you a reasonably good car. $20k will get you a better one....

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#1856161 31-Aug-2017 21:17

JeezyKreezy:

MarkH67:

JeezyKreezy:

They are using a Type 2 plug, so I would need an adapter cord, which go for about $300. But would any leaf benefit from that charger or only if they have the 6.6kw option?

The main thing is that you wouldn't benefit from the faster charging because you just wouldn't need to put that much charge into your car to get home. If you get a car with only the lower built in charger, the Type 2 charger will at best charge your car at the maximum rate that your car can handle and that would only be about 50% faster than with a standard outlet and your own EVSE.

I go up to Auckland a few times a year to visit some friends and I stay at their place for a few hours, I can easily run an extension cord into their garage and plug my car in, I'd get enough charge to get my car over 80% which is all I'd need to get to the fast charger halfway between my place and theirs.

That's rather reassuring to know, probably isn't worth dropping $300 then. And we always stay at their place for at least 3 hours a visit, which I imagine is plenty of time to get enough charge for getting back home.

Thanks for the reply :)

Charging from a regular 10amp wall plug will get you about 8% / hour additional charge. So 3 hours would be about 25%. If that's enough, great. (25% is about 50km at 50kph and about 37km at 100kph....not allowing for wind and hills).

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#1856163 31-Aug-2017 21:27

MarkH67:

It's all looking good for the future of EVs: http://pushevs.com/2017/08/27/next-month-renault-nissan-mitsubishi-will-unveil-ev-platform/

So, I'm thinking that I should save money and consider a 2nd hand two year old car in 2022 - it looks like I could get a range of 400km+ by then. A new car is bound to still cost quite a bit of money in 2020 but a couple of years later the same car at two years old might be a similar price to what I paid for my 2015 Leaf.

You may wish to consider (cheaper, dealer) finance, too.....as the money saved on petrol for people with big commutes can often cover most of the finance costs.....which would let you access a car with a higher price.

My LEAF already saves me about $200 / month in petrol and probably another $50 - $100 / month in average annual servicing costs. So what could I add to the pile if I was willing to put $300-$400 / month into it?

No loan shark loans....that's crazy in any context.

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#1856165 31-Aug-2017 21:36

JeezyKreezy:

May not even sell the gen 2 car seeing as I more want to replace the petrol one and having two EVs sounds fine.

This is us.

My wife finally drove a Renault Zoe a few weeks ago...and loved it. Then she drove my LEAF. "Thanks for the car!" was what she said.......so now we're looking at ditching our last petrol car and replacing it with an EV like the Renault Zoe or maybe another LEAF. That will hold us until sometime in 2019 when the Tesla Model 3 I have "reserved" (13 months ago) will be available.....At that point, we'd have a pair of EVs - one capable of cross-country travel with some compromise...and another than could go from Auckland to Wellington with a single charging stop in Turangi or similar.

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#1856166 31-Aug-2017 21:40

paulchinnz:

Went to Nissan dealership today to service my ex-Jap Leaf, and asked about replacing cells in the battery (10/12 bars).

Their technician stated that Nissan only supplies whole battery packs, and not individual cells, so yes could replace but at a cost of $16000 for whole battery pack.

That blows out of the water the oft-quoted figure of $US6000 (which is about 3 years old e.g. http://insideevs.com/breaking-nissan-prices-leaf-battery-replacement-5499-new-packs-heat-durable/).

The EV ecosystem is a pretty fast moving, but for now replacing cells on a Jap Leaf via Nissan NZ isn't in the ballpark of economical (at least not according to one Nissan NZ technician).

Check out Bluecars.nz again......they can do cell replacements. They also just got $23K in matching funding from EECA entirely for the purpose of trialing the refurbishing of LEAF batteries. Phone them. They are rubbish via email.

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