I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf • Hacker News Board

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

#481

Post by rsolva » Sat, Sep 06, 2025, 5:51 AM UTC

danielheath wrote: post #407

nemo44x wrote: post #398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it so cheap to park your car and not others?

When you use a charging station, you pay for the power you consume, but not for "parking". This usually means you can't stay for a particularly long time.

Correct, but the time you can stay is surprisingly generous in Oslo, between 3 and 24 hours, depending on location. I used to dread driving to Oslo, but after I discovered that the municipality had repurposed an old bunker to fit hundreads of chargers/parking spost dead in the middle of town, I visit with gleeful joy :P

Here is a map of all charging points provided by the municipality around Oslo: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/2053e5d9f24c48c487e...

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

#482

Post by throwawaymaths » Sat, Sep 06, 2025, 5:51 AM UTC

magicalhippo wrote: post #143

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…

> 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.

norway is in the EU? did i miss something?

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

#483

Post by gabesullice » Sat, Sep 06, 2025, 5:51 AM UTC

marcsto2 wrote: post #454

geerlingguy wrote: post #437

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 :)

Jeff is a treasure! https://youtube.com/@jeffgeerling

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

#484

Post by mkingston » Sat, Sep 06, 2025, 5:54 AM UTC

marcsto2 wrote: post #454

geerlingguy wrote: post #437

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 :)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR-DXc1voovS8nhAvccRZhg

Jeff Geerling. Also the owner/author of the site we're discussing in this thread.

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

#485

Post by magicalhippo » Sat, Sep 06, 2025, 5:59 AM UTC

throwawaymaths wrote: post #482

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.

norway is in the EU? did i miss something?

Well you missed the earlier response[1] where I address this.

TL/DR: no but kinda yes

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45143835

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

#486

Post by adrianN » Sat, Sep 06, 2025, 6:01 AM UTC

throwawaymaths wrote: post #482

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.

norway is in the EU? did i miss something?

Norway is not in the EU but like Switzerland they copy a lot of sensible legislation.

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

#487

Post by rsolva » Sat, Sep 06, 2025, 6:12 AM UTC

jopsen wrote: post #419

rsolva wrote: post #365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really depends on just how cold it is outside and how much (or little) heat you are comfortable with inside. For mild winter weather (+5 to -5°C) and 18°C in the cabin, the range drops to around 80km or so. On a sunny summer day, I can easily get about 130km on Norwegian country roads, probably more. When driving to the Netherlands in the months between March and October, the consumption has been around 8.3kW/100k…

Most EV buyers would probably stay far away from cars with 80-130km range. Going 900km with that is pretty bold. I wouldn't want to.. But driving around town, this is perfect.

Yeah, me included, until we where going to NL and suddenly was left with no other option becuase our diesel car broke down.

I expected a nerve wreaking trip with the eUP, but got slightly more confident after some planning. Using abetterrouteplanner.com and a charging card from elli.eco, I could drop by almost any charging station and avoid apps or paying with a credit card.

Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands is flush with chargers, so a range of ~130 is actually more than enough.

After the first trip was a success, we have repeated the trip up and down several times, and will take the same trip this October. And by success, I mean a very respectable Wife Approval Factor and a pleasant trip all-around.

The only real downside I have found is that after the 7th or 8th charge, the battery start to get hot, and since there is no cooling the charging time drops from ~10 minutes to more like 18 minutes. But that usually only happens at the last one or two stops.

I know this is far outside the norm and I plan to get another used electric car with some more range at some point, but I'm in no hurry. Having tried what I thought to be almost impossible, I was surprised to find how painfree it actually was.

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

#488

Post by rsynnott » Sat, Sep 06, 2025, 6:29 AM UTC

jampa wrote: post #226

> And charging stations are run by multiple vendors with multiple apps and payment methods. I rented a PHEV in Spain, and this was the biggest issue. Every charger has an app. They want all your information, even your home address, before charging. Most of them error out after you try to make it work in the 44 °C / 110 °F Spanish sun. After trying five charging apps and only succeeding in one, I gave up charging comp…

The EU has finally fixed this, though only mandatory for chargers installed _after_ the regulation: https://electrek.co/2023/07/11/europe-passes-two-big-laws-to...

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

#489

Post by mschuster91 » Sat, Sep 06, 2025, 6:31 AM UTC

Symbiote wrote: post #399

mschuster91 wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Until you do the math and realize that the 3-4 annual trips of multiple days would end up costing thousands of dollars in rental fees per year. First, 3-4 annual multi-day trips that go for longer than 300 km? If one has that amount of disposable income to afford that, go for whatever the biggest Tesla is and use Superchargers along the route, even drives so long they're a safety issue on its own due to fatigue don…

I'm surprised you consider a 300km trip long, or 3-4 trips in a year excessive. That's only Berlin to Bielefeld. What do you do with your holiday? The EU minimum is 20 days annual leave per year.

For that kind of distance I take a train, Munich-Dortmund doesn't take that long. As for holidays, Croatia by bus or by night train to get around horrid traffic, extortion level road tolls and dumbass border controls.

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

#490

Post by anovikov » Sat, Sep 06, 2025, 6:58 AM UTC

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 €…

Funny! Here in Cyprus in spite of totally car-centric culture, parking is free almost everywhere or at the very worst, 4 EUR per DAY in a few spots, but even there it's usually possible to find a spot for free.

Sometimes i wonder how our nation works. Low taxes, effectively no poverty among locals (and a foreigner can only be poor if they are an illegal immigrant, otherwise they lose their rights of residence and kicked out), almost no crime, and a budget surplus! And nothing seems to be a ridiculous overcharge: even healthcare is dirt cheap, funded by a really low tax of 2.4-4% if income.

All issues we have seem to be a product of culture/poor education, rather than economical - such as some trash in the streets or very poor quality of building and car maintenance. Also no Schengen but again, only foreigners care about it.