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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

#451

Post by maerF0x0 »

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've realized this for myself, based on me getting ~350miles from a ICE per tank, and only filling about once ever 3-4 weeks. It's clear that for like 99.99% of my driving miles are easily in EV Range, or even plugin hybrids. Which is why my next car probably will be the later. However at only driving 350 miles per month, plus the occasional road trip, I estimate my current car will last 10 more years or more.

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

#452

Post by com2kid »

culopatin wrote: post #435
com2kid wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lane keeping works (poorly) but Bolt's automatic cruise control implementation is really good and works in stop and go traffic and at street speeds. I've used ACS systems before that refused to work in both those scenarios. Charging time for road trips sucks. 99% of my driving is around town. Being a smaller EV it fits city life very well and I just top it off on a 120v plug every night. I got a 2023 fully loaded wit…

10k for a camera in a car the size of a skittle? I’m glad you enjoy it but I can’t understand what I would need it for.

It is actually the largest car I've ever owned, and if it was up to me it'd be a few inches narrower in the very least. I prefer sub-compacts. As it is I miss my first car, I could squeeze in-between almost any 2 cars and be able to open my door and get out. A bit more clearance in the EUV would be nice, I definitely miss out on some spaces because of the extra width compared to my past cars.

The camera is super useful when parking in narrow spaces in those parking garages where each space is flanked by concrete pillar on both sides (why design it like that? Those pillars are covered in car paint...) or when parallel parking on a one lane road that has cars parked on both sides (always fun!).

There is actually one underground parking garage I have to use occasionally that has a hairpin turn to get out, and the wall is an interesting mish-mash of car paint colors. I've turned on the cameras for that curve as well, absolutely horrible garage and having a top down view really helps out.

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

#454

Post by marcsto2 »

geerlingguy wrote: post #437
arbuge wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Re: the tax credit, note the income requirements here: https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/used-clean-vehicle-cr... I don't know anything about your situation, but I'm guessing quite a bit of the readers here on HN from the US won't qualify.

My YouTube (mostly now) income is a fraction of what I used to make as a software architect—I'm well within the limits these days :)

What's your channel :)

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

#455

Post by bryanlarsen »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #329
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chinese offer this also. My wife just got one a few months ago, I think these are new things. 220V has a real advantage in boiling water fast in traditional kettles though (I used to live in china and they were twice as fast as the ones in America). It is almost worth getting a 220V outlet in a kitchen just to support fast water kettles.

There are an insignificant number of kitchens with unused 220V outlets. 220V was wired in in case the owner wanted to install an electric stove, but a gas stove was installed instead. The problem is that it's in an inconvenient location and running a 220V/30A extension cord beside a stove is a really bad idea.

Just noticed i typo'd significant as insignificant. Totally changed the comment!

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

#456

Post by js2 »

> With EVs there are tradeoffs. Even in my situation, only driving a car a few miles a day, I do take my car on one or two regional road trips every year.

That's how we ended up with a Chevy Volt in 2017. 100K trouble-free miles later, we still have it and my wife still loves the car.

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

#457

Post by ak217 »

fragmede wrote: post #317
dreamcompiler wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish I could buy an electric kettle in the US that took advantage of the 20A outlets I have all over my house. Sigh.

Get a Japanese water boiler. They keep the water at boiling in a reservoir, so it's already hot when you want it, no waiting.

They are quite inefficient (yes, even the vacuum insulated ones) and the Zojirushi one has plastic inside the lid that disintegrates if you always keep the water on the high temperature setting. That means plasticizer from melted plastic in your drinking water.

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

#458

Post by dboreham »

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.

Queuing is common at non-Tesla sites in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah in my experience.

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

#459

Post by dboreham »

fusslo wrote: post #138
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.

is there a term like 'charge anxiety'? I was debating an electric vehicle in 2023. There are maybe 10 people (out of about 200) at work that have electric cars. My teammate is one of the ten. He wakes up early to get a charger. He tracks down the other owners to ask them to use the charger after lunch. They started a group chat about the chargers. My local grocery store has a bank of superchargers right in the middle…

Otoh my experience has been that random strangers who are charging EVs are much nicer than the average, and are often quite interesting to talk to. I hadn't expected this.

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

#460

Post by geerlingguy »

alchemist1e9 wrote: post #410
alchemist1e9 wrote: post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some reason when I charge at public chargers a very common vehicle next to me are those Chevy Bolts. If you’ve never compared them side by side you will be surprised, the Leaf is a MUCH nicer car, the Bolts just look way cheaper and lower quality vehicles. I also don’t get this CCS drama, I have yet to come across an actual fast charger station that doesn’t have CHAdeMO in addition to the CCS connection. Maybe in…

I’m wrong about CCS, can’t edit this long after so replying here to myself to clarify. I’m dumb, of course I always see CHAdeMO because my charger app is set to that for DC fast. Duh … a friend said unset filters and yeah there are more CCS DC fast.

Yeah, in St. Louis metro, I think there are only like 2-3 CHAdeMO chargers, period.

On the trip to Chicago, I only see 4 plugs on the way, and those are all at dealerships... which often have cars parked in front of them, so I can't really rely on those being available :D

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