Not sure about the 20 mile round trip - that's only 100 miles a week commuting?

If you did go with the EV, and chose the LEAF, Nissan will loan you a 'normal' car for any 14 days of the year, subject to a two week advance booking period.

 

That 14 day loan thing with Nissan is only if you buy a NEW one from them.

So the only way to get it is to get hideous depreciation on a new EV.

 

Far, far better off buying a one year old EV £8,000-£10,000 cheaper and paying £50 per day for the odd time you need a petrol car.

That 14 day loan thing with Nissan is only if you buy a NEW one from them.

So the only way to get it is to get hideous depreciation on a new EV.

 

Far, far better off buying a one year old EV £8,000-£10,000 cheaper and paying £50 per day for the odd time you need a petrol car.

 

Course, I assume buying a 1 year old, you don't have the same guarantees on battery health/mileage warranty? - Nissan's 60K warranty looks mean-spirited when Kia will give you 100K warranty on what I assume is basically the same motor

Nor access to the same level of deals as on new?

 

But a massively valid point, and one I will no doubt be investigating when I sit down with the dealer - there are year old models (but still with the newer heat pump arrangements I think) for over 6K from new.  Dunno if they got the higher spec'd charger on board though, which would sort of be a must.

Edited 26 January, 201511 yr by Gwilo

Not sure about the 20 mile round trip - that's only 100 miles a week commuting?

 

If you did go with the EV, and chose the LEAF, Nissan will loan you a 'normal' car for any 14 days of the year, subject to a two week advance booking period.

 

Are there charging points (public, service stations or Nissan EV dealers) near your uncles/on the route so you could plan a short comfort break?

Just thinking as a Nissan Dealer stop off would let you strech your legs, have a coffee and get a free top-up (well, to 80% at least) rapid charge.

zap-map.com useful for planning.  

Only reason I'm considering this is because the chargers are free at my works (for the next 9 months or so according the the scheme owners), 11-13 pence per Kw after that and there are two Nissan dealers accessible to me (1 near home, 1 small detour on commute). Plus, I can currently get a free charger installed at home too.

 

I do maybe another 50 miles a week mooching about, £25-£30 a week in fuel.

 

I have looked the the Renault Twizy, I could use it for work, the Mrs can have her S3/R32/other uneconomical motor and we use that for long distance stuff. The issue with that is unlike Nissan, Renault make you rent the battery, so while I might well save £100-£120 a month in fuel, I'd have to spend £45 of that on renting the battery. I guess I'd save another £20 a month in tax and a few quid in maintenance? 

I'm in the same boat as moley here - I'd like an EV for daily driving, but there's the cross country trips/driving holidays that I just couldn't do with one, and I'd not be willing to a) use the E30 b ) buy a third car to only use a few times a year (unless it was a track car too, but then it wouldn't be much good at long distances...).

 

Did the idea with swappable, pre-charged batteries ever get anywhere? That seems like the win-win option to me?

 

Now why doesn't anyone make an EV that has a compartment where you can run a Honda Generator for longer trips, similar idea as a range-extender - but without the built in generator. So on a longer trip you have the option of shoving a 2KVA portable generator in the compartment to extend your range. I guess safety could be the issue though and that of having it pinched 

 

Like the BMW i3 does? http://www.bmw.co.uk/en_GB/new-vehicles/bmw-i/i3/2013/drive.html (see "Range Extender") and http://www.bmw.co.uk/en_GB/new-vehicles/bmw-i/i3/2013/technicaldata.html. 5x19 wheels?   Shows the price of style!

 

186miles sounds good, but I bet you're knocking on the door of £40k by the time it's been spec'd up, and that's not my idea of saving money!

Edited 26 January, 201511 yr by TriggerFish

Course, I assume buying a 1 year old, you don't have the same guarantees on battery health/mileage warranty? - Nissan's 60K warranty looks mean-spirited when Kia will give you 100K warranty on what I assume is basically the same motor

 

It doesn't matter if you buy used or new.

With Nissan you still get the 60k/5 year warranty.

With KIA you still get the 100k/7 year warranty.

 

However... while the KIA warranty looks longer (because it is) they cover the battery to 70% of it's initial capacity where Nissan cover the battery to 85% (IIRC, Nissan).

Which means both cars batteries are likely to age at a similar rate.

 

The real advantage with the KIA is that the 7 year warranty is for the whole car, with a few exclusions.

The Nissan has a 3 year warranty on the car and a 5 year on the electric gubbins.