My parents don't drive much anymore. Thinking that an early Leaf might be good for them. What are inhenent issues/costs?
My parents don't drive much anymore. Thinking that an early Leaf might be good for them. What are inhenent issues/costs?
For maintenance, there's next to nothing. You should bleed the brakes every couple years. They say you should get a battery check yearly but most don't. Tires?
For issues, stick to the 2013+ SV or SL models for the fastest onboard chargers. Will they use any level 3 DC chargers? If not, the Quick Charge package may not be important to them. Charging at home is easy and very cheap. I don't think I ever spent $20 a month on electricity when I had mine. A home Level 2 220v charging station is nice to have but not always necessary.
Some states (Michigan is one) have begun to add a tax on to EV registrations, ostensibly to make up for losing out on gas taxes. It can be kinda high - it's $100 extra yearly here.
For a used Leaf 75 miles is a realistic range estimate -- but that will drop off noticeably during the cold winter months.
We had 3 or 4 on a show recently and they were all used with about 45k on them
after charging all night they would show a range of about 45-55 Miles.
We couldn’t run heaters or any other extras and our runs were at full throttle pretty much but they lasted about 5 miles of driving before being completely drained.
No thanks.
In reply to jfryjfry :
What show was that? We've had three EVs in my family including two Leafs, and that doesn't correlate to anything I've personally experienced nor have read on the EV owner forums I participate in.
I absolutely loved mine, a lease on 2013, had it for two years, not one iota of range loss overall, some range loss in winter due to the temperature and also the heater.
It was great. I want another.
Here’s my thread on my Leaf:
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/i-bought-a-nissan-leaf/133745/page1/
Tom Suddard said:In reply to jfryjfry :
That’s nearly impossible. Were they broken? Missing battery parts?
Remember jfryjfry is a stunt driver. For big budget films. A leaf subjected to thousands of miles of Hollywood driving is not a standard test case!!
jfryjfry said:We had 3 or 4 on a show recently and they were all used with about 45k on them
after charging all night they would show a range of about 45-55 Miles.
We couldn’t run heaters or any other extras and our runs were at full throttle pretty much but they lasted about 5 miles of driving before being completely drained.
No thanks.
I would really like details of the "completely drained" status and what the driving entailed to get there in such a short distance. Yours is an unusual situation and it would be interesting to see what the Leaf hardware and software did with it.
Any talk of range in a Leaf has to include type of driving.
My very rough anecdotal summary is that it would do about 100 miles of around town, but more like 60 at 60-65 mph, and you usually ended up needing a 10-mile buffer for getting to a charging station from an interstate without sweating bullets.
The upshot is that I think it's terrible for regular travel beyond its range, but amazingly efficient and convenient where it fits.
Wenever bothered to install the L2 charger we got because we virtually always got a full charge overnight on 110, and anytime we needed to charge fast, we weren't at home, and L2 wouldn't have been fast enough. But that descends into vagaries of one's specific routines.
EDIT: ours was a new-at-the-time '13.
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