Nissan Leaf electric car diary

Disgusted_Tunbridge_Wells

Since buying a house together earlier in the year, my partner and I have started sharing a car. I have a company car which we are both insured to drive, and she had a Corsa. As we only have one parking space outside the house, we park her car outside and mine round the corner, and then use her car most of the time.


We have decided to update her car with a newer one that better suited our joint needs, and I bought her a Nissan Leaf for Christmas. The Leaf has no engine at all, just a big battery and one moving part (electric motor). For us, the Leaf suits us perfectly- it's relaxing but fun to drive, offers much better acceleration out of junctions than the Corsa (so is safer), and its a good size that suits us. I thought it would be interesting to share the running costs on here.


A couple of points first:
This car does roughly 90-120 miles on a full charge. For us, this is not a problem. You can do longer journeys by using the fast chargers at motorway services, but for us we use this car most of the time and jump in the rattly diesel for the occasional long runs. If you regularly go long distances, you may find a plug-in hybrid or "range extender" suits you better- my parents have a Vauxhall Ampera that plugs in overnight and does about 50 miles- ideal for her daily commute. For longer trips, a petrol engine cuts in when the battery gets low, ideal for holidays etc.


I spent £11,000 buying this car second-hand. Some Leafs are sold under the "Flex" system whereby you pay a monthly rental for the batteries- this one you don't. I haven't included the purchase price in the savings calculations because in our case we were looking at buying a new car anyway and would have spent a similar amount on a petrol/diesel car.


Background information:
We have Economy 7 meter and tariff (E7 you pay a different price for day and night use).
Other car is a 2014 VW Passat 2.0 TDI Bluemotion, costs flat rate 11p per mile.
Previous car was 2008 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 16v petrol
At the time of writing, oil is down to $35/barrel, meaning forecourt prices are just over £1/litre. Obviously if the price of petrol goes back up, our savings will be greater.

Obviously I can't tell you the miles per gallon of this car because it doesn't run on gallons. However, I can give you the miles per kWh (1 kWh normally costs about 10-12p or 6p on E7). I have also included miles per gallon equivalent, which is based on 1 litre of petrol containing the equivalent of 8.8kWh of energy. For comparison, a "litre" of electricity costs 88p or 55p on E7.


25/12/15
Car unveiled. Much excitement and many trips round the block marvelling at the instant acceleration and eerie quietness. Experimentation with the remote heater (turn the heater on from your iPhone to warm the car up ready for you).
Anyone who's changed car in the last 18 months will know that road tax is no longer transferred so the first thing to do is to tax it. Leaf tax: £0 (Corsa £130/year)


29/12/15
Had the car a few days now. Done a few local trips and took the car on a 40 mile round trip today. Was averaging 3.5miles per kWh driving like a loony, now on a longer run averaging 4.5 miles/kWh.
Figures to date:
Total miles 67.3
Total energy 17.5 kWh
Average economy 3.9 miles per kWh/ 156MPGe
Total fuel spend: £1.10 (Passat £7.40, Corsa £8.11)

SailorSam

Whenever i see someone posting about something new that they've bought whether it be a car; Tv,or fridgefreezer i always find it interesting and helpful, after all that's part of the reason we all come on here, to help and learn from others.
Maybe i'm just suspicious but i can't but help find it strange that anyone would join Mse and write a long first thread., without something being in it for him.
Apologies Tunbridge Wells if i've got that wrong.

BeenThroughItAll

Disgusted_Tunbridge_Wells wrote: »

The Leaf has no engine at all, just a big battery and one moving part (electric motor).

Just me being picky, I know, but it's oft-quoted that EVs have 'one moving part', and that is simply wrong.

Wheels, driveshafts, hubs, bearings, brake calipers, suspension components, steering rack, etc, etc are all 'moving parts'.



Yes, I understood what you meant, but I just wince a little bit every time I hear someone say it (and I may have been guilty of saying it myself, which I have cringed at!).


Mind you, interesting to hear your ownership experience. If I were to write a similar diary concerning the first few days of my EV ownership it would go:


"Week 1-2: Picked up brand new Zoe from garage. Flattened battery driving around marvelling at quietness for two hours. Went to rapid charging point. Charge failed. Drove home with error message on dashboard. Drove car again. Attempted to rapid charge. Failed. Drove home and paid for electricity to slow charge. Complained to Renault. Booked in.


Weeks 3-10: Drove courtesy Clio whilst Renault attempt to mend the Zoe.


Weeks 11-20: Drove Zoe around. Rapid charged successfully a number of times in first four weeks then started failing again. Complained to Renault. Waited six weeks to get booked in to a different dealership.


Weeks 21-30: Drove courtesy Clio whilst Renault attempt to mend the Zoe.

Weeks 31-Present: ...etc


The Renault ownership experience consists of a few weeks 'car ownership' followed by a few months courtesy car, repeated.

forgotmyname

You should include the vehicles value and depreciation though, Name many small hatchbacks that lose £18k one one year?

A Golf bluemotion would holds its value better. Not including the
depreciation is like those that spend £20k on a car because its £100
a year less to tax. The fact its lost the value of 10 years worth of tax
before that make it home totally passes them by.

Are you having trouble selling them to warrant this positive review?

bigjl

Seems overly positive.

Though in fairness the depreciation is not an issue for the OP as they bought the Leaf used for £11k

And I doubt that they will obtain anything like the 90/120 miles range.

But if you have charging facilities near your house that you can use thus reducing the amount of electricity you actually have to buy then why not.

Though going by the experiences of the staff that had the free use of a Zoe for a few weeks at Excel the range is likely to be half the official figures if you use the car anything like you would a car with a petrol/diesel engine.

They were suggesting a range of 50/60 miles was more like it if I remember correctly. The usage was up and down the A13 with radio on and using the heater or AirCon as needed.

Speeds would be 40/50mph through the average cameras which are most of the way to the M25 (due to roadworks past Rainham) and then more than likely 70mph at least for the rest of the journey.

Electric cars certainly work for certain usage cycles.

They would suit my wife perfectly for example as she never goes more than 5miles from the house these days.

All local runs of a few miles.

Disgusted_Tunbridge_Wells

I haven't included depreciation because some people buy new, some used, some lease, etc and I won't know how much it's depreciated until I sell it. This is why I pointed out the purchase price of the car- obviously it will take some massive savings to pay for itself but everyone will have their own set of circumstances.


I thought it would be useful to give an overview of 'pros and cons' in the real world, I am working out the figures for my own interest and thought people may find them helpful.

bigjl

It would be useful if you came back to this thread a month or more after the purchase.

Because at the moment you have Shiny Car Syndrome.

Everybody gets it.

After a month or so you will have a lot more data to do your comparisons.

You will have realised that the estimated range given by the car is also a bit on the optimistic side.

I looked in the Leaf a while ago.

And browned a few owners forums.

The message was fairly clear, the range is less than claimed.

But if you can make it work for you and your needs then why not have an electric car.

Yes they will improve over the next few years but £11k is not bad for one with a freehold battery.

Disgusted_Tunbridge_Wells

Hi bigjl,


Thanks for your reply, you are right that at the moment we are in the "honeymoon period" but I intend to do regular updates on running costs etc.

Jonesya

I'd be interested to see what range you get under worst case scenario - say a cold winters day, so below 5 deg C or freezing, with the heating on, on a motorway run at or around 70mph.

carolwat

I have a leaf and cant honestly say I love it and have never looked back. Realistically I get around 90 miles on a full charge and I dont drive like a Sunday driver either. Yes it does go down faster if youre flogging it down a motorway but you can also gain miles back using the regenerative braking. I always have the radio and the heating on around 27 degrees and obviously being in Cumbria its obviously the worse weather conditions at the moment with lots of rain and cold temperatures which affects the range but not drastically. This morning I had 124 on the guessometer because it was dry and mild as opposed to 78 the other day when it was chucking it down and freezing cold, these were both after a full charge. I do around 40 miles each day and charge every couple of days as required. I have also done long trips in it and charged for free at services on motorways.

bigjl

You seem to be a perfect candidate for an Electric car carolwat.