EV (electric vehicle) News and Discussion

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › EV (electric vehicle) News and Discussion

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#3471239 18-Mar-2026 08:28

gzt: This one in chch 130km range $8k might be interesting

2017 Nissan Leaf 30X

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/nissan/leaf/listing/5834766976

As a former 30kWh Leaf owner all I can say is RUN DON'T WALK AWAY FROM THIS CAR.

The 30kWh was the worst of all the Leaf designs, and they are not exactly renowned for being great for their batteries. Ours was completely f***ed by 149,000km. The last drive it ever made was a 14km round trip from a full charge and the turtle light came on with about 2km to go. Luckily (although he did not say so) I am 99.99% sure the guy I sold it to only wanted the good cells out of the battery rather than an actual car.

Anyway once again DO NOT BUY A 30KWH LEAF.

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fastbike

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#3471243 18-Mar-2026 08:42

gzt: This one in chch 130km range $8k might be interesting

2017 Nissan Leaf 30X

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/nissan/leaf/listing/5834766976

Avoid 30kWh Leafs, battery chemistry is poor

Otautahi Christchurch

johno1234

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#3471251 18-Mar-2026 09:28

tukapa1:

We did the same with Auckland EV. Recommended from me.

Sort of think you can do with EVs but not ICEs... as long as you have the battery health you have a very good idea about it. There's a lot of things to get inspected on an ICE before you know it is OK.

Jase2985

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#3471258 18-Mar-2026 09:50

gzt: This one in chch 130km range $8k might be interesting

2017 Nissan Leaf 30X

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/nissan/leaf/listing/5834766976

Ill sentiment the other comments, 30s are the worst of all the leafs, they work fine until they don't, no way to tell when its going to happen either.

give them a wide berth.

lookout

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#3471357 18-Mar-2026 13:33

Ok, so no 30kWh. Does that also mean no lower than 30? How about the 24?

SaltyNZ

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#3471364 18-Mar-2026 14:00

lookout:

Ok, so no 30kWh. Does that also mean no lower than 30? How about the 24?

They 24s are all going to be very old by now, but they don't suffer the fatal battery design flaw of the 30s. So, they'll have low range but probably better than a 30.

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richms

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#3471368 18-Mar-2026 14:32

Friends who have had leafs found that once they started to show signs of deterioration beyond the gradual drop, they died fast. One was 2 weeks from going below 80k on the meter when full, to getting 15-20kms and turtling if they tried to drive up hills at a reasonable speed.

The other had a couple of turtle incidents and decided it was time to move it on and did what any sensible person would do at the time and get a tesla. now there are a boatload of options that are better than a flogged out leaf.

Richard rich.ms

mrdrifter

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#3471386 18-Mar-2026 15:21

richms:

Friends who have had leafs found that once they started to show signs of deterioration beyond the gradual drop, they died fast. One was 2 weeks from going below 80k on the meter when full, to getting 15-20kms and turtling if they tried to drive up hills at a reasonable speed.

The other had a couple of turtle incidents and decided it was time to move it on and did what any sensible person would do at the time and get a tesla. now there are a boatload of options that are better than a flogged out leaf.

We had the same thing happen, it's what happens when a couple of the individual battery cells go bad. Driving around at 50km/h is fine, but trying to go up a decent hill on the motorway at 80/100, the current draw is too much and the battery management system shuts thing's down to protect the rest of the pack. We still get 80-100KM of range around the flat area's. Thankfully it's not our main car.

On that note we were keeping an eye on something such as a used polestar 2 before all of the fuel issues started popping up. Listings have dropped from ~40 available 2 weeks ago, down to ~12 today.

HarmLessSolutions

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#3471428 18-Mar-2026 16:48

mrdrifter:

We had the same thing happen, it's what happens when a couple of the individual battery cells go bad. Driving around at 50km/h is fine, but trying to go up a decent hill on the motorway at 80/100, the current draw is too much and the battery management system shuts thing's down to protect the rest of the pack. We still get 80-100KM of range around the flat area's. Thankfully it's not our main car.

On that note we were keeping an eye on something such as a used polestar 2 before all of the fuel issues started popping up. Listings have dropped from ~40 available 2 weeks ago, down to ~12 today.

The current discussion prompted me to call up the local EV guy. He's sold sh*tloads of Leafs so is my go to on such matters. We have a 2016 30 kWh Leaf (67% SoH) as our 'town car' and I was sounding out the scenario of flicking it off on the current hot market and moving into something else.

His advice pretty much mirrors yours. He's seen a couple of 30 kWhs suffer rapid decline but has cured this in at least one of them by changing out a couple of cells so not 'end of the world' stuff by any means. His recommendation was for us to hang onto ours but keep an eye on its Leafspy data for cell variances. Also maintain SoC above ~50%, especially in cold weather and avoid harsh battery drawdown activities. Essentially don't put heavy demands on the battery.

So far as changing up, his response was that selling and buying on the same market pretty much negates any advantage in doing so as I has suspected. Also he has just one Leaf left in stock and an overseas trip planned so not stressing over where the market is headed. Interesting comment though that the shipping companies are increasingly refusing to ship EVs, often with very short notification of this, so those buyers that are committing to EVs that are still 'on the water or in Japan' may be facing extended delivery times. Increasing shipping costs are also a consideration currently.

https://www.harmlesssolutions.co.nz/

fastbike

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#3471475 18-Mar-2026 16:55

HarmLessSolutions:

mrdrifter:

We had the same thing happen, it's what happens when a couple of the individual battery cells go bad. Driving around at 50km/h is fine, but trying to go up a decent hill on the motorway at 80/100, the current draw is too much and the battery management system shuts thing's down to protect the rest of the pack. We still get 80-100KM of range around the flat area's. Thankfully it's not our main car.

On that note we were keeping an eye on something such as a used polestar 2 before all of the fuel issues started popping up. Listings have dropped from ~40 available 2 weeks ago, down to ~12 today.

The current discussion prompted me to call up the local EV guy. He's sold sh*tloads of Leafs so is my go to on such matters. We have a 2016 30 kWh Leaf (67% SoH) as our 'town car' and I was sounding out the scenario of flicking it off on the current hot market and moving into something else.

His advice pretty much mirrors yours. He's seen a couple of 30 kWhs suffer rapid decline but has cured this in at least one of them by changing out a couple of cells so not 'end of the world' stuff by any means. His recommendation was for us to hang onto ours but keep an eye on its Leafspy data for cell variances. Also maintain SoC above ~50%, especially in cold weather and avoid harsh battery drawdown activities. Essentially don't put heavy demands on the battery.

So far as changing up, his response was that selling and buying on the same market pretty much negates any advantage in doing so as I has suspected. Also he has just one Leaf left in stock and an overseas trip planned so not stressing over where the market is headed. Interesting comment though that the shipping companies are increasingly refusing to ship EVs, often with very short notification of this, so those buyers that are committing to EVs that are still 'on the water or in Japan' may be facing extended delivery times. Increasing shipping costs are also a consideration currently.

Sounds like the battery needs "liberating " from the car. An ideal candidate for stationary storage imo.

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HarmLessSolutions

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#3471480 18-Mar-2026 17:05

fastbike:

Sounds like the battery needs "liberating " from the car. An ideal candidate for stationary storage imo.

Considering that the battery has only declined from 70% to 67% in the 3 years since we purchased it I'm more inclined to keep driving it until such time as things go tits up and then I'll evaluate whether repair or static storage donor is the better option.

https://www.harmlesssolutions.co.nz/

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everettpsycho

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#3471592 18-Mar-2026 23:38

fastbike:

Sounds like the battery needs "liberating " from the car. An ideal candidate for stationary storage imo.

There's a guy in Christchurch testing an aftermarket 40kWh battery for these old things and leaves you with the old cells. I've not looked at it seriously but if his battery was any good a 30kWh stationary storage would be pretty nice if it's not that much hassle to convert it. Not something I've looked in to myself though, I'd definitely consider solar going on the roof at that point too.

fastbike

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#3471595 18-Mar-2026 23:59

everettpsycho:

fastbike:

Sounds like the battery needs "liberating " from the car. An ideal candidate for stationary storage imo.

There's a guy in Christchurch testing an aftermarket 40kWh battery for these old things and leaves you with the old cells. I've not looked at it seriously but if his battery was any good a 30kWh stationary storage would be pretty nice if it's not that much hassle to convert it. Not something I've looked in to myself though, I'd definitely consider solar going on the roof at that point too.

I'd be careful of using a non OEM battery - too many compliance issues. There are some shocking stories of "new" batteries coming out of China that are aftermarket compatible but turn out to be filled with all sorts of substandard used cells. Too bad if they catch fire and invalidate your home owner and public liability insurance.

However reusing complete Leaf battery packs for stationary use is well tested. Meridian have a whole bank at the Springs Junction charger on the Lewis Pass highway. And for home use Dala's Battery Emulator project provides a certifiable way to get these signed off when connected to a HV hybrid inverter.

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fastbike

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#3471596 19-Mar-2026 05:58

fastbike:

lookout:

I've been procrastinating over buying a Leaf for months. Wish I had done it before this all happened! Anyway, like the rest of NZ, I'll try to pick one up this week from a dealer (hopefully).

I just sold mine today. EV City have heaps on the way (6 weeks) but little stock on hand.

Cleaned and vac'd the Leaf last night, and have assembled all paper work. Money has been paid, just waiting for the buyer to collect tonight.

Now, on the exciting front, my Aria heads across the Strait (not the mined one) tonight so should be ready to collect from dealer on Monday. I wanted the larger battery so ended up with AWD model with a high trim spec.

Otautahi Christchurch

HarmLessSolutions

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#3471615 19-Mar-2026 09:12

This little gem came into my Reddit feed today. Satire of course but very close to the mark in reality.

https://www.harmlesssolutions.co.nz/

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