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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

#611

Post by vel0city »

seltzered_ wrote: post #603
vel0city wrote: post #568

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What was the specific connector for that "dryer outlet"? Was it an L6-30 30A receptacle that was constantly getting nearly 30A of load, or a cheaply made 14-50 outlet?

The youtube channel 'State of Charge' has a number of videos talking about cheap connectors and/or lower spec connectors catching fire. Happens even on setups where people had a dedicated level 2 ev charger outlet (NEMA 14-50 , aka dryer outlet) but the installer used a connector not rated for enough current. See https://youtu.be/fzgxKChqjtc to start. One needs to do one or possibly a combination of: - Set the pin se…

> NEMA 14-50 , aka dryer outlet

The reason why I was asking for the outlet is precisely because "dryer outlet" can mean a lot of different things. Dryers in the US usually don't even come with cords out of the box because people may have a few different plugs. Does it have a neutral? Is it 30A or 50A? All possibilities for a "dryer outlet".

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

#612

Post by boulos »

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 €…

spark.bg uses recent eUPs heavily! It's the first car listed at https://spark.bg/en/electric-cars/ .

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

#613

Post by rockostrich »

> I hate every time I have to jack up my car and change the brakes, or take it in for oil/fluid changes

This is is such a weird take. Most EVs weigh a lot more than a ICE car (although the Leaf is about the same as most normal sized sedans) so the brake pads wear more quickly. And anyone that takes the time to change their brakes is likely doing their own oil changes because it takes 15 minutes.

The rest of the write-up is pretty spot on though. I leased a Hyundai Ioniq 6 2 years ago because I thought I would enjoy the driving experience. I was living in Philly and at the time it was my only car so I used it for trips to other parts of the city as well as any driving around the northeast to see friends and family. It's amazing for local driving, but doing any kind of drive that was more than 100 miles was a logistical pain. Even if you plan out the stops, you are still constantly worrying about whether or not there will be a long line to charge or the chargers themselves are broken even if they are reported as working in the apps.

I've since moved to the suburbs and my partner uses the Ioniq to commute to work because it's perfect for that. For any longer trips, we opt for our ICE car.

The only future foray I would consider with EVs is doing something like an EV conversion on my kei truck. Hopefully the Slate and Telo are the start of a wave of small EV trucks because I love the idea of a small truck that I can use to bring to Home Depot or to pick up larger FB Marketplace purchased.

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

#614

Post by rockostrich »

rootusrootus wrote: post #602
ec109685 wrote: post #569

Car dealerships are so useless. Imagine making a profit but offering this level of service: > Range Anxiety: Yes, it's overblown, but no, it's not non-existent. The day I bought my used EV, the dealership (which doesn't sell many EVs, even new) didn't have a 'Level 3' DC fast charger—and they had only charged it to about 16%. Letting it top off at L2 while I was dealing with finance, we got to 23%. I wasn't quite sur…

This shouldn't really big a big deal in most metro areas, at least. The car dealer doesn't have a big tank of gasoline on site, either, they just drive the car to the station and fill it up while you're signing the papers. They could just drive to the local fast charger with the EV and do exactly the same thing.

> This shouldn't really big a big deal in most metro areas

Not sure which areas you're referring to but in the Northeast EV infrastructure around the metro areas is not the best. In my experience, I would have to plan out my stops if I was driving between Philly and NYC if I didn't have a 90+% charge and even then I would be worried that there would be a line or chargers would be out of order.

Taking a look at an EV map, there's only half a dozen stations around NYC with 100+ kW chargers and almost all of those chargers are in-use at 2 pm on a Saturday. Sure you can go to a slower charger or just wait, but it's a pain in the ass if you are trying to plan out a trip and show up on time.

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

#615

Post by dbtc »

rockostrich wrote: post #613

> I hate every time I have to jack up my car and change the brakes, or take it in for oil/fluid changes This is is such a weird take. Most EVs weigh a lot more than a ICE car (although the Leaf is about the same as most normal sized sedans) so the brake pads wear more quickly. And anyone that takes the time to change their brakes is likely doing their own oil changes because it takes 15 minutes. The rest of the write…

> so the brake pads wear more quickly

I don't think so. With regen on a Bolt, I regularly drive dozens of miles (in traffic, and with full stops) without touching the break pedal.

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

#617

Post by rockostrich »

jiveturkey wrote: post #594

> One pedal driving Seriously, why doesn't every EV have this mode? It makes driving one feel SO much better than any gas car, in terms of connection between driver and car movement. _ANY_ gas car? 100% of manual transmission cars (and now PDK/DSG/DCT) have this.

One pedal driving means you can come to a full stop and start accelerating again with a single pedal. You can certainly come to a full stop in a manual transmission car without touching the brake pedal or clutch but the engine will stall and you won't be able to accelerate again until you restart it and get the car back in gear. AFAIK no ICE cars have one pedal driving although I guess it's possible to implement sans the regenerative braking.

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

#618

Post by h2zizzle »

epolanski wrote: post #610
j1elo wrote: post #567

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't it also a way to keep outsiders out? If 30 mins by car becomes 1h30 by train+bus combinations, lots of people are effectively pushed out of even wanting to go to the city centre for meeting friends or having a family walk around.

Why would 30 minutes by car become 1.30 hours by public transport. My (European) experience is the opposite: it takes longer to go to work by car, you're sitting in traffic whereas subways and trains take a fraction of the time as they are not impacted at all. I live in Rome, which isn't known for great public transport. Yet I've seen multiple times people going from Rome suburbs to Naples downtown (a completely diff…

Unfortunately, America exported our car-privileging planning and policies, so those places that accepted our "expertise" buffed car travel as much as possible - traffic catches up, of course, but that's when the nerfs to public transit come in. It can be a number of strategies come to bear, including poor access to transit nodes, long wait times between service, and disruptions (American trains often have to wait for commercial traffic on rails). I can't speak for London, but if you're unfortunate enough to not live close to certain Washington, DC Metro stops, you're limited to driving to and parking at them, or to commuter options. Both are not ideal, timewise, but save you parking costs and sitting in traffic behind the wheel.

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

#619

Post by upcoming-sesame »

incanus77 wrote: post #600
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 €…

Agree! We got a used 2015 Fiat 500e for $8k 2.5 years ago and it’s been great as an around-town car. Don’t have kids, but can take a passenger or two in the back if need be (it’s tight) but for two people and errands, it’s been a fantastic value.

waiting for an electric Fiat Panda to be old enough.

need a mini electric car with high clearance and surprisingly there aren't that many.

(need a tall car as I live in rural area and am driving on many dirt roads )

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

#620

Post by fragmede »

upcoming-sesame wrote: post #619
incanus77 wrote: post #600

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree! We got a used 2015 Fiat 500e for $8k 2.5 years ago and it’s been great as an around-town car. Don’t have kids, but can take a passenger or two in the back if need be (it’s tight) but for two people and errands, it’s been a fantastic value.

waiting for an electric Fiat Panda to be old enough. need a mini electric car with high clearance and surprisingly there aren't that many. (need a tall car as I live in rural area and am driving on many dirt roads )

How many do you intend to drive at the same time?
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