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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

#541

Post by unyttigfjelltol »

b112 wrote: post #539
b112 wrote: post #500

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the pojnt of charging for parking, is for a company somewhere to make a fat, juicy profit. The company would prefer more people drive, and therefore, need to park.

Wow. Look at the downvotes. Yet almost every parking lot is privately owned, and many cities have even sold management of street parking to private companies. Do people seriously think that these companies want to charge more, for environmental reasons? Of course not. They care only for profit. https://news.wttw.com/2025/05/21/final-tally-chicago-taxpaye... The parent says that the reason the price is high, is becaus…

It’s expensive to provide parking and in a place like Cambridge. They’ve already stuffed cars in every available nook and cranny.

Did you think they should just let you park in Cambridge Common, Harvard Yard or the Charles River park? Why park at all— just stop your car in the middle of the street.

The T is atrocious. Parking is simply expensive.

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

#543

Post by bzzzt »

rsynnott wrote: post #83
bzzzt wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That wouldn't explain the unorthodox color schemes lots of smaller EVs like the i3 have. It really seems they are made uglier 'on purpose'. Also, a Tesla model S or 3 looks like a normal car so it's not other brands can't do that.

VW's first-gen EVs, the eGolf and later eUp, looked basically just like the Golf and Up. This lead people to believe that VW did not make electric cars (a lot of people thought the ID.3/4 were their first). The market _wants_ electric cars to be a bit weird-looking.

I don't buy that. The eGolf was impopular due to its tiny range, eUp was too expensive for something that's basically a glorified shopping kart. People are well aware VW had electric cars, and the ID3/4 also don't look that weird to me just as Tesla, Hyundai Kona/Kia Niro don't.

What the market wants is cars that are cheap to drive, practical and fast. While there are people wanting to make a statement with their car I can't believe that's a majority. The overwhelming amount of cars in my city belongs to the cheap/practical category.

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

#545

Post by sandworm101 »

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 €…

> which is nothing compared to regular parking

Such advantages will disappear as EVs become more common. Lots of stuff, like super-fast home charging stations or EV using HOV lanes, cannot scale as EVs become a majority. Enjoy the special treatment while it lasts.

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

#546

Post by arccy »

b112 wrote: post #539
b112 wrote: post #500

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the pojnt of charging for parking, is for a company somewhere to make a fat, juicy profit. The company would prefer more people drive, and therefore, need to park.

Wow. Look at the downvotes. Yet almost every parking lot is privately owned, and many cities have even sold management of street parking to private companies. Do people seriously think that these companies want to charge more, for environmental reasons? Of course not. They care only for profit. https://news.wttw.com/2025/05/21/final-tally-chicago-taxpaye... The parent says that the reason the price is high, is becaus…

the city decides things like street parking, minimum parking space requirements, or if you can put up a parking lot, thus deciding the total amount of available space. actual operation of the parking spaces can be offloaded to private entities.

if less space is allocated, it becomes more expensive (scarcity), driving down car use. this is an easy case of pricing in environment and external impacts.

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

#547

Post by inciampati »

ww520 wrote: post #535
throwaway2037 wrote: post #469

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should parking be easy or cheap in urban Cambridge? (For those unaware, MIT is just a short bridge across a river from Boston.) You should take the subway (metro) or bus. There are many non-driving options for the able-bodied.

I was driving from outside of Boston. Parking near subway was atrocious as well.

Alewife parking and the T in?

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

#548

Post by fifilura »

floxy wrote: post #344
geerlingguy wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that the health reported by the car dashboard, or by LeafSpy? The dash has some wiggle room in its 1-10 display an IIRC it will display 100% until the SoH is below like 90%...

Obviously they are reporting the dashboard number. The first bar drops at 85%. For a 2019, it is probably getting close to dropping its first dashboard bar.

After 25 years in the industry I should know that there is always someone that have read more forums and researched more :)

Either way, the car is 6 years old. At this rate the battery will still be pretty fine when it is 15 years old and ready for retirement.

Never charging it above 80% is not worth the hassle. It is like never using your left hand for the fear of hurting your left hand. You are crippling your car by overthinking.

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

#549

Post by ctkhn »

Leaf is great. Parents have the first model, and I love driving it whenever I'm visiting. Even after the battery degraded to under 90 miles, I was still able to make any drive I needed and recharge at home. Charging infrastructure around town has gotten a lot better too and I think when I have kids and need a car, the leaf is where I'll start my search.

Also, it's really incredible that the dealer only had the leaf charged to 16% at the time of sale.

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

#550

Post by vachina »

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…

When I did a roadtrip with a rented PHEV I just charged every night with the power plug. It’s kinda pointless since PHEV battery range is like what, 50km.
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