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I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf

jeffgeerling.com

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Re: I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf

#551

Post by germinalphrase »

sandworm101 wrote: post #545
rsolva wrote: post #312

Small, cheap electric cars are the best! Fun to drive, easy to maintain. I own an VW eUP 2015 model which costed me €4000 used. I do not know if they where for sale outside of Norway (I only see them here!), but it is the perfect car for 95% of our mobility needs. I drive it to work every day (where I can charge it for free). I drive it to Oslo and can park/charge almost anywhere around town for really cheap, about €…

> which is nothing compared to regular parking Such advantages will disappear as EVs become more common. Lots of stuff, like super-fast home charging stations or EV using HOV lanes, cannot scale as EVs become a majority. Enjoy the special treatment while it lasts.

Why wouldn’t fast home charging scale? Presumably, homeowners are doing their own installations.

Re: I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf

#552

Post by btbuildem »

> found myself with a very short commute, only driving a few miles a day > No gasoline-powered car [...] could match the feel of pressing the throttle on an electric.

You know what is unmatched for joyful travel through space, with occasional bursts of adrenaline? Especially practical over short distances of a few miles?

A bicycle! Especially when you already have one vehicle for family obligations.

I snicker when I see those ads that promise you'll be just whooshing around through rolling hills in your newest automotive purchase. No, buddy, you'll be gnashing teeth in traffic most of the time.

Re: I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf

#553

Post by jwilber »

btbuildem wrote: post #552

> found myself with a very short commute, only driving a few miles a day > No gasoline-powered car [...] could match the feel of pressing the throttle on an electric. You know what is unmatched for joyful travel through space, with occasional bursts of adrenaline? Especially practical over short distances of a few miles? A bicycle! Especially when you already have one vehicle for family obligations. I snicker when I…

To be fair, if you are gnashing teeth in traffic, a bike is probably fairly dangerous outside a select few cities.

Re: I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf

#554

Post by foxglacier »

herbst wrote: post #528
ranguna wrote: post #521

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then what are you talking about? We are talking about electric vehicle charging, as in, cars that have electric motors and are powered by a battery.

In my area according to Google maps I see J1772, CCS1, CCS2, Typ 2, CHAdeMO, NACS next to schuko (landline) (in Austria right now). As said not all stations provide all the standards, not every station has CCS2, hence why I carry multiple cable adapters. That's all I know really. As said I don't drive an electric car.

I think you confused everyone by saying RV instead of EV previously.

Re: I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf

#555

Post by kortilla »

tossandthrow wrote: post #526
irjustin wrote: post #512

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you proud of yours? I'm US and I'm not proud of how our taxes are earned and I'm definitely not proud how they're spent.

This is a strawman - but we can play. You should be proud, but you should also lobby for better spend of the tax money. Regardless, a well functioning nation should target some level of equality. This does not necesarrily happen through taxes, but taxes have just shown to be incredibly effective. Regardless of your status, you still suffer from high inequality. If you are poor it is self explanatory. But even rich pe…

>But even rich people need to shield them from ceo killers, use incredibly bad infrastructure, etc.

CEO killers are not a result of inequality. The only recent example of a CEO killer was a result of being the head of a health insurance company and the motivation was not his comp.

Bad infrastructure is also not a good example. That’s just a result of gov choices on spending.

At least in the US, pulling levers on taxing the middle and upper middle class produces far more revenue than hitting the 0.1%. This is why Democrats nor Republicans will ever provide meaningful cuts for people making $90k-$500k/year.

Inequality causes issues, but infrastructure failures is not one of them.

Re: I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf

#556

Post by NegativeK »

PaulKeeble wrote: post #119
Bairfhionn wrote: post #24

My Problem was always the Range Anxiety. Until I got an EV and realized it's not really an issue. There is always an App for that (and even on my car the software gets improved in that regard). Infrastructure is getting better, even companies starting to see it as a benefit to have cheap/free chargers at their offices to get people back. I see more and more electric trucks on the roads. It feels good.

I think until you have one you don't realise quite what having a range of 200+ miles means in practice. You don't actually drive for 500 miles without a break, that is 8-10 hours of constant motorway speed driving and its not safe to drive that long. So when you take 30 - 60 minutes for lunch on a long drive like that and charge the vehicle you are going another 200 miles before again really taking a break. As it sta…

I have a 300 mile range EV, and some of my friends also downplay charging on road trips. It seems to be a common narrative. I find it patently false. When I drove long distances in an gas car, I didn't take breaks to stretch my legs. I want to get to my destination earlier and have the driving be done.

I find EV charging on road trips to be annoying, and I can't wait until technology improves to the point where I don't have to worry about missing a charging station and being hosed and I don't have to worry about adding an hour to an hour and a half onto a road trip.

I think that gas vehicles are irresponsible for most uses and the charging at home makes having an EV great, but gas vehicles are better at road trips if only for the fact that those of us who don't want to take longer don't have to.

Re: I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf

#557

Post by merb »

Thlom wrote: post #534
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #522

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try downtown Manhattan. As to the GP, it’s refreshing to hear about a reliable VW. Most folks I know, that own VWs, complain about reliability. But they still love their cars. I’ve never driven a VW, but, apparently, they handle quite well.

I had the VW e-golf a while, and it was a super car. Never had any problems with it. Sold it to buy a VW Multivan (I think it's marketed as California in the US?) which also was a great car, but it was over 10 years old so obviously had a few relatively minor issues, but all in all happy with it.

California is basically the Camping variant of the earlier t3 and nowadays multivan (t7). It has a big history and used different frames (t4-t5) in the past. But it’s not a us thing. The first version was really close to a us only Model tough.

Re: I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf

#558

Post by eldaisfish »

Volundr wrote: post #199
throwaway-blaze wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This doesn't make sense. Wall plugs (like circuit breakers) are designed for a particular max amperage draw. If I have a 10A 120V circuit and wall plug, I can't charge my car at 8A? I have wall ovens that connect via a 50A circuit. Do I need to worry about fire hazards when I bake something for hours and hours?

Not an electrician, consult a real one for any actual electrical work or questions. It's complicated. Heat builds up over time. So for example your standard 15 amp breaker on a 14 gauge wire in the US is rated for 15 amps of intermittent use, but if you draw that continuously without letting the heat dissipate it becomes a fire hazard. IIRC circuits are generally rated for ~80% of their max load for continuous use, s…

i'm always surprised how people here downvote correct information. This is 100% correct because heat in electrical wiring is a function of power (current) and time. The vast majority of electrical devices in a typical home use under 80% of their rated power. The few that do use their full power, like a resistive heater, often do not run continuously.

In contrast, it is completely normal to charge an EV at a socket's maximum power for over ten hours straight. This time component is why charging EVs from a regular AC outlet can be a fire risk.

Re: I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf

#560

Post by merb »

masklinn wrote: post #472
avidiax wrote: post #468

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Standard circuits are either 8A or 10A. That's a little more power than a US 15A, or the same as a US 20A. There is often 3 phase power to the home in Europe, however. That allows 415V phase to phase and also 3-phase synchronous motors.

> Standard circuits are either 8A or 10A. Both type E and F plugs are rated for 16, and afaik that’s generally the rating in countries which use them. I’m sure there are others but Switzerland is the only country I know of in Europe were plugs are limited to 10 and you have to hard-wire 16.

Most camping places in France/spain that do have cee or type e/f might limit to 6a/10a. Fyi. It’s mostly to limit power draw since you pay a flat fee.
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