[Closed] Nissan Leaf - Owners experiences

We've got a 13 plate and the only issue in 3 years has been the electric auxiliary PTC heater dying. It's used to pre heat the car in the morning and take up the slack getting the heat pump up to heat. Costs about a grand to replace, so we're just leaving it. You can see if it's working by looking in the energy settings menu and looking at how much power is being used by the heaters. If it doesn't go above 1.5kw (heat pump) the PTC heater isn't coming on.

The driving experience is nice. The user interface on the computer bits is obviously designed by a car company rather than a software/hardware company.

I'm now going to be 'that guy'. Not knowing anything about your circumstances, I'm going to suggest you get an e-bike for those journeys instead. Cheaper to run and easier to park.

Out of the for cars you listed the one I have first would be a leaf. Maserati a close second.

Brompton for station trips and cargo bike for supermarket he said unhelpfully as no experience of EV's.

For those types of distances I'd buy another bike and invest the savings (or buy more bikes) =)

WCA is a registered disablled , and thoroughly nice chap who used a ladder as a lever to snap his lower leg off , using height and weight as an added accelerant
Now, he probably could Ebike to the station , but its always wet , and dark and it will be stolen / parts stolen and he wants a nice eco car to do longer journeys to save baby robins

All I know about leafs if you will get a very good deal on a brand new 60kw version if you px your 40kw? persumably leaf against a shiney new one on a pcp for a piffling amount, as my mate sells them , and he gets 140 -150 mile range between charges.

Brothers mrs has the previous model Leaf which is used for local runabout duties. It's the lower range one so only really 100mile real world range...less if you're cruising on a dual carriageway or motorway...but plenty enough for their local runabout...as it would be for 90% of us if we're really honest with ourselves. He'll charge it up and it will typically last a few days before it needs charging again.

However he and his wife loves it. I don't think they'll ever go back to an ICE car for those duties.

I’m going to suggest you get an e-bike for those journeys instead. Cheaper to run and easier to park.

If elderly and/or disabled 😎 2 miles?

A half-decent cargo bike or utility bike. I’m a fat knacker with a groin injury yet can still honk two bags of shopping 2 miles uphill on a three speed 55lb Dutch bike. 8 miles on a weekend when I get to Aldi (16 mile round trip)

Sweesus, what’s the world coming to? Grumble grumble.. 1 mile to the supermarket? Socks,trainers and one of these:

https://www.johnlewis.com/rolser-saquet-trolley-black/p1521365?sku=233704920&s_ppc=2dx92700046625839812&tmad=c&tmcampid=2&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIu5HJn7_F5wIVg7HtCh01lQXjEAQYAiABEgLv5fD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

No need to worry about parking if you’re on the hoof...

If you really can’t walk two miles then just buy a beater bike for the station. £40 can get a lot these days.

with mudguards and rack

or add a rack.

Your body and mind will love you for it. So will your savings account 😉

Thanks for the clarificationngleTrackMind

The Leaf would only be for the journeies where the Maser wouldn't warm up..

I have an eBike but would you park a £3.5K bike outside a train station each day? You would spend more time filling in insurance claims than riding.Trust me, I have thought about it.

What you want is a zoe nick 😜.

I have a 2014 Leaf. Had it for 4 years now and it's been cost free other than consumables. Bit heavy on tyres for a small car but that is more than made up for by the laughable running costs.

My only caveat to Mr WCA would be that EVs don't like to be left fully charged. 2-3 miles a day will not do the battery much good.

However not to worry. Pretty much everyone I know with an EV drives it far more than they ever thought they would. Firstly it's cheap power and secondly they are a lot more fun than the headline specs would have you believe, especially at road legal speeds.

WCA is a registered disablled , and thoroughly nice chap who used a ladder as a lever to snap his lower leg off , using height and weight as an added accelerant

Ouch.

To OP, my humble apologies.

(to self - always read all comments before foot goes in mouth)

Everyone else - you just need one of these 😉:

clarificationngleTrackMind

Nice work 👍🏻

My mid 70's dad is going Full Thunberg at the moment and went to test drive a Leaf the other week. Discounted as...

"unfortunately my wheelbarrow wouldn't go in the back with the seats down"

The man has some odd ideas, but honestly, I didn't see that one coming. 🤣
HTH

Nixie - A quick google suggests you might be right Zoe

“unfortunately my wheelbarrow wouldn’t go in the back with the seats down”

we can add that to the STW response of "it wouldnt tow my caravan to china on my weekend holidays in one charge ? "

“unfortunately my wheelbarrow wouldn’t go in the back with the seats down”

If purchasing a leaf then presumably has enough capital to store wheelbarrows around the country as required so never has to borrow one? See BarrowTrackWorld for more on that

He could undoubtedly afford multiple barrows, but they'd just not be the same as his favorite one with the puncture proof tyre. 🙄

Saw a mate of mine grumbling on about a bit of legislation from the IET regarding EV charge points.

Something along the lines of a separate earth electrode required and this must not be within 10m of any other potential electric interference to avoid touch voltage!

So not sure if this includes the ones installed at people's homes.

Oh and this is to be applied retrospectively to all charge points!

A friend has just bought a bargain Twizy for this kind of thing.  It has a few issues to sort, but then looks just the tool and very easy to park!

then looks just the tool

WCA's biggest worry? 😉

I am now the proud/slight embarrassed owner of a £5K Nissan Leaf

I am now the proud/slight embarrassed owner of a £5K Nissan Leaf

That’s a bargain. They look a bit 😝 but they drive 🤩... smashing bits of kit.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/4pTkwrcFSxMHZWtA9

I wonder if I can tint the from windows and windscreen so people don't see me?

I wonder if I can tint the from windows and windscreen so people don’t see me?

Just get yourself some new driving apparel

Unfortunately it looks like you have a Gen 1

If it has an electronic handbrake you do and when it breaks it will cost more than the car is worth to fix.

Range rover had a similar issue where you have to lift the body the inches of the rear chassis to replace it.

The cost is for time, not parts. There is a switch in the cabin and a small electric motor between the rear wheels that pulls the cables that operate the brake itself. The cables get stuff out corroded and do the motor burns out.

Either try and clean the mechanism occasionally or learn to fit the parts. Time consuming but not as difficult as on the range rover.

Hand brake workw fine art the moment but thanks for the heads up.

Seriously what's with being defined by the car you happen to drive. Britain has such status anxiety it's unreal. At least your car isn't now giving children asthma or old people alzheimer's. Well in 🙂

Seriously what’s with being defined by the car you happen to drive

Not aware of WCA's posting history then?

if you intend keeping, it might be worth finding out more info on the state of the battery with leaf spy and a little dongle OBD2, someting to do with GID's

Apologies to @WorldClassAccident for making assumptions in my post.

Hope you enjoy driving the Leaf. FWIW, our leaf is the first car we've owned that I haven't hated driving. Given you seem to actually enjoy driving anyway I suspect we're coming at it from different angles though!

Stevious - no need to apologise and having read back I am not sure what you are apologising for.

Yes I like cars and have had many 'exciting' cars that would currently be considered unsuitable but the smooth thrust from a 6 litre V12 has to be experienced.

I consider the Leaf as a domestic appliance to get me to and from the station where there is no driving interest. It appears to fit the bill which is why I have bought it. The hope is that this will save the Maserati Grandturismo doing short journeys where it doesn't warm up properly and damages the mechanical accordingly.

#save the planet while saving the enjoyable cars. Win win?

First two weeks driving the cheapest 2nd hand leaf in the UK.

First, I didn't buy it to be an ecobunny, I bought it to save my petrol cars from lots of short journeys.

Pros
Quite cheap
Easy to jump in an pop down the shop without feeling any mechanical sympathy for cold engines.
Innocuous little Japanese hatch that doesn't feel much different to any other innocuous little Japanese shit box....

Cons
A real world range of about 40 miles max
Seat belts required industrial cleaner and a steam gun to remove the mould an curry stains.
My family and friends are worried for me given my past history of cars

Surprises
Just how many little trips I do each week.
I haven't used the other cars - mostly due to work commitments and bad weather

To Do
Change to Octopus Energy
Work out how to do timed charging
Give up on Nissan Connect

I think you'll miss the cool breeze in your hair you'd get if you made those trips by bike.

I can't see the car would be any issue for that journey just a bit pointless to embed £10ks of your money on that when you could put a couple of k into utility bikes and waterproofs, and the rest into a nice car or mountain bike.

A real world range of about 40 miles max

What condition is it saying the battery is in?

I am now the proud/slight embarrassed owner of a £5K Nissan Leaf

bit pointless to embed £10ks of your money

Am I the only one on here that bothers to read a thread before considering replying?

[i]What condition is it saying the battery is in?[/i] SOH=60% hence cheap price. Fine for up and down to the station though.

[i]I think you’ll miss the cool breeze in your hair you’d get if you made those trips by bike.[/i] But I won't miss those long walks home each time my bike is nicked from the station.

[i]pointless to embed £10ks[/i] & [i]the rest into a nice car[/i] - The plan is to use the Leaf to keep the wear and tear off a Maserati. I reckon I will save £5K in extra costs within 2-3 years....

[i]couple of k into utility bikes and waterproofs[/i] - My wife doesn't like cycling so who am I to force her to get wet and miserable for no benefit.

What condition is it saying the battery is in? SOH=60% hence cheap price. Fine for up and down to the station though.

According to the EV doubters at Top Gear, that's the problem with the Leaf, when they're getting on a bit the range falls to 35-40 real world miles and nobody wants them, hence very cheap to buy. I guess that would seem very limiting to a lot of people for an only car, but you've got a few.

I think in reality, a 40 mile range would suit a lot of people for a lot of the time.

Nonviable as an only car but perfect for home to Station, Home to Supermarket, Home to Friends type journeys. Free for the Itchen Bridge too if you are in Southampton

I think in reality, a 40 mile range would suit a lot of people for a lot of the time.

Perfect second car territory; let’s hope there’s a glut and no one wants them to bring residuals right down 😎👍🏼

~£27K new, ~£5K with 74,000 miles. Not as bad depreciation as some but then for £5K you have a car that only does 40 miles.

My thoughts were to wait a couple of years for reconditioned battery prices to drop. They were ~£16K in 2014 and ~£6,500 2019. Once they drop another couple of £K I can replace mine and suddenly get a 100 mile range EV (assuming upgrade to 30KW) for £3-4K.

Cheap second vehicle. You just need to think of batteries as consumables and spread the cost over the miles. Suddenly they are fractions of a penny per mile and so the cost is almost irrelevant

My thoughts were to wait a couple of years for reconditioned battery prices to drop. They were ~£16K in 2014 and ~£6,500 2019. Once they drop another couple of £K I can replace mine and suddenly get a 100 mile range EV (assuming upgrade to 30KW) for £3-4K.

👍 I heard there are companies who will part ex a recon battery for your battery or recon your battery as it's only worn pouches or modules that need replacing.

To Do
1)Change to Octopus Energy
2)Work out how to do timed charging
3)Give up on Nissan Connect

Have you got a home charger yet?

1)I'm on Octopus Agile. You go on a interim tariff until either you get a smart meter installed or they set up communication with your secure smart meter. It can take about 3 months from supplier switch to meter install to going onto your chosen tariff (Agile or Go). To cover the interim tariff cost make sure you get a referral code from someone (i.e. me), the £50 bonus will cover the slightly high tariff cost for that interim 3 months(ish)
2) is that 'working out timed charging' from a menu in the car? If you go onto Agile tariff then you are best having a Ohme wall charger (or Zappi) or untethered wall charger with Ohme cable. Then the charger(or ohme cable) will cherry pick the cheapest 1/2 hr Agile tariffs for you.
[url= http://i.imgur.com/YPO18SLm.jp g" target="_blank">http://i.imgur.com/YPO18SLm.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
So in this example it might charge 00.30-01.00, 02.30-03.00 and 03.30-05.00 to get the cheapest cost for you up to how full you want the battery.
3) is Nissan connect that bad? (I'd heard as such)

[i]I heard there are companies who will part ex a recon battery for your battery or recon your battery as it’s only worn pouches or modules that need replacing.[/i]
Yes there are. You give them you battery and£6,500 and they fix the worn pouches and return it to you fully working. At the moment there are very few such companies but I see the market expanding in the next couple of years as more and more 8-10 year old Leafs are mechanically fine but need batteries.

I would love a referral code from you for Octopus please.

The charging for the moment is through a 3 pin as I dont want to invest in a wall charger yet. I am thinking that I will get a tethered charger but as the Leaf is Type 1 that is a bad investment. If I stay electric, which I guess we will all be forced to soon, then I will get a tethered charger to fit the new car. I will use the in car timer to get the cheap rates from the GO tariff for the moment.

WorldClassAccident
Member

Yes there are. You give them you battery and£6,500 and they fix the worn pouches and return it to you fully working. At the moment there are very few such companies but I see the market expanding in the next couple of years as more and more 8-10 year old Leafs are mechanically fine but need batteries.

I read that Nissan were doing refurbed packs for roughly £3K

eta- £2K but in Japan https://www.carsuk.net/cost-of-replacing-the-nissan-leafs-batteries-drops-90-in-seven-years/

Seat belts required industrial cleaner and a steam gun to remove the mould an curry stains.

Dirty EV bastards.

I am thinking that I will get a tethered charger but as the Leaf is Type 1 that is a bad investment. If I stay electric, which I guess we will all be forced to soon, then I will get a tethered charger to fit the new car. I will use the in car timer to get the cheap rates from the GO tariff for the moment.

Thank you very much WCA (I've PM'd you my code).

Re tethered chargers, My understanding is that you would only need to get the cable changed over from type1 to type2, so it wouldn't require a whole new charger unit (this might differ depending on the brand of unit ie Ohme?? not sure). The other interim option is to get a commando socket installed (presumably the electrics to the commando socket could then be used for the new charger unit?). Only other thing I can think of is if you have any intention of trying Agile tariff then it works best with a charger that can work with Agile (I think right now that's Ohme or Zappi, I would imagine more will be wanting to get onboard) as in having the tech to cherry pick the cheapest times as per the example above.

While all this battery swap stuff is possible, I think a lot of these early Leafs (and probably much of the generations after) will do that runabout job on their degraded batteries, changing hands for less and less money to people that need less and less range. Just the labour in doing a battery swap is quite pricey, let alone the pack, and you'll never get that back. 30-40 miles is absolutely fine for a lot of people as a second car for running kids about, shopping, etc.

We got an untethered charge point a couple of years ago and used to just leave the cable attached when we were charging the PHEV every day (run it through a padlock/hasp if you're worried about theft). These days I only need to do once a week so it lives in the boot. Cars generally come with the right cable - you need your own for public non-rapid charging - so any future one will work fine with your untethered point. They've already got more expensive to install recently and I can only see that getting more expensive if the grant get squeezed more.

I'm the same as simon-g, I've got an untethered Rolec (none smart) and recently bought an Ohme smart cable through Octopus Energy. Only about 12 months ago Rolec website was quoting £149 for a straightforward untethered charger install (with grant), then it went to £249 for a smart charger install, now it's £295.

Leafs quite decent on lease at the moment.

Don't overlook EDFs tarrif too.

Slightly more expensive than the others but available over much better time periods.

I agree about 30 miles bring fine for what I use the car for. I have two others for fun or longer journeys. This is also why I am not getting a charger yet.

The car I bought is a cheap experiment I want to run for a year or so to see what I really need

My thoughts about tethered is that if I don't get one then I will just leave the cable in anyway for convenience (and need s spare for the car)

Do the degraded batteries still require the same time to recharge? i.e. does the ppm charging cost increase as battery life decreases?

"According to the EV doubters at Top Gear, that’s the problem with the Leaf, when they’re getting on a bit the range falls to 35-40 real world miles and nobody wants them, hence very cheap to buy. I guess that would seem very limiting to a lot of people for an only car, but you’ve got a few."

Problem is its a V1 and they have the worst battery degredation.

Mine is a V2 and getting on for 6 years old. Battery is still at 89% and it was at 85% when I bought it!  Basically it was 'stored' on a drive by an old lady for 2 years where it did less than 4k miles and was left plugged in the rest of the time. I bought it and have driven it like it was stolen for the last 3.5 years. I've put 40k on it and charged it hundreds and hundreds of times. I've carried bikes  and kayaks on the roof and loaded it down with people and kit.

Its filthy and the alloys are scratched but the battery is in far ruder health than when I got it. I reckon if I drove like miss daisy I'd get 75- 80 miles out of it.