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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

#371

Post by BLKNSLVR »

richwater wrote: post #247
PaulKeeble wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> that is 8-10 hours of constant motorway speed driving and its not safe to drive that long [citation needed] considering plenty of people do it all the time (truck drivers)

I think having to resort to citing such a niche as truck drivers kinda makes the opposite point fairly well.

Having said that, I've taken lots of road trips in my day and it would be a change up to how they're planned, and I would have some concern about placement / availability. But then that's why, when we bought an EV for the 99% of our family use case we didn't immediately scrap yard our previous cars, which seemed to be what some family members expected when we told them we were considering getting an electric car.

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

#372

Post by Rebelgecko »

msh wrote: post #176
nottorp wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is tiring. Not everyone lives in the suburbs with a plug at ground level and getting out and stretching your legs is great when you choose where you do it but not when you do it in the queue for charging...

I have never been in a queue for charging in my 5 years of ev ownership. This includes 3 long roadtrips (Denmark to southern France so 1800 km to 2200 km each way) during summer vacations.

It's pretty common in California. Even though I was worried about charging on my first EV road trip, I've had an easier time in rural areas with lower EV ownership. Not as many Uber drivers using their freebie Electrify America charging.

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

#373

Post by vondur »

The Leaf's used to be pretty bad as far as electric cars went, with no active battery cooling or heating. I was pretty tempted to get a used Bolt EV. I've seen them for sub 20k with less than 30k miles on them. I've been driving around in my wife's older Subaru Crosstrek plug in hybrid, which works fine for the limited amount of driving I do to commute to work. We plan to give that car to my son once he gets his license.

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

#374

Post by dwood_dev »

donatj wrote: post #6

Hmm, my friend had a 2015 Leaf, the interior seemed much nicer and more modern than this 2023 model. > There is no 'play/pause' button. Anywhere. At least not on the steering wheel or the display area. You have to go into the music section on the entertainment display, then press the software play/pause button. That's dumb. My new to me 2023 Honda Odyssey has the same stupid issue. It's my first vehicle with a touch…

On my 2021 Nissan Kicks, the volume knob is the only play/pause button. It's not a mute button only, it does pause your media coming through CarPlay.

Also, this is my last Nissan. I have been thoroughly disappointed with the super buggy and laggy head unit in this thing and it is apparently a common theme for Nissan.

My 2016 Ford with CarPlay was rock solid.

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

#375

Post by zubiaur »

prmoustache wrote: post #56

> and I found myself with a very short commute, only driving a few miles a day, and a family minivan we use for nearly all the 'driving around the kids' stuff. > > So I wanted a smaller car (get back a foot or so of garage space...) that was also more efficient. All this to say what he really needs was an electrically assisted bicycle instead of a huge and heavy energy wasting vehicle.

Some cities have seasons. Some cities lack bike infra. Some people don't like bikes.

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

#376

Post by turtlebits »

cosmic_cheese wrote: post #273
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 have a lease end coming up and the Bolt/EUV are on my radar, but one significant advantage that Leafs have is that the lower trims can have their head unit swapped out for a nice Pioneer or Sony unit from Crutchfield, just like is possible with many ICE vehicles, which can get you a nicer infotainment experience (including wireless CarPlay/AA) that isn’t encrusted with rent-seeking gunk.

The Bolt EV supports Android Auto and Carplay, you can get a ~$30 USB dongle to give you wireless.

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

#377

Post by Rebelgecko »

sillyfluke wrote: post #133
elif wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did a 6500 mile ev road trip and battery capacity means next to nothing. All that matters is the charging curve between 3% and 60%. Literally all other variables disappear over a road trip.

Nice tip. Are there lots of cars with shittier ranges but sota 3-60% charging curves? What is your acceptable target number for this metric?

The e-GMP cars (Hyundai Ioniqs, Kia EV6) can do it in 13 minutes or so under ideal conditions. They have decent range but not top of the line.

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

#378

Post by vel0city »

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…

It's funny he mentions Buc-ees, as on the last couple of road trips with my non-Tesla EV buc-ees was a common charging stop where it was just pull up, plug in, and tap my credit card.

In fact, I haven't had to use an app for a DCFC in several years. They either work with plug and charge or take payment directly on the dispenser.

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

#379

Post by vel0city »

masklinn wrote: post #76
ZeroGravitas wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a lack of standards, it was an early proliferation of standards. Chademo is still standard in Japan. Also, given his comparison to the ease of the old way, in Europe at least it's fairly standard to know someone who has filled their hire car with diesel (or not diesel) by mistake. They have warning stickers on the filler flap because it happens so often. Meanwhile knowing someone who uses the inexplicably mo…

A big difference is that if you go to a gas station you’ll have both (and possibly more). At least in Europe. So while you need to fill with the right fuel unless the pump is broken or the tanks are empty the fuel you need will be available. In the US, if you roll up to a random charging station you may or may not find a plug matching your car’s port.

As someone who has gone on many EV road trips over the years, I've never had an issue of rolling into a random charging station and not having the right kind of plug. All I've had to do is avoid Tesla stations, all the other brands have worked with my car. And now that I got a Tesla DC adapter that I keep in my trunk, I can do fast charging at a decent chunk of the Tesla stations.

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

#380

Post by octo888 »

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 €…

> is usually ~€16/h

Holy HELL that is crazy. I thought £5/hr in London was crazy.

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