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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

#331

Post by com2kid »

nebula8804 wrote: post #269
Workaccount2 wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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, Bo…

The audio really is banging. Everything from dubstep to heavy metal to classical it handles as well as any car audio system will (which is to say garbage compared to even a mediocre home audio setup, but all car audio sucks due to acoustics of being in a car going down a road!)

Sadly I live in a city now so I can't drive down curvy roads away from everyone, windows down blasting beats anymore. :( (I try to be a responsible asshole! :)

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

#332

Post by eptcyka »

marcusb wrote: post #274
shrubble wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not an outlier for a lot of people in the USA or the western part of Canada.

Citation please. It takes over seven hours to drive 500 miles non-stop at 70mph. I’d love to see a credible source that documents “a lot” of people are routinely driving this far in their personal vehicles.

Without stopping.

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

#333

Post by sorenjan »

lagniappe wrote: post #220
pbronez wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BMW i3 are going for about the same.

and they're an absolute -nightmare- to maintain.... even with that being the case i still want one because russ hannaman had a point- everyone loves a car with doors that open like this \[]/ not like this =[]=

The i3 has suicide doors, the i8 is the one with three comma doors.

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

#334

Post by foobazgt »

potato3732842 wrote: post #79
blitzar wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> recharge after roughly 170 miles ... these cars won't be dead weight or dirt cheap The average car journey is 8 miles. Being an average with a finite lower limit of 0 it is skewed higher by the people who for various reasons drive long distances. You don't need a 1,000 mile range to get to the shops at the end of the street. It helps, but not that much.

You can screech about averages and means all you want but the fact of the matter is that if you're exceeding your vehicle's capabilities on a weekly or monthly basis the inconvenience of ownership goes up exponentially. I do 100mi/day but I all but need the ability to make that 200 on a weekly basis and am doing a 300 on a monthly basis. With charging at work and home those numbers become 50, 150 and 250 between char…

It sounds like you can't find a used minivan-like EV, with 250+mi range. A 2022 model y has 330mi range new (probably around 300mi now). You can get them for $23K after federal rebate. Seems like a good deal that would be "doable" for you.

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

#335

Post by marcusb »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #314
marcusb wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Citation please. It takes over seven hours to drive 500 miles non-stop at 70mph. I’d love to see a credible source that documents “a lot” of people are routinely driving this far in their personal vehicles.

Lots of people regularly drive 500 miles. The question is, how many drive 500 miles without 15 to 30 minutes of stopping? That I suspect is the small number. Doing so is illegal for commercial drivers in many jurisdictions, for darn good reasons. It's downright dangerous.

As I said before, “citation please.”

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

#336

Post by FireBeyond »

cosmic_cheese wrote: post #286
rogerrogerr wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

The way dealerships roll rebates into their advertised prices is incredibly annoying if you don’t qualify. I kind of wonder if prices aren’t being inflated somewhat by dealers being able to put numbers that are ~$10k lower than reality out there.

Let's not pretend dealerships (for all their legitimate issues) are solely at fault here. Tesla makes you scroll down to find a light grey small text checked box "Include $7,500 Federal tax credit" that is the default.

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

#337

Post by floxy »

t_tsonev wrote: post #254
ACCount37 wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Always check if that suspiciously cheap second hand EV you're buying had active battery cooling. A lot of the crap like the early Nissan Leafs didn't. And between that and the first gen EV battery pack design being shit in general, the battery pack just cooks itself. Its capacity falls off a cliff over time. This is where a lot of those early concerns about EV battery packs being hideously expensive consumables was c…

This is not a general rule and many non-cooled and air-cooled batteries can hold up pretty well. The battery cooling becomes a limiting factor for DC charging, especially if multiple charging sessions are required per trip. The Leaf limited battery life is mainly to its battery chemistry (LMO), although it arguably doesn't go to great lengths to ensure thermal stability of the pack.

The Leaf has went through many battery changes through out the years. The Gen 2 (2018+ model years) were NMC (532?) and then there was a change again in 2023 (811?).

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

#338

Post by IshKebab »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #309
blank_fan_pill wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it will likely retain almost no value as time goes on. If you're buying a car as an investment I have bad news for you...

Sure, but you can buy one for $12k and get almost nothing back, or buy a more modern EV for $25k and maybe get $13k back. In both cases you are losing $12k in a few years, but in one of the cases you get a more modern car.

Nah, the newer a car is the faster it deprecates.

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

#339

Post by bryanlarsen »

marcusb wrote: post #335
bryanlarsen wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of people regularly drive 500 miles. The question is, how many drive 500 miles without 15 to 30 minutes of stopping? That I suspect is the small number. Doing so is illegal for commercial drivers in many jurisdictions, for darn good reasons. It's downright dangerous.

As I said before, “citation please.”

You know what's a lot stronger comeback than "citation please"? Doing your own Googling, and then posting the results with a "hah, you're wrong".

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

#340

Post by kjkjadksj »

plopz wrote: post #326
matthewaveryusa wrote: post #159

I literally bought the cheapest EV: 400 dollars for a 2012 nissan leaf with 80% battery life and 80k miles (saved from being junked.) MA taxes and delivery made it about 1k when it was all said and done. Insurance is 400/year. We fit 3 kid seats in the back and have replaced all our metropolitan rides with the nissan. Ostensibly we are all Our range is 60 miles in the summer, 50 in the winter. Because of how we use i…

is your excise tax really 375? my 2014 honda civic is only $50

Registration is usually far higher with EVs because they aren’t paying into gas taxes that go towards road work.
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