I've been considering one of the Nissan Leafs for quite a while now, I'm retired & have no commute anymore, Most if not all of my driving is within a 30 mile radius and I/we rarely go on long road trips anymore. I'm thinking there might be a lot more choice of used ex lease leafs available on the secondhand market when the new 2018 hits the dealers next Spring. I imagine a lot of people will be wanting to trade up the new model.

 

The range of the Gen 1 leaf will more than suit our needs, the thought of being able to program the car to heat the cabin prior to driving is a very nice touch in cold weather, I want to get the Acenta model which has the ability to do this.

 

I've been swatting up over the past 6 months & downloaded the Leafspy Pro App & got a OBD ll bluetooth scanner in preparation for checking out the SOH battery health, Ahr & HEX readings to find the best one when the time comes to buy one.

 

I've not yet read through this entire thread yet but was wondering if any of you guys who have owned Nissan Leafs did the Leafspy Pro thing.

 

.

^^^^^ we’ve got the best conventional car of our lives and which will probably see us through to the end of the all new leaf.

It should be more affordable by then and optioned for long range and with a home storage battery in our double garage, added to our solar panels, should be the perfect fit.

ICE servicing cost within the warranty period make the calculations for us a no-brainer.

2 hours ago, lancpudn said:

I've been considering one of the Nissan Leafs for quite a while now, I'm retired & have no commute anymore, Most if not all of my driving is within a 30 mile radius and I/we rarely go on long road trips anymore. I'm thinking there might be a lot more choice of used ex lease leafs available on the secondhand market when the new 2018 hits the dealers next Spring. I imagine a lot of people will be wanting to trade up the new model.

 

The range of the Gen 1 leaf will more than suit our needs, the thought of being able to program the car to heat the cabin prior to driving is a very nice touch in cold weather, I want to get the Acenta model which has the ability to do this.

 

I've been swatting up over the past 6 months & downloaded the Leafspy Pro App & got a OBD ll bluetooth scanner in preparation for checking out the SOH battery health, Ahr & HEX readings to find the best one when the time comes to buy one.

 

I've not yet read through this entire thread yet but was wondering if any of you guys who have owned Nissan Leafs did the Leafspy Pro thing.

 

.

 

I got a Leaf a few months ago using their Switch scheme: https://www.nissan.co.uk/vehicles/offers/the_switch_scheme.html

You better hurry, it ends this year. After trading in my 11 yr old diesel for £1000, I'm paying £115 per month for 64 reg Tekna on 3 year PCP with 8000 miles annual mileage. Fuel and tax saving alone from the old diesel basically pays for the Leaf.

 

30 miles radius is perfect for a Leaf. I commute 60 miles per day in my Leaf. It is soooo nice not having to scrap ice off the car. It's very fast, just get into a toasty cabin and drive within 10s of getting out of the door. Likewise on my drive home, the cabin pre-heat is turned on remotely as I leave my desk and get into a warm car.

 

I did get Leafspy and checked out health, my 3 years old car had 94% health. That's it, haven't really kept an eye on this.

 

Make sure you try to get a car that's made in 2013 or later and Acenta or better. They get heatpump rather than resistive heater. So you don't get as big hit on range in winter, only a few miles compared to a forth according to some cases.

 

Let me know if you've any more questions

^^^^^ heat pumps?.

Is that like reverse cycle ac ?.   (that’s our home heating system)

I’ve been wondering why the car isn’t like the home system.

 

10 hours ago, Ryeman said:

^^^^^ heat pumps?.

Is that like reverse cycle ac ?.   (that’s our home heating system)

I’ve been wondering why the car isn’t like the home system.

 

I believe so, it sucks heat from outside and dumps it inside the cabin. More efficient than resistor based heater, but doesn't heat up quickly when it's extremely cold outside.

1 minute ago, wyx087 said:

I believe so, it sucks heat from outside and dumps it inside the cabin. More efficient than resistor based heater, but doesn't heat up quickly when it's extremely cold outside.

Yes, interesting.   The modern compressor is remarkably fuel efficient if not quite as industrial cold like the old pumps.........at least that’s my impression.

I can see us going battery as a second car before long 

12 hours ago, wyx087 said:

 

I got a Leaf a few months ago using their Switch scheme: https://www.nissan.co.uk/vehicles/offers/the_switch_scheme.html

You better hurry, it ends this year. After trading in my 11 yr old diesel for £1000, I'm paying £115 per month for 64 reg Tekna on 3 year PCP with 8000 miles annual mileage. Fuel and tax saving alone from the old diesel basically pays for the Leaf.

 

30 miles radius is perfect for a Leaf. I commute 60 miles per day in my Leaf. It is soooo nice not having to scrap ice off the car. It's very fast, just get into a toasty cabin and drive within 10s of getting out of the door. Likewise on my drive home, the cabin pre-heat is turned on remotely as I leave my desk and get into a warm car.

 

I did get Leafspy and checked out health, my 3 years old car had 94% health. That's it, haven't really kept an eye on this.

 

Make sure you try to get a car that's made in 2013 or later and Acenta or better. They get heatpump rather than resistive heater. So you don't get as big hit on range in winter, only a few miles compared to a forth according to some cases.

 

Let me know if you've any more questions

 

 

 

 

Thanks wyx087 Apart from being able to drive past petrol stations I think it will be the silent ride more than anything else that I'll appreciate, Yeah I've been reading about that 'switchback deal'  It will be sometime around next Spring before I'm in a position to buy one, I've been saving into my car fund haphazardly for a couple of years now so will be paying pound notes for one.

25 minutes ago, lancpudn said:

Thanks wyx087 Apart from being able to drive past petrol stations I think it will be the silent ride more than anything else that I'll appreciate, Yeah I've been reading about that 'switchback deal'  It will be sometime around next Spring before I'm in a position to buy one, I've been saving into my car fund haphazardly for a couple of years now so will be paying pound notes for one.

The best bit is never having to think about getting fuel and range if you drive within your EV's range and return to home plug-in every day. You always leave home with a full charge.

 

I was also going to pay cash, but the switch scheme fitted me perfectly. Selling privately my 11yr diesel will net no more than £1700, trade it in and get £1000 on the car plus £2000 deposit contribution. If after 3 years my Leaf is no longer worth its value, I can hand it back all for the price of diesel + tax would have costed me otherwise. Essentially free car for 3 years at cost of slightly higher electric bill: £330 a year, only slightly more than a major diesel servicing.

 

If you are not going to take advantage of this deal, it's worth searching further afield away from Nissan dealer network. I've noticed since September Leaf eligible for the deal have increase slightly in price. Those that are not eligible have dropped slightly.

 

https://speakev.com/ is a good forum for EV's. The Leaf 24's on sale there are usually priced just right. 30's are in high demand due to low supply, not worth it until new Leaf 2 40kWh comes out.

Honda wants super fast charging too -

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1114172_not-just-porsche-honda-wants-15-minute-fast-charges-for-electric-cars-too

29 minutes ago, Ryeman said:

Honda wants super fast charging too -

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1114172_not-just-porsche-honda-wants-15-minute-fast-charges-for-electric-cars-too

 

Just scan read that....

 

also mentioned the Porsche 350kW 800v charging station...so that's 437.5Amps ....that WILL get HOT!!!.....& WASTE a lot of energy....

 

obviously they don't want to push the voltage up (which brings Amps down)....

 

More car fires I see.....

I don't think the engineers at Porsche will be surprised to learn that 437.5A = potential for heat. 

I would however, be interested to hear their solution as back of an envelope calculations say that even if the conductors are 1 inch thick, it will still lose 250w+ as heat for a 5m charging cable.

4 minutes ago, dg360 said:

I don't think the engineers at Porsche will be surprised to learn that 437.5A = potential for heat. 

I would however, be interested to hear their solution as back of an envelope calculations say that even if the conductors are 1 inch thick, it will still lose 250w+ as heat for a 5m charging cable.

 

 

I've just been reading this article which makes for interesting reading.  https://insideevs.com/fastcharge-now-evaluating-450-kw-charging/

3 minutes ago, lancpudn said:

 

 

I've just been reading this article which makes for interesting reading.  https://insideevs.com/fastcharge-now-evaluating-450-kw-charging/

Exactly 

Nobody knows what’s going on in the laboratory’s.

An example for decoding -

https://www.cemag.us/news/2017/12/hybrid-electrolyte-enhances-supercapacitance-vertical-graphene-nanosheets?et_cid=6200246&et_rid=916553762&location=top&et_cid=6200246&et_rid=916553762&linkid=https%3a%2f%2fwww.cemag.us%2fnews%2f2017%2f12%2fhybrid-electrolyte-enhances-supercapacitance-vertical-graphene-nanosheets%3fet_cid%3d6200246%26et_rid%3d%%subscriberid%%%26location%3dtop

Cooling the batteries -

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1114188_new-approach-to-electric-car-battery-cooling-immerse-cells-in-coolant

32 minutes ago, Ryeman said:

Cooling the batteries -

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1114188_new-approach-to-electric-car-battery-cooling-immerse-cells-in-coolant

 

The whole idea is back to front....

 

The fact that they are running 800V to 900V & 400+A to 500A as per previous post proves that they are purposely keeping the voltage down below a set marker as other wise joe public would not be able to connect the car to the station as you are within EHV ratings & so you would need specially trained & certified "pump attendants"...

 

That's my theory.....well you only get 100A at 230v , & 100A at 415V (3phase)......& you only get 100A at 11kV.....that's what the UK elec board will give you standard..there are higher voltages available..

 

The reason for this is the wasted electricity as heat if they supply higher than 100A...

 

So we have the EV people giving you 500A at 900V......from a solar station....nice & eco except it wastes huge amounts of that eco generated power.....so they then have to invent expensive & complex cooling systems for the cables & batteries....

 

.....give the EV lot a JCB as they are digging a very deep hole for themselves..

 

EDIT

 

By "solving" the heat problem (created by high A charging etc) by fitting cooling packs they fail......as again this requires power to run & adds weigh to the car which affects the EV cars range...

 

Edited 8 December, 20178 yr by fabdavrav

The new Skoda vision E (one of 5 Skoda EV's coming by 2020) looks very cool.   https://insideevs.com/skoda-confirms-least-5-evs-coming-2020/

 

18 minutes ago, lancpudn said:

The new Skoda vision E (one of 5 Skoda EV's coming by 2020) looks very cool.   https://insideevs.com/skoda-confirms-least-5-evs-coming-2020/

 

If it has a PV roof perhaps.

Falling battery prices -

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1114245_lithium-ion-battery-packs-now-209-per-kwh-will-fall-to-100-by-2025-bloomberg-analysis

46 minutes ago, Ryeman said:

Falling battery prices -

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1114245_lithium-ion-battery-packs-now-209-per-kwh-will-fall-to-100-by-2025-bloomberg-analysis

 

Great news.  Hopefully feed through to lower battery rental prices for the Zoe etc.  

10 minutes ago, lol-lol said:

 

Great news.  Hopefully feed through to lower battery rental prices for the Zoe etc.  

They can keep their GPFs and cylinder deactivation.....

 

 

 

40 minutes ago, Ryeman said:

They can keep their GPFs and cylinder deactivation.....

 

Do not need deactivation, just few enough cylinders, two or one as a range extender when one ventures in to the countryside.....

BMW did a good job with this put, as is their way, well on the pricey side....

 

It only takes about 20 hp to do 120 kph/ 75 mph so one would have 10 hp to do recharging of the lecky systems.

I would to try an i3 if they were not so pricey and ugly.  28 pence a mile all in to for 30k and 4 years....

https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/car-stats/bmw-i3-00electric-170-eu6-auto-2017/3745421/?Years=4&Miles=120000

 

http://www.bmw-powertrain.com/powertrain/en/automotive_engines/2-cylinder_gasoline_engines.html

 

W20
* depending on vehicle
Engine type	Engine type  2-cyl. Inline engine
Displacement [ccm]	647
Bore x stroke [mm]	Water-cooled 4-stroke in-line two-cylinder engine (four valves per cylinder, two overhead camshafts, dry sump lubrication)
Power [kW] @ [1/min]	25 @ 4.300
Torque [Nm] @ [1/min]	55 @ 4.300
Emission standard	EU6
CO2 range [g/km]*	13

Edited 11 December, 20178 yr by lol-lol

The cit costs us 8p/mile for fuel.

6 hours ago, Ryeman said:

The cit costs us 8p/mile for fuel.

 

EVs can cost as little as 2 or 3p per mile for charge but it is that 125 (winter) to 175 mile (summer) range for the cheap/good EVS (New Leaf/Zoe Z40).

5 year interest free on the Zoe.

   

I don’t believe I’ve seen a moving EV.

The one I saw parked near my daughter’s had a lead across the footpath.......hmmm.

I don’t think the motoring journos want to assist with spreading the word either.

There is a charging map of Australia which nobody would know about unless they had bought one.

A Leaf with ground clearance would be nice.

That range extender i3 is an excellent stepping stone while waiting for rapid charging infrastructure to catch up. You get full benefit of EV: cheap per mile, responsive acceleration, enough range, less noise/vibration, morning defrosting (was great this morning), always have full charge when leaving. Then you get also power density benefit from fossil fuel if needed.

 

Electrification has 5 steps:

0. normal ICE car

1. ICE with some electrical help, eg. MHEV, Prius

2. ICE with plugin battery, eg. PHEV, Golf GTE

3. Range extended EV, eg. Ampere, i3 REx

4. full EV

 

Anything less than 4 is still an ICE. They are pathetic attempts at reducing emissions, they don't achieve real goal of selling the benefit of driving an EV. Might as well buy step 0  for less parts to fail.

 

 

 

Speaking of benefit of EV. It took a total of 10 seconds from closing my front door to leaving in my EV, including me dancing on black ice. When I got in the car, it was toasty and very comfortable. All ice had been cleared and no waking up the neighbours with cold rough idling engine.

 

Leaf also dealt with snow on Sunday like a champ. The car came with budget summer front tyres, mid-range rears. Even with these tyres I can drive up hills and through slippery parts where other cars get stuck. Reason is the control I get at 0 RPM. Instead of relying on clutch or winter setting of the gearbox, I can very easily control my wheel and never apply too much spin.

 

Of course, with those tyres, stopping the car can be difficult. But I never felt loss of control, reducing speed can be done without drama at faster rate than ICE thanks to smooth regen braking. Just slowly release accelerator pedal and the car will slowly come to a stop. Like how I'd drive normally.