Now with a Blackvue 400v2 drive recorder.

It's very quiet...

Palm trees?

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223 miles covered to date at an average of 0.29kw/mile.

Cost = £7.76p (64.67kw at 12p)

Half of which charged for free.

5 days in and liking it.

No gears, it's very smooth.

Also quite quick off the lights.

such LOUD indicators

I collected my demo one earlier. I'm amazed at how good it is. So quiet & comfortable. Handles well and pretty quick too!

such LOUD indicators

It's because everything else is very, very quiet.

I'm sure the indicators are no noisier in real terms than my Yeti.

All you really get is tyre noise, the funny headlights seem to do a good job of deflecting the airflow round the door mirrors, there is noticably less wind noise than in the Yeti there.

I collected my demo one earlier. I'm amazed at how good it is. So quiet & comfortable. Handles well and pretty quick too!

Be interesting to hear how you get on.

Shame the trial doesn't give you a change to play with carwings and pre-heat. :(

If it's quick you won't be getting 80 miles per charge.

Shame about the cost. I do about 5000 miles a year so the 1.2tsi makes loads more sense.

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It's because everything else is very, very quiet.

I'm sure the indicators are no noisier in real terms than my Yeti.

Again, my humour fails to show itself properly I was referring to the fact the recording was real quiet that the indicators and you talking seem very loud. In the mongrel's recordings you would struggle to hear the indicators at all.

Shame about the cost. I do about 5000 miles a year so the 1.2tsi makes loads more sense.

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That's right, unless you do enough miles to make the fuel saving count there is no point.

People think electric cars are town cars, but they make more sense as commuting into town cars IMO.

Enjoyed reading about your experience so far of your Nissan BossFox. See you're in my neck of the woods too - Shall keep a beady eye out for for you, the Leaf should be the easiest to spot due to its exclusivity.

I had considered a Leaf myself but I came to the conclusion without the option of being able to charge it at work it wouldn't make the round trip of about 78 miles.

Does the charging at work count as a benefit for tax purposes?

I don't believe so, we get free electric in with the rent. There is no cost to the business.

It's no different to using a public charging station, which are also free.

The BIK rating is also 0% until April 2015.

Within the next month or so I am planning a family trip to the Forest of Deane. 170 miles each way... and I'm planning on taking the LEAF.

Top Gear Challenge!

Honda Generator in the boot?

I don't believe so, we get free electric in with the rent. There is no cost to the business.

It's no different to using a public charging station, which are also free.

The BIK rating is also 0% until April 2015.

Within the next month or so I am planning a family trip to the Forest of Deane. 170 miles each way... and I'm planning on taking the LEAF.

Top Gear Challenge!

WHat does it actually do on a long run? I remember the top gear test where the actual range fell short of nissans claims. Dont fancy being stuck at the side of the road with the family TBH. If it can do 170miles and thee is somewhere to charge it when you get there then it seems reasonable but youd have to leave it plugged in for a while on arrival and what if the charging station is already in use?

Many Nissan garages have a fast charger, as do a number of motorway services.

They give you 80% battery power in 30 minutes, not 100% as it's better for the battery.

As I won't be arriving empty I am hoping to get away with a couple of 20 minute stops.

Then I'll be doing a full charge at the hotel overnight.

It depends how you drive JD, being sensible I seem to be able to get 80 miles on a charge, more if I drive very economically.

My average power use is now down to 0.26kw per mile.

So 80 miles is 20.8kw. The battery is 24kw, of which about 23.5 is usable.

Octavia size well equipped diesel car = £18k, depreciation over 5 years = £10,000

20k miles per year for 5 years at 50mpg (1.40p per litre) = £12,900 (5 years)

VED for 5 years = £600

3 services = £600

Total = £24,100

LEAF EV = £18,600, depreciation over 5 years = £18,600 if you throw the car away.

20k miles per year for 5 years (£2.50p to charge for 70 miles) = £3,570

VED = £0

5 services = £525

Total = £22,695

Have been following this thread for some time now, and can easily appreciate the choice you made Richard, in your circumstances it works, Great.

However, the majority of the general public won't be using your example and will be comparing the LEAF not against a similarily priced car but against a similar sized car, for example the Ford Fiesta.

Therefore the perceived savings won't be as great or there at all:

Ford Fiesta 1.0 EcoBoost = £14k, depreciation over 5 years = £10,000

20k miles per year for 5 years at 60mpg (1.41p per litre) = £10,600 (5 years)

VED for 5 years = NIL

3 services = £600

Total = £21,200

Granted I don't actually know the depreciation rates for Ford nor the actual service frequency or costs but this is hurdle which the likes of Nissan need to overcome so that they can entice buyers to even consider the car. I suppose a further £2k (?) needs to be applied over the 5 years for the cost of charging? Many buyers won't want to take the plunge if the car restricts their flexibility, I guess at the minute the availability of charging points across the UK will limit the choice for drivers and therefore their ability to be as flexible as they are with a petrol car.

I am not for one minute critising your decision merely looking at it from another angle.

Good luck with it, and keep up the reports.

Have been following this thread for some time now, and can easily appreciate the choice you made Richard, in your circumstances it works, Great.

However, the majority of the general public won't be using your example and will be comparing the LEAF not against a similarily priced car but against a similar sized car, for example the Ford Fiesta.

Yes, it's not the car for everyone, but it does suit a small percentage of the population very well.

Similar sized.

The LEAF is 4,445mm long and 1,770mm wide.

The Fiesta is 3,950mm long and 1,695mm wide.

When you think "electric car" you tend to think small, but the LEAF isn't. It's bigger than our Yeti.

It's only available as a five door and is very comfortable for four adults, with five possible. With a good spec list.

Having been in the back of a Fiesta I can appreciate the difference.

I class the LEAF as a family car. Like a Focus, which is wider but shorter.

Still a good example Coops, the Fiesta is about £1k-£2k better based on the LEAF having a resale value of £0.

The white elephant in the room is certainly it's future value. Or lack of.

On the maintenence side it clearly has a shorter predicted life. Maybe 8 years.

But you don't have other worries like a cam belt, timing chain, etc... so short term ownership costs to run it are far lower.

But finding a buyer when it's 5 or 6 years old may be... tricky.

Especially if the battery has degredated down to the point it's got a range of 40 or 50 miles per charge by then.

I'm glad to see you've picked her up Richard. I'm very intrigued with how you will get along with it, as you say its not for everyone but the way fuel is going up and up makes real sense to me, it will soon cost £100 to fill a car with a 55 litre tank some say that will never happen!,its not too long ago when fuel was less than a pound ( happy days) , do any of us really drive more than a 100 miles a day ? And an electric car does have one major downfall , the batteries some say " its going to cost thousands of pounds " they may do ! However I think toyota will develop the technology to be able to manufacture these battery packs very cheaply in the future (I hope) as I'm really interested in purchasing one

For info:

The next model LEAF, that looks nearly the same, is due out in a couple of months.

Slightly improved range due to more efficient heating system.

This will have three spec levels rather than the current system of one with a generous spec.

The £25k+ cars have a faster charing options for at home (4 hours), but not the base model.

The base model is looking like it's going to cost £23k, rising to £27k for the top one with leather.

Which makes these "old model" 2012 cars look an absolute bargain IMO at £18k.

One week on since collection. 518 miles.

Miles driven 513.7 at an average of 0.25kw per mile = 128.43kw. Total cost for "fuel" @ 12p per kw = £15.41p (but half was done for free)

Have to say I'm liking this car a lot.

It's just so relaxing to drive.

It is softly sprung and is certainly a little lacking in feel if you want to press on, but as a mode of transport to ferry you about in a relaxed manner it's very good.

I got it and flew about, getting 0.33kw per mile.

Then started to drive it like it's meant to be driven (IMO) and it's slowly come down, hitting an average of 0.25 today.

Heavy rain and big puddles do effect the range though, as you need to add a bit more power to push it through the water.

If driving country lanes with deep puddles like tonight I'd not be surprised to see the battery range drop from around 80 to around 65 due to the extra drag.

Been driving a Honda Insight all week, in Spain. Have to say, I liked it a lot. Still ate 60 euros of petrol over 500 or so miles during the week but good fun keeping it "in the green" rather than red, which means it's using petrol. Hybrids. Hmm.

1000 miles on the clock now in 15 days, economy still 0.25kw per mile (3p per mile).

Number of trips during this 1000 miles that I couldn't do in the LEAF, so had to use a petrol/diesel car = 0 (so far)

Number of range anxiety attacks = 0 (worst was 18 miles still left)

Just read from the start, really interesting reading! I have a 10 mile commute one way, but I go there and back twice a day, so 40 miles a day. Could charge it easily in the garage each night. I would seriously consider a LEAF as a tool for work and back, the savings that can be made can be spent on something fast and noisy. Going on your figures it'd cost me around £6 a week in electric rather than £30-£50 in diesel, plus cheaper tax/insurance etc. I also looked at the Renault things with no doors We have had a big push on electric modes of transport here in MK recently, lots of charging points dotted about the shopping centre, we are launching one of the first electric bus services soon which is exciting. There is also a car club thing in one town which allows hire of two LEAFs by the hour, seriously tempted to give one a go for a afternoon after reading this.

It's no different to using a public charging station, which are also free.

Never seen one yet they seem to be pretty rare in Cheshire / Manchester area. I might have to go to Stoke as I think they have some there.

I totally missed this thread, awesome move Mr F. I was looking into them for when I move back to UK commute depending etc. Glad your enjoying it and its working out. Real gadget machine to sit in id think. I saw this video a while ago on youtube that I thought was very informative indeed.