Nissan Leaf - Done with fuel!

[8$PG]

Hi!

I've recently bought an electric car. A Nissan Leaf -12 with 10'000 km on the odometer. This was a couple of weeks ago and 1800 km later I feel totally excited. This is great being able to drive almost anywhere you need to go charging only electricity which is about $0.03/km and for the most part I can charge for free! Total cost per km is about $0.17 including insurance and loss of value.

In reality range is about 100 km on freeway and 150 km in town this time of year with winter tires. Climate control reduces the range by appr. 10%.
Quick charging (50 kW) takes about 30 minutes. Slow charge with 10A 8-10 hours, mode-3 charging 16A 3,7 kW 5-6 hours. Quick charging is really growing here with knew stations being installed every week.

95% of the electricity here is produced without any green house gas emissions. I only buy 100% renewable energy for charging at home. This means the emissions and contribution to climate change are almost zero driving this car. And this is without compromising with reduced mobility/comfort economy or anything. The car is actually more comfortable, roomier and more equipped than the BMW that only sits parked gathering leaves at the moment. It really does give genuine hope about the future of transportation. It's very inspiring how much you can do for the environment this easy and it only makes you want to do more... I'm done with fuel! Bought my last fueled car years ago.

[Draigflag]

Hello. Interesting to hear from an electric car owner. I have considered a small electric car for short urban journeys. One of the downsides as you have mentioned, is the very limited range, meaning only short journies can be had between charging. How does the battery cost work? I see Renault make you "lease" the battery on a monthly payment (about £45 a month for 5000 miles a year) so it actualy works out more expensive here to run an electric car unfortunatley. The good news is, you don't have to pay for battery replacement, and the government also gives you £5000 towards a new electric car

[8$PG]

I own the batteries with the car. Leasing the battery is an option when buying a new car but the leasing stays with the vehicle. I prefer owning the batteries with a warranty of 100'000km (life span should be more than double that), although there is an exchange program that you can join later on to upgrade the batteries when newer technology is available.

Loss of value is estimated pretty low since it's a used car. Also no tax and low insurance, no oil changes. Finding a cheaper ICE-car would be hard. Not even the Prius which is one of the cheaper cars to own comes close.

[Draigflag]

I see. I wasnt sure how long the batteries last, I was hoping they last a bit longer than a laptop battery, as my girlfriends 2 year old laptop now only lasts about 90 minutes after a full charge!

I have seen the prices drop a lot ( I saw a new Renault Fluence with less than 10,000 on the clock going for just £4,995) probably due to the low demand and small range, so perhaps now is the best time to buy an electric car, as the UK government is installing charge points at most service stations. I think my local Renault dealer has a fast charge point too.

[trollbait]

Renault is battery lease only, which many what ifs to it. Specially in the case of used cars.

[Draigflag]

Yes, its going to put a lot of people off. Ive seen a lot of highway workers using the little two seater Twizy as a convoy car for traffic to follow through diversions etc. I think the Twizy would suit me, small and easy to park, 2 seats and perfect for short urban trips to work and back.

[LouSiffer]

I've seen quite a few Leafs (Leaves??) here and I'm considering making the switch when my car dies. For the few long trips I take a year I'll rent a car. Right now in my province there's an $8600 government rebate for switching to electric, taking the price of a new Leaf down to about $23K.

[8$PG]

Sounds like a very good price for a new Leaf.

I'm still deciding on whether to sell the BMW or not. It haven't been needed yet but I do plan a couple of longer trips within next year. Not enough to justify having a separate car, but still I'm reluctant to sell it because it's a good car with diesel heater hard to come by if we do decide we have the use for a second car. The range of the EV is sufficient for 94% of the trips we take. Renting a car when needed sure would be a more economic solution. Another solution is taking the longer trips by train.

[8$PG]

We did end up selling the BMW a month ago, so from here on we only drive on electricity which is great!

[Railhead]

I hope you like the LEAF. I have a Smart Electric Drive. got a great deal on it. Now time will tell how inexpensive it really is to operate. $750 down, $100 per month Lease for 36 months, dealership paid the first 6 months of my lease, and I got a $2,500 rebate from the state of California. I got a decent deal. Research shows about 95 miles per KwH. or said differently, about 320 miles for $9.90, based on my electric rates.