Nissan Leaf

DB01 · 10-01-2017 11:41am

n97 mini wrote: »

We paid about €14600 for a 152 sve (tekna). 6.6kw charger, granny cable (worth 300), type 2 to type 1 cable (worth maybe 120), and a 32amp charge point (worth maybe 280). A lot of value in those extra cables.

How old was the car when you bought it? The 32amp charge point, is this the part you have installed in your house?

DB01 · 10-01-2017 11:48am

DrPhilG wrote: »

Am I getting you right, £14k sterling for a 2 year old SV?

Not a great price IMO.

I paid £13,600 for a 1 year old SVE with 5,500 miles. That was in June 2015, the car is a July 2014, 6.6 charger and came with granny cable and public charger cable.

Am I correct in thinking those who paid in sterling bought direct from the UK and not from a dealer here? I'm looking at one through a dealer here so I guess I should expect to have the cost of importing included in the price but they seem to be a lot cheaper in the UK so I should still get a good price. Or at least some extras i.e. Cables or fast charger included. Agree?

DrPhilG · 10-01-2017 12:21pm

DB01 wrote: »

Am I correct in thinking those who paid in sterling bought direct from the UK and not from a dealer here? I'm looking at one through a dealer here so I guess I should expect to have the cost of importing included in the price but they seem to be a lot cheaper in the UK so I should still get a good price. Or at least some extras i.e. Cables or fast charger included. Agree?

True I did buy from the UK direct.

So I should add that I spent about £400 bringing the car home, flight out-ferry back etc.

Also the fact that I got both cables may well have been due to the dealer being uneducated. I had confirmed that the home charging cable was included but didn't mention the granny. When I arrived I asked if one was included and he looked confused for a second, then took one from another car and chucked it in the boot!

KCross · 10-01-2017 12:30pm

DB01 wrote: »

Am I correct in thinking those who paid in sterling bought direct from the UK and not from a dealer here? I'm looking at one through a dealer here so I guess I should expect to have the cost of importing included in the price but they seem to be a lot cheaper in the UK so I should still get a good price. Or at least some extras i.e. Cables or fast charger included. Agree?

Correct, we bought direct in the UK and brought the cars back ourselves.

There are also folks on here who bought from Irish dealers who do the same thing (i.e. bring in EV's from the UK). Obviously you pay a bit more from them as they have to get their profit.

I see quite a few 151 SVE's in the UK for £12k(€13775) with less mileage.
e.g. http://www.motors.co.uk/car-44096161/154/sr

The difference in price between SV and SVE when new is €2400. You get leather, 360deg camera, 17" alloys and heated seats/steering. If you dont value any of those then fine but I think the main point is that you should be able to get an SV for a good bit less than what you are paying but you would have to go to the UK yourself for it.

I'd be looking for a better price based on your car being a 151 SV with 3.3kW charger (or does it have 6.6kW?). They are making about £9500 (€11000) in the UK at the moment.

n97 mini · 10-01-2017 12:39pm

DB01 wrote: »

How old was the car when you bought it? The 32amp charge point, is this the part you have installed in your house?

One year old. Yes, it's the home CP. To take advantage of the 6.6kw charging at home you need a 32amp CP. Not strictly necessary but nice to have.

macnab · 10-01-2017 2:11pm

I saw a Dealer on Donedeal incorrectly advertising 2014 and 2015 Nissan Leafs as 30kw cars, be careful when buying from uneducated dealers. Dont take anything at face value, do your research and spend your money wisely. This includes the spec level. Be aware that the lowest spec Leaf has steel wheels and ugly hub caps instead of alloys. This in itself is not the problem, the problem is that the lowest spec cars had the older battery for longer, they have the older power hungry heater. They are worth considerably less than the SV or SVE.

TBi · 10-01-2017 2:48pm

macnab wrote: »

I saw a Dealer on Donedeal incorrectly advertising 2014 and 2015 Nissan Leafs as 30kw cars, be careful when buying from uneducated dealers.

I would say educated dealers trying to rip off uneducated punters.

DB01 · 10-01-2017 2:48pm

Thanks so much for all the info. The dealer hasn't come back yet to confirm what's included but I'll be seeing the car later. In the meantime I just want to clarify re the cables etc. so I'm going in prepared. Since its a U.K. import I should expect the granny cable to be included as standard. Is this correct? There may or may not be the cable for charging with the domestic charge point included, a 2 to 1 cable I think. There almost certainly won't be a domestic charge point included. It may or may not have a 6.6kw charger installed. Is there anything else I need to look out for?

On the subject of charging, I should be ok to charge at home if the granny cable is included, although it doesn't seem an ideal method of charging, it would be fine initially. I would then need to get a cp installed and (if not included) I would need to purchase a 2 to 1 cable. Is this all correct?

Public charging - do I need a card to access these and how do I get one? Do I also need a cable or do the machines have the cable installed that is then connected to the car?

For those with U.K. imports, can the mileage reading be changed to kilometres?

I only started looking at these last Saturday, hence all my questions!

DrPhilG · 10-01-2017 2:51pm

Granny cable charging is fine, I'm doing that at the minute as my home charger is on the blink.

Contact the ESB regarding a card. They will want to see proof of purchase, picture of a deposit document or something will do. You can usually find someone who can lend you a card in the meantime if you're stuck.

UK imports can display miles and km, setting is in the menu to choose.

macnab · 10-01-2017 3:52pm

And you will need a type 2 to type 1 lead to access public slow charge points, fast chargers have their own leads attached.

DB01 · 10-01-2017 4:03pm

macnab wrote: »

And you will need a type 2 to type 1 lead to access public slow charge points, fast chargers have their own leads attached.

Is this the same cable for charging with the home cp?
Does the car need to have the 6.6kw charger to use a fast charge point? I guess otherwise nobody would bother with a slow charge point or am I missing something?

DrPhilG · 10-01-2017 4:12pm

Standard (slow) chargers are useful. They use the same cable as you use at home, and will give you about 20% in an hour, or 35-40% if you have the 6.6kw charger in the car.

Fast charger is a different beast. Doesn't matter if you have the 3.3 or 6.6, it uses a different socket on the car. It will add anywhere from 50% to 70% in about 30 minutes, depending on a few factors like battery temperature, ambient temperature and the charger itself (some are a little faster than others).

Standard charger or home unit plugs into the socket on the right, fast charger connects to the one on the left.

Normal home and standard charger plug

Fast charger plug

or

DB01 · 10-01-2017 4:19pm

DrPhilG wrote: »

Standard (slow) chargers are useful. They use the same cable as you use at home, and will give you about 20% in an hour, or 35-40% if you have the 6.6kw charger in the car.

Fast charger is a different beast. Doesn't matter if you have the 3.3 or 6.6, it uses a different socket on the car. It will add anywhere from 50% to 70% in about 30 minutes, depending on a few factors like battery temperature, ambient temperature and the charger itself (some are a little faster than others).

Standard charger or home unit plugs into the socket on the right, fast charger connects to the one on the left.

Normal home and standard charger plug

Fast charger plug

or

Thanks for that! So I'm assuming the fast chargers aren't available at every public charge point? So the cable for the standard cp is still necessary?

DrPhilG · 10-01-2017 4:35pm

Go onto the ESB charge point map on their site or the app. You can filter the charger location by type.

Select chademo only for the Leaf fast charge locations. Select the type 2 option to see all the standard charge spots.

cros13 · 10-01-2017 4:39pm

DB01 wrote: »

Is this the same cable for charging with the home cp?

Yes.

16.2EV-Plug-To-Plug-Lead-%E2%80%93-Type-1-to-Type-2-32amp.png

DB01 wrote: »

Does the car need to have the 6.6kw charger to use a fast charge point? I guess otherwise nobody would bother with a slow charge point or am I missing something?

Charging at home or at a level 2 public chargepoint uses the built-in charger in the car. The default onboard charger on the leaf is 3.3kW but it's possible (at initial order only, not aftermarket) to have a 2nd charger fitted that ups the charge rate to 6.6kW (through the same socket). Pretty much all chargepoints in Ireland provide the european standard Type 2 connector as a socket.... which is a good thing for Leaf owners as the Leaf uses the North American J1772 Type 1.

A Rapid Charger bypasses the onboard charging equipment and connects itself directly to the battery supplying power at 10-15 times the rate of the onboard chargers. In the case of the Leaf it does this via a second port on the car which uses the Japanese CHAdeMO standard (the european CCS standard was not finalised until 3 years after the Leaf launched).

The port on the left is CHAdeMO and the one on the right is J1772/Type 1:

zilog_jones · 10-01-2017 5:39pm

DB01 wrote: »

Thanks for that! So I'm assuming the fast chargers aren't available at every public charge point? So the cable for the standard cp is still necessary?

Generally the public charging points in city centres are standard chargers, so if you want to avail of these you'd want a Type 1 to Type 2 cable. Parking at SCPs is also free in some areas (Cork yes, Limerick no, dunno about elsewhere), but that's more up to local councils and not the ESB.

DB01 · 10-01-2017 5:44pm

So turns out there's a granny cable included. Dealer seems to think the 6.6kw is standard on 2015 and later. He's going to check if it's on the one I'm interested in anyway.

KCross · 10-01-2017 5:46pm

DB01 wrote: »

So turns out there's a granny cable included. Dealer seems to think the 6.6kw is standard on 2015 and later. He's going to check anyway.

Granny cable only or both cables?

6.6kW is not standard.

zilog_jones · 10-01-2017 5:53pm

Do Nissan not have some website where you can stick in a VIN and get the full original configuration of the car? I know other manufacturers do this.

It seems there's no obvious way of determining what charger it has unless you drill down through some menus on the dash (I forget specifics).

DrPhilG · 10-01-2017 6:58pm

DB01 wrote: »

So turns out there's a granny cable included. Dealer seems to think the 6.6kw is standard on 2015 and later. He's going to check if it's on the one I'm interested in anyway.

That doesn't sound right...

Make sure. I was very fussy about that with the English dealer I bought from. I wouldn't pay the deposit until he sent me a picture of the display reading showing both charger times.

cros13 · 10-01-2017 7:17pm

DB01 wrote: »

Dealer seems to think the 6.6kw is standard on 2015 and later.

Standard in 2015...in the US...not this side of the pond.

DB01 · 10-01-2017 7:17pm

How would I check on the 6.6kw? Looking at the display now...

DB01 · 10-01-2017 7:22pm

Theres a solar panel on top. Would that indicate anything?

n97 mini · 10-01-2017 7:55pm

The only easy way to tell is to cycle through the menu on the dash. One of the menus will say To 100% Charge. If there is no mention of 6kw then it does not have the 6.6kw charger.

DB01 · 10-01-2017 9:03pm

n97 mini wrote: »

The only easy way to tell is to cycle through the menu on the dash. One of the menus will say To 100% Charge. If there is no mention of 6kw then it does not have the 6.6kw charger.

Thanks for that. Doesn't look like it has the fast charger installed. There was just one time coming up for charging to 100%. On the plus side the car is like new and has 29,000 km not 32k. It also has a solar panel.

isnottheword · 10-01-2017 9:05pm

DB01 wrote: »

It also has a solar panel.

By all accounts, the solar panel isn't much more than an aesthetic feature.

DB01 · 10-01-2017 9:11pm

isnottheword wrote: »

By all accounts, the solar panel isn't much more than an aesthetic feature.

I've just read that it's only good for charging accessories

bottar1 · 10-01-2017 9:58pm

Okay, revising a previous post.

I'm paying 2400 a year in fuel on my Nissan Micra 03 to get to work 83 kilometers round trip. If a used nissan leaf around 8000-9000 euros would do me for 3 years+ I'd be willing to buy it.

I'm fine with driving without A/C on if it would be that reliable since I'd be able to charge it for ~9-10 hours every night to full. Doing 25000 KM a year including leisure on weekends, so 75000KM over 3 years.

Anyone have the stats to see if it's worth it?

n97 mini · 10-01-2017 10:26pm

As a very broad rule of thumb the Leaf costs a fifth the running costs of a regular car when charging at home exclusively. Less if you use public charging.

2400 a month is astronomical. Are you sure that's not a year? 600 a week in fuel is articulated lorry territory!

bottar1 · 10-01-2017 10:28pm

n97 mini wrote: »

As a very broad rule of thumb the Leaf costs a fifth the running costs of a regular car when charging at home exclusively. Less if you use public charging.

2400 a month is astronomical. Are you sure that's not a year? 600 a week in fuel is articulated lorry territory!

Haha I meant a year.

NIMAN · 10-01-2017 10:34pm

Anyone hear the CEO if Nissan Ireland on The Last Word tonight?

I missed it, was on way to work, but I heard it mentioned as coming up, and how he would be defending the introduction or progress of EVs in Ireland.

Wonder what he said, might listen back when it goes online.

n97 mini · 10-01-2017 10:44pm

Yeah. Listen to it. He was mostly on the ball.

bottar1 · 10-01-2017 10:46pm

Anything I should look out for when considering a used leaf? Other than mileage? From my research fully charging a leaf from 2012 will get me at least my commute of 83km round-trip. Seems like a good switch to me unless there is some crazy battery degradation that would stop me from achieving my commute.

KCross · 10-01-2017 11:00pm

NIMAN wrote: »

Anyone hear the CEO if Nissan Ireland on The Last Word tonight?

I missed it, was on way to work, but I heard it mentioned as coming up, and how he would be defending the introduction or progress of EVs in Ireland.

Wonder what he said, might listen back when it goes online.

It was basically a rebuttal argument from the interview last week where @villain complained about a lot of things and he as good as said @villain was an eejit and got everything wrong.

He didn't announce Leaf II, if that's what you were expecting!

DrPhilG · 10-01-2017 11:06pm

DB01 wrote: »

Thanks for that. Doesn't look like it has the fast charger installed. There was just one time coming up for charging to 100%. On the plus side the car is like new and has 29,000 km not 32k. It also has a solar panel.

To be honest I think you should walk away.

The solar panel is worthless.

There are sure to be better deals than that.

KCross · 10-01-2017 11:08pm

bottar1 wrote: »

Anything I should look out for when considering a used leaf? Other than mileage? From my research fully charging a leaf from 2012 will get me at least my commute of 83km round-trip. Seems like a good switch to me unless there is some crazy battery degradation that would stop me from achieving my commute.

You need to borrow one for a day or two and be certain it will make the trip in winter. I think you are on the edge there if it's cold, wet, dark and the car is a gen 1 with the older battery that might already be down on range.

Any chance of you getting a work charger?

Villain · 10-01-2017 11:31pm

NIMAN wrote: »

Anyone hear the CEO if Nissan Ireland on The Last Word tonight?

I missed it, was on way to work, but I heard it mentioned as coming up, and how he would be defending the introduction or progress of EVs in Ireland.

Wonder what he said, might listen back when it goes online.

Ya he just wanted to say I was wrong and its all good, he either didn't listen to what I actually said or just wanted wash over the issues.

bottar1 · 11-01-2017 12:53am

KCross wrote: »

You need to borrow one for a day or two and be certain it will make the trip in winter. I think you are on the edge there if it's cold, wet, dark and the car is a gen 1 with the older battery that might already be down on range.

Any chance of you getting a work charger?

It may be possible, I'll look into it. Honestly, that would cure range anxiety which is the only issue. Teetering on the edge after a year or two of battery degradation.

n97 mini · 11-01-2017 1:36am

Villain wrote: »

Ya he just wanted to say I was wrong and its all good, he either didn't listen to what I actually said or just wanted wash over the issues.

I didn't hear your clip, but I found myself mostly in agreement with him.

An EV isn't for everyone, which he acknowledged.

NIMAN · 11-01-2017 1:39am

n97 mini wrote: »

I didn't hear your clip, but I found myself mostly in agreement with him.

An EV isn't for everyone, which he acknowledged.

But there might just come the time when they will have to suit everyone.

Soarer · 11-01-2017 7:50am

bottar1 wrote: »

Anything I should look out for when considering a used leaf? Other than mileage? From my research fully charging a leaf from 2012 will get me at least my commute of 83km round-trip. Seems like a good switch to me unless there is some crazy battery degradation that would stop me from achieving my commute.

If you could get yourself the newer Leaf from 132 on, the updated battery would save you a world of worries.

DB01 · 11-01-2017 11:39am

DrPhilG wrote: »

To be honest I think you should walk away.

The solar panel is worthless.

There are sure to be better deals than that.

Thanks I appreciate the advice but I can't really wait to see if anything better comes up. Not in a position to head over to UK to purchase either. I see there's a place in Baldoyle that buys at auction in the UK but again I wouldn't be sure when I'd get delivery and I know nothing about the process. When I compare with what's available now in Ireland, it seems like the best deal around. He's knocked another €100 off so €13,750. The only other one that would be close is from a larger dealer i.e. chain. Its only a 141 with 42k km and they're looking for €13,995. It's not an import though.

I was disappointed about the solar panel ☹️️

isnottheword · 11-01-2017 11:48am

DB01 wrote: »

Thanks I appreciate the advice but I can't really wait to see if anything better comes up.

If you can't wait so be it. However, you can be assured that you would get a better deal in the UK. A quick perusal of autotrader will confirm that for you. A flight over right now would be for buttons. You have the whole of the UK to source from (whereas there's only a handful of Leafs on the market in ireland at a given time). Ferry from Liverpool to Dublin is cheap as chips also.

Lastly, sterling weakened a bit once more over the last couple of days.

KCross · 11-01-2017 11:52am

KCross wrote: »

Any chance of you getting a work charger?

bottar1 wrote: »

It may be possible, I'll look into it.

Even access to a 3-pin plug would do if the car comes with a granny cable.
6-8hrs on that would be enough.

Ideally though a proper charge point where you can pull the full 16A(or 32A) would be better.

DB01 · 11-01-2017 12:02pm

isnottheword wrote: »

If you can't wait so be it. However, you can be assured that you would get a better deal in the UK. A quick perusal of autotrader will confirm that for you. A flight over right now would be for buttons. You have the whole of the UK to source from (whereas there's only a handful of Leafs on the market in ireland at a given time). Ferry from Liverpool to Dublin is cheap as chips also.

Lastly, sterling weakened a bit once more over the last couple of days.

Of course i can't help looking now! How does finance work?

isnottheword · 11-01-2017 12:06pm

DB01 wrote: »

Of course i can't help looking now! How does finance work?

Others here would have to advise for definite (any UK purchases I've made were for cash) - but I can't Imagine it could be any different. Get a cheque cut - then use an fx service like transfermate to do the fx conversion - pay and drive away.

DB01 · 11-01-2017 12:26pm

isnottheword wrote: »

Others here would have to advise for definite (any UK purchases I've made were for cash) - but I can't Imagine it could be any different. Get a cheque cut - then use an fx service like transfermate to do the fx conversion - pay and drive away.

You paid by cheque, is this what you mean by cash? In general, here and UK, is there any benefit to the dealer if the customer pays cash? Would that be a bargaining tool or does the dealer not care either way? Wondering if I can haggle some more...

Soarer · 11-01-2017 12:29pm

When looking at EVs, I use http://www.autotrader.co.uk/

I then input the code of one of the ferry ports....
Holyhead - LL65 1DQ
Liverpool - L20 1BG
Fishguard - SA64 0BU

Then enter my criteria (2013 to get the first of the gen. 1.5, max. price, etc.), sort by distance, and go from there.

You can then work out how many charging stops, if any, will be needed to get you to the ferry.

Soarer · 11-01-2017 12:31pm

DB01 wrote: »

You paid by cheque, is this what you mean by cash? In general, here and UK, is there any benefit to the dealer if the customer pays cash? Would that be a bargaining tool or does the dealer not care either way? Wondering if I can haggle some more...

They'll only take so much in cash due to money laundering.

AFAIK, if you have a BOI account, there's no daily limit to your card usage. So you could just pay for the car out of your current account.

DB01 · 11-01-2017 12:35pm

Soarer wrote: »

They'll only take so much in cash due to money laundering.

AFAIK, if you have a BOI account, there's no daily limit to your card usage. So you could just pay for the car out of your current account.

You mean I could pay with a visa debit card? Do they give any discount for cash?

Nissan Leaf

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