This week's EV bargain that I'm not buying

Renault are mad that they won't scrap battery rental. By the time you actually may need a new battery you could have ended up paying a lot more than the current cost of a new battery !

Take the leaf for instance, current cost is 5,500 Euro's installed in Ireland for current Gen 24 Kwh battery. A Prius 1 Kwh battery will cost around 2,500 Euro's installed for a NiMh battery with around 400-500 watt hrs usable !

listermint

unkel wrote: »

Twizy - are these any good?

€3,600 asking for a '12 with battery included. Will cost just about zero to own. Battery and car still under 5 year warranty?

Edit - ad says NCT '18, but not according to the NCT website. Are these exempt? What way can they charge and what range have they?



Linky

These are not fun to drive literally feels slow.

Super exposed, enjoyable for about an hour .

So no I'd say not. Drove one about 2 years ago brand new.

cros13

unkel wrote: »

Twizy - are these any good?

I think they're fun. Unassisted direct steering and you can double the torque on them in software. I was looking at one as a runabout but at the time the insurance costs were mad... much better now... recent quotes have been around €300 which is €1000 less than when I checked last year.

unkel wrote: »

€3,600 asking for a '12 with battery included. Will cost just about zero to own. Battery and car still under 5 year warranty?

I've spoken to the seller on a few occasions. He's leaving the country... the software mods I mentioned are done on this vehicle and the battery is included because it was an imported unit originally bought for a corporate fleet. He had two or three I believe.

unkel wrote: »

Edit - ad says NCT '18, but not according to the NCT website. Are these exempt? What way can they charge and what range have they?

Captive 13A plug on the front, people use adapters and janky waterproofing with bags and tape for Type 2.

KCross wrote: »

I dont know anything about them but I would say that I wouldnt drive it on the open road. A crash in that and its surely all over? Its a motorbike with a cover!

They are quite safe the cabin is well protected and they have seatbelts (two for the driver) and an airbag. They actually have a decent NCAP score compared with similar vehicles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qy-tf7EBCI

chris1970 wrote: »

€2800 50 a month battery charge, lovely car to drive , just around town really, kids to and from school, our c4 desiel 1.6 is lovely but not a town car, range is 62km as of not but surely the battery is balls after 5 year , it's says range is 150km on Wikipedia, is this lies or new battery? Hopefully get it replaced under terms of battery lease. Cheers for the info

It's 185km NEDC (european lab test, not real world), in the real world a Fluence that old would be lucky to get 90km. The Gen 1 EVs... well... they didn't quite know how to make batteries for EVs that lasted in the real world yet (even Nissan took until the Mark1.5 Leaf (2013+) to get it figured out). The battery lease isn't worth the paper it's printed on, plenty of owners have failed to get Renault to replace severely degraded Fluence packs.

Wait a couple of years and get an EV with a decent battery or you can pick up a Zoe cheap as chips... the battery in those are good.

The battery lease T&C's specify that the battery will be repaired or replaced at 75% capacity, they do not guarantee you a new battery which makes the whole leasing model a complete failure if you ask me.

cros13

As I understand it Renault is also arguing about whether packs have passed 75%, and there's no agreed method to determine pack capacity defined in the contract. Also issues where Renault acknowledged pack degradation of 75%+ and refused to do anything about it. Issues where "repair" of the pack was provided that had no impact on range. And lots and lots of people who either stopped paying the lease (because of these issues) and had their credit threatened or just tried to get rid of the car and couldn't find buyers at any price.

And yet the Zoe is a very popular EV on the continent.

unkel

Deleted User wrote: »

And yet the Zoe is a very popular EV on the continent.

No surprise there really. In the last few years the only budget EVs out there were the Leaf and the Zoe. And let's just say not everybody feels the Leaf is a nice looking car

Gumbo

unkel wrote: »

No surprise there really. In the last few years the only budget EVs out there were the Leaf and the Zoe. And let's just say not everybody feels the Leaf is a nice looking car

My other half won't get in it

KCross

unkel wrote: »

No surprise there really. In the last few years the only budget EVs out there were the Leaf and the Zoe. And let's just say not everybody feels the Leaf is a nice looking car

No arguments there but from the inside its fine!

kceire wrote: »

My other half won't get in it

Mine wouldnt either. But once she drove it I have to wrestle the keys off her now.


The Leaf would have been SO MUCH more popular if they didnt have those ridiculous front lights. The back of the car isnt that bad really.

Gumbo

KCross wrote: »

No arguments there but from the inside its fine!



Mine wouldnt either. But once she drove it I have to wrestle the keys off her now.


The Leaf would have been SO MUCH more popular if they didnt have those ridiculous front lights. The back of the car isnt that bad really.

Yeah I think the back is cool, especially at night with the led strip lights.
The head light protrusion takes away from the front.

They should have just let Nismo fit all the cars with their bumpers

unkel

KCross wrote: »

The Leaf would have been SO MUCH more popular if they didnt have those ridiculous front lights.

+1

As herself said: we're not getting that thing. It looks like a big f'ng Micra

(And of course, she wasn't wrong)

KCross

If you could buy "normal" after market lights and retrofit them I'd say most Leaf owners would buy them! Lights that are almost flush with the bonnet.

Not sure what it would do to aerodynamics... might make it better and pass out the Ioniq!

Soarer

Think those headlights are designed to channel air away from the wing mirrors to reduce wind noise.

goz83

kceire wrote: »

They should have just let Nismo fit all the cars with their bumpers

Wonder what a Nismo kit would set you back.

I can't love the front lights no matter how much I want to

Gumbo

goz83 wrote: »

Wonder what a Nismo kit would set you back.

I can't love the front lights no matter how much I want to

Full Nismo kit and Nismo VCM (ECU) was a 10k option in Japan seemly.

isnottheword

is anyone importing from Japan - and if so, how does the economics of this work out?

Gumbo

isnottheword wrote: »

is anyone importing from Japan - and if so, how does the economics of this work out?

I don't know anyone that has done it but it would be worth checking out the auctions to see how much they go for.

You'd have to be clued up in the trim level differences.

isnottheword

kceire wrote: »

I don't know anyone that has done it but it would be worth checking out the auctions to see how much they go for.

You'd have to be clued up in the trim level differences.

I assumed that the fact that there's a vrt rebate on importing from the UK would make the Jap import option uneconomical (given that involves vat and different importation taxes).

That said, I never worked it out definitively. Perhaps someone here has done a comparison?

slave1

I've seen plenty of used Leaf Jap imports in the UK for sale, generally cheaper, could there be radio/electronic differences?

isnottheword

slave1 wrote: »

I've seen plenty of used Leaf Jap imports in the UK for sale, generally cheaper, could there be radio/electronic differences?

How do you ID them on autotrader listings?

peposhi

Airside Motors had 2 Leaf Jap import a couple of weeks a go. I think only one left...

isnottheword

peposhi wrote: »

Airside Motors had 2 Leaf Jap import a couple of weeks a go. I think only one left...

How were the priced peposhi? Much difference in the spec?

slave1

isnottheword wrote: »

How do you ID them on autotrader listings?

It just stated it in description, they were generally in the first few listings when you sorted by price, lowest first, there with the flex models

listermint

Japan imports. Insurers are not friendly.

peposhi

isnottheword wrote: »

How were the priced peposhi? Much difference in the spec?

http://www.airsidemotorcentre.ie/used-cars.php?make_id=61&model_id=2167&price_id=&search_submit=

That is what they have.
I di not look at them when I went there.
I was interested to see the iMiev van... great little yoke:

http://www.airsidemotorcentre.ie/used-cars.php?make_id=58&model_id=2237&price_id=&colour_id=&max_odo=&odo_type=m&min_year=&max_year=&transmission_type_id=&fuel_type_id=&min_engine_id=&max_engine_id=&search_submit=

ted1

isnottheword wrote: »

How do you ID them on autotrader listings?

Japanese cars have square number plates , easily identifiable when you look at the back of the car.

Bif

Lads. What is the best price possible on a used 30kwh Leaf Tekna 6.6?

Gumbo

Bif wrote: »

Lads. What is the best price possible on a used 30kwh Leaf Tekna 6.6?

IRL or UK?

For 30kwh, just go onto autotrader and restrict search to 2016 models.
It will narrow it right down.

I just done it.
There's 109 cars nationally (2016).

The problem is most ads don't specify 6.6 or 30kwh so you have to dig through them.
The cheapist definitive 6.6 in Tekna I can see is £15.495 but no mention of 24 or 30 version.
Then there's another that's deffo a 30kwh but no mention of charger 3.3 or 6.6 at £15995.

The first ad I seen which specifically states 6.6 and 30kwh is in a trader that's 17k sterling.
Allow €500 for flight, boat and some food and then car cost of €20k.

Bif

kceire wrote: »

IRL or UK?

For 30kwh, just go onto autotrader and restrict search to 2016 models.
It will narrow it right down.

UK. Thanks.

Gumbo

Bif wrote: »

UK. Thanks.

See my post above. I've edited it.