Looking for a suitable EV

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siyuan

189 posts

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#280721 6-Jan-2021 11:16

I'm seriously considering replacing my current car with an EV as the servicing cost of my car is just getting higher each year. My budget is around 10k~15k, I'm currently leaning towards a Nissan Leaf, but wouldn't mind other options. I'm based in Auckland, I'd be reluctant to get out of town to take a look at a car unless it's an extremely good deal.

Things that are important to me:

Able to do at least 150km with one full charge.
Slightly better than average speakers, don't mind replacing with after market ones if it's cheap/easy to do.
Bluetooth is a must.
Reverse camera, 360 camera would be highly preferable.
Climate control.

I've heard some older models of Leaf have the charging overheat problem, how do I identify them? Anything else I should watch out for? Is there a place where I can read about important things I should know about buying an EV in NZ? Unfortunately I find myself more confused with mentions of various variants of Leafs going through the long Leaf thread, so I'm hoping to get more concise, easy to understand answers with a new post.

afe66

3181 posts

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#2631097 6-Jan-2021 12:06

Try this site for a nz based guide to evs https://www.electricheaven.nz/

If you have Facebook, lookup nzev group for more nz experience, as lots people live in auckland uouvshoukd get auckland specific posters.

Personally I think you will struggle to get a leaf with a range if at least 150km for anywhere near 15k. Sorry.

You will need a battery of 30kw and I would be very surprised if you could get one with for 15k with full enough battery to give range of more than 150km stress free

One of my thoughts is Auckland has also motorways and driving at 100kmh uses alot more battery than the same distance at 60kmh.

My leaf 2014 24kw model bought 4 hears ago with 89% has never claimed range bigger than 140 km driving around Dunedin even when I first got it with 4k demo km on it.

I think you need to raise your budget.

Also how are you going to charge it. You really really need off street parking to trickle feed overnight. In short term can use a wall plug as long as it doesn't share load much with other devices.

The overheating think probably isn't an issue to worry about in nz unless you are in a very hot place and use rapid charging alot.

I've done several dunedin to chch runs using rapid chargers and battery terms stayed in green

jonathan18

7413 posts

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#2631179 6-Jan-2021 14:14

Totally concur with the post above; for a budget price there aren't many options other than the Leaf, and with the range you want that'll need to be a 30kwh model (so will also be more expensive than the 24kwh).

Also note that a car that can do 150km when initially purchased may not be able to do that after a few years of ownership - the standard claimed range on our 24kwh Leaf was about 150km when first purchased, but is now 130 or so; we initially could do a 95km primarily open road trip on a single charge, whereas that would be an impossibility three years later. (And this also illustrates a point above - range on the open road is way less.)

if you're not needing that kind of range on a regular basis is renting a ICE car for those longer trips an option? If so, you could probably get away with a cheaper/lower range Leaf.

wratterus

1687 posts

Uber Geek

#2631192 6-Jan-2021 14:43

What is the model, age & mileage of your current car?

Eva888

2435 posts

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#2631237 6-Jan-2021 15:25

We bought a Toyota Aqua Hybrid as a second car. Very economical our petrol bills are about 25% less and it doesn’t have the limitations of a full EV and worries about charging. It just runs and does what it’s supposed to. The fact that Uber taxis all seem to be Prius or Aquas helped convince us.

If you are a member of AA they have a forum where you can ask one of their experts for an opinion on the one that interests you. AA steered us to the Toyota Aqua after I gave them a list of the cars we were looking at which included Honda and Nissan. They also advised us to buy the latest year car even with higher Kms that we could get for our budget rather than an older car with less kms on the clock, that had always been a burning question.

Don’t worry about the stereo and bluetooth, find the right car and negotiate with the dealer to install one if not the sort you want. We got a reversing camera and after market stereo with Bluetooth, gps and apps included in the price with a little negotiating and are very happy with it, it’s as good and better than the branded one a friend has he reckons.

siyuan

189 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#2632509 8-Jan-2021 16:17

Thanks for the tip about renting a car for long trips, I guess I can settle with ~100km range. I occassionally do a round trip to the Auckland airport, that's roughly 70km, so ~100km should give me reasonable margin?

Scott3

3970 posts

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#2632546 8-Jan-2021 18:13

Your initial list (with the 150km real world range requirement can't be done at a $15k budget.

Leaf's offer by far the best bang for buck, so your budget means you will only be looking at leaf's.

30kWh leaf's start at $19k (with 81.5% state of health). These had 172km of EPA rated range when new. 172*0.815 = 140km. So this doesn't meet your range needs. Would need a 87% state of health or better on a 30kWh leaf to get 150km range. Well out of budget (and count on the state of health dropping by around 3 points a year during your ownership).

EPA range is reasonably obtainable in NZ conditions. Can beat it by quite a bit if willing to forgo HVAC, and to drive really slow.

With the range requirements dropped your wishlist becomes viable.

For example this $13k car (Plus $350ORC and say $500 to have it trucked up from Christchurch) is a 24kWh 2014 with 79% SOH. 135km of epa range derated works out like: 135*0.79 = 107km.

www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/nissan/listing/2930059956

That car gets:

Bose audio - better door speakers and a (passive?) sub in the boot. Apparently quite a bit better than the stock sound system, but still at the lower end of premium branded systems.
Bluetooth (workable via google translate, or can have head unit converted to English for $350)
360 degree camera (comes in a pack with bose audio)
Climate control

Here is a similar but more expensive Auckland based car:

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/nissan/listing/2898490224

If you wanted to swap out the head unit, you ideally want to lower spec "S" model which means giving up "B" mode and climate control. If you swap the head unit on a higher grade you loose visual feedback for climate control, charge timers etc. I don't think you get much gains from just swapping speakers - OEM headunit is set to drive (and not blow) cheap lightweight cones. Better heavier cones will likely get under-driven. I don't know about the viability of adding an amp or if there is a happy middle ground with cone upgrades.

For reference my wife and replaced a car with a 2014 leaf about two months ago. She really wanted black with blue Autech wheels. Luckily managed to find a 2014 with exactly that for fairly cheap. Brought if for $12k which is quite a good deal (but had to spend money on converting to English, getting a parcel tray, replacing 12V air compressors etc). It is mid spec. Downsides are: No side airbags, no bose audio, no 360 degree camera, no LED headlights, high mileage for a leaf at 77,000km, Poor battery health for its year (75% SOH - has had over 1000 fast charges). Mine gets 100km of range fairly comfortably, and 110km if I turn off the air con and drive gentle. We have the other car, so range wasn't super important to us.

Get 2014 or later if you can (a chemistry change that made the batteries last longer kicked in that year).

[edit] - here is a NZ leaf guide.

https://samholford.github.io/leafguide/

Note that it has the generations wrong. Automakers don't give new generation numbers for mid cycle refresh's. As such current (post 2017 roughly) shape is gen 2, and the old shape is gen 1.

siyuan

189 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2634580 12-Jan-2021 22:56

Thanks for the link, great info.