[shiwarrior]

Hi all

apparently this is the website come about Leaf / EV cars (so ive been told)

so here I am

I've been thinking about changing my car for the past 2 years now

Thought about another Petrol car also Hybrids and EVs
but with the recent COVID situation has made me think EV again, due to me being a key worker , i'm still working 5 days a week and i don't get time off at Christmas

so anyway, here's the situation, id like to get some advice on weather I should or should not get an EV


Before i start, I have been reading though the forum for the past few days, and it has put a spanner in the works, as i have been reading about the battery SOH, idle times etc has put me on the edge


The situation -

I work 5 days a week, early starts (6am) and only drive circa 6 miles each way with nice and easy roads (takes me 15 mins approx to get home)

I use the car 5-6 days a week, sometimes 7
on non-work days i pop into the local town, again 6 miles away or to the pool, Sundays i goto my dads to watch the F1 who lives approx 10 miles away

That's basically my year

i might do the odd thing like visit my friend who lives 60 miles away, or leave it idle for a week whilst i'm on holiday


I am not a one to spend a lot of money on a car, all my cars have been around 3-5K

but with the amount i could potentially save with owning an EV, i could push that up a bit more, maybe 7K

I need to drop my yearly outgoings , my ICE car is expensive to run with 240 tax, 28 MPG and its only a Focus 1.8....

approx 6000 miles a year is costing me over 1K in fuel alone


now one good thing is, I've inquired about charging at work, 7KW pod-point charger, free to use all day every day, 7 days a week 24/7 where i will charge as much as possible rather then using home charger or rapid chargers


Would an EV be good or a bad choice ?

if a good choice, then id like to know more about the Leaf and battery health etc, what to avoid etc (im thinking a 2013 -2015 Tekna

cheers

 

[freddym]

Forget all the nervous talk of leaving the battery at certain percentage charge: the only difference to that will make is to ensure the battery lasts 29 years instead of 28.9.

Your usage sounds perfect for an EV. Make sure you get one that can preheat for your winter early / late starts.

 

[dk6780]

Sounds like you have done your homework, and a Gen2 Leaf sounds ideal for you. You have sorted charging and the journey lengths except your friend 60 miles away. You either need to charge there to get back or Rapid somewhere near them. Typical range is around 70 miles depending on your driving style.
Buy LEAFSPY and a dongle to check the state of the battery pack and post the results here to get them analysed.
Price wise you are spot on in the current market, but about a month ago they were more and not many owners realise that.

 

[shiwarrior]

Sounds like you have done your homework, and a Gen2 Leaf sounds ideal for you. You have sorted charging and the journey lengths except your friend 60 miles away. You either need to charge there to get back or Rapid somewhere near them. Typical range is around 70 miles depending on your driving style.
Buy LEAFSPY and a dongle to check the state of the battery pack and post the results here to get them analysed.
Price wise you are spot on in the current market, but about a month ago they were more and not many owners realise that.

Yes, well, I spent ALL day Sunday doing most of it

i don't like the cream interior so i would be avoiding the non-uk built ones

 

[dk6780]

i don't like the cream interior so i would be avoiding the non-uk built ones

The UK built ones have a more sensible layout for the charger that does away with the hump in the boot floor, does away with the electronic handbrake, and generally the batteries are better.
Concentrate on finding as good a battery as you can.
Where about in the Country are you?

 

[shiwarrior]

The UK built ones have a more sensible layout for the charger that does away with the hump in the boot floor, does away with the electronic handbrake, and generally the batteries are better.
Concentrate on finding as good a battery as you can.
Where about in the Country are you?

south Oxfordshire

in in the sticks, so not many chargers around here unfortunately
im in the chilterns

 

[dk6780]

Not a problem if you can charge at work. Any off-road parking at home?

 

[shiwarrior]

yes, although currently over the road on another street, as a family, we have a driveway
so i can charge if i need to

but im hopeing to not pre heat the car, and just use the work charger to keep costs down to a minimum

 

[peterca]

Sounds ideal for a Leaf. I have driven a Leaf for the last seven years. Remember on top of everything else they are super cars to drive with instant responses and very relaxing in traffic (if you get any). Also very quiet which assists the general relaxation.

 

[Woodulike]

Your day to day miles are achievable in any leaf, even an early one will do low miles.
But I would go for a gen2 car with a good battery to make the 60 mile trip easier. If you can charge at the friend house 60 miles is ok, if not you'll need to look for a rapid charger near by.

 

[howartp]

Forget “hoping to not preheat the car” - use the great features a LEAF has. It’s another one of those 29 years versus 28.9 years arguments; the frugalness costs more in worrying about cost/lost range than actually using it does.

Gen2 leafs will pre-heat using the app without being plugged in; to use the cars inbuilt timer you’ll need to be plugged in or get 2018 40kWh or beyond - but I don’t know how that sits in the pricing market.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[shiwarrior]

ok thanks for your help

i dont mind doing it 5 mins before i leave for work, im used to Fords Quick Clear front and back screens, and i sit there idling , but leaf are not ice cars ..

 

[BugOne]

ok thanks for your help

i dont mind doing it 5 mins before i leave for work, im used to Fords Quick Clear front and back screens, and i sit there idling , but leaf are not ice cars ..

Demisting isn't as quick as quick clear - but much faster than a usual ICE. You're not waiting for an engine to warm up, so as soon as you turn on, the heat and AC are available at full capacity.

Pre-heat is most useful when it's icy, to clear the ice off the car. Saves scraping. However the Nissan app can be a bit hit and miss. I think their entire world wide bandwidth for that app must be running off a single server / data connection - so as soon as it gets a bit icy, access gets buggy and slow.

 

[A_Camera]

I work 5 days a week, early starts (6am) and only drive circa 6 miles each way with nice and easy roads (takes me 15 mins approx to get home)
I use the car 5-6 days a week, sometimes 7
on non-work days i pop into the local town, again 6 miles away or to the pool, Sundays i goto my dads to watch the F1 who lives approx 10 miles away

That's basically my year

i might do the odd thing like visit my friend who lives 60 miles away, or leave it idle for a week whilst i'm on holiday

That, plus the fact that you don't seem to be out of work for a while, plus that you have 24/7 access to a 7kW charger at work says to me that you are a perfect PHEV customer. Don't buy a pure ICE if you can avoid it. I have a PHEV and save loads of money (disregarding the costs of buying the car) because I work within half of the electric range, so I can drive to and from work on electricity and only rarely need to fire up the petrol engine. According to specs, I should be able to drive between 55 and 60 km and my current range is 53km. Charging at home every day. In your case, you can drive to work and charge while working every day except the weekends, but with your driving pattern you may not need the full charge during the weekend, so that's no big deal. The disadvantage of EV is that the 7kW will not result in fast charging unless you work VERY long hours. Most EVs have an internal charger of 3.7kW meaning that even if your facility allows 7kW, the car will only use half of that, so that's the limiting factor. For example, the Nissan Leaf 40 we have, takes 11 hours to charge from the Type 2 charger. Also, the 7kW you have access to, is that one phase or three phases? My home box is specified as 11kW, but it is three phases, and since the Leaf only uses one phase, the charger in reality is a 3.7kW type seen from the Nissan perspective.

So, I think you should get a good PHEV. You won't regret it, it will save you a lot of money in petrol and will have better range than the EVs in your budget. Beware that if you buy a cheap EV your occasional 60 miles ride will be a challenge...

 

[shiwarrior]

my car sits there for 9 - 9 1/2 hours 5 days a week
i get there about 5:40, i leave around 3 - 3:15 ish

 

[howartp]

. Don't buy a pure (ICE) EV if you can avoid it.

Corrected that for you.

His usage is ideal for full EV; 6 miles a day, who cares how long he’ll be parked at work? He’ll recharge 6 miles in no time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[A_Camera]

Pre-heat is most useful when it's icy, to clear the ice off the car. Saves scraping. However the Nissan app can be a bit hit and miss. I think their entire world wide bandwidth for that app must be running off a single server / data connection - so as soon as it gets a bit icy, access gets buggy and slow.

That's incorrect. If the battery is charged to departure time then it is pre heated to normal working temperature. Normal working temperature is around +20 degrees C, well over icy conditions. Your range will be extended by 10% or more if you do that. Comfort heating or cooling is another matter, you only need it if the car is too cold or hot.

 

[howartp]

That's incorrect. If the battery is charged to departure time then it is pre heated to normal working temperature. Normal working temperature is around +20 degrees C, well over icy conditions. Your range will be extended by 10% or more if you do that. Comfort heating or cooling is another matter, you only need it if the car is too cold or hot.

That’s incorrect.

You set the temperature to preheat to which can be as low as 16°c


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[A_Camera]

Corrected that for you.

His usage is ideal for full EV; 6 miles a day, who cares how long he’ll be parked at work? He’ll recharge 6 miles in no time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Well, please don't change quoted text. That's VERY rude because you claim I said something I did NOT. Other than that, your "correction" is gramatically wrong and makes no sense. I mean, what do you mean by: "Don't buy a pure (ICE) EV if you can avoid it."? I don't know...

Beside, you are totally wrong regarding the EV. Yes, he will be able to charge it as fast as he would be if he had a PHEV, with the difference that the EV battery is much more powerful, so the 12 miles drive will deplete it only VERY little every time, which is not good at all, as opposed to the PHEV, which would be more depleted proportionally compared to battery size, so that's better for the battery. Of course, if the car is parked, it makes little difference, as long as it is parked during the normal working hours, but depending on the EV and how discharged the battery is when he arrives, he may need to work some serious overtime, especially after the occasional 120 miles trips, which by the way is a real challenge for cheaper EVs, since not every one of them can manage.

 

[howartp]

Well, please don't change quoted text. That's VERY rude because you claim I said something I did NOT.

Have a look back at what you typed yourself above.

You said “don’t buy a pure ICE”.

I’m pretty sure you didn’t mean that, you meant “don’t buy a pure EV”.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro