[Terry82]

So I am looking to buy my first ev and looking at the Zoe or leaf.
I would probably do 50 miles per week average.
when Looking at ads it doesn’t show you the battery health level. I know leaf have a bar system but concerns me not knowing this info.
if i get Zoe with battery lease how is it transferred over, also does the new owner need to pass credit check as I struggle with this as I’ve not had credit for over 15 years.

budget at moment is 6k but this will increase the longer I look. Don’t have home charging due to living in flats, so will be using public chargers.

What should I be looking for, also I don’t seem to trust buying online without seeing it in real life first, which is hard as most ev’s are to far from me.
any tips and advice would be appreciate.

 

[80698]

Hi,
First of all, check out Zap Map. What's the public charging situation like in your area? Check some of the comments too to make sure that even if there are plenty of places to charge, that they aren't unreliable or crowded. Otherwise a short range EV will be a very bad experience with no home charging.

Secondly don't worry about the battery leasing. Its fairly easy and doesn't require too much paperwork. I don't think their checks are very strict, just rather a check to see you aren't in bad debt or bankrupt. I have a rather poor credit history but still passed their check. Though if you are worried, there are plenty of options to build your credit score with things like Loqbox savings, or simply applying for a credit product and maintaining that account in good standing.

Zoe is your better choice to be honest. They're more efficient than the LEAF, and have better battery thermal management. Not only does the battery stay healthy for longer, but this translates into more range for you. You also have extra peace of mind with a battery lease, since that gives you warranty in case the health did drop too low. This also makes distance buying a little safer too, though I would still recommend trying to get a Zoe with extended warranty, and maintaining it if possible.

The LEAF is a larger car, a bit more hard wearing in terms of build quality, and almost all of them will come without the expense of a battery lease (except flex models - very rare these days) But their batteries are known to degrade faster than any other EV due to the lack of cooling system. The warranty will be expired by now, so if it drops too low in health, or you have weak cells, you're on your own.

Another car to consider is one of the triplets. Mitsubishi i-MiEV/Peugeot iOn/Citroën cZero. They will sell within your price range, degradation isn't awful, and despite being fairly basic they do still support features like rapid charging, and the smaller size and great visibility make them good for the city. No lease to worry about there either. Maybe you've already decided against them, but if not its one to consider as they can be a good, cheap way to get into a first EV if you aren't driving long distances.

 

[DoctorSpludge]

So I am looking to buy my first ev and looking at the Zoe or leaf.
I would probably do 50 miles per week average.
when Looking at ads it doesn’t show you the battery health level. I know leaf have a bar system but concerns me not knowing this info.
if i get Zoe with battery lease how is it transferred over, also does the new owner need to pass credit check as I struggle with this as I’ve not had credit for over 15 years.

budget at moment is 6k but this will increase the longer I look. Don’t have home charging due to living in flats, so will be using public chargers.

What should I be looking for, also I don’t seem to trust buying online without seeing it in real life first, which is hard as most ev’s are to far from me.
any tips and advice would be appreciate.

Hey,

If you're buying from a dealer, they should be able to give you the battery health, with the leaf 12 bars means it's greater than 85% battery health I believe.

If it's a private sale, you can check with a wifi/bluetooth ODB dongle and leaf spy (lite/free if you have an Android phone)

6k is probably going to get you an older Leaf with a degraded battery - you might find a gem, though! Do not rely on the range given by the car, this is based on the driving habits of the last time the car was driven (If the last drive was taking it down hill for 30 minutes it'd give a much higher range than it's actually capable of).

When I was looking at the Zoes from main dealers it seemed like a lot of the dealers had bought the battery already, finding a leased battery Zoe from a dealer seemed quite difficult (Or it wasn't obvious).

You're probably safe in terms of battery health with both outcomes though. The leaf has an 8 year battery warranty and the Zoe under lease is naturally still under warranty because the battery isn't yours. At least with the leaf, the warranty is voided if it hasn't been main dealer serviced so watch out for that.

Other things to be wary of is what are your driving habits going to be? Are you planning to take it on long journeys? The Zoe uses Type 2 (only) for charging, are there (high speed) chargers for Type 2 on your routes, there are very few of them in comparison to Chademo.

 

[80698]

The leaf has an 8 year battery warranty

"24 KWH LEAF : If the battery capacity level gauge of your 24 kWh Nissan Electric Vehicle falls below 9 bars (out of 12 bars) within 60,000 miles or the first 5 years of the vehicle’s life (whichever comes first), Nissan will repair or replace the damaged battery components free of charge to bring the capacity up to 9 bars"
Source: https://www.nissan.co.uk/content/da...nefits/EV Customer Promise T&C's 05.02.18.pdf

The Zoe uses Type 2 (only) for charging, are there (high speed) chargers for Type 2 on your routes, there are very few of them in comparison to Chademo.

Just to add to this, if you want to take it long distance you would need to be looking for a Q210 Zoe, as this is the only 22kWh model which supports 43kW rapid charge. The R240 is only 22kW max. But as for chargers I really wouldn't worry too much. There are plenty of chargers out there with AC43 Support, and especially on the motorway network you're well covered by Ecotricity. Much better covered than those with brand new cars which use CCS, which is missing from almost a third of motorway service stations!

Instavolt and Ionity are the only 2 networks that wouldn't be usable for a 1st Gen. Zoe owner.

 

[DoctorSpludge]

"24 KWH LEAF : If the battery capacity level gauge of your 24 kWh Nissan Electric Vehicle falls below 9 bars (out of 12 bars) within 60,000 miles or the first 5 years of the vehicle’s life (whichever comes first), Nissan will repair or replace the damaged battery components free of charge to bring the capacity up to 9 bars"
Source: https://www.nissan.co.uk/content/dam/Nissan/gb/vehicles/leaf/product_code/1_carryover/owner_benefits/EV Customer Promise T&C's 05.02.18.pdf.

Had no idea the 24kWh Leaf was only 5 years! The 30/40 is definitely still 8 years, though.

 

[555djx]

Take a look here, DSG Renault in Morecambe are highly regarded and very knowledgeable. I bought my Zoe from them in June, and my wife’s Zoe has only been serviced by them, second service visit next Friday, and it’s a 130 miles round trip for us.

 

[80698]

Had no idea the 24kWh Leaf was only 5 years! The 30/40 is definitely still 8 years, though.

Yeah, 30kWh and up is all 8 Years and 100k miles. The 24 was especially bad for degradation though due to a mix of poor, older battery chemistry and people having to do more regular deep discharge cycles because of the shorter range. That's why I regularly encourage people to go up to the 30kWh model if at all possible when they are looking to buy now. There's too much of a risk of ending up with one that has weak cells which isn't immediately obvious, but can be a costly nightmare to sort out with no warranty.

In OP's price range I would have more faith in one of the triplets if I just wanted a cheap, basic but reliable short range EV, or a 22kWh Zoe if after something a little better and willing to take on a battery lease.

I'd also happily give a +1 to @555djx recommendation above about DSG. They have a Zoe which is within budget and even if they are a fair distance away it is worth it for the knowledge and service.

 

[Sputnik72]

What's your primary reason for getting an EV..? I am asking because based on your usage, the battery rental on a Zoe would be greater than the amount of fuel you'd be putting in an ICE each month.. If your mileage is likely to increase then you might start to be able to break even or make some savings, and it wouldn't help if you're also having to rely and pay for public charging too.

In this case the best option would be to find a decent Leaf because without the battery lease you would at least eventually'break even' compared to an ICE car. EV definitely the way to go, but seems like in your usage case you need to work out financially which is the best option also and I think it's the Leaf, there's also less chance of any major unexpected repair bills with the Leaf.

 

[555djx]

Top spec Leaf Tekna here that looks like it would suit your needs, although slightly over your budget. Low mileage but short MOT so you should insist on a new MOT as a condition of sale.

 

[DanP]

The battery lease on a Zoe seems to start at £59 per month plus you'll have charging costs (unless you could get free charging, check Zap Map as suggested). If you're doing 50 miles a week you'd only spend about £27 on fuel (at 40 mpg).

 

[DanP]

Yeah, 30kWh and up is all 8 Years and 100k miles. The 24 was especially bad for degradation though due to a mix of poor, older battery chemistry and people having to do more regular deep discharge cycles because of the shorter range. That's why I regularly encourage people to go up to the 30kWh model if at all possible when they are looking to buy now. There's too much of a risk of ending up with one that has weak cells which isn't immediately obvious, but can be a costly nightmare to sort out with no warranty.

In OP's price range I would have more faith in one of the triplets if I just wanted a cheap, basic but reliable short range EV, or a 22kWh Zoe if after something a little better and willing to take on a battery lease.

I'd also happily give a +1 to @555djx recommendation above about DSG. They have a Zoe which is within budget and even if they are a fair distance away it is worth it for the knowledge and service.

I'd say the opposite (ref battery degradation on Leaf 24/ 30). I looked at upgrading to the 30 from a 24 but decided it could well be a retrograde step! (from looking at cars for sale and threads like this):

The battery health thread!

*** Xaccers links to Google sheets for data entry and up to date graphs below. This supersedes the original graphs I was maintaining. Cheers Xaccers!*** Xaccers wrote: "In response to the chart showing faster degradation for 30kWh batteries, I've created the following if people with LeafSpy in...

www.speakev.com

 

[555djx]

The battery lease on a Zoe seems to start at £59 per month plus you'll have charging costs (unless you could get free charging, check Zap Map as suggested). If you're doing 50 miles a week you'd only spend about £27 on fuel (at 40 mpg).

With the OP’s budget it’ll likely be a ZE22 Zoe, battery lease starts at £49 per month, £59 is for the ZE40 Zoe.

 

[Terry82]

Just like to thank everyone for the replies.
really appreciated

 

[Naturetech]

Have you thoroughly considered whereabouts you'll charge your proposed EV, and the time it'll take? You may have your heart set on a fully-electric car, but maybe something like a hybrid Toyota (or Lexus CT200) would be a more enjoyable proposition.

 

[cah197]

Have you thoroughly considered whereabouts you'll charge your proposed EV, and the time it'll take? You may have your heart set on a fully-electric car, but maybe something like a hybrid Toyota (or Lexus CT200) would be a more enjoyable proposition.

As a former Prius owner, I'd say that's debatable.

A £6k hybrid is going to be pretty ropey.

 

[Blanik]

As a former Prius owner, I'd say that's debatable.

A £6k hybrid is going to be pretty ropey.

Agree !

I bought a 3yo Prius, ran it for 9 years during which I had a couple of duff cells replaced. It was bought not because it was a hybrid, but because it was an affordable petrol automatic - "self charging" is just marketing where do people think the electricity comes from.

As our driving needs changed the prius efficiency was poor on very short runs < 5 miles ( insufficient electric range and a cold engine ), so we replaced it with a PHEV.

That would be another option for the OP.

Edit - ah Just saw that the OP doesn't have home charging, so I would write off PHEVs for them. With the mileage given unless you can charge every other night they are a non starter.

 

[Dave T120r]

As a former Prius owner, I'd say that's debatable.

A £6k hybrid is going to be pretty ropey.

I drove a Prius for nine years, easy to drive and comfortable. I would probably still be driving it except the catalytic converter was stolen twice in 8 months. Now driving a Soul EV, no catalytic converter.