Another new Leaf owner

goz83

lawred2 wrote: »

It looks adequately aerodynamic to me

Have you driven one? That extra head room comes at a cost you know.

lawred2

goz83 wrote: »

Have you driven one? That extra head room comes at a cost you know.

Sure but it still has to be a functional car not a science experiment

goz83

lawred2 wrote: »

Sure but it still has to be a functional car not a science experiment

Which is why I own 2 of them. Still not very aerodynamic though compared to even my previous ICE cars.

Leroy42

I am seriously thinking about the leaf (or a EV at all) but I am not the main driver in the house as I don't use the car for work.

My wife would use the car for everything. Ferrying the kids around, shopping etc. We would occasionally (3/4 times a year) drive to Letterkenny from Dublin.

My wife is pretty set against the idea. She says that the infrastructure simply isn't there yet and that whilst there might be charge points, what if you get to one and its being used? And then the charging taken an hour.

We wouldn't do a huge amount of driving in the year, around 12,000km.

stesaurus

Leroy42 wrote: »

I am seriously thinking about the leaf (or a EV at all) but I am not the main driver in the house as I don't use the car for work.

My wife would use the car for everything. Ferrying the kids around, shopping etc. We would occasionally (3/4 times a year) drive to Letterkenny from Dublin.

My wife is pretty set against the idea. She says that the infrastructure simply isn't there yet and that whilst there might be charge points, what if you get to one and its being used? And then the charging taken an hour.

We wouldn't do a huge amount of driving in the year, around 12,000km.

I wouldn't be pushing it if she's so against it. 3-4 times a year driving to Donegal and every stop or delay would be met with such a huge I told you so.

Also your mileage is low enough that the fuel saving wouldn't be much of an impact.

DrPhilG

Leroy42 wrote: »

We would occasionally (3/4 times a year) drive to Letterkenny from Dublin.

A lot depends on your objectives. Would this be your only car? To be honest if kids are involved and your wife is resistant I would be wary of changing now.

I have a 24kwh Leaf and live in Donegal. Dublin runs are a pain without a doubt. We would make the trip 2 or 3 times a year and it does add to your journey a fair bit which with the aforementioned family might be too much hassle.

I would stop in Omagh (briefly), Monaghan and then Applegreen in the M1. Those 3 stops add a bit over an hour.

What is your budget? If you had the 30kwh Leaf you could make the trip in 2 stops instead of 3 and both Monaghan and Applegreen have decent shops etc to sooth the wife and kids.

The Ioniq is also an option but the North West is a bad spot for CCS charger coverage so that might impact your trips to God's country.

The new Leaf will be announced in September too which would be a lot easier for you too.

DrPhilG

Agree with @stesaurus too. At 12k km a year your savings wouldn't be huge, although it depends on whether your motivation is financial or environmental.

I do about 25k km a year and I save about €2200 a year compared to my old diesel.

Orebro

stesaurus wrote: »

I wouldn't be pushing it if she's so against it. 3-4 times a year driving to Donegal and every stop or delay would be met with such a huge I told you so.

Also your mileage is low enough that the fuel saving wouldn't be much of an impact.

Depends on the mpg of the current car too. In my case I'm only doing about 12k a year also, but was getting less than 25mpg out of my gas guzzler in 80% city driving so it made perfect sense for me to make the jump.

Leroy42

Cheers for the fast replies. In terms of savings, yeah the numbers don't really make much difference at the moment. What we save on petrol we pay for in upfront costs (as in we own our car and would need cash/loan to upgrade) so my thinking is to leave it for another couple of years and wait for the next round.

Maybe the new Sept version might help. It is clearly only going one way so its only a matter of time

Water John

That's true Leroy. Every one will convert, once they are open to the option, when it suits their driving profile.

Soarer

Leroy42 wrote: »

Cheers for the fast replies. In terms of savings, yeah the numbers don't really make much difference at the moment. What we save on petrol we pay for in upfront costs (as in we own our car and would need cash/loan to upgrade) so my thinking is to leave it for another couple of years and wait for the next round.

Maybe the new Sept version might help. It is clearly only going one way so its only a matter of time

But it's not just fuel savings.

There's lower tax, lower insurance, lower maintenance, AND lower fuel costs.

Leroy42

Soarer wrote: »

But it's not just fuel savings.

There's lower tax, lower insurance, lower maintenance, AND lower fuel costs.

Well I drive a Note at the moment so motor tax is around 300, so not much savings there.

In terms of insurance, is there a cost saving? I wasn't aware of that? What is the reasoning behind the savings?

And maintenance. No idea. What would the annual maintenance on a leaf be?

Soarer

Leroy42 wrote: »

Well I drive a Note at the moment so motor tax is around 300, so not much savings there.

€180 per year isn't much? Fair enough. It'll pay for a lot of electricity.

Leroy42 wrote: »

In terms of insurance, is there a cost saving? I wasn't aware of that? What is the reasoning behind the savings?

Ev drivers are all well-educated hippies that glide everywhere with zero chance of incident!

Haven't a clue tbh. Obviously something to do with the demographic of the driver.
I had a 01 1.7td Astra before my Leaf. My insurance went from €560 TPFT with a value of €900, to €295 fully comprehensive with a value of €9000.

Leroy42 wrote: »

And maintenance. No idea. What would the annual maintenance on a leaf be?

If you're outside the warranty period, there's no annual maintenance really.
If you're inside the warranty period, I think it's €150 per year to get the stamp in the book to maintain warranty.
for that, the main dealer will check the brake fluid level, maybe replace the pollen filter, and rotate the tyres if needed.
No timing belt.
No clutch.
No oil filter.
No fuel filter.
No DPF.
Brakes last forever due to regen.
There are obviously shocks and driveshafts, but they're across all vehicles.

goz83

As has been mentioned, it's more than fuel savings. It's just a nicer drive all round. With the exception of the Letterkenny trips, you would probably never need to use the public infrastructure and could do your charging at home. The motor tax saving would more than pay your annual electricity cost for the Leaf.

At first, my wife baulked at the idea, but she wasn't that resistant and quickly understood that it made total sense....even though our mileage was small and quite similar to yours.

I find that people often under estimate their mileage too. Check the NCT certs to verify your mileage. You might find the car is used a lot more than you think.

nhur

151 tekna with 6.6kW... after many chats with oinkely about getting one from the UK I went with one from ElectricAutos in Naas - great crowd, incidentally

isnottheword

nhur wrote: »

151 tekna with 6.6kW... after many chats with oinkely about getting one from the UK I went with one from ElectricAutos in Naas - great crowd, incidentally

Mileage/price?

unkel

Orebro wrote: »

Depends on the mpg of the current car too. In my case I'm only doing about 12k a year also, but was getting less than 25mpg out of my gas guzzler in 80% city driving so it made perfect sense for me to make the jump.

And the motor tax. My previous car was €1700 to tax, an EV just €120. I do a low mileage too, but still I spent €2500 on petrol. Now less than €100

Leroy42

unkel wrote: »

And the motor tax. My previous car was €1700 to tax, an EV just €120. I do a low mileage too, but still I spent €2500 on petrol. Now less than €100

How would the performance of the Leaf compare to the previous car?

Changing for a old, large, gas drinking model to any modern car would have resulted in significant savings.

For example, my Note is 1.4, tax of €199 and petrol costs of about €1500.

So obviously the petrol savings are substantial, but you have to weight that against convenience. You also need to get a charging point in your house.

But on top of that isn't there a price premium on e-cars at the moment? New Golf is from 20,895, whilst the e-golf costs 35,665. I bet there is spec differences but lets add even 10k onto the standard gold and you still have 5k price difference. Thats 3.3 years up front of fuel costs.

Soarer

Don't mind the e-golf! You'd want to be locked up if you buy a new one of them! You can get a new Leaf for around €18k with scrappage and without haggling! That's literally half the price of the Golf.

Chargepoint can be sourced and fitted for around €500.

Don't know what you mean by "weigh it up against convenience"? I'm assuming you're looking at it like every other ICE driver, and thinking about public chargepoints, range anxiety, etc.? Whereas, what you should be doing is looking at the convenience of not having to drive to a petrol station, filling your car with a smelly highly combustible fluid, and handing over cash for the privilege. Instead just plug it in when you get home.

As for performance, that's completely subjective. 100% torque from 0km/h is a great feeling. No gear changes or anything. Just a constant pull until you reach the speed limit. Great point and squirtability.

Best thing you can do it take a test drive. I'd be surprised if you decided to keep the Note afterwards.

Leroy42

Soarer wrote: »

Don't mind the e-golf! You'd want to be locked up if you buy a new one of them! You can get a new Leaf for around €18k with scrappage and without haggling! That's literally half the price of the Golf.

Chargepoint can be sourced and fitted for around €500.

Don't know what you mean by "weigh it up against convenience"? I'm assuming you're looking at it like every other ICE driver, and thinking about public chargepoints, range anxiety, etc.? Whereas, what you should be doing is looking at the convenience of not having to drive to a petrol station, filling your car with a smelly highly combustible fluid, and handing over cash for the privilege. Instead just plug it in when you get home.

As for performance, that's completely subjective. 100% torque from 0km/h is a great feeling. No gear changes or anything. Just a constant pull until you reach the speed limit. Great point and squirtability.

Best thing you can do it take a test drive. I'd be surprised if you decided to keep the Note afterwards.

I am going to do just that. Will book one this weekend.

I am not having a go btw, just asking the questions that I have had and I know others ask me when I talk about it.

I do think that the range anxiety is something that is holding them back ( whether it be actual or perceived) and I don't think enough is being done by the government to counteract the thinking.

Long drives are different, but certainly for city driving then I see no reason no to opt for e-cars. How much mileage does and average driver do in a day anyway. Maybe 100k. (I am removing longer drives as this is not the norm for most people).

Any of the current crop will easily do 100k a day, that right isn't it?

Soarer

Leroy42 wrote: »

I am going to do just that. Will book one this weekend.

I am not having a go btw, just asking the questions that I have had and I know others ask me when I talk about it.

I do think that the range anxiety is something that is holding them back ( whether it be actual or perceived) and I don't think enough is being done by the government to counteract the thinking.

Long drives are different, but certainly for city driving then I see no reason no to opt for e-cars. How much mileage does and average driver do in a day anyway. Maybe 100k. (I am removing longer drives as this is not the norm for most people).

Any of the current crop will easily do 100k a day, that right isn't it?

Ah I know you're not having a go. It's just as a recent convert, I can't understand why everyone isn't doing it! Mine is a 2011 Leaf with a 75% battery, and it's suits my needs for 95% of the time. Probably get 100kms from a full charge, although I never really measure. Still don't have a chargepoint in work, so it's all home charging.
Last week I had to go to Dublin for a few days. I took the wife's Prius, she took the Leaf. This week, the kid is at summer camp. 35kms round trip at motorway speeds. 2 trips, drop and collect. First day, things were tight. 120km/h both ways. Nothing showing on the GoM when I got him home.
Second day, reduced my speed to about 100km/h on the drop trip. Dropped it to about 95km/h and sat behind a truck both directions on the collection trip. Still had over 40kms showing on the GoM when I dropped him home. And that's with a 24kWh Leaf with 75% capacity.

So you cut your cloth to measure. The benefits far outweigh the negatives.

As for the 100kms daily, again depends on the driving.
If you're all motorway during winter, I'd say the current 24kWh Leaf might struggle. You'd want to be looking at the 30kWh Leaf or the Ioniq.
If it's "normal" driving, they should all make it no bother.

lawred2

Soarer wrote: »

Ah I know you're not having a go. It's just as a recent convert, I can't understand why everyone isn't doing it! Mine is a 2011 Leaf with a 75% battery, and it's suits my needs for 95% of the time. Probably get 100kms from a full charge, although I never really measure. Still don't have a chargepoint in work, so it's all home charging.
Last week I had to go to Dublin for a few days. I took the wife's Prius, she took the Leaf. This week, the kid is at summer camp. 35kms round trip at motorway speeds. 2 trips, drop and collect. First day, things were tight. 120km/h both ways. Nothing showing on the GoM when I got him home.
Second day, reduced my speed to about 100km/h on the drop trip. Dropped it to about 95km/h and sat behind a truck both directions on the collection trip. Still had over 40kms showing on the GoM when I dropped him home. And that's with a 24kWh Leaf with 75% capacity.

So you cut your cloth to measure. The benefits far outweigh the negatives.

As for the 100kms daily, again depends on the driving.
If you're all motorway during winter, I'd say the current 24kWh Leaf might struggle. You'd want to be looking at the 30kWh Leaf or the Ioniq.
If it's "normal" driving, they should all make it no bother.

I'm impressed by the range of a 2011 leaf with 75% battery.. Maybe that might suit me rather than looking to spend big on later generations.

Or is it that a 75% battery could simply fall off a cliff at any notice?

e: Still 10k here for a 2012 is crazy

Soarer

lawred2 wrote: »

I'm impressed by the range of a 2011 leaf with 75% battery.. Maybe that might suit me rather than looking to spend big on later generations.

Or is it that a 75% battery could simply fall off a cliff at any notice?

e: Still 10k here for a 2012 is crazy

I'm not a fast driver, and feather her as much as possible. Probably from my pulse-and-glide days of the Prius.

I'm hoping the battery won't just drop off a cliff. There's 150k kms on her at the minute, so I'm hoping she has a bit more legs yet. That said, for €5,500, Nissan will swap out the battery for a current generation 24kWh battery.

I'd not be paying €10k if I were you. If, like me, you're unsure as to if it'll work, buy as cheap as possible. That's what I did. Paid €6k for my Leaf back in April. Love it to bits. So if the new Leaf II is any good, I'm gonna get a new one in January.

I'd also have no qualms about buying a Leaf privately (it's what I did). There's very little to go wrong, certainly nothing mechanical. So as long as the drives/shocks are ok, and there's no accident damage, it should be right as rain.

lawred2

Soarer wrote: »

I'm not a fast driver, and feather her as much as possible. Probably from my pulse-and-glide days of the Prius.

I'm hoping the battery won't just drop off a cliff. There's 150k kms on her at the minute, so I'm hoping she has a bit more legs yet. That said, for €5,500, Nissan will swap out the battery for a current generation 24kWh battery.

I'd not be paying €10k if I were you. If, like me, you're unsure as to if it'll work, buy as cheap as possible. That's what I did. Paid €6k for my Leaf back in April. Love it to bits. So if the new Leaf II is any good, I'm gonna get a new one in January.

I'd also have no qualms about buying a Leaf privately (it's what I did). There's very little to go wrong, certainly nothing mechanical. So as long as the drives/shocks are ok, and there's no accident damage, it should be right as rain.

Can used batteries be sourced?

Soarer

lawred2 wrote: »

Can used batteries be sourced?

Not that I know of.

I think there's a crowd in the UK that replace cells and can give back 95%+ of the original battery for £1500 or something.

lawred2

Soarer wrote: »

Not that I know of.

I think there's a crowd in the UK that replace cells and can give back 95%+ of the original battery for £1500 or something.

if that was for real that would be a much more palatable option

Orebro

I think this crowd do the cell replacement in the UK: www.indra.co.uk - guarantee minimum 90%+ battery health after the £1500 job I think. Try doing that with an ICE after doing a couple of hundred thousand Kms!

The guy is called Mike Schooling and is a regular on the EVSpeak.co.uk Leaf forum - really seems to know his stuff.

nhur

isnottheword wrote: »

Mileage/price?

about 40k kilometerage... and 13k euros - got a granny cable too

BoatMad

I'm hoping the battery won't just drop off a cliff. There's 150k kms on her at the minute, so I'm hoping she has a bit more legs yet. That said, for €5,500, Nissan will swap out the battery for a current generation 24kWh battery.

there are people with 2011 leafs and 220,000km and still driving around on 10 bars

nhur

kceire wrote: »

I have a Nissan Connect log in but that wont accept my VIN ?

how did you resolve this? i'm having the same issue... i'm waiting for their helpdesk to get back to me

Gumbo

nhur wrote: »

how did you resolve this? i'm having the same issue... i'm waiting for their helpdesk to get back to me

Nissan removed the previous owner from the vin and that meant I could then log in.

nhur

kceire wrote: »

Nissan removed the previous owner from the vin and that meant I could then log in.

ah - so ... slightly crossed wires with Nissan... Nissan Connect is not enabled on the leaf... only Carwings... which i already have set up...

so does that mean that there's an app i can use to see info about the car?

Soarer

The app isn't great. Basic enough.

The Connect site is pretty good.

Nissan Connect

nhur

Soarer wrote: »

The app isn't great. Basic enough.

The Connect site is pretty good.

Nissan Connect

can't seem to connect... do i have to add permission via the head unit in the car? (i thought the car was already connected ... can download station locations etc already)

Gumbo

I thought I copied and pasted the details in this thread before, I may not have so cant confirm.
Nissan Connect is Carwings, or at least the newer version of it.

Nissan removed the previous owner, then there's a process that you go though to register, and then link that registration to your car by logging in on the car screen.

mel.b

i had to ring nissan to get set up with the app as it wouldn't recognise the vin. They were very helpful and sorted it all out iver the phone.

Gumbo

Email these guys.

evuk@nissan-services.eu

You will have to provide proof of ID and proof of ownership (my VRT Cert was sufficient) and they will reset the system.

nhur

OK.. Got set up afaik... Emailed using the address in this thread, then registered online, then activated in the car... Using the following guide I was emailed from Nissan

Can’t tell where you tried to register but the registration has to be through the Irish website using the below link:

http://cq5.prod.nissan.eu/IE/en/YouPlus.html

Click on register now and then enter the VIN number and proceed with filling up the required information’s.

You will now be taken to the CARWINGS OVERVIEW, please click on YES! SUBCRIBE TO CARWINGS.

Please accept the terms and conditions at the very bottom>VALIDATE.

You will now be asked to fill in MY CARWINGS SERVICES details, write a vehicle display name and add another email, fill in a question and answer > click CONFIRM.

All your Carwings details will be on the screen, accept the terms and condition>
Click VALIDATE.

CONGRATULATIONS! Your Carwings account is created, after about 30 minutes you may enter the logins into the vehicle.

Please follow the steps below to complete your on board activation:

Once you are in the vehicle:

Push Zero Emission button.
Touch CARWINGS.
Touch CARWINGS settings.
Touch security settings.
Touch User ID. ( this is not your email address but your login name)
Enter User ID and touch OK.
Touch Password.
Enter password and touch OK.
Touch Activate Security Settings.
Confirm and touch Yes.

Note: User ID and Password are case sensitive.

The Carwings/Nissan Connect EV app and web portal may take up to an hour for the services to activate after the activation in the vehicle.

Please also note the little car icon on the top right corner on the Carwings screen, this icon should be visible when you are on Carwings setting or security setting screen. The car should be white with signals coming down into it, if it’s grey then you are an area with no signal, if its grey with a line through it then the dealer needs to switch on or reset the modem called the DCM/TCU.

Gumbo

Excellent, once you can see what's happening through the app then your all set up

nhur

Except the stoopid app still won't work for... Nor will leaf manager... Very frustrating

NIMAN

Is there a charge for the vrt appt?

I see the documentation mentioned a fee if you don't show up, but no mention of an initial fee?

isnottheword

NIMAN wrote: »

Is there a charge for the vrt appt?

I see the documentation mentioned a fee if you don't show up, but no mention of an initial fee?

No fee.

Gumbo

NIMAN wrote: »

Is there a charge for the vrt appt?

I see the documentation mentioned a fee if you don't show up, but no mention of an initial fee?

No charge.
If you don't turn up though, they may charge an admin fee but I'm not 100%.

Don't book the appointment until you have the car just in case.

NIMAN

Booked now and just waiting.

Tried to get a charger installed at my parents address since it was a UK car and while I had the V5C with a UK address in it, but a non starter. Guy said they need a copy of the V5C with my name and address on it, and this wasn't possible.

Pity.

Another question about the Leaf. I notice my sat nav is showing my house as a charging point in the map. Do only I see this or is my house now visible to all leaf owners as they are near?

KCross

NIMAN wrote: »

Another question about the Leaf. I notice my sat nav is showing my house as a charging point in the map. Do only I see this or is my house now visible to all leaf owners as they are near?

Just your car. It remembers every place it charged. I think that's a preference in the menu somewhere.

unkel

That's a handy feature!

cros13

unkel wrote: »

That's a handy feature!

It is.... the i3 does it too... but not for rapid chargers for some weird reason.

unkel

Could be the same reason why the Irish rapids don't show up in the Ioniq satnav either?

DrPhilG

My car added my home charger, my dad's house where I granny charged a few times and the multi story car park at work where I found a sneaky plug once.

But for my house it added a little house icon on the map too.

Nedved85

Heading over to the UK today to pick up my 30kwh 2016 Leaf. Revolut in hand. Ecotricity app ready to go. Buying from a main Nissan dealership. The big thing to do is make sure I bring the V5C form back with me?

Insurance sorted. Uk tax will be sorted. Ferry from Holly head booked