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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

#261

Post by m463 »

that's not cheap. Cheap is the older leafs, which go for $3k.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/cta?auto_make_model=niss...

I bought a 2012 for $7500 in 2016 and drove it for several years.

1. chargers suck. there was evgo, blink, chargepoint. Most locations had 1 or most 2 DC fast chargers, but frequently they didn't work or were busy. Not reliable.

2. range was less that expected, even if you update expectations. It takes engineering to use the range you have, especially taking #1 into account. You don't want to get to a fast charger at 1% then find it doesn't work.

3. the battery health wasn't great, but because the battery capacity/range was less, the number of battery cycles was significantly more. I charged to a higher %, discharged low each day, and cycled daily.

4. the leaf was a perfect "around town" car. Not for trips.

Tesla has basically solved all of this and their cars are usable like a regular car*

* don't be pedantic, in 99% of situations/locations

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

#262

Post by goldchainposse »

masklinn wrote: post #25

> Lack of standards: For 'L3' DC Fast Charging, the Leaf has a CHAdeMO port. Teslas and many newer EVs have NACS. Then there's CCS1 and CCS2. And charging stations are run by multiple vendors with multiple apps and payment methods. It's not like gas stations, like with Shell, BP, Buckee's, etc. where you just drive up, stick the gas nozzle in your tank, and squeeze. Afaik in Europe, CCS2 is the standard (and mandator…

I understand how the US and EU have different electrical outlets, voltages and frequencies. The systems developed independently, standardized on compatible versions locally, and standardizing globally would be very expensive and almost impossible to do safely.

I don't understand how North America and Europe settled on different EV charging plugs.

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

#263

Post by asdff »

nkingsy wrote: post #243

I briefly owned a gen 1 leaf. It went from 70 miles of “range” (more like 25) at 100% to 50 in a couple of years of very light driving. Poor guy who bought it from me had all kinds of trouble trying to get it home.

Ebike would be nicer at that point. Battery takes far less time to charge over 110v. You can simply hot swap a charged battery. No insurance or registration requirements. Far lower base cost. Far lower maintenance costs. About the same range. Probably similar cargo volume compared to a cargo ebike. Just need a rain coat and rain pants and you are probably set for most conditions. Call an uber when you actually need to transport 4 people and you'd come out well ahead.

The big secret with bike commuting is that in urban setting on surface streets, its actually the fastest way to get around short of a motorcycle or helicopter. Yes, much faster than cars, thanks to lane splitting.

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

#264

Post by spicybbq »

kingstnap wrote: post #231
magicalhippo wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And that the rental company (AVIS) does not provide an AC adapter Here in Norway, new EVs are no longer allowed to be sold with AC adapters, due to the potential fire hazard. At least that's the reason I got when I purchased my current EV. Perhaps a EU thing, wouldn't surprise me.

This seems like the kind of regulation that causes more harm than it saves in anyone's house actually burning down. I did a cursory search and didn't find any EU reports of a house fire caused by a L1 charger. Sure you might burn a house down if you find one that has a plug which isn't correctly installed with loose connectors but the fire risk here wasn't the EV. Its the incorrectly installed wiring. You don't tell…

It could also lead to people buying cheap, potentially defective chargers online instead of getting a more reliable manufacturer-included one.

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

#265

Post by asdff »

jonfw wrote: post #236
HPsquared wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They tend to handle better than ICE cars due to the low centre of mass (also the fact the big mass - the battery - is firmly bolted to the frame and not wobbling around on rubber mounts like an engine does). These are both big advantages in terms of dynamics. Couple that with the much faster powertrain response and many options to do torque vectoring to each wheel (individual motors on sports models) and it's an easy…

People way overstate the "dynamics" advantages of EVs Yes EVs can keep their weight low, but it's a lot more weight to deal with. Yes EVs have excellent 0-60, but that's just because they have a great launch. Even doing a 5-60 pull removes the EV advantage. Starting from highway speeds? EVs start to look real slow. There are some good traits to EVs but, outside of launching hard in street car trim, performance is not…

That 0-10mph response is way too twitchy in most EVs i've ridden. The old teslas were not like this. I'm not sure what package my friends model 3 is or if it comes down to his lead foot but I feel nauseous in that car. Its a combination of that instant torque and the suspension sort of feeling like one of those play horses on a spring you see in playgrounds.

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

#266

Post by rogerrogerr »

chelmzy wrote: post #255
ambicapter wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There still are federal rebates?

Until September 30th so better hurry.

Note that many HN residents probably have too much MAGI - do your diligence on that tax credit before assuming you qualify.

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

#267

Post by doawoo »

I ended up grabbing an Ioniq fully electric 2019 and i absolutely love it. Got it for a decent used cost, interior wise it was like new, no huge touch screen, but a decent one for CarPlay and Android Auto, real knobs and buttons, and the online portion is entirely obsolete since it used 3G so it has no connection to the internet! It’s perfect for me

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

#268

Post by thorncorona »

m463 wrote: post #261

that's not cheap. Cheap is the older leafs, which go for $3k. https://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/cta?auto_make_model=niss... I bought a 2012 for $7500 in 2016 and drove it for several years. 1. chargers suck. there was evgo, blink, chargepoint. Most locations had 1 or most 2 DC fast chargers, but frequently they didn't work or were busy. Not reliable. 2. range was less that expected, even if you update expectations.…

+1 i was thinking of getting a bolt but it’s not a viable option if you like doing road trips.

either you get 2 cars or a fast charging ev. i chose the latter

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

#269

Post by nebula8804 »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #256
chelmzy wrote: post #251

Crazy he wouldn't go for a Bolt. I just bought a 2019 Chevy Bolt w/ 11k miles for $14.5k (so a bit over 10k after federal rebate). It has a brand new battery because all the Bolts were recalled for battery issues. Has around 250m range. Feel like I won the lottery. Still plenty of them available https://www.donohooauto.com/searchused.aspx?Make=Chevrolet&M...

I was so close to pulling the trigger on one of these except for 3 factors: It's driving assist platform is now deprecated and no longer receiving area expansions (I know many could not care less), it's charging speed is pretty slow by today's norms, and it will likely retain almost no value as time goes on.

Are you saying SuperCruise on the Bolt stops working or just that they wont expand existing coverage?

This Bolt EUV car drives so damn good. I was very impressed when I drove it.

The Bose audio is also quite good. After testing several new cars, I learned that Bose audio is not implemented the same across manufacturers. For example Mazda Premium Bose is just plain mediocre.

For the price that you can pay for one, Bolt EUV is an amazing deal. Unfortunately the charge speed is a deal breaker for many. But I never forgot how well it handles.

I really hope these cars last, they are a hidden gem and I think a lot wouldnt care about resale value if that charge speed was a bit better.

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

#270

Post by wffurr »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #256
chelmzy wrote: post #251

Crazy he wouldn't go for a Bolt. I just bought a 2019 Chevy Bolt w/ 11k miles for $14.5k (so a bit over 10k after federal rebate). It has a brand new battery because all the Bolts were recalled for battery issues. Has around 250m range. Feel like I won the lottery. Still plenty of them available https://www.donohooauto.com/searchused.aspx?Make=Chevrolet&M...

I was so close to pulling the trigger on one of these except for 3 factors: It's driving assist platform is now deprecated and no longer receiving area expansions (I know many could not care less), it's charging speed is pretty slow by today's norms, and it will likely retain almost no value as time goes on.

"driving assist platform is now deprecated and no longer receiving area expansions"

What driving assist platform? I don't think the older Chevy Bolts have any such thing. At least I'm pretty sure my 2017 doesn't.

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