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New here - I have 17 million kilometres of EV experience to share. AMA

2K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  jaanjuurikas 
#1 ·
Hi all!

I help run an electric taxi company in Estonia that has driven ~ 17 000 000 km (~10.5 million miles) with 91 Nissan Leafs in total. I have also sold ~50 used Nissan Leafs by myself within a few years (not looking to sell here).
My latest project that I hope to go full time on soon is a free newsletter on the world of electric cars: EVUniverse.io. It's a weekly newsletter+resources+community to cover everything interesting happening specifically in the battery-electric cars' (not hybrid) world. The 5th newsletter drops tomorrow, You are all welcome to join. :)

I'm hoping to learn from this community, what are the most touching topics that I should cover on the newsletters.
In turn I hope I can give back to the community by the experiences we've had with Leafs from 2012-2020.

Ask me anything!

Cheers
Jaan

(You can find me on Twitter HERE or write me at jaan@evuniverse.io)
 
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#4 ·
Thanks, Hitstirrer
There's several aspects really. Just to note - I've only sold LEAFs because that's what we have had in our fleet. I sold them kind of as an extra project since we needed to constantly be upgrading our EV fleet. :)

Here are the things to consider:
  1. When starting in 2012, Leaf was really the only one around that was suitable for everyday-driving (except Tesla, but that's another league). At least in our country. :)
  2. The availability for other models were terrible until recently so that made us stick with LEAF, which were easy to get.
  3. The usage was taxi - which meant that the car needed to be spacious enough.
  4. Nissan gave us really good discounts plus other benefits. They saw us as a good project to show people that EVs can also endure through winter etc. They helped us thrive.
  5. Reliability was good - we have had veeeery little troubles throughout the years regarding the 'EV' part of the car. We can confidently say, that we know a lot about these cars comparing to an average service center around here.
It is only now that we are also considering other options. We have preordered 3 Škoda Enyaqs for kind of a premium service, also we're really excited about Nissan Aryia coming.

Last week we did a test of VW ID.3 vs Peugeot e-2008 vs Nissan Leaf e+ vs Kia e-Niro. I will publish the details in the newsletter either in today's issue or next week's.

LMK if you want more details about what have been the issues and/or benefits of LEAF so far. Always happy to chat!
 
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#5 ·
This is in my shortlist as a case-study for the newsletter as well. :) Haven't gotten around to it yet, but several have asked. Will do it within few next issues.
Teaser from my last measure of a few 2018-2020km cars:
(km driven) (SOH%)
73983 93.98%
77792 94.80%
73717 96.63%
70300 95.03%
69704 94.67%

We have several at 150k km+ too, but I'll have to pull the data :)

Estonian climate is perfect for EV's, as it doesn't almost ever get hot in here. I guess it's a bit similar to UK?
 
#9 ·
Good idea, Freddy! I'll add that to the SOH% overview of the fleet then. If I remember correctly, I sold one of our 2014 Leafs at 330k km and I should still have the data. One of my friends has the very first 2012 model we ever bought that has 2nd round battery now, with around 440k km. He's a modder and has done all kinds of crazy stuff like solar panels on the roof, heat elements etc. I'm thinking of doing a DIY section to the newsletter as well.

I have a few 2014 LEAFs in the 250k km range left, including my own 2014 Leaf at 230k km with ~75% SOH. :)

If by battery heaters you mean the "winter-package" that stops the battery from freezing, then yes - it would be unacceptable not to have it here, as it can get up to -30 degrees Celsius.
 
#11 ·
@jaanjuurikas - Great thread. Some of the questions I have have already been asked and answered. Do you have any data on the most common major mechanical failts and also the most common faults in the electrical drive train side? Also, where do you charge your taxis and how much does it cost to charge?
Good luck with all your endeavours.
 
#13 ·
Thanks, EdH!

We do have data on the common faults, but they differ a bit for 24-30kWh cars and 40kWh cars (the build has been changed a bit). I can give you ideas from the top of my head if you point me in the direction you want to hear. Both mechanical and electrical.

We charge our taxis both on the public infrastructure (Estonia was the 1st country in the world to have a nationwide fast-charging network of ~160 DC chargers at the ~ year 2013) and now we are moving towards charging in our own 'base'. This is what it looks like, 33kW right now, scaling it up to 50kW. We have 3 DC fast chargers and a bunch of 16A connected to it, PLUS a battery pack for the solar made of old Nissan Leaf batteries, about 100kWh. :)

Solar energy Vehicle Car Solar panel Technology


Cheers
 
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