Anyone have a daily driver Nissan Leaf?

Pkiernan

Anyone actually drive one daily?

Do you like it?

Happy you got it?

What real world range are you getting?

I will have a round trip of about 100 km per day when I get back to our wonderful over taxed country.

I believe that I will get free charging at work (and better parking too).

carchaeologist

I hope not!

For Forks Sake

No, don't think it's ever been mentioned by anyone on here before...







Sesshomaru to appear in 5,4,3,2,1......

Gran Hermano

Time for a white goods sub-forum, where you can compare your fuel consumption against your fridge and oven?

Pkiernan

Thanks for the constructive replies guys.

ShadowHearth

I was prety sure we had thread about it before.
Few fellas were test driving for reviews etc.

Let's play a waiting game. I would love to know too if there are any owners here. Interesting to hear from owners about it, not manufacturers

For Forks Sake

Pkiernan wrote: »

Thanks for the constructive replies guys.

Mine was constructive. My Sesshomaru summoning powers however, are not. He'll be along soon I'm sure.

Pkiernan

Pkiernan wrote: »

Thanks for the constructive replies guys.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=77120370

In case the man himself doesn't arrive for a while

Pkiernan

Gran Hermano wrote: »

Time for a white goods sub-forum, where you can compare your fuel consumption against your fridge and oven?

Your post is not actually as incredibly stupid and idiotic as it may first appear.

An E-Car sub forum would be nice. I would prefer to be able to drive to work for free.

Pkiernan

RoverJames wrote: »

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=77120370

In case the man himself doesn't arrive for a while

Thanks - I missed that thread.

CiniO

I would love to be the owner, and I actually would be one if I could afford it.

Gran Hermano

Pkiernan wrote: »

Thanks - I missed that thread.

If you read the thread you can see where ev owners compare their vehicle's electricity usage to how much it costs to run their oven.

Pkiernan

Pkiernan wrote: »

........
An E-Car sub forum would be nice. I would prefer to be able to drive to work for free.

I believe it isn't an option at the moment due to not enough interest/support but might well get the green light in the future, loads of us think it's a great idea

ironclaw

RoverJames wrote: »

I believe it isn't an option at the moment due to not enough interest/support but might well get the green light in the future, loads of us think it's a great idea

Its not a good idea because the entire structure we depend on for power cannot support it. If you view the power charts for Ireland, you can see people coming home at 5pm as there is a spike (Same during half time for big matches). Mainly due to kettles going on and ovens cooking. If everyone charged their cars, at the same time, as the infrastructure currently stands, it could crash. No if or but about it. They draw too much to current to charge in a reasonable amount of time. You average 1 phase supply to a residential home would probably be a fairly slow charge.

Personally, hybrids and hydrogen are the way forward.

Pkiernan

Wasn't looking for a debate on electricity availability to be honest.

unkel

Pkiernan wrote: »

An E-Car sub forum would be nice. I would prefer to be able to drive to work for free.

For free? A Nissan Leaf is €30k but we will give you a massive subsidy, so you'll only have to pay about €25k

€25k is about 20 times what I paid for my car. And my car is much nicer

BTW, Sesshoumaru won't be here for a while. His pigeon just landed on my roof with a note attached to its leg. It says: "please help - I am stuck just outside Athlone - only 9 miles from free fast charging point - no phone reception here - please help"

Pkiernan

Pkiernan wrote: »

...........
An E-Car sub forum would be nice. ...........

RoverJames wrote: »

I believe it isn't an option at the moment due to not enough interest/support but might well get the green light in the future, loads of us think it's a great idea

ironclaw wrote: »

Its not a good idea because the entire structure we depend on for power cannot support it.............

'tis a sub forum for electric cars I reckon is a good idea, not actual electric cars

Owen

hah, I love how my gathering card has become commonplace

Anan1

Owen wrote: »

hah, I love how my gathering card has become commonplace

I thought it was funny - the first time.:)

Nonoperational

Never saw it before, v funny!

Guy:Incognito

Gran Hermano wrote: »

Time for a white goods sub-forum, where you can compare your fuel consumption against your fridge and oven?

Is there not already a Toyota forum? Would have assumed there was.

Matt Simis

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Is there not already a Toyota forum? Would have assumed there was.

Nah the space was given to the Hotpoint guys..

650Ginge

A give it a rest guys on the electric car bashing the guy is looking for information so he can make an informed decision. Since I doubt very much any of you own or have driven an electric car, shut to FOOK UP, please.

David09

RoverJames wrote: »

.......... might well get the green light in the future

No pun intended, I'd imagine...

David09

unkel wrote: »

For free? A Nissan Leaf is €30k but we will give you a massive subsidy, so you'll only have to pay about €25k

€25k is about 20 times what I paid for my car. And my car is much nicer

Electric cars are too expensive to buy and inherently unreliable due to limited range.

If you want ultimate cost-saving in motoring, there are far, far better options.

For example, diesel corsas, fiestas, 106/saxo's that will all do at least 60mpg can be bought for sub 1000 euro.

Save your money and buy one of those would be my advice. 25 grand for a nissan leaf or whatever is utter stupidity.

BTW, Sesshoumaru won't be here for a while. His pigeon just landed on my roof with a note attached to its leg. It says: "please help - I am stuck just outside Athlone - only 9 miles from free fast charging point - no phone reception here - please help"

Excellent!!!!

darkmaster2

I'd buy one tomorrow if I could.

bazz26

Pkiernan wrote: »

Thanks for the constructive replies guys.

Well electric/hybrid cars are hardly a topic of rich conversation on the motors forum. I think there was one thread here before on the Leaf but not sure.

Pkiernan

David09 wrote: »

Electric cars are too expensive to buy and inherently unreliable due to limited range.

If you want ultimate cost-saving in motoring, there are far, far better options.

For example, diesel corsas, fiestas, 106/saxo's that will all do at least 60mpg can be bought for sub 1000 euro.

Save your money and buy one of those would be my advice. 25 grand for a nissan leaf or whatever is utter stupidity.




Excellent!!!!

"Expensive" is a subjective term.

I will have zero fuel costs, the equivalent for me of €5000 (pre-tax) savings per year. And that's at current petrol/diesel prices. When we hit €2 a litre (probably by the end of this year), that will go up to €7000 per year.


But I digress. I had asked for reviews from people who drive the Leaf.

I didn't ask for opinions from ill informed Jeremy Clarkson/Rush Limbaugh worshipers.

Pkiernan

Pkiernan wrote: »

............

I will have zero fuel costs, the equivalent for me of €5000 (pre-tax) savings per year. And that's at current petrol/diesel prices. When we hit €2 a litre (probably by the end of this year), that will go up to €7000 per year...........

Petrol is €1.64 ish/litre at the moment not €1.40ish/litre

Guy:Incognito

David09 wrote: »

Electric cars are too expensive to buy and inherently unreliable due to limited range.

If you want ultimate cost-saving in motoring, there are far, far better options.

For example, diesel corsas, fiestas, 106/saxo's that will all do at least 60mpg can be bought for sub 1000 euro.

Save your money and buy one of those would be my advice. 25 grand for a nissan leaf or whatever is utter stupidity.

Someone buying a brand new Leaf wont be choosing between it and a sub €1k Corsa though. They would most likely be buyign a new car of some description either way.

Bigcheeze

Here's a blog by an Irish guy who has owned one for a few months. It's pretty interesting and seems honest http://selfficiency.wordpress.com/

I thought it was funny he doesn't count the cost of all the coffees he buys on the M6 when stopping for a quick blast of electricity.

ironclaw

Pkiernan wrote: »

"Expensive" is a subjective term.

I will have zero fuel costs, the equivalent for me of €5000 (pre-tax) savings per year. And that's at current petrol/diesel prices. When we hit €2 a litre (probably by the end of this year), that will go up to €7000 per year.


But I digress. I had asked for reviews from people who drive the Leaf.

I didn't ask for opinions from ill informed Jeremy Clarkson/Rush Limbaugh worshipers.

If you spend €25k, and save say €6000 avg per year. Even if you had everything for free, it would take 4 to 5 years to pay it back. And it won't be free. New batteries cost a small fortune I'm told (Much more than your saving anyway) And they will not be free to charge forever. Its the next revenue stream for the likes of ESB etc so they will have to capitalize on it. Add to that tires and servicing, I don't see any great advantage over a decent diesel.

Its like the vegetable oil conversions, a mate did the math on it and it would be close to 10 years before the cost were recouped, by which the car would have been knackers regardless. He was planning on using an older diesel Golf if I recall. Yes the oil was cheaper than diesel (Still is) but the cost of the conversion didn't make economic sense. The same applied when he costed actually making biodiesel. The best result came from using a standard diesel car and biodiesel. However its very heavy on injectors / lines (To the extent were VW tell you not to use it) so that cost has to be factored as well.

I'm all for eco, but there are other options that are just as good.

Pkiernan

Why on earth would do you care how much I save?

Mind your own business please.

If you read my first posts, I will get free charging for as long as I work for my employer.

Pkiernan

ironclaw wrote: »

New batteries cost a small fortune I'm told (Much more than your saving anyway) ... Add to that tires and servicing, I don't see any great advantage over a decent diesel.

...

I'm all for eco, but there are other options that are just as good.

So, it would appear that according to you:

1. New diesel turbos, DMF's and DPFs are free.
2. The tyres on diesel cars last forever.
3. You don't have to service your diesel car.

That changes everything - where can I get one of these cars?

Pkiernan

RoverJames wrote: »

Petrol is €1.64 ish/litre at the moment not €1.40ish/litre

OMG - I have been away too long. It's causing outrage at $4 per gallon here.

ironclaw

Pkiernan wrote: »

So, it would appear that according to you:

1. New diesel turbos, DMF's and DPFs are free.
2. The tyres on diesel cars last forever.
3. You don't have to service your diesel car.

That changes everything - where can I get one of these cars?

They don't. Thats not what I'm saying. But if you took a diesel car, and an electric car.

Saying they both cost €10k brand new.

The diesel over 5 years might run up a bill of €13000 (€100 every two weeks). The electric car, as your said would be free to charge for that period.

Tires, service etc would be comparable, so theres no point comparing them.

However to change the batteries could cost €10,000+ (€600 or so per cell) And Nissan themselves put a lifetime of around 5 years on them (10 years for 'short trips'). Not to mention the major inconvenience if you wanted to go on a long journey, which charging would then cost you. Lastly, given the micro market for electric cars, your resale prospects would be very slim in my eyes.

I appreciate cost isn't your major concern, which is a personal outlook I respect, but you could actually lose money based on a comparable conventional model.

EDIT: If you don't mind me asking, why do you want electric? Is it the free recharging or the eco aspect? Genuine question, not trying to be sarcastic.

Lon Dubh

Hi OP, here are 2 recent threads on electric cars you might be interested in (one of the posters has a Leaf)

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056582106


http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056580765

Zurich insurance also have a special insurance for electric cars, with some electric car specific breakdown assist things that look good (I don't know if other companies have this, I just came across it when I was looking for quotes on car insurance http://www.zurichinsurance.ie/car-insurance/electric-car-insurance.htm ).

I'd love an electric car myself but cannot afford to buy a new car, so will have to wait a while until second hand ones are on the market.

Bigus

Secondhand leafs seem very cheap in the uk and vrt is feck all so check out these first.:p

Sesshoumaru

Pkiernan wrote: »

Anyone actually drive one daily?

Do you like it?

Happy you got it?

What real world range are you getting?

I will have a round trip of about 100 km per day when I get back to our wonderful over taxed country.

I believe that I will get free charging at work (and better parking too).

I joined the dark side on April 21st 2011. After 3 months / 7500km I posted some of my thoughts about the car:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=73691736&postcount=21

That's probably a good place to start A few weeks to go until I've had it one year. I am going to do a one year report at that stage. But basically we've now covered 22,500 kilometers. I have a wife and 2 young kids, no other car but the Nissan Leaf. I do however own 1 motorcycle and one large scooter. After the extra mileage I'm now more impressed with the car than I was when I did the above post.

Your commute is 50km each way and you can charge at your work place, range wouldn't be an issue even if you couldn't charge at your workplace. However being able to charge at your workplace means you can be a little more carefree with your energy usage. You could set a preheating timer on the car or just activate it from the website or smartphone app a little bit before you leave your office. You could use your employers electricity to heat or cool your car before leaving for home.

In winter, real world range depends on how far you're going, do you need the heating on all the time and did you save some energy by preheating. But I've never seen less than 100km even on colder days and using the heating all the time.

In milder weather conditions we might get anywhere from 120km to 150km depending on whether it's predominantly motorway driving or city driving. I think the best we got on one charge in mild weather (which also included a fair bit of motorway) was about 154km with a mixture of slower country roads and faster motorway driving. That was my wife a few days after we got the car and she wanted to go to kildare village outlet. She missed the exit and continued for another 30km before she realised she'd gone by it. When she got home the battery was displaying 0%. Not bad range though considering we were pretty much driving it like our old diesel car at that stage.

Lon Dubh

I saw a forum here for UK leaf owners that might be interesting

http://www.leaftalk.co.uk/

I noticed from an article there that Nissan are working on a wireless charger. I wonder if this might be a future option for people living in flat complexes, to avoid the problem with cables going across footpaths to get to charging points?

RandomAccess

Lon Dubh wrote: »

I saw a forum here for UK leaf owners that might be interesting

http://www.leaftalk.co.uk/

I noticed from an article there that Nissan are working on a wireless charger. I wonder if this might be a future option for people living in flat complexes, to avoid the problem with cables going across footpaths to get to charging points?

Cables running everywhere could result in bumper profits for "claims direct" alright.
I thought the cables would be high-vis but apparently not?

Sesshoumaru

This is map of where the public charging points are located. It also tells you what type they are.

http://maps.google.ie/maps?q=http:%2F%2Fwww.esb.ie%2Felectric-cars%2Fkml%2Fall.kml&hl=en&sll=53.401034,-8.307638&sspn=10.098809,19.753418&vpsrc=0&t=m&z=7

RandomAccess

Bigus wrote: »

Secondhand leafs seem very cheap in the uk and vrt is feck all so check out these first.:p

Of those listed used on autotrader.co.uk the price range is £20-24k which is about €24-29k using xe.com

Used prices in Ireland on carzone are from €25-29k
The NEW price on carzone would appear to be about €32k, not sure if this is the price before the grant/rebate is applied?

So those in the UK don't seem to be all that much cheaper to me? (You would get that extra charger cable though if you bought a UK car.)

RandomAccess

Sesshoumaru wrote: »

This is map of where the public charging points are located. It also tells you what type they are.

http://maps.google.ie/maps?q=http:%2F%2Fwww.esb.ie%2Felectric-cars%2Fkml%2Fall.kml&hl=en&sll=53.401034,-8.307638&sspn=10.098809,19.753418&vpsrc=0&t=m&z=7

Some questions.
The ability to remote pre-heat the car via your smartphone for example, does this require you to have a sim card in the car or something? Or is there a datalink via the charge cable?

The reason I ask is because I was wondering does the in-car GPS leverage any realtime updates in relation to the charging network.

Such as,

Whether newly commissioned chargers are added to the map

Whether chargers that are offline due to a fault are communicated to the cars GPS

Similarly, it would be useful to know if a charger was occupied or not if you were in an area with other chargers available

Bigus

RandomAccess wrote: »

Of those listed used on autotrader.co.uk the price range is £20-24k which is about €24-29k using xe.com

Used prices in Ireland on carzone are from €25-29k
The NEW price on carzone would appear to be about €32k, not sure if this is the price before the grant/rebate is applied?

So those in the UK don't seem to be all that much cheaper to me? (You would get that extra charger cable though if you bought a UK car.)

Sorry they were a whole lot cheaper in the uk a few months ago . Now there is only 9 for sale in the uk and prices seem to have firmed up.

Sesshoumaru

RandomAccess wrote: »

Some questions.
The ability to remote pre-heat the car via your smartphone for example, does this require you to have a sim card in the car or something? Or is there a datalink via the charge cable?

The reason I ask is because I was wondering does the in-car GPS leverage any realtime updates in relation to the charging network.

Such as,

Whether newly commissioned chargers are added to the map

Whether chargers that are offline due to a fault are communicated to the cars GPS

Similarly, it would be useful to know if a charger was occupied or not if you were in an area with other chargers available

The car has a sim card built-in for data connectivity. So yes to your first question in your list, it goes online and checks for new charging stations. No to your second question, however the ESB ecars app for Android / iPhone does tell you if a charger is online or not. ESB ecars tell me they update this as soon as a fault becomes visible to them. Third question is no again, it is feature myself and other EV owners are requesting though.

You can also pre-heat the car even if it's not plugged in. Of course you are using battery power if you do so. Pre-heating on plug will turn off automatically after 120 minutes if you haven't gotten to the car and started it. On battery power pre-heating turns of automatically after 15 minutes if you haven't gotten to the car.

RandomAccess

Sesshoumaru wrote: »

The car has a sim card built-in for data connectivity. So yes to your first question in your list, it goes online and checks for new charging stations. No to your second question, however the ESB ecars app for Android / iPhone does tell you if a charger is online or not. ESB ecars tell me they update this as soon as a fault becomes visible to them. Third question is no again, it is feature myself and other EV owners are requesting though.

You can also pre-heat the car even if it's not plugged in. Of course you are using battery power if you do so. Pre-heating on plug will turn off automatically after 120 minutes if you haven't gotten to the car and started it. On battery power pre-heating turns of automatically after 15 minutes if you haven't gotten to the car.

Last question!
Do you use a pay as you go sim in the car then or ?

Sesshoumaru

RandomAccess wrote: »

Last question!
Do you use a pay as you go sim in the car then or ?

It is supplied with the car, I don't even know where it is located Going through the menu in the car you can get information about it. There are no fees for using it.

RandomAccess

Sesshoumaru wrote: »

It is supplied with the car, I don't even know where it is located Going through the menu in the car you can get information about it. There are no fees for using it.

Cool. Potentially something to bear in mind for those importing UK cars.

Guy:Incognito

RandomAccess wrote: »

Cool. Potentially something to bear in mind for those importing UK cars.

Presumably it works similar to the free 3g on the Kindle so shouldnt be a problem.

September1

RandomAccess wrote: »

Some questions.
The ability to remote pre-heat the car via your smartphone for example, does this require you to have a sim card in the car or something? Or is there a datalink via the charge cable?

SIM card is build into the car and is not user accessible. So to turn on heating you need smartphone with data plan or any internet connected PC would do.

The reason I ask is because I was wondering does the in-car GPS leverage any realtime updates in relation to the charging network.

No, Nissan has no idea about making usable software. They have some idea about making cars.

Such as,

• Whether newly commissioned chargers are added to the map

• No, they do not list even half of chargers

• Whether chargers that are offline due to a fault are communicated to the cars GPS

• No, but they list non-existent chargers

• Similarly, it would be useful to know if a charger was occupied or not if you were in an area with other chargers available

• No, but it can read RSS feeds to you

ironclaw wrote: »

Tires, service etc would be comparable, so theres no point comparing them.

Oh yes they would be comparable. Actually EV is more expensive to run, as you have to change engine oil much more frequently, high torque would kill your DMF and clutch. Clutches in LEAF are well known weak point. Mine is stuck in first gear since I bought it. Last time I went to Connemara I think I lost also my exhaust as I cannot find it any more. On other hand EV have not DPF or EGR, but who cares because they are extremely cheap. You change one for max 50 E and that would be for some BMW probably, much less for regular cars. Not to mention winter problem, when electrical engines die if used when cold on short distances, unlike modern common rail diesels. Not to mention that if you pick up a dodgy bunch of electrons they will stuck in your filter.


However to be serious I must add that tyres for EVs actually are significantly more expensive, everything else is cheaper (power train) or same cost (breaks, suspension). The reason is simple, modern diesel cars are super advanced, while people were connecting batteries to electrical motors for well over 100 years.

However to change the batteries could cost €10,000+ (€600 or so per cell) And Nissan themselves put a lifetime of around 5 years on them (10 years for 'short trips'). Not to mention the major inconvenience if you wanted to go on a long journey, which charging would then cost you. Lastly, given the micro market for electric cars, your resale prospects would be very slim in my eyes.

They are not dead after this, they just have capacity of 80%. You can still use your car as second car in family or sell it to someone who would be happy with smaller range. In worst case you could charge them at night and power house at day. Unlike components of ICE, electrical components have much more versatile usage.

Indeed resale value is propably the biggest risk connected with EV, what if price of petrol drops ? ESB abandons charging network? Cars would be worth very little.

David09 wrote: »

Electric cars are too expensive to buy and inherently unreliable due to limited range.

I made just 10kkm but never have been stranded without power anywhere. It is a little known fact but there are some villages that have no petrol station but have power sockets.

For Forks Sake wrote: »

No, don't think it's ever been mentioned by anyone on here before...







Sesshomaru to appear in 5,4,3,2,1......

8 mana in third turn? Two explores ?!