Live data from Hacker News

I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf

jeffgeerling.com

661–670 of 683 posts

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

#661
post #529

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'll have paid $11k for the car, effectively. No you have not. You have paid $11k + a whole working car to get that one. I also can get a new iPhone every year "for only $500" if you consider the real price being "only $500 plus a year-old perfectly-working iPhone"

His trade-in car was a long way from "year-old perfectly-working". Looking at $13k (which excludes his $2k trade-in), I'm left wondering if my own conditions are favorable for switching to EV.

The iPhone example was just to make it more obvious, but the logic still applies. It's 13k at best, not 11k

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

#662
post #626

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EV motors typically outlive the rest of the car. Leaf is old enough that there's a whole cottage industry of battery repairs, replacements, and repurposing them for solar energy storage.

I assume you mean the batteries? What do people use the motors for?

I've meant you don't need to worry about motors failing in old EVs, unlike engines that are the primarily concern in old ICE cars.

Apart from battery degradation, the other thing that may be the final nail in the coffin for an old EV (other than Leaf) is failure of HVAC. Temperature management is important for keeping batteries healthy when fast charging, and to prevent motors from overheating when you send them a quarter of a megawatt of power.

And the rest of the problems is the same like in any other car of the same era.

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

#663
post #644

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always set my eUP to the lowest charging speed at 5A, which is less than many household appliances. No need for quicker charging if I get home in the evening and leave with a full, or close to full battery in the morning.

The rate doesn't actually matter. Over time and with a large pool of users it all averages out. Whether you charge fast or slow, your EV still consumes the same number of watts per day/week/month to cover your driving. (5A is about 600 watts, which is like having a space heater running: Not a small load.)

The wattage matters a great deal to the grid! If a whole neighborhood charges at max speed, that can become a problem. Here in Norway, you can get a discount on your electric bill if you let the grid operator adjust the charging speed at peak hours to help them balance load, and I guess frequency. A sensible approach.

600W is not much, that is an average gaming computer running a somewhat demanding game. Nerds all over the world have this as a multi hour nightly ritual. I choose to charge my car now and then instead :P

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

#664
post #661

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His trade-in car was a long way from "year-old perfectly-working". Looking at $13k (which excludes his $2k trade-in), I'm left wondering if my own conditions are favorable for switching to EV.

The iPhone example was just to make it more obvious, but the logic still applies. It's 13k at best, not 11k

I think you are misreading?

> $17k minus an extra $2k added to my Camry's trade-in value

This says the dealer paid a premium for the Camry to secure the deal on the Leaf. The Camry's full trade-in value was not given.

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

#665

My neighbor has an Ioniq 5, styling-wise it's cooler than my Tesla. Reminds me of Corrado -- one of my favorite cars. But we have had night and day experiences with charging our EVs. The supercharger network seems effortless & flawless -- almost too good. No payments, planning. The stations are clean, quiet & secluded. Just follow the Nav and charge. The third-party network has been a disaster for my neighbor. He's h…

You can charge Ioniq 5's at most Tesla charging stations. I have a 2025 and it comes with the NACS port. It can charge anywhere. It's great.

his has the older port , I think CCS. 2025 was the first year with NACS . I heard Hyundai offers the adapters free / discounted but he hasn't picked one up yet.

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

#666

My neighbor has an Ioniq 5, styling-wise it's cooler than my Tesla. Reminds me of Corrado -- one of my favorite cars. But we have had night and day experiences with charging our EVs. The supercharger network seems effortless & flawless -- almost too good. No payments, planning. The stations are clean, quiet & secluded. Just follow the Nav and charge. The third-party network has been a disaster for my neighbor. He's h…

You can charge Ioniq 5's at most Tesla charging stations. I have a 2025 and it comes with the NACS port. It can charge anywhere. It's great.

also he doesn't like Elon so i think he's a bit stubborn about it

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

#667

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a strawman - but we can play. You should be proud, but you should also lobby for better spend of the tax money. Regardless, a well functioning nation should target some level of equality. This does not necesarrily happen through taxes, but taxes have just shown to be incredibly effective. Regardless of your status, you still suffer from high inequality. If you are poor it is self explanatory. But even rich pe…

>But even rich people need to shield them from ceo killers, use incredibly bad infrastructure, etc. CEO killers are not a result of inequality. The only recent example of a CEO killer was a result of being the head of a health insurance company and the motivation was not his comp. Bad infrastructure is also not a good example. That’s just a result of gov choices on spending. At least in the US, pulling levers on taxi…

That's natural, upper class makes money from assets, not from work - it's hard and also probably morally impossible to tax these (do it and they sell and buy assets abroad where assets aren't taxed, and just throw country into shit, leaving generations without pensions and without profits from their consumption). Only something that has no way to run away, can be taxed. Labor is that thing: for all the bad things about America, you have to build walls to keep people out not keep them in.

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

#668
post #528

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then what are you talking about? We are talking about electric vehicle charging, as in, cars that have electric motors and are powered by a battery.

In my area according to Google maps I see J1772, CCS1, CCS2, Typ 2, CHAdeMO, NACS next to schuko (landline) (in Austria right now). As said not all stations provide all the standards, not every station has CCS2, hence why I carry multiple cable adapters. That's all I know really. As said I don't drive an electric car.

It's still unclear what you are talking about. Either way, the point still stands, all legal charging station in the EU have CCS cables.

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

#669
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…

Even cities with decent public transport have neighborhoods that aren't great for this.

I live in Munich and yet going by car is often the fastest, and only during rush hour it's worse. I generally use my bike though, which is so-so. If was 5min by foot from the subway station (and not 15) it would change drastically.

Also I mean it's not terrible, but 30-45 minutes to get somewhere by public transport is the norm. 5min to the bus stop, bus to the subway, subway then is quick. And by car this is often faster, also more reliable, and no walking in the rain.

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

#670
post #661

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The iPhone example was just to make it more obvious, but the logic still applies. It's 13k at best, not 11k

I think you are misreading? > $17k minus an extra $2k added to my Camry's trade-in value This says the dealer paid a premium for the Camry to secure the deal on the Leaf. The Camry's full trade-in value was not given.

Right, my initial statement applies: it's not "just $11k", it's a lot more.
Post reply on HN