[Scorzon]

Like sex for the first time, it wasnt well planned and it was all over and done with a lot quicker than I expected.

Been looking for several months, gauging prices and so on. Anyway, eyes alighted Sunday afternoon on a Nissan dealer selling a 30Kwh Acenta, March 2017, mileage less than average, one previous, exactly what I was looking for really. Except it has 6.6 charger which I couldnt care less about. Too far to just go for a look, I had to rely on pics and vids.

It was already a 'sporting' price, but managed to get a modest haggle, I have no bargaining skills, so I was happy enough. Had to tweak the young ruffians ear and give his hair a good ruffle when he agreed to my offer and then tried on the "Oh and there is of course the £130 admin fee that we cant avoid." That lasted about 30 seconds at which point he agreed it could be avoided and we compromised on my offer all in. The whole thing done via email, easy peasy!!

I know I should have haggled harder perhaps, but it comes with everything it should, both cables, 12 month dealer warranty (OK I know they arent that amazing, but better than nowt - I hope!) and hopefully it should have been fully checked and they should sort out the Nissan Connect thing.

Hoping to collect Saturday, natch I will be viewing and driving it first to ensure I am happy, I have been assured the deposit (paid with CC of course) is fully refundable should there be anything about it that I dont like. We'll see!!!

Now just got the fun of sorting out the charge point, that's almost more complicated than the damn car!!

Wish me luck!!

 

[JohnMars]

Like sex for the first time, it wasnt well planned and it was all over and done with a lot quicker than I expected.

Been looking for several months, gauging prices and so on. Anyway, eyes alighted Sunday afternoon on a Nissan dealer selling a 30Kwh Acenta, March 2017, mileage less than average, one previous, exactly what I was looking for really. Except it has 6.6 charger which I couldnt care less about. Too far to just go for a look, I had to rely on pics and vids.

It was already a 'sporting' price, but managed to get a modest haggle, I have no bargaining skills, so I was happy enough. Had to tweak the young ruffians ear and give his hair a good ruffle when he agreed to my offer and then tried on the "Oh and there is of course the £130 admin fee that we cant avoid." That lasted about 30 seconds at which point he agreed it could be avoided and we compromised on my offer all in. The whole thing done via email, easy peasy!!

I know I should have haggled harder perhaps, but it comes with everything it should, both cables, 12 month dealer warranty (OK I know they arent that amazing, but better than nowt - I hope!) and hopefully it should have been fully checked and they should sort out the Nissan Connect thing.

Hoping to collect Saturday, natch I will be viewing and driving it first to ensure I am happy, I have been assured the deposit (paid with CC of course) is fully refundable should there be anything about it that I dont like. We'll see!!!

Now just got the fun of sorting out the charge point, that's almost more complicated than the damn car!!

Wish me luck!!

“young ruffian?” You only look about 25 yourself!!! Lol

My dealer never mentioned a sellers fee! Just trying his luck!

And did you get any LeafSpy print?

Are we allowed to ask about price and mileage?

cannot wait to hear how you get on! I wish mine had a 6 kw as you can splash and dash a lot faster!

 

[Scorzon]

Hi John, I in fact didnt get a Leaf Spy print, I just got the standard plug in read out the dealer gives, everything was 12 bars and 5 stars out of 5, no surprise there, but it gave me enough piece of mind. I would have been more keen on the Leaf Spy thing had it been an older/higher miles/private sale.

I dont mind saying, it was on for 12400 and they came down to 12000. I have no doubt that with a hard squeeze I could have got them down even further. I'm sure right now there are old car lags out there tutting that I didnt push harder, but I keep my cars until I scrap them, so I only buy once every decade, I have no skillz, so do you know what, for a 17 plate with just 20k miles, both cables, 6.6 charger and the security of having some dealer come back for the next 12 months, this was ideal for my first foray into EVs.

I now have to work out whether to go down the fit my own chargepoint route or get an OLEV approved install? It's a non trivial install, with some hefty cable lengths, so it aint gonna be cheap.

BTW I'm 52 years old

 

[JohnMars]

Hi John, I in fact didnt get a Leaf Spy print, I just got the standard plug in read out the dealer gives, everything was 12 bars and 5 stars out of 5, no surprise there, but it gave me enough piece of mind. I would have been more keen on the Leaf Spy thing had it been an older/higher miles/private sale.

I dont mind saying, it was on for 12400 and they came down to 12000. I have no doubt that with a hard squeeze I could have got them down even further. I'm sure right now there are old car lags out there tutting that I didnt push harder, but I keep my cars until I scrap them, so I only buy once every decade, I have no skillz, so do you know what, for a 17 plate with just 20k miles, both cables, 6.6 charger and the security of having some dealer come back for the next 12 months, this was ideal for my first foray into EVs.

I now have to work out whether to go down the fit my own chargepoint route or get an OLEV approved install? It's a non trivial install, with some hefty cable lengths, so it aint gonna be cheap.

BTW I'm 52 years old

Great deal! That’s pretty much what I paid for mine once I had traded in my skip of an Accord!

Like you I keep my cars until scrap, so the grand they gave me for it was welcome as I would not have got that else where.

I needed to have 2 cells replaced and I must say Nissan have been amazing, their customer service is excellent even calling head office.

You may well need to email them you proof of purchase before they remove the old owner from the app, once done you can register to control remotely.

Im shocked! 52 ! You must moisturise!
p.s. remember we both have a HV battery and drive train warranty until 2025, so worry free if any faulty cells till then!

 

[Scorzon]

Yeah I'm hanging on to the thought of that warranty for my sanity. No moisturiser here, just a slightly older photo taken about 3 or 20 years ago or so ;-)

Interesting what you say about the removal of the old owner. I've asked the dealer to sort it, given that they must be the current owner, that should allow them to sort things with head office, they are both Nissan after all (OK so it's a franchise, but you know what I mean).

My head is now full of Economy 7 & Economy 10, I dont think it will work for me though as my girls are home a lot during the day and jeez can they burn electrons (it's a thing).

 

[JohnMars]

Yeah I'm hanging on to the thought of that warranty for my sanity. No moisturiser here, just a slightly older photo taken about 3 or 20 years ago or so ;-)

Interesting what you say about the removal of the old owner. I've asked the dealer to sort it, given that they must be the current owner, that should allow them to sort things with head office, they are both Nissan after all (OK so it's a franchise, but you know what I mean).

My head is now full of Economy 7 & Economy 10, I dont think it will work for me though as my girls are home a lot during the day and jeez can they burn electrons (it's a thing).

Octopus have a tariff with very cheap units for cars between 12.30 and 4.30, and the standard units are cheap too. Just set a timer in the leaf.

Even on a normal tariff it’s so cheap to run I don’t mind only being on a normal tariff.

Plus with your 6kw you can gets lots of free extra miles from the free supermarket chargers and John lewis

 

[Scorzon]

Really!! Free!! I did not know that. But where - darn it, if only there was some kind of all encompassing knowledge base available at one's fingertips to find out where they are..............

 

[Barfly]

The wife has taken to enjoying her "little run out" in the leaf as it's cheaper, translated that usually means a 80-90 mile round trip East West or South. East to the New Forest, North to Winchester, Salisbury or Shaftesbury, West to Corfe Castle, Swanage or Weymouth. So far in the year since I bought it her "little run outs" have clocked up over 10,00miles!

There are 6kw podpoint chargers free at most large Tesco's and I usually connect up at Tesco Portland Bill, Tesco Shaftesbury and no-where in the New forest! You have to love free juice! Just for a couple of hours while we walk about and have a spot of lunch, picnics now with the virus thing. ZapMap will show you the way to chargepoints, Sygic now have an EV mode which shows chargers, and I'm sure many other nav systems have them too. The inboard one will also show you, although it is very clunky.

 

[Scorzon]

Cheers Barfly, good info, I have looked at ZapMap before, I'll take another gander. Looks like you arent a million miles from me either, nice part of the world you live in there, I can see why you only need a little run about without too much range, why would you ever want to leave?

 

[Bullterrier]

Re install yourself.
Many do but ideally if you do then please make the decision aware of the facts that:

it’s a new circuit and therefore notifiable to building control

you need to understand the earthing/PEN/residual current requirements and meet them

it requires a DNO form (mostly to ensure you don’t pop their fuse or in some ‘looped’ cases ignore the need to do works at up to 3 neighbour properties

the previous point requires an assessment of the current house use of power too, using the diversity rules in the regs

you won’t get the grant if you DIY

 

[Scorzon]

Cheers BT, I always intended to get a qualified local tradesman in to do the grown-up 'sharp' stuff, even if I do the grunt work, running cables/conduit etc etc. The house is fairly new and has modern electrics, it was all checked and certified 3 years ago when we added new dedicated circuits for induction hob in the kitchen and so on, so I am fairly sure it is 100A and ship shape etc. I might even contact the guy who certified it to see what he can do for me.

That assumes that the OLEV installation companies are way too pricey for a turnkey solution (waiting on them to come back to me) or dont like what I want to do.

I am still slightly concerned that it is a 20m run from CU to the position I want my CP to be mounted and then a further 11m to the parking space (which would need a 15m cable to allow for slack etc.) To my mind that is quite a run in total from the CU to the car.

 

[Bullterrier]

Cheers BT, I always intended to get a qualified local tradesman in to do the grown-up 'sharp' stuff, even if I do the grunt work, running cables/conduit etc etc. The house is fairly new and has modern electrics, it was all checked and certified 3 years ago when we added new dedicated circuits for induction hob in the kitchen and so on, so I am fairly sure it is 100A and ship shape etc. I might even contact the guy who certified it to see what he can do for me.

That assumes that the OLEV installation companies are way too pricey for a turnkey solution (waiting on them to come back to me) or dont like what I want to do.

I am still slightly concerned that it is a 20m run from CU to the position I want my CP to be mounted and then a further 11m to the parking space (which would need a 15m cable to allow for slack etc.) To my mind that is quite a run in total from the CU to the car.

The other option is to add a small breaker box in the meter cupboard and run from there, leaving the house CU as it is.

 

[dk6780]

I hope that proves a good purchase for you - sounds excellent. The 6.6kW charger is a major benefit as you can charge from close to flat to close to 100% in four hours giving you access to the best value tarrifs, but to take advantage of it at home you'll have to change your calculations about the cable and charge point. If you do this I'd suggest that you run a dedicated 6mm^2 SWA all the way from the fuse box as frankly you are looking at quite a loss on your existing cabling even at 16 Amps. How does Mrs S feel about digging up the front garden or clipping SWA to the front of the house?

The other option is to add a small breaker box in the meter cupboard and run from there, leaving the house CU as it is.

Agreed. It also gives you the best options for the RCBO and RCD - issues with the charge point will only trip that and not the whole house / garage circuit.

 

[Bullterrier]

I hope that proves a good purchase for you - sounds excellent. The 6.6kW charger is a major benefit as you can charge from close to flat to close to 100% in four hours giving you access to the best value tarrifs, but to take advantage of it at home you'll have to change your calculations about the cable and charge point. If you do this I'd suggest that you run a dedicated 6mm^2 SWA all the way from the fuse box as frankly you are looking at quite a loss on your existing cabling even at 16 Amps. How does Mrs S feel about digging up the front garden or clipping SWA to the front of the house?



Agreed. It also gives you the best options for the RCBO and RCD - issues with the charge point will only trip that and not the whole house / garage circuit.

The sparks has to do the voltage drop calculations anyway as part of his plan so this will be covered. I favour the from the meter cupboard approach - not sure what this would do for the cable route?

 

[Scorzon]

Yes agree re the small breaker box.

To be honest if we have to go across front on house from meter cupboard with a big fat SWA, it can clip to the wall and is almost entirely hidden behind some big yellow bushy thing, I dunno its name, dont do plants. Then through the garage front to back.

Mrs Scorzon would be most distressed about the rear garden dig up though. I was hoping an extra meaty cable for the 20m run (17m if from meter cupboard) from CU to the CP mounted on back of garage would mitigate against the losses on the long tethered line from there to car? The nearest realistic place to mount the CP on a post in the garden is only 7m further on from the garage. The last few metres will still need to be a tethered line.

Ultimately and again, the 6.6 is just a happy bonus for me given my daily miles (reckon I'll need a 12kw top up each night). Even if I wasnt quite getting 6kw charging, if it was down to say 3kw then it'd still be done and dusted in 4 hours.

 

[Barfly]

Cheers Barfly, good info, I have looked at ZapMap before, I'll take another gander. Looks like you arent a million miles from me either, nice part of the world you live in there, I can see why you only need a little run about without too much range, why would you ever want to leave?

We are right on the border of Bournemouth and Poole, it is lovely here next to the university. You will know if you have got your long run install wrong; in the Winter there will be a long line of local cats sitting above the warm soil!
Cheers, Tony.

 

[dk6780]

I was hoping an extra meaty cable for the 20m run (17m if from meter cupboard) from CU to the CP mounted on back of garage would mitigate against the losses on the long tethered line from there to car? The nearest realistic place to mount the CP on a post in the garden is only 7m further on from the garage. The last few metres will still need to be a tethered line.

It will help, but not as much as reducing the current in the whole run by fitting a low powered charge point and running at 16A rather than 32A.

 

[Scorzon]

Tony that's why I dont want to bury it. If I go with a long tethered from back of garage wall, I can keep it mostly hanging on some wooden pegs/dowel driven into the cross bars of my fence every 1/2 metre or so. Keeps it supported off the ground, its not actually tagged to the fence so if it blows down the cable falls to the ground, aids air cooling and pisses off local cats, including my two. I can add a more substantial 'hanging point' next to my back gate, which is about 3 metres from the parking space and drape the final few meters over that when not in use. It's an idea anyway. I know it sounds heath robinson, but I think it will work in a practical sense

The distance from CU, through kitchen, into garage and out to parking space at bottom of garden is what it is really, no way round it. Whether I use a few extra metres of SWA to get the CP to the back gate or use a longer high quality tethered from garage wall, I cant see it being radically worse to the point that it will bother me.

 

[JohnMars]

........aids air cooling and pisses off local cats, including my two.

 

[Scorzon]

😃 Oh I love my cats, but I sure as hell don't trust them. Not around rodents and small birds. Or as we found out at the weekend, blow up paddling pools.................