Re-reading what I wrote. Its a uk model bought in nz

http://www.nzev.co.nz/2014-nissan-leaf-uk-model-2/

A.

Do these ever come in decent colours? Seems all I see are white or grey or black.

Linuxluver:

....snip
It's a doco about the EV1....an electric car produced in the mid-90s in the US that was very popular with people who leased it (you couldn't buy), including actor Tom Hanks and director, Steven Spielberg. But in the end they were all taken back and crushed.

Why?

 

Most of the leaf are second hand ones. Maybe the popular colours are held onto for longer?

A.

richms:

 

Do these ever come in decent colours? Seems all I see are white or grey or black.

 

Current UK Leaf colours here:

https://www.nissan-cdn.net/content/dam/Nissan/gb/brochures/Nissan_Leaf_UK.pdf

2012 Leaf colour popularity:

I like this colour that is available in Japan (I haven't seen one here though):

richms:

 

Do these ever come in decent colours? Seems all I see are white or grey or black.

 

You can also get blue or red. 

Check out this link. It has photos of both. 

http://www.autotrader.co.nz/used-cars-for-sale/nissan-leaf

I was charging my EV at the Gillies Ave Vector substation chargers a few days ago and a guy pulled in for a charge. He said it was his first charge ever and asked for some help. Apparently, he'd imported a Nissan LEAF from Japan on his own and he'd just picked it up from down on the wharf. 

It was on zero battery by the time he got to Newmarket. He doesn't have an EVSE or a trickle charging cable. As of that day, the only way he could charge his car was to take it to a public charging station and use the cables / adapters there.

It slowly dawned on me that with an EV you need absolutely no money for fuel. Nothing. You could drive around for weeks or months without a penny in your pocket or to your name.....and have no issues with transport costs.

I thought that was pretty cool. With a petrol car, travel soon comes to a stop if you can't buy any more petrol. 

With many car companies bringing out electric cars over the next 2 years, does it make sense to reserve a Tesla Model 3 now? 

On the one hand, the US$1,000 you put down is a vote for EVs that is public and visible to other automakers. So in that sense, even if you didn't follow through and actually buy a Tesla Model 3 when they are finally available in NZ (2019 - three years from now?) your 'investment' may provide benefits in terms of other cars from other automakers who are trying to capture their own slice of this rapidly growing segment. 

Hmmm. 

Linuxluver:

 

With many car companies bringing out electric cars over the next 2 years, does it make sense to reserve a Tesla Model 3 now? 

 

On the one hand, the US$1,000 you put down is a vote for EVs that is public and visible to other automakers. So in that sense, even if you didn't follow through and actually buy a Tesla Model 3 when they are finally available in NZ (2019 - three years from now?) your 'investment' may provide benefits in terms of other cars from other automakers who are trying to capture their own slice of this rapidly growing segment. 

 

No, it does not. In 3 years you do not know what competitors will offer. Would not be surprised there will be much more choices apart from Tesla ...

In 3 years from now Prius Prime 2016 release (PHEV) will be 3 year old - meaning ex-lease or JDM import will be available for sale much cheaper.

When new the claimed range in Prime is 35Km (8.8Kw battery). about 3 hours full charge from my solar panel during the day and off you go.

Solar panel on the Prime's roof will add perhaps couple of KMs to the range when parked outside - also makes sense.

When Prime is 3 year old - even if there are only 20km range left (pessimistic assumption) my daily commute will still be covered in EV mode in full.

Prime looks great. The battery seems to be DIY fixable (no technical details yet, but Jap video shows 95 Li batteries which are accessible from inside the car, not from under the car like with Tesla).

My Battery Analysers are already adjusted to test Li in bulk - so I can test Toyota Prius Prime's pack in one day easily!

Tesla batteries are not fixable by DIY. Current price tag to change battery in Tesla is about 15K USD (last time I checked in 2015). You can buy another Leaf from Japan for that price now.

How much it would cost to change battery in MOdel 3 - who knows, what is for sure - you are fully dependant on Tesla to fix your battery.

Your Leaf and my Prius are both DIY-able. Tesla is not. That is their strategy. When new it is cool, when second hand - not cool any more. That is my today's view.

When I win Lotto Jack Pot - the view towards Tesla may change :-)

Looks like Hyundai now also offer a full EV version of the Ioniq.

Hyundai Ioniq full-EV

(I'll link-ify that later when not on mobile).

RUKI:

 

 

 

How much it would cost to change battery in MOdel 3 - who knows, what is for sure - you are fully dependant on Tesla to fix your battery.

 

Your Leaf and my Prius are both DIY-able. Tesla is not. That is their strategy. When new it is cool, when second hand - not cool any more. That is my today's view.

 

When I win Lotto Jack Pot - the view towards Tesla may change :-)

 

:-)  

I definitely hear you about the independent 'repair-ability' of EVs. 

When there are more of them, hacking the battery firmware will be something that will probably.....happen. :-) 

There are some new Vector EV charging stations under construction behind the Mcdonalds at Greenlane East and Great South Road in Auckland. They've been on the "future" list and it's good to see them now being made real.

I took this photo about an hour ago (15:30 on Wednesday, 6 July 2016).  It's from the Coundown parking lot, looking south across the McDs drive through, Greenlane East Rd and toward the Z Station on the other side.  

The guys working on it vconfirmed it was to be charging stations for EVs. Looks like 4 parking spaces.....so could be one of the bigger EV stations in Auckland. Hopefully they are fast 50KW DC chargers.  

afe66: Re-reading what I wrote. Its a uk model bought in nz

 

http://www.nzev.co.nz/2014-nissan-leaf-uk-model-2/

With the pound in freefall, and the yen rising I can see dealers looking more and more to sourcing leafs out of the UK rather than JPN,

It also gets around the need to install a new stereo head end etc, and UK charging adapters should just work straight out of the box...

wellygary:

 

afe66: Re-reading what I wrote. Its a uk model bought in nz

 

http://www.nzev.co.nz/2014-nissan-leaf-uk-model-2/

 

With the pound in freefall, and the yen rising I can see dealers looking more and more to sourcing leafs out of the UK rather than JPN,

 

It also gets around the need to install a new stereo head end etc, and UK charging adapters should just work straight out of the box...

 

The GPS will still be useless (like the JP models)...so no change. Would be nice if they came with a phone holder for the Nav. :-)  

The "light EV" (cars) fleet in NZ is now at 1512, up 190 in June. This is pluggable EVs only, not petrol-powered hybrids. 

NZ's light EV fleet at end of June 2016