Calling all Nissan LEAF Owners in Ireland...

You can get a Leaf from the U.K for about 12,500 euro's - transport costs, still far cheaper than buying in Ireland. Even considering you have to buy an evse, you can buy a 2nd hand off e-bay. And considering you got to buy a Mennekes level II cable.

You can wall mount the evse and install 30 amp re-enforced electrical cable if necessary and get your electrician to terminate the cable at both ends, should save a good few bob. The reason I say 30 amp is because if you decide to get 2 leafs( MK I ) or 1 MK 1.5 6kw optional charger, then you're future proof.

As long as the Leaf meets your daily needs in winter which can be as low as 60 miles then you're fine. The battery will also deteriorate in time.

Jonnykitedude

Beazee

Your travelling from Portlaoise to Dublin right?

I'm looking at purchasing a Leaf and my journey is 65km one way, I do have charge points next to me in work and a number of charge points on the route home but what kind of distance are you getting?
How much is it costing for charging per month?

Many thanks,
JKD

beazee

Jonnykitedude wrote: »

Your travelling from Portlaoise to Dublin right?

Not me. I'm based in Waterford.

I'm looking at purchasing a Leaf and my journey is 65km one way, I do have charge points next to me in work and a number of charge points on the route home but what kind of distance are you getting?

It does vary depending on conditions, roads, speed travelled but as Mad_Lad says above 100+ km is the bare minimum you should get.

How much is it costing for charging per month?

This depends on monthly mileage.
Battery is 24 kWh = 24*€0.0968 = €2.32 per full charge on nightsaver / €4.68 during day
Which at 100km range per charge minimum would give you 2c/5c per 1km.
At 160km range per charge = 1c/3c per 1km

The same for 60mpg (4L/100km) diesel calculates at 6c per 1 km.
34mpg petrol (7L/100km) = 12c per 1km

September1

beazee wrote: »

Battery is 24 kWh = 24*€0.0968 = €2.32 per full charge on nightsaver / €4.68 during day

Battery is never fully charged or discharged, typically it would be closer to 18-20kwh

It should cost just under 2 euro's for a full charge.

Even though the Leaf doesn't use all 24 kwh it's still recommended to us of the middle part of the battery , i.e 80 % full to 20-30% low.

The leaf has a charge to 80% function.

As much as people say this has little effect on the leaf, even though the leaf looks after the battery pretty well, it still uses a lithium battery and the less of it you use the better. This won't be an issue as batteries get much larger.

This should also be observed with any device with a lithium battery, mobile, Ipad etc. Never run the battery empty or store at high temps at a 100% charge, never leave the leaf at 100% for prolonged periods.

If you need the range then use it.

If the leaf battery has 800 cycles at 100% charge discharge, it could have 2000 cycles at 80% full to 30% empty and so on. This is until the battery reaches 70% capacity of which there will still be plenty of use for many people even with a 30% loss in capacity.

beazee

beazee wrote: »

It does vary depending on conditions, roads, speed travelled but as Mad_Lad says above 100+ km is the bare minimum you should get.

I said winter range "can" be as low as 60 miles, it could be lower, drive at 120 kph and in wind and rain it could be lower.

This is based on reports from owners on Leaftalk and mynissanleaf forum.

zesty

How did you get on thebannerroar. I'm thinking go buying a used leaf from the UK. Did you find any good sites that list the fast charging points?

NIMAN

Couple of things popped into my head now as I thought about maybe getting a Leaf early next year.

1) If you leave it plugged in, does it continually draw power, or does it automatically cut out when it reaches FULL?

2) If I buy a Leaf, drive it for maybe 3yrs, will I struggle to get it shifted? Its not like there is a big market for them. Could I get stung badly?

September1

NIMAN wrote: »

Couple of things popped into my head now as I thought about maybe getting a Leaf early next year.

1) If you leave it plugged in, does it continually draw power, or does it automatically cut out when it reaches FULL?

It stops taking power when it stops charging or heating.

2) If I buy a Leaf, drive it for maybe 3yrs, will I struggle to get it shifted? Its not like there is a big market for them. Could I get stung badly?

You should be OK, it seems that Golf Bluemotion that costed about 23k in 2010 is now worth 8-10k - traditionally this car is quite slow to depreciate so decent benchmark. You should get same good results from LEAF, if not better as cost of ownership is low.

NIMAN

NIMAN wrote: »

Couple of things popped into my head now as I thought about maybe getting a Leaf early next year.

1) If you leave it plugged in, does it continually draw power, or does it automatically cut out when it reaches FULL?

2) If I buy a Leaf, drive it for maybe 3yrs, will I struggle to get it shifted? Its not like there is a big market for them. Could I get stung badly?

It's not good to leave the car at 100% state of charge for more than just a few hours or less, even though it never really fully charges it will still be at a high enough state of charge to effect the battery. (This only becomes apparent if you intend to keep the car a very long time.)

Best if leaving it for more than a few days without use is to leave it at a 60% state of charge.

Charge only to 80% if you do (not) need all the range and don't run it down to less than 20-30% remaining charge.

In other words use the middle part of the battery as much as possible. You will greatly extent the life of the battery by doing these simple things as with anything with a lithium battery.

Of course, when you need a 100% full charge then use it.

As batteries in electric cars get bigger this won't need to be done nearly as much as most people won't drive more than 80-100 miles a day anyway, so a car with 150-200 mile range will rarely see a full charge.

As for resale value, a 2 year old leaf is going for around 20-21 k for a 2 year old leaf which is pretty good, but dealers can't sell them, but that more reflects the dealers idea of it's worth and will not negotiate on the price at all.

I have to say if I had the choice of a dsg diesel golf for 27K decent spec or a Much better speced Leaf with ultra cheap running costs and the joys of electric drive the I'd choose the Leaf any day.

It will be interesting to see will people buy the electric Golf in 2014.

I know I'd rather the 2.5K or more a year saving over even the prius and spend it on something I choose than to spend it on fuel and maintenance, and motor tax.

willynt

Hi all,

I'm thinking of getting a Nissan Leaf, and I have a question.
Does it drain power when not used?
Like:
- Can I drive to Dublin airport (~40km from home).
- Park it in the blue or red car park for 2 weeks (outside)
- Fly back (2 weeks later)
- And drive home (another 40km)
So, that's a 80km in total, with a 2weeks pause in between...
Any thoughts?

Thx!

September1

willynt wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm thinking of getting a Nissan Leaf, and I have a question.
Does it drain power when not used?
Like:
- Can I drive to Dublin airport (~40km from home).
- Park it in the blue or red car park for 2 weeks (outside)
- Fly back (2 weeks later)
- And drive home (another 40km)
So, that's a 80km in total, with a 2weeks pause in between...
Any thoughts?

Thx!

There is some discharge possible, those guys here mentions 6 miles in 8 days http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1075241_how-much-range-does-your-leaf-lose-if-you-unplug-it-for-8-days

Dublin and shannon airports have fast charger though.

willynt

September1 wrote: »

There is some discharge possible, those guys here mentions 6 miles in 8 days http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1075241_how-much-range-does-your-leaf-lose-if-you-unplug-it-for-8-days

Dublin and shannon airports have fast charger though.

Thx September1, that's really helpful!

willynt

September1 wrote: »

Dublin and shannon airports have fast charger though.

The ESB map doesn't show any FCP at Dublin airport. Only regular/public charging point, located in the short-term (read "expensive!") car park.
Can anyone confirm?

Thx a mil!

willynt

willynt wrote: »

The ESB map doesn't show any FCP at Dublin airport. Only regular/public charging point, located in the short-term (read "expensive!") car park.
Can anyone confirm?

Thx a mil!

I think there is a new Topaz there ? but there is one very close to the airport now.

The ESB are slow to update the map.

willynt

willynt wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm thinking of getting a Nissan Leaf, and I have a question.
Does it drain power when not used?
Like:
- Can I drive to Dublin airport (~40km from home).
- Park it in the blue or red car park for 2 weeks (outside)
- Fly back (2 weeks later)
- And drive home (another 40km)
So, that's a 80km in total, with a 2weeks pause in between...
Any thoughts?

Thx!

Just make sure you don't leave the car plugged in and sitting at 100% charge for more than an hour or less.

In other words, it's much better to fly out and find a fast charger when you come back than to leave the car plugged in for 2 weeks at 100% charge.

September1

willynt wrote: »

The ESB map doesn't show any FCP at Dublin airport. Only regular/public charging point, located in the short-term (read "expensive!") car park.
Can anyone confirm?

Thx a mil!

I got info from that:
http://www.dublinairport.com/gns/at-the-airport/latest-news/13-12-19/Topaz_Opens_New_Station_At_Dublin_Airport.aspx

but if it is not on ESB map, it would be nice if some of Dublin motorists could confirm that for us.

willynt

I noticed that QuickPark (near Dublin Airport) has 2 public CP.
Is that bad to leave the car plugged-in for 2 weeks at the CP?
I thought it would cut-off automatically when reaching 100%?

Now that I think about it, it's not very fair to abuse the public CP leaving the car sitting here for so long!

Topaz FCP looks like the best option after flying back...

September1

Yes, Nissan used to ship cars with 5 or less bars, so it may be good idea to leave car with 3-5 bars, just to preheat and reach closest FCP.

willynt

willynt wrote: »

I noticed that QuickPark (near Dublin Airport) has 2 public CP.
Is that bad to leave the car plugged-in for 2 weeks at the CP?
I thought it would cut-off automatically when reaching 100%?

Now that I think about it, it's not very fair to abuse the public CP leaving the car sitting here for so long!

Topaz FCP looks like the best option after flying back...

No it's not good for the battery to leave it at a high state of charge, particularly in warmer weather, but ideally never do this despite the Leaf not allowing the battery cells to charge all the way to 100% the battery will still be at a high state of charge.

Even if you set the battery to stop charging at 80% this is still too high to leave for 1 week or more.

So yes, absolutely, fast charging when you get back is the best thing to do.

Ideal storage for a lithium battery is roughly 60% charged.

The charge points are in the short term anyway so I doubt I'd pay to have my car at 100% charge when I get back.

kdouglas

Deleted User wrote: »

I think there is a new Topaz there ? but there is one very close to the airport now.

The ESB are slow to update the map.

There is a new Topaz at Dublin airport, but there is no EV charger there. ESB have confirmed there will be one installed "in the coming months" but nothing more precise than that yet.

There are slow chargers in Quick Park which you could use to park your car for a few days and set the timer to fully charge the night before you return.

Alternatively, there are also slow chargers in Terminal 2 Short Term car park.

Nearest FCP to Dublin Airport is Nissan in Airside, but they are only open business hours.
Next nearest is Lusk at GreatGas service station, then further up the M1 to Lusk and Castlebellingham services if you are heading North.
Heading back towards the City then you have an FCP in Glasnevin, Nissan Hutton and Meade (think that might be business hours only) and Nissan HQ in Park West (24 hours)

I'm heading away soon for a few days and plan to park at Quick Park. I'll plug the car in when I get there and set the charge timer to charge to 100% the night before I get back if I can. Not sure if I can set the timer so that it _doesn't_ charge at all for a couple of days though, must try it.

Of course, this introduces the problem that I am tying up a charge point for a few days while not there, I'll leave a note to on my dash to say when I will be back and that they can unplug me if necessary before then, however over time with more EVs on the road, this could become an issue that needs to be managed some how.

Kdouglas,

There have been known issues with leaving the car plugged in that it drains the 12v battery for some reason, maybe wise to plug in to a fast charger when you get back ?

Without 12v you can't fire up the car. I don't know if this is still an issue.

kdouglas

Deleted User wrote: »

Kdouglas,

There have been known issues with leaving the car plugged in that it drains the 12v battery for some reason, maybe wise to plug in to a fast charger when you get back ?

Without 12v you can't fire up the car. I don't know if this is still an issue.

Hmmm... I had heard that alright, but thought it was more long-term, i.e. weeks not days. Will need to look into it I think.


Edit: Just doing some Google'ing, found this;

It will take only about a week for the auxiliary battery to reach critically low charge level if your Leaf was left plugged into the wall.

If you own a LEAF SL, your car has a solar panel on the back hatch that will trickle charge the battery. If you leave your LEAF parked outside in a sunny spot during its storage, then that solar panel will keep the 12v battery healthy

Mine has the Solar panel on the spoiler, so that should help, will see what else I can find.

kdouglas

kdouglas wrote: »

Hmmm... I had heard that alright, but thought it was more long-term, i.e. weeks not days. Will need to look into it I think.


Edit: Just doing some Google'ing, found this;



Mine has the Solar panel on the spoiler, so that should help, will see what else I can find.

If you're outside then maybe, but it if it's a software problem then maybe not, unless the solar goes directly to the 12 v lead acid.

kdouglas

[Deleted User] wrote: »

unless the solar goes directly to the 12 v lead acid.

It does exactly that.

From reports I've read, the issue with 12v battery drain only happens after about a week or more so for the few days I'll be parked I'm not worried.

kdouglas

kdouglas wrote: »

It does exactly that.

From reports I've read, the issue with 12v battery drain only happens after about a week or more so for the few days I'll be parked I'm not worried.

That's grand so, I would leave the car at 60% or as close as if possible and start it charging the morning before you head for the airport to arrive back to Dublin. And if you can get back with an 80% charge or so even better, then set it to 80%.

Is it not far cheaper to park in one of the long term car parks and find a qc when you get back ?

But ideally lithium batteries shouldn't be stored at higher states of charge or too low even for just a few days.

kdouglas

[Deleted User] wrote: »

That's grand so, I would leave the car at 60% or as close as if possible and start it charging the morning before you head for the airport to arrive back to Dublin. And if you can get back with an 80% charge or so even better, then set it to 80%.

Is it not far cheaper to park in one of the long term car parks and find a qc when you get back ?

But ideally lithium batteries shouldn't be stored at higher states of charge or too low even for just a few days.

There is also a standard charger in quick Park long term.