Pro's and con's of Leaf

BoatMad

unkel wrote: »

Night meter install is free but the daily standing charge is higher. This means the first 3 or 4 kWh you use every day are effectively charged at the higher day rate. Note: Last time I checked this was a few years ago.

Unless you start using these units for household appliances etc., this increases the charge from 10-100% on the 24kWh Leaf from €2 to about €2.30 - €2.40

the average increase is 5 euros a month or 16 cents aday , i.e. less the the equivalent one day unit of cost moving a washing machine or dishwasher into night rate is enough to compensate for that

unkel

BoatMad wrote: »

the average increase is 5 euros a month or 16 cents aday , i.e. less the the equivalent one day unit of cost moving a washing machine or dishwasher into night rate is enough to compensate for that

two

Didn't realise it's only a fiver a month. Was a lot more when I last looked.

Edit - had a very quick look on bonkers.ie and you're right about the difference in standing charge. Typical standing charge per year with night meter about €200 and without about €145

My day rate went down from 19c to 17C with Board Gais on level pay. Night rate 8.4 C/Kwh

The extra rental on the night meter was paid back in less than a month at my mileage compared to petrol or diesel.

The cost of electricity didn't fall to match the oil prices and the regulator never stepped in, but rest assured, now that oil is increasing in price again the cost of energy will rise quickly.

NIMAN

To be honest, I wouldn't be mad about running washing machines, dryers and dishwashers during the night.

First, too noisy.
Second, wouldn't feel comfortable running a major appliance when family are in bed.

I set the washing machine to come on at about 6 am so that we're up when it finishes.

I wouldn't worry too much about leaving a washing machine on at night or dishwasher, that's what the timers are for.

unkel

Deleted User wrote: »

My day rate went down from 19c to 17C

Don't want to go too far off topic, but that still seems high? I've paid between 14c and 16c the last 3 years or so. Should be at the lower end now with oil still being very cheap (how ironic!) Just looked it up: Energia do 13.98c at the moment (and 7.41c night). If you use 20kWh per night for the car, that's over 7MWh per year :eek: Even a cent off per kWh would mean a free dinner for you and the missus if you switched

kala85

How much does it cost to charge a 30kwh leaf and how much mileage would you get from a full charge.

Sorry for this basic question.

unkel

To charge from say 2kWh (pretty empty) to full would use 28kWh plus say 15% losses, so at 7.41c / kWh it would be a bit under €2.50 (at night rates if you have a night meter) At day rates a bit under €5. At public chargers free (for now)

Mileage depends completely on use. At top speed on the motorway you might get 30km, At a constant 80km/h you might get 200km. In practice I would hope for 140-150km but I wouldn't depend my life on it

Use of aircon / heating / lights / cd-player etc. would impact on range

KCross

unkel wrote: »

Don't want to go too far off topic, but that still seems high? I've paid between 14c and 16c the last 3 years or so. Should be at the lower end now with oil still being very cheap (how ironic!) Just looked it up: Energia do 13.98c at the moment (and 7.41c night). If you use 20kWh per night for the car, that's over 7MWh per year :eek: Even a cent off per kWh would mean a free dinner for you and the missus if you switched

Where do you see that on the energia website? The cheapest I see for them is 17.62/8.44 for the day/night meter with online billing,new customer discounts etc

unkel

On bonkers.ie - I was presuming their rates would keep up to date with any changes in any of the rates from the providers:

Energia
SAVEME260 Electricity

Energia_26_percent_electricity
Electricity Charges
26% discount
13.98 cent per kWh
€158.05 annual standing charge

Just had a look at the Energia website and it is terrible. No easy way to see rates there at all, or am I missing something?

kala85

unkel wrote: »

To charge from say 2kWh (pretty empty) to full would use 28kWh plus say 15% losses, so at 7.41c / kWh it would be a bit under €2.50 (at night rates if you have a night meter) At day rates a bit under €5. At public chargers free (for now)

Mileage depends completely on use. At top speed on the motorway you might get 30km, At a constant 80km/h you might get 200km. In practice I would hope for 140-150km but I wouldn't depend my life on it

Use of aircon / heating / lights / cd-player etc. would impact on range

Ok so say I was traveling 100 km per hour on non motorway roads how much would the range last for.

I'm trying to work out what my weekly cost for 700 km would be in electric car and in a diesel car.
700 km @ 5.5 litres per 100km fuel economy @ 1.15 cent per litre is 44.27euro.

What's the price in electric.700/150km =4.6 charges @ 2.50 per 30 kwh charge is 11.66 in total for the week.

Are these calculations correct??

Also is traveling at 120 km on a motorway completely unrealistic

Water John

I think you are optomistic at the €2.50.
About 25 units at say 17 cent is €4.25 per charge.
Round up €4.50 X 5 charges is €22.5
That is 50% cost approx of diesel.
This can be halved, so to 25% by night rate costing €11.25.
So your sum is correct for night rate.
Don't forget some free charging available ATM.
OH ends up only paying for one charge per week. Free driving.

Others may give more accurate figures from experience.

BoatMad

kala85 wrote: »

Ok so say I was traveling 100 km per hour on non motorway roads how much would the range last for.

I'm trying to work out what my weekly cost for 700 km would be in electric car and in a diesel car.
700 km @ 5.5 litres per 100km fuel economy @ 1.15 cent per litre is 44.27euro.

What's the price in electric.700/150km =4.6 charges @ 2.50 per 30 kwh charge is 11.66 in total for the week.

Are these calculations correct??

Also is traveling at 120 km on a motorway completely unrealistic

Diesel is now trending towards 1.18 and I think as a future proof you should use 1.20 a litre.


My partner does a very similar commute. 130 km per day , we have a 30kwh battery and 6kw charger and charge exclusively on night rate.

At 7.65 cents night rate we are averaging 1.60 euros per day ( since you are never recharging the full 30kwh )

Losses to me look like being under 5% average but kw measurements are somewhat inaccurate and I don't know the power factor of the charger

To give you an overall saving , we have combined the use of two ice cars into one EV ( retaining one ice for occasional short journeys ) we do all the long journeys in the EV and have racked up 12k on in two months. We estimate from a previous fuel bill close to 500 a month we are saving in excess of 350-400 euros with the EV ( we have some ice usage )

That is covering the PCP payments

Note that because we have night rate , we have pushed 50% of the houses daily consumption into the night time ( dishwasher , washer dryer , water heating ) resulting in a 20 euro a month savings , since night rate wouldn't make sense without the car we have assigned that saving to the EV electrical costs. Resulting in a esb bill that is on average 20-25 euros more then our previous non EV 24 hour bills. This means that the net cost of the cars " fuel" is approx .80 -. 90 a day. ( set against an overall saving of 350 + of course . This saving is factoring in long journeys being done at effectively zero cost at present

( our esb bills have risen to 200 per two months from an average of 150 )

As to range

With the 30 Kwn , at 100kmph , you can definitely extract 150km with 20-30km left , at the moment in warm weather and dry roads that has improved for example on non motorway roads averaging 70-80kmph we are extracting 180-190km with 20km remaining . We don't do this usually as with the range of the 30kw we use the FCP network on long journeys ( abs excellent it is too )

Note that in the newer leafs , their is virtually no penalty for aircon/heating ( typically 3-4 km at most ) and lights and heated seats etc have no effect whatsoever ( ie not discernible )

This is before you factor in cheaper services and the current free public network

My partner has currently free workplace charging via a granny cable and outdoor 13A socket

Overall it's 1/10 th of cost of diesel in reality

galwaydoc

kala85 wrote: »

Also is traveling at 120 km on a motorway completely unrealistic

I'd also like to know this. Will be commuting from Galway to Loughrea daily, plan to charge only at home on 30kw Leaf, main concern is motorway driving: 85km odd journey, about 50km would be motorway.

Seems doable, but don't want to be a motorway chicane.

BoatMad

galwaydoc wrote: »

I'd also like to know this. Will be commuting from Galway to Loughrea daily, plan to charge only at home on 30kw Leaf, main concern is motorway driving: 85km odd journey, about 50km would be motorway.

Seems doable, but don't want to be a motorway chicane.

Travelling at 120 km is not a problem , the issue is the range reduction. From our trials we estimate at 120 kmph the 30 kw has about 100km of usable range ( ie with 20 km left )

We don't as a rule drive over 105kmph on motorways now ( I never did anyway in my pickup truck as it burned diesel like crazy over 100 kmph) , my days of driving at 140kmph + are long over

At 100-105kmph on motorway we are not sluggardly , as many people drive at that speed , at that speed we can extract 150km with some reserve left. The number and nature of hills on the motorway is a big factor , n the m6 m4 which is quite flat we get really good performance whereas on our home motorway , the m11 the hills south of greystones play a significant part on reducing range and have to be allowed for

beauf

Pity there isn't some form of battery trailer that you could rent from a charging station. Rock up to station, rent trailer, leave it back at another station. Extend range and not have to wait for charging on a long journey. I don't have an EV but I find this thread fascinating. I don't think it a economic replacement for an old cheap 1L bangeronmics runabout for me just yet. But I'd love one in the future.

BoatMad

beauf wrote: »

Pity there isn't some form of battery trailer that you could rent from a charging station. Rock up to station, rent trailer, leave it back at another station. Extend range and not have to wait for charging on a long journey. I don't have an EV but I find this thread fascinating. I don't think it a economic replacement for an old cheap 1L bangeronmics runabout for me just yet. But I'd love one in the future.

Most people seem to foscus on the delays associated with charging , but many delays are actually present in ordinary ice vehicles too.

For example we regularly do Gorey - Athlone , via Carlow , portlaoise, tullamore , kilbeggan

Leaving the house fully charged , ie no departure delays , we have a 10 ( yes 10 min ) partial charge in killbeggan , in the ice we stopped for a quick cup of coffe on this route and hence the nett additional time for the journey is close to zero. This is a 190 km trip arguably long in the Irish context

On the return journey we charge at Carlow FCP again for about 10 mins to allow us to teach home ( actually with careful driving at 75kmph we can actually do the whole journey on one charge , the hills around stradbally play havoc !

As for bangeromics

If you are doing high daily mileages (? Ie over 100 km daily ) any 2nd hand leaf makes far more sense then a ice banger , you can pick up used leafs for 10-12k and the resulting saving per annum over your banger means you get to drive a comfortable high spec car for the price of a 8-10 year old diesel banger

Where an EV does not make sense is actually where people think it does, ie small mileage town driving. Far better to drive s small new efficient stop start 1.0 litre Petrol then an EV.

oinkely

my current calculations in a 24KW 141 Leaf.

Driving daily commute of 50km from Kilcoole to DunLaoghaire - mix of motorway and dual carraigeway and local roads. Drive to the speed limit and generally don't use eco mode (car is too much fun without it). Start work at 10am so no traffic on the way in. Usually heavy enough (40 to 80 km/h) on the way home in the evening.

The car is giving me an average of 15.8 kw per 100km on the dash, that is for 3859 km since i last reset the trip A counter.

3859 km / 100 * 15.8 = 610kw used to cover that distance. Add on around 10% for charger ineffeciences and round it up to 700kw.

700 kw at night rate of 8c = €56

Note that this €56 assumes that the 700kw all came from night rate charging, when in reality a lot of it of late has come from the public charge network.

Comparing this to my usual vehicle: 2005 Renault trafic 1.9 Diesel. Returning in the region of 9L per 100km.

3859 km /100 * 9L = 347 Litres of diesel @ €1.18 per litre is €410

so €410 in the van vs €56 in the leaf.

Not to mention that the van tax is around €700 and the leaf is €120. CVRT on the van is €111 per year, none on the leaf yet. Van insurance is €600, leaf is €400.

Travelling at 120 on the motorway is fine, it just depends on how long you will be on it. I have a short section of motorway on my way to work and hit 120 as quick as i can. Dual carriageway is all done at 100.

kala85 wrote: »

Ok so say I was traveling 100 km per hour on non motorway roads how much would the range last for.

I'm trying to work out what my weekly cost for 700 km would be in electric car and in a diesel car.
700 km @ 5.5 litres per 100km fuel economy @ 1.15 cent per litre is 44.27euro.

What's the price in electric.700/150km =4.6 charges @ 2.50 per 30 kwh charge is 11.66 in total for the week.

Are these calculations correct??

Also is traveling at 120 km on a motorway completely unrealistic

samih

unkel wrote: »

Deleted User wrote: »

My day rate went down from 19c to 17C

Don't want to go too far off topic, but that still seems high? I've paid between 14c and 16c the last 3 years or so. Should be at the lower end now with oil still being very cheap (how ironic!) Just looked it up: Energia do 13.98c at the moment (and 7.41c night). If you use 20kWh per night for the car, that's over 7MWh per year :eek: Even a cent off per kWh would mean a free dinner for you and the missus if you switched

Level pay further on increases the effective the cost per unit as the level pay is the actual average usage plus added 10 percent if I remember it right.

beauf

BoatMad wrote: »

Most people seem to foscus on the delays associated with charging , but many delays are actually present in ordinary ice vehicles too.....

I take your point about taking 10 mins to top up isn't significant.

BoatMad wrote: »

Where an EV does not make sense is actually where people think it does, ie small mileage town driving. Far better to drive s small new efficient stop start 1.0 litre Petrol then an EV.

Why? Because one of the main costs is fuel?

josip

BoatMad wrote: »

Travelling at 120 km is not a problem , the issue is the range reduction. From our trials we estimate at 120 kmph the 30 kw has about 100km of usable range ( ie with 20 km left )

We don't as a rule drive over 105kmph on motorways now ( I never did anyway in my pickup truck as it burned diesel like crazy over 100 kmph) , my days of driving at 140kmph + are long over

At 100-105kmph on motorway we are not sluggardly , as many people drive at that speed , at that speed we can extract 150km with some reserve left. The number and nature of hills on the motorway is a big factor , n the m6 m4 which is quite flat we get really good performance whereas on our home motorway , the m11 the hills south of greystones play a significant part on reducing range and have to be allowed for

At 120kph you estimate 100km range
At 105kph you estimate 150km range
Wind resistance increases at the square of the speed I thought
However 120*120/105*105 = 1.31
So should the 150km estimate be lower or the 100km estimate higher or are my basic maths wrong?

kala85

BoatMad wrote: »

Diesel is now trending towards 1.18 and I think as a future proof you should use 1.20 a litre.


My partner does a very similar commute. 130 km per day , we have a 30kwh battery and 6kw charger and charge exclusively on night rate.

At 7.65 cents night rate we are averaging 1.60 euros per day ( since you are never recharging the full 30kwh )

Losses to me look like being under 5% average but kw measurements are somewhat inaccurate and I don't know the power factor of the charger

To give you an overall saving , we have combined the use of two ice cars into one EV ( retaining one ice for occasional short journeys ) we do all the long journeys in the EV and have racked up 12k on in two months. We estimate from a previous fuel bill close to 500 a month we are saving in excess of 350-400 euros with the EV ( we have some ice usage )

That is covering the PCP payments

Note that because we have night rate , we have pushed 50% of the houses daily consumption into the night time ( dishwasher , washer dryer , water heating ) resulting in a 20 euro a month savings , since night rate wouldn't make sense without the car we have assigned that saving to the EV electrical costs. Resulting in a esb bill that is on average 20-25 euros more then our previous non EV 24 hour bills. This means that the net cost of the cars " fuel" is approx .80 -. 90 a day. ( set against an overall saving of 350 + of course . This saving is factoring in long journeys being done at effectively zero cost at present

( our esb bills have risen to 200 per two months from an average of 150 )

As to range

With the 30 Kwn , at 100kmph , you can definitely extract 150km with 20-30km left , at the moment in warm weather and dry roads that has improved for example on non motorway roads averaging 70-80kmph we are extracting 180-190km with 20km remaining . We don't do this usually as with the range of the 30kw we use the FCP network on long journeys ( abs excellent it is too )

Note that in the newer leafs , their is virtually no penalty for aircon/heating ( typically 3-4 km at most ) and lights and heated seats etc have no effect whatsoever ( ie not discernible )

This is before you factor in cheaper services and the current free public network

My partner has currently free workplace charging via a granny cable and outdoor 13A socket

Overall it's 1/10 th of cost of diesel in reality

Ok .does the day rate of the esb bill increase if you change to night rate
The night rate increases the standing order to 50e per year is this correct. Im wondering if the bill changes over to night rate could the day rate increase and cause an increase in my bill.

Is there any meter that I can see how much electricity is used on the night rate and the day rate and how much the leaf has used up.

For the 30 kw battery to charge to the brim- is it 30 units of electricity . So is that 30 units of electricity used up??

30kw at 7cent is €2.10 per recharge which would give 150km range and for 750km weekly driving is five charges which is 10.50 per week - would this be correct. Driving at 100km over country roads
Will the capacity of the battery reduce over time?

I might trial the EV from the dealers next month and if I charge it at home with the granny cable on the day rate ,how much would it cost then?

Also, we dont know how long the free public charging is going to last, and will we have to pay for access to the public chargers. This could put an additional cost onto the bill again.

If i buy a nissan leaf 30kw , could it fall in value by next year if a bigger battery and increase range comes on the market. Also is there any guidelines on how these EVs would be if I trade back in against a diesel.

Diesel is 750/100 *5.5 l per 100km efficiency *1.15 is 47 e cost
Todays cheapest diesel price is 750/100 *5.5 per 100km * 1.06 = 43.75

Ill save 30e per week on fuel costs - but Ill have to weigh up the cost of the EV versus the diesel

Sorry for all these questions - just need to get it sorted out in my own mind first before I consider purchasing a leaf

josip

@kala,

I would expect that the diesel price will increase in future years faster than the cost of electricity.
So the potential removal of free public charging shouldn't affect the business case unduly for purchasing.

I also think that if your business case for purchasing depends on future external factors outside your control such as free public charging or free workplace charging, then the business case for purchasing isn't very strong.

kala85

josip wrote: »

@kala,

I would expect that the diesel price will increase in future years faster than the cost of electricity.
So the potential removal of free public charging shouldn't affect the business case unduly for purchasing.

I also think that if your business case for purchasing depends on future external factors outside your control such as free public charging or free workplace charging, then the business case for purchasing isn't very strong.

It doesnt - but its just an additional consideration and Im just trying to balance up the convenience.

cuculainn

Hi all.

I have read this thread with interest, and it has answered alot of my questions.

This is my situation. We commute about 80 km per day, with it mostly motorway driving. about 20 km will be non motorway and a few km of traffic towards the end of journey.

I like to do a decent motorway speed so will usually stick on cruise control at 120km/h...

the other 20km would be 100 km/h

we do this more or less 5 days a week.

currently we have two cars. an old 1.8 petrol and a mondeo diesel 2009.

we spend on average 3-4k per year on petrol and diesel.


Wife wants to get a Kia Sportage. I am thinking Leaf.

I would get leaf and keep the Mondeo as an occasional car for longer journeys when boot space would required..

We have two kids so it would have two car seats in it.

I would forsee using leaf daily to work and creche, and the mondeo for any trips where we are loading up with stuff.

What is boot space like in Leaf?

I would charge at home nightly (we have night rate already as we have a heatpump)

There is a charge point in the town near us, and also not too far from work so if we were stuck we could use them

I would really love for this to be a runner as we would be nearly independent of fossil fuels....(love not getting the oil tanker to the house!!)

I am in the process of costing it out exactly.

Would people recommend New or second hand?

Ideally i would prefer second hand but am not sure of what to look out for performance wise

any advice appreciated!

oinkely

kala85 wrote: »

Ok .does the day rate of the esb bill increase if you change to night rate
The night rate increases the standing order to 50e per year is this correct. Im wondering if the bill changes over to night rate could the day rate increase and cause an increase in my bill.

I changed from airtricity to energia and changed to night rate at the same time. My day rate cam edown vs the standard 24hr day rate i was in with airtricity.

Day rate is 15.4 cent per unit (including VAT and discount)
Night rate is 7.35 cent per unit (including VAT and discount).

The night rate standing charge is an additional €50 per year.

We run the dishwasher, washing machine and bread maker at night. We use about 60% of our units at night and 40% at day rate.

kala85 wrote: »

Is there any meter that I can see how much electricity is used on the night rate and the day rate and how much the leaf has used up.

The standard dual meter has a digital readout of night/day units. If you want to monitor the usage on car charging circuit you need to install some sort of kw/h meter on that circuit. I have a simple meter that gets wired in series at the fuseboard, however it is still in the glovebox of my van! Cost €30 in eurosales. There are fancy monitors that you can get that will monitor the usage on the circuit adn split it out into day and night units, but at €150 plus I passed.

kala85 wrote: »

For the 30 kw battery to charge to the brim- is it 30 units of electricity . So is that 30 units of electricity used up??

pretty much yes, but there will be a small additional KW/h input as the charger is not 100% efficient. I allow about 10% in my calculations for this.

kala85 wrote: »

30kw at 7cent is €2.10 per recharge which would give 150km range and for 750km weekly driving is five charges which is 10.50 per week - would this be correct. Driving at 100km over country roads

probably better to calcualte it this way - 750km @ 16 kw/h per 100 km (what i get) or 750km @ 18 kw/h per 100km (i think this is what mad lad reported as his average consumption). maybe assume 20 kw/h per 100 km if you have a lot of motorway in your commute also

750 / 100 * 16 = 120 *110% = 132 kw/h @ 8C per unit = €10.56 for the 750 km
750 / 100 * 18 = 135 *110% = 149 kw/h @ 8C per unit = €12 for the 750 km
750 / 100 * 20 = 150 *110% = 165 kw/h @ 8C per unit = €13.2 for the 750 km

kala85 wrote: »

Will the capacity of the battery reduce over time?

Probably. Though my 141 has 33,000 km on it and no loss in capacity. My 132 gen 1 has 49000 km and no loss of capacity either

kala85 wrote: »

I might trial the EV from the dealers next month and if I charge it at home with the granny cable on the day rate ,how much would it cost then?

it will cost you whatever your kw/h rate is 8 the number of kw you put into it

kala85 wrote: »

Also, we dont know how long the free public charging is going to last, and will we have to pay for access to the public chargers. This could put an additional cost onto the bill again.

my original calculations assume that i am paying for all of the electricity used, it does not factor in any free electricity from the public network. I see this as a small bonus at present but do not include it in any calculations when comparing it with diesel etc.

kala85 wrote: »

If i buy a nissan leaf 30kw , could it fall in value by next year if a bigger battery and increase range comes on the market. Also is there any guidelines on how these EVs would be if I trade back in against a diesel.

Can't help with this one I'm afraid. Never bought a new car!

Diesel is 750/100 *5.5 l per 100km efficiency *1.15 is 47 e cost
Todays cheapest diesel price is 750/100 *5.5 per 100km * 1.06 = 43.75

Ill save 30e per week on fuel costs - but Ill have to weigh up the cost of the EV versus the diesel

Sorry for all these questions - just need to get it sorted out in my own mind first before I consider purchasing a leaf[/QUOTE]

imfml

Thanks again for all the help and advice.
Doing the sums, it is difficult to justify a new Leaf, but I still love the car and want to drive electric!

So, a last couple of questions from me, this time looking for tips on second hand Leafs, as it looks like that's going to be the best option for us.

When looking for a second hand Leaf, when did Gen 2 become available? I would prefer a 2nd generation Leaf, ao obviously knowing this will narrow the search.

Also, when was the 30kW battery launched, as there seems to be none on the second hand market.

Many thanks.

Soarer

BoatMad wrote: »

As for bangeromics

If you are doing high daily mileages (? Ie over 100 km daily ) any 2nd hand leaf makes far more sense then a ice banger , you can pick up used leafs for 10-12k and the resulting saving per annum over your banger means you get to drive a comfortable high spec car for the price of a 8-10 year old diesel banger

I currently drive a 15 year old 1.7 diesel Astra, and do an average of about 40kms per day across mostly short journeys. Obviously not the most efficient use of a diesel.
Fuel is about €70 per month.
Tax is €153 a quarter.
Annual servicing is whatever it costs.
Annual NCT.

I'm always wondering if I should buy a first gen Leaf. Range isn't a huge issue, and my employer said they'd put in a charge point if anyone ever gets a Leaf.
But I've no car loan at the minute, and the thought of taking one out, even though my current outgoings would nearly cover it, doesn't sit right with me.

kala85

How do I go about getting employer or council to install a charger near my workplace.

KCross

imfml wrote: »

Thanks again for all the help and advice.
Doing the sums, it is difficult to justify a new Leaf, but I still love the car and want to drive electric!

So, a last couple of questions from me, this time looking for tips on second hand Leafs, as it looks like that's going to be the best option for us.

When looking for a second hand Leaf, when did Gen 2 become available? I would prefer a 2nd generation Leaf, ao obviously knowing this will narrow the search.

Also, when was the 30kW battery launched, as there seems to be none on the second hand market.

Many thanks.

Gen 1 was upto mid 2013.
Gen 1.5 is after that but there is obviously some overlap. Usually the white/beige interior is a good indicator thats its a Gen 1. The Gen 1.5 also has a separate AC and Heat button. Do a search in this forum and you will find pictures of it.
Gen 2 is not due out till maybe 2018. No official date yet.

30kWh battery came out in 161 so a demo model from a dealer is probably the only hope of 2nd hand there.

kala85 wrote: »

How do I go about getting employer or council to install a charger near my workplace.

You cant really. To get your employer to install one all you can do is ask nicely. They have no obligation to install one.

Much the same story with the council. They are very unlikely to install one. All the public chargers are owned by ESB and they are not installing any additional chargers for the foreseeable future.