I made my longest leg with a starting charge of 85%.

Thanks to an Argos and Everest lorry for slipstreaming opertunities I covered around 75 miles and still had 9% of the battery left!

Woooo Hoooo !!!

 

wow, isn't it sunny down there. Looks like July not September!  :think:

wow, isn't it sunny down there. Looks like July not September!  :think:

 

+30c today.

Very nice to be able (in the Gen2) to have the aircon on, but the heating system off.  It's intergrated on the Gen1, so you have to do a little mod.

Pics!





Some of the features I like...

Foot operated parking brake. (I do have mats)


Heater Controls.


Surround view.


Sill guards. (optional extra, I like these as they look nice and the lettering lights up!)


And one for fun.

+30c today.

Very nice to be able (in the Gen2) to have the aircon on, but the heating system off.  It's intergrated on the Gen1, so you have to do a little mod.

 

Could you explain that for me please?  So are you saying the AC is more efficient due to not requiring the cabin heater?  I appreciate in the Tekna they have made the system more efficient but I'm not sure i grasp the integrated system you mention.

 

Lastly, did your 1st gen not have the surround cameras.  I could have sworn I read that it did  :think:

Could you explain that for me please?  So are you saying the AC is more efficient due to not requiring the cabin heater?  I appreciate in the Tekna they have made the system more efficient but I'm not sure i grasp the integrated system you mention.

 

Lastly, did your 1st gen not have the surround cameras.  I could have sworn I read that it did  :think:

 

No Dave, surround cameras are only on the top spec Tekna version of the Gen2.

All others including Gen1 have a reversing camera.

 

The heating/air-con system on the Gen1 LEAF is either on or off, via a button.

But the whole system acts together.

This means that if you want air-con on in the summer the heater is also activated.

Even though you don't get it's heat coming through the vents, the car uses electricity to warm up the warm water "tank" as it's all on the same button.  This does impact on the range by 15% or so.

There is a mod you can do (via an American LEAF forum) to fit a switch to seperate them as they are on the Gen2 car.  Leaving you with the ability to just run the air-con which impacts the range much less.

Great i'll investigate this mod.  

 

Lastly (I am throwing the questions out tonight), what do you know about the service schedule.  The document I downloaded from the net suggests 7500 mile intervals.  I'm just looking for your expected costs and frequency of servicing as presumably Nissan have explained this?

 

Getting my spreadsheet on to do a real number crunching comparison of the Derv or the EV for the commute!

It's 18,000 miles or one year, whichever comes first.  About £120 per year.

There are no big bills some years as there is no timing belt, gearbox fluid etc...

Have to say, this is a great thread, the in's and out's of running an EV from an actual owners perspective - thanks for taking the time Richard.

Have to say, this is a great thread, the in's and out's of running an EV from an actual owners perspective - thanks for taking the time Richard.

 

It's still a bit of a frog...although I take your point that you're not looking at the exterior whilst driving. I prefer the yellow one myself...

True Paul, I still say it's not a looker.

But it's a funny thing because it's so nice to drive after a while you get used to it and actually start to like the shape a bit.

And it makes my CR engined Yeti sould like a tractor.

 

Personally I'd like it to look a bit more wacky.  But I think that would limit it's market appeal.

might be even better up here, it's taken me 2 months to realise the Yeti's aircon is knackered (again)

 

Just noticed a Nissan dealer up the road too. hmmmmmmm

 

And it makes my CR engined Yeti sould like a tractor.

 

 

Errrrr, it is!

might be even better up here, it's taken me 2 months to realise the Yeti's aircon is knackered (again)

 

Just noticed a Nissan dealer up the road too. hmmmmmmm

 

Get them to lend you one for a 24/48 hour test drive.

They do do them.

 

I never even considered an EV before I was offered an extended test drive of a Gen1 LEAF through one of the local authorities we work for.

Nissan asked them and nobody wanted it, so they asked me to try it on thier behalf.

Surround view.

 

 

I do like this!

 

 

Almost like playing real life GTA

 

Can it be shown whilst on the move?

I do like this!

 

 

Almost like playing real life GTA

 

Can it be shown whilst on the move?

 

Yes, it's on in reverse, or can be selected going fowards at 5mph or less for manouvering.

Get them to lend you one for a 24/48 hour test drive.

They do do them.

 

I never even considered an EV before I was offered an extended test drive of a Gen1 LEAF through one of the local authorities we work for.

Nissan asked them and nobody wanted it, so they asked me to try it on thier behalf.

 

 

hmm I might, but it's arnold clark, they are generally awful. They have one for sale, £15,488 for one that has 1500 miles on the clock.

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/nissan/leaf/used-nissan-leaf-5dr-auto-livingston-fpa-201307227930711?atcido=soc-cars-twt001

 

I might have to look into this when my yeti is due for replacement.

 

This is an interesting site

 

http://www.greenerscotland.org/greener-travel/electric-vehicles

 

 

 

but from what I can see the nearest charging point to me is about 15 miles away. They seem few and far between. Even Nissan dealers don't have them. I also see BMW are doing an EV now, but there's no pricing on their web site. Funny that

Richard - how do you go about getting an external point installed via the government scheme? Am I correct in thinking you can have one, heavily subsidised even if you dont yet actually own the EV yet? Reason I ask is that I was discussing it earlier at work and they said they'd be more than happy to get one installed by my parking bay! Would also be useful at home I guess although I have a standard three pin  IP65 enclosed socket right next to the car currently.

The government had a pot of money to fun the £5k new electric car grant scheme, but as they couldn't get shot of it quick enough they are now using some of it to fund charging points.

 

Believe it or not, you can get an EV charging station installed even if you don't have an EV... and it's mostly funded by the government.

 

Most firms (British Gas etc..) will do you a 16A point for £0 or a 32A one for £75(ish).

But some smaller companies will do you a 32A one for free as the grant covers £1,000 per point.

 

LEAF Gen1 can only charge at 16A, but I'd go for the 32A to future proof it.

I'd also get an untethered station.  Because if you get one with a lead fixed on that fits the LEAF you won't be able to charge any other car you buy in future like a BMW i or a Tesla as they different charging plugs on the cars.

The untethered station allows you to plug in using the lead that comes with the car.

 

Hope that helps.

I'm pretty tempted to get one installed anyway in case I need it later.

I'm pretty tempted to get one installed anyway in case I need it later.

 

A lot of people are.

The government had a pot of money to fun the £5k new electric car grant scheme, but as they couldn't get shot of it quick enough they are now using some of it to fund charging points.

 

Believe it or not, you can get an EV charging station installed even if you don't have an EV... and it's mostly funded by the government.

 

Most firms (British Gas etc..) will do you a 16A point for £0 or a 32A one for £75(ish).

But some smaller companies will do you a 32A one for free as the grant covers £1,000 per point.

 

LEAF Gen1 can only charge at 16A, but I'd go for the 32A to future proof it.

I'd also get an untethered station.  Because if you get one with a lead fixed on that fits the LEAF you won't be able to charge any other car you buy in future like a BMW i or a Tesla as they different charging plugs on the cars.

The untethered station allows you to plug in using the lead that comes with the car.

 

Hope that helps.

Thats fantastic info and Ive already passed it onto the site manager here. thanks.

I know that Chargemaster and British Gas are offering the 32A for around £95/99.  My issue is, both collect data and use GPRS to relay this back to the company.  Does anyone know of an installer that provides these without requiring you to use a unit which collects data? 

Part of the grant is to collect information about how people use an EV for the future when they are more common.

 

If you don't want that you can buy one from Zero Carbon World for about £500 (32A) and find yourself an electrician to install it.

 

Personally I'm not sure the data is going to be that useful as it'll only know when you are using it, not when you are using any other charging point with your car.

I certainly don't care if they know I charge the car for 4 hours every day while at work.

If that's the case then I'd just accept it.  I don't want to pay an extra £400!  If anyone knows of any free installers, please let me know, but even at £95 think I may jump ahead and order soon.