Conveniently the charging cable is 6m.

I have (at a supermarket) parked out of the bay and run the cable when ICEd.

VW E-UP! now on the VW online configurator.

 

£24,250 !

Yikes, that's an expensive up!

VW E-UP! now on the VW online configurator.

 

£24,250 !

Yikes, that's an expensive up!

 

Turns out they'd goofed the website up, there is the usual £5,000 grant to come off that so it's £19,250.

Spec is quite good, but still not cheap for a little car.

New release by Nissan..

 

 

Available at all 205 Nissan retailers nationwide, the scheme makes the following promises:

• Rapid charge your LEAF for free at any Nissan dealership and on the Electric Highway
• LEAF customers may rapid charge their vehicle for free at 60 Nissan dealerships across the country. LEAF owners can also charge at the 50 and growing locations equipped with rapid charging units installed by Nissan as part of Ecotricity's Electric Highway. Powered by sustainably sourced electricity from wind and solar power and located at key service stations up and down the UK's motorway network, these rapid chargers can charge the new Nissan LEAF from empty to 80% in just 30 minutes.
•  
• Borrow a petrol or diesel Nissan free for up to 14 days
• LEAF owners who need an extra car for a special occasion can borrow a petrol or diesel Nissan model free of charge for up to two weeks. Simply give your dealer seven days' notice and cover the fuel and insurance.
•  
• Get to know the Nissan LEAF
• Guaranteed 24-hour test drives will allow potential LEAF customers to experience the vehicle and learn just how well it fits their lifestyle.
•  
• Free pan-European EV roadside assistance
• In the unlikely event a LEAF customer should run out of power on the road, help will soon be at hand with free towing from Nissan roadside assistance.
•  
• Free battery state of health guarantee
• The Nissan LEAF battery state of health guarantee covers against lithium-ion battery capacity loss below nine bars (out of 12) within the first five years or 60,000 miles.

 

The idea of borrowing a regular car for free and just covering the insurance (£5 per day) is handy for those than make occassional long trips and don't want the EV range/charging compromise.

New release by Nissan..

 

 

The idea of borrowing a regular car for free and just covering the insurance (£5 per day) is handy for those than make occassional long trips and don't want the EV range/charging compromise.

 

Just like BMW then...  I wonder if either scheme will lend me a car with a towbar? I think not!

Just like BMW then...  I wonder if either scheme will lend me a car with a towbar? I think not!

 

Sounds like you already know the answer.

Sounds like you already know the answer. 

 

Well I'm sure BMW will have a nice X5 with one of those press a button and it appears electric towbars somewhere in their rental fleet. Will this be available for all those weekends I want to go away in my caravan and I can't tow with my i3? Nah... so best keep the Yeti! And I'm NOT replacing the MX-5 with an i3 either. 

Delivery this morning (x2).

 

Made in the UK, Red, White and Blue.

 

 

These have gone down so well, I've just ordered another...

I'm not sure what this proves but there you go:

 

http://www.carscoops.com/2013/11/study-shows-nissan-leaf-drivers-cover.html

Not a lot. It's all down to perception IMO.

VW E-UP! now on the VW online configurator.

 

 

Models to follow:

 

E-ByGum

E-Tha'sNeverWearingThat!

E-Gradely

I'm not sure what this proves but there you go:

 

http://www.carscoops.com/2013/11/study-shows-nissan-leaf-drivers-cover.html

 

That Americans, like a lot of people consider EVs as city cars.

Models to follow:

 

E-ByGum

E-Tha'sNeverWearingThat!

E-Gradely

 

Sold only in the South with a massive premium for exclusivity....

I went to Middleshurst Nissan today, had a good look around the Leaf, asked all the questions prompted from a conversation had with Richard and Andy Middlehurst has offered me a Leaf for the weekend to see how I get on.

 

 I am hoping to join the battery motorists next year to do a 60 miles each way commute in the new year, Richard says 80 miles is a definite (unless gale force winds or anything untoward) so should be OK, this has been confirmed by Andy today, he claims 100 miles is realistic at 70-80 mph motorway cruising.

 

Roll on the new year and I will report my thoughts on the test drive then.

 I am hoping to join the battery motorists next year to do a 60 miles each way commute in the new year, Richard says 80 miles is a definite (unless gale force winds or anything untoward) so should be OK, this has been confirmed by Andy today, he claims 100 miles is realistic at 70-80 mph motorway cruising

 

That's worrying.

I can't get 100 unless I drive super economically at around 55mph.

At 70-80mph it's more like 70-80 miles.

I wish they wouldn't do this, but so many dealers do.

 

This is the chart from the Gen1 LEAF, the Gen2 is a little bit better as it's slightly lighter and more efficient.

 

Andy told me he took the Leaf to Manchester, range showed 35 miles, he drove 45 miles with the last 10 miles at leafs being done when the battery indicator was showing nothing.

 

 Maybe the air is thinner up North Richard, so less drag  :wonder: 

Andy told me he took the Leaf to Manchester, range showed 35 miles, he drove 45 miles with the last 10 miles at leafs being done when the battery indicator was showing nothing.

 

 Maybe the air is thinner up North Richard, so less drag  :wonder: 

 

While interesting it actually proves nothing, because you don't know the percentage charge in the battery.

If it'd been used for test drives it would have been hooned about, so would have a low range in miles showing although it might have had a reasonable charge in it.

Then drive it easy and you get "free" miles.

Just like on the range indicator in your Yeti.

 

The range blanks at 17% of remaining charge.  You should be able to do 12-18 miles on that.

These miles are included in the range calculation, it doesn't go to "0 miles" and then you keep going, the display blanks when you have about 12-18 miles left to scare you into looking for a recharge point.

 

I know they are salesmen, but saying 100 miles is possible at 70mph is just hogwash unless it's an extremely long hill they're on.

I just wish people would sell it straight, I've lost count of the moans on the Nissan Leaf UK facebook page where people buy a car that can alledgedly do 100-120 miles and then drive it like a petrol and struggle to get 80.

It's certainly colder 

I will have it for a weekend in January, with my lad following in the Lupo with a tow rope or a generator we will set off to do a 110 mile loop from home and back again, mixed driving, if it will do this then it really is a possibility for my commute car later next year.  I did take the information from the dealer with a pinch of salt after reading what you told me Richard I believe your findings to be based on fact.  

 

 Thanks

The best I've ever managed... 105 miles with 2% left.

 

Half on the motorway slipstreaming lorries and half in town.

was browsing the internet tonight looking for christmas presents for people and this popped up and the first think i thought was boss fox! haha

http://www.firebox.com/product/4907/Electric-DeLorean-DMCEV?via=related

Interesting idea.

 

Use an EV to power other stuff at peak electricity times and charge at lower demand times.

 

http://www.hybridcars.com/office-powered-by-nissan-leaf/

Interesting idea.

 

Use an EV to power other stuff at peak electricity times and charge at lower demand times.

 

http://www.hybridcars.com/office-powered-by-nissan-leaf/

Yes - biggest problem with renewable energy is storage; the big battery in a Leaf (etc) is an ideal store (when not being used for driving!). Other than a "great big battery" one would need to do something like water-to-hydrogen converter and hydrogen store... and AFAIK that is not even used at commercial sites.

Yes - biggest problem with renewable energy is storage; the big battery in a Leaf (etc) is an ideal store (when not being used for driving!). Other than a "great big battery" one would need to do something like water-to-hydrogen converter and hydrogen store... and AFAIK that is not even used at commercial sites.

 

The last I read water-to-hydrogen using conventional electrolysis methods provides an energy in->energy out (via fuel cell reaction or similar) ratio of 4:1. 

 

It's not very efficient, batteries work better than hydrogen right now until they can find a more efficient way of (or better catalyst for) splitting water. There are a number of projects ongoing to make hydrogen production and storage viable, I'm not sure how promising any of them are though because at a certain point my scientific understanding of it all breaks down