Anyone running a leaf without home charging?

atilladehun

Ive no driveway but id love a leaf. Anyone managing with just the on street charging and.maybe work charging. How do you find it?

Evd-Burner

Not currently doing it but I intend to do so come January. Work have 4 7kwh chargers that are unused and only EV's are allowed park there. Plan on using them Monday to Friday and then topping up with the public network around Swords on the weekend.

Don't have the option to install a charger at home. Would also be interested to hear any feedback from anybody doing the same.

pwurple

Not us, but there is a guy at my husbands work who rents and has no home charger, and there are two more leafs on our street who park on the road and have no home charger. They had theirs about a year before us.

Cork is quite good for public infrastructure though with the drive4zero scheme.

Johnnyhpipe

We have one and don't think we'd survive without the home charger. The amount of times I've found some muppet in a petrol/diesel parked in the EV charging spots around town!!! You would probably be ok with a charger in work though which I don't have.

mordeith

Probably depends on where you live. We're in a rural village so most driving is in places where there are no or very few public charge points so a home charger is essential. I can see how you'd manage in an urban environment without one if you had good trip planning.

atilladehun

Thanks, I'm in Dublin, very close to the city. There's a charger under a km away and another three within 3km so I think that's fairly good. I'm on very good terms with my work so I don't think I'd have much issue getting a 3 phase plug or two around the back. Is that all i'd need? Why would a work place go for a fancy connector?

KCross

atilladehun wrote: »

Thanks, I'm in Dublin, very close to the city. There's a charger under a km away and another three within 3km so I think that's fairly good. I'm on very good terms with my work so I don't think I'd have much issue getting a 3 phase plug or two around the back. Is that all i'd need? Why would a work place go for a fancy connector?

What types of chargers are near you. Are they FCP's or SCP's chargers... i.e. fast or slow?

An SCP 3km's away isnt much use to you on a daily basis. You would have to plug it in and walk away for 4-8hrs.

If they are FCP's you need to factor in the possibility that they may not stay free. If they start charging for them and you are dependent on them you could have a very expensive car on your hands.

As already mentioned you will also have to deal with the fact that the chargers could be occupied when you need them.

If you have work charging you are on the pigs back. Thats the route you need to look at and preferably a proper 7kW/32A charger and not just a 3-pin 13A plug.

atilladehun

atilladehun wrote: »

Ive no driveway but id love a leaf. Anyone managing with just the on street charging and.maybe work charging. How do you find it?

I charged at fast chargers daily , Newlands Cross and in particular, Naas. Naas is a dreadful spot and Newlands can be busy also, even at 2am !

Thankfully I now have work charging and wouldn't like to go back to public charging daily, it wouldn't have been bad at all if the Nass charger was in a reasonable location and if so many people were not using the chargers when they could otherwise use their home charge points, and I know they were from chatting to them. They were there for free electricity.

I would get a demo leaf for 3 days if possible or ideally rent one off the garage for 2 weeks, believe me, it will be the best thing ever, if you can live with it for two weeks then I'd say maybe, if you couldn't for three days then that's better to find out then.

Whatever you do, buy the Leaf with 6.6 Kw charger or the perfect (or almost perfect) solution is to buy the Renault Zoe. This can charge to 80% in about 1 hr from empty, the Leaf will take 4 hrs to get to 100% or 5 hrs for the larger battery leaf, the 30 Kwh. The leaf with 3.3 Kw charger will take 7.5-8 Hrs for a 0-100% charge, though in reality it won;t be quiet as long because you'll still have some charge when you get home, maybe 20% or more.

If you can get the 30 Kwh then all the better because this will allow you charge faster from the fast chargers and it stores a bit more electricity meaning less trips to public chargers.

If you get the leaf then get the 6.6 Kw charger, don't let the garage talk you out of it, it will mean you can top up in 2 hrs by about 50-55% in the 24 Kwh at least but whether the 24 or 30 Kwh you'll still get the same range per hour at 6.6 Kw.

Don't be too bothered by the Renault battery lease, the Zoe is the perfect car for someone with no home charging and can charge from most newer fast chargers at the same time as a Leaf/I3 etc, the ZOe uses the AC side and all others use the DC side. It really is a very underestimated, underappreciated little EV.

If you don't have to charge daily then it might not be so bad of a charge to 80% or so can get you 2 - 3 days or maybe you could top up by 5-10 mins each day to save charging for longer the next.

n97 mini

Deleted User wrote: »

(or almost perfect) solution is to buy the Renault Zoe.

The fastest charger (22kw Type 2) will take far longer (1hr+) to charge a Zoe to 80% than a 45kw Chademo will take (20-25 mins) to charge a Leaf to 80%. This makes the Zoe far less attractive for any sort of long journey where one or more stops may be required. It's a deal breaker for me.

The upside is that there a lot more Type 2 chargers than Chademo.

No, Zoe will charge to 80% from empty in 1 hr. And with Zoe you still have 44 kw AC at the fast charger or should I say faster chargers.

This in my opinion is the perfect solution for someone with no home charging because they can leave the car at a standard charge point go about their business and have more than 80% In the car in an hour rather than have to find a fast charger.

Sure the leaf 6.6 kw charger is very useful too but if I had to use only public charging I'd be rethinking having the Zoe though I'm not a major fan of Renault interiors.

n97 mini

Deleted User wrote: »

No, Zoe will charge to 80% from empty in 1 hr.]

We're in agreement about that. Best case 1 hour or so for a Zoe, 25 mins or so for a Leaf.

We live about 2 miles from a Chademo and don't charge at home (no charge point installed yet). Charging off the Chademo has been grand as it's usually a 15-20 minute top up. If it was 45 or more minutes a few times a week it would be a lot more inconvenient.

n97 mini

n97 mini wrote: »

We're in agreement about that. Best case 1 hour or so for a Zoe, 25 mins or so for a Leaf.

We live about 2 miles from a Chademo and don't charge at home (no charge point installed yet). Charging off the Chademo has been grand as it's usually a 15-20 minute top up. If it was 45 or more minutes a few times a week it would be a lot more inconvenient.

Let's be clear on this.

Zoe will charge from a standard charge point in 1 hr to 80% from 0. @ 22 Kw.

It will charge in 30 mins to 80% on a fast charger, @ 44 Kw

So the advantage of Zoe for someone with no home charging is huge.

n97 mini

My apologies, didn't realise the Zoe could charge faster than 22kw.

n97 mini

n97 mini wrote: »

My apologies, didn't realise the Zoe could charge faster than 22kw.

Oh no worries, I now know what you meant....... :rolleyes:

The newer Zoe motor/electrics ( R 240 ) omits the 44 Kw charger for 22 Kw only. Sadly.

But the 44 Kw charger and older motor/electrics ( Q210 ) can still be ordered. It would be foolish for Zoe to omit fast charging, giving people no choice.

Renault omitted the 44 Kw charger in favour of a negligible amount of efficiency gain. Very stupid if you ask me.

n97 mini

Deleted User wrote: »

Renault omitted the 44 Kw charger in favour of a negligible amount of efficiency gain. Very stupid if you ask me.

So I was unwittingly sort of half right!

But yes, no fast charging is a big minus. My other worry is that the electrics in Renault cars have been woeful in the past, and they the made an electric car!

n97 mini

n97 mini wrote: »

So I was unwittingly sort of half right!

But yes, no fast charging is a big minus. My other worry is that the electrics in Renault cars have been woeful in the past, and they the made an electric car!

I'm not that up on the reliability of Zoe but I think it's pretty sound.