Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

JKenH

Grumpy_chap said:

JKenH said:

Tesla Model 3 becomes most popular battery electric car on UK roads

There are now 39,900 Model 3s in the UK, compared with 38,900 Leafs, many of which are built at Nissan’s factory in Sunderland.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jun/06/tesla-model-3-becomes-most-popular-battery-electric-car-on-uk-roads?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

All things being equal, I certainly know which of the two I'd prefer, so perhaps the news is unsurprising.

Unfortunately not all things are equal, particularly prices. The Leaf doesn’t sell so well now, perhaps because it seems a bit old tech and it gets a bad press over battery cooling. The latter only comes into play if you are doing 200mile+ trips in a 40kWh car. So, yes, avoid if that is your regular driving profile but as a family runabout it is hard to beat for the money. It is very refined, roomy, reliable and I find it a delight to drive, particularly with ePedal. It is also capable of V2G/V2H and I think the only UK trials of this technology use the Leaf. 

At the moment you can effectively pick up a 20kWh home battery for around £5-6k with a free car thrown in when you buy a Leaf, (although it will cost you almost as much for the V2G charger until the tech gets rolled out commercially.)

Have a look at this video from an experienced EV vlogger.

https://youtu.be/SIrq4Y1MRQY

Martyn1981

Am I the only one thinking ..... Fanbois!     

Grumpy_chap

Martyn1981 said:

Am I the only one thinking ..... Fanbois!     

I am not sure whether that comment is aimed at me or @JKenH.
One thing I do not like is the number of EVs that take stand-out odd styling, whether Honda E, BMW i3, Leaf, or whatever.  It is all about being smug and shouting, rather like politicians when they all jumped into a Prius for "green credentials".
Some of the normal cars that happen to be electric are a big improvement on this score, for example MG or the Corsa.

NigeWick

Grumpy_chap said:

All things being equal, I certainly know which of the two I'd prefer, so perhaps the news is unsurprising.

I've got a Model 3 Long Range. This after a 30kWh Leaf, #rapidgate 40kWh Leaf and a 64kWh Hyundai Kona. The 30kWh Leaf did what it said on the tin and was a great vehicle if one can live with the range limitations. I could. The Kona was an excellent vehicle that would do 200 miles at 70MPH in below freezing temperature with the heating & aircon on. I just wanted a Tesla. I had a niggle with the boot not being fitted correctly, which was fixed but the Nottingham paint shop wasn't open so I'm still waiting for that. Had a drive to Hunstanton last week in a lot of traffic. 5 miles per kWh was the result. People complain about panel gaps but my car is fine, apart from that boot challenge. When the Berlin Model Y comes out with the three part underbelly, the build quality will be better than legacy makers can produce and the range will go up due to less weight.

michaels

JKenH said:

Grumpy_chap said:

JKenH said:

Tesla Model 3 becomes most popular battery electric car on UK roads

There are now 39,900 Model 3s in the UK, compared with 38,900 Leafs, many of which are built at Nissan’s factory in Sunderland.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jun/06/tesla-model-3-becomes-most-popular-battery-electric-car-on-uk-roads?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

All things being equal, I certainly know which of the two I'd prefer, so perhaps the news is unsurprising.

Unfortunately not all things are equal, particularly prices. The Leaf doesn’t sell so well now, perhaps because it seems a bit old tech and it gets a bad press over battery cooling. The latter only comes into play if you are doing 200mile+ trips in a 40kWh car. So, yes, avoid if that is your regular driving profile but as a family runabout it is hard to beat for the money. It is very refined, roomy, reliable and I find it a delight to drive, particularly with ePedal. It is also capable of V2G/V2H and I think the only UK trials of this technology use the Leaf. 

At the moment you can effectively pick up a 20kWh home battery for around £5-6k with a free car thrown in when you buy a Leaf, (although it will cost you almost as much for the V2G charger until the tech gets rolled out commercially.)

Have a look at this video from an experienced EV vlogger.

https://youtu.be/SIrq4Y1MRQY

WE have had v2g for the last year with our leaf saves us about 200pa on our leccy bill.

Test drove an ID4 at the weekend, my main takeaway was what a good car the leaf is - the brand new ID4 does not beat our 6 yea rold 60k mile leaf for responsiveness, handling or refinement.  Obviously it wins on range and on interior space in the rear but the leaf was designed when there were no other EVs 10 years ago and yet still has an amazing reliability record despite being a trail blazer - no wonder Nissan never made money on them, they were clearly overengineered to avoid any damaging headlines.

In terms of looks, the new model is so bland I suspect most people never even realise it is a leaf nor electric.

Grumpy_chap

NigeWick said:

When the Berlin Model Y comes out with the three part underbelly, the build quality will be better than legacy makers can produce and the range will go up due to less weight.

Is that comparing the TMY range to a different version of TMY, or to TM3?
As I understand it, based on the Tesla website:

• TM3 LR = 360 mile range
• TMY LR = 326 mile range

JKenH

Martyn1981 said:

Am I the only one thinking ..... Fanbois!     

Yes I admit to being a Leaf fan but I like all EVs. I am not a great fan of SUVs so despite there being a few exciting new EV SUV models on the horizon they’re not for me. What I am looking forward to is more small (city car size) EVs.

JKenH

michaels said:

JKenH said:

Grumpy_chap said:

JKenH said:

Tesla Model 3 becomes most popular battery electric car on UK roads

There are now 39,900 Model 3s in the UK, compared with 38,900 Leafs, many of which are built at Nissan’s factory in Sunderland.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jun/06/tesla-model-3-becomes-most-popular-battery-electric-car-on-uk-roads?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

All things being equal, I certainly know which of the two I'd prefer, so perhaps the news is unsurprising.

Unfortunately not all things are equal, particularly prices. The Leaf doesn’t sell so well now, perhaps because it seems a bit old tech and it gets a bad press over battery cooling. The latter only comes into play if you are doing 200mile+ trips in a 40kWh car. So, yes, avoid if that is your regular driving profile but as a family runabout it is hard to beat for the money. It is very refined, roomy, reliable and I find it a delight to drive, particularly with ePedal. It is also capable of V2G/V2H and I think the only UK trials of this technology use the Leaf. 

At the moment you can effectively pick up a 20kWh home battery for around £5-6k with a free car thrown in when you buy a Leaf, (although it will cost you almost as much for the V2G charger until the tech gets rolled out commercially.)

Have a look at this video from an experienced EV vlogger.

https://youtu.be/SIrq4Y1MRQY

WE have had v2g for the last year with our leaf saves us about 200pa on our leccy bill.

Test drove an ID4 at the weekend, my main takeaway was what a good car the leaf is - the brand new ID4 does not beat our 6 yea rold 60k mile leaf for responsiveness, handling or refinement.  Obviously it wins on range and on interior space in the rear but the leaf was designed when there were no other EVs 10 years ago and yet still has an amazing reliability record despite being a trail blazer - no wonder Nissan never made money on them, they were clearly overengineered to avoid any damaging headlines.

In terms of looks, the new model is so bland I suspect most people never even realise it is a leaf nor electric.

Yesterday I was in my Leaf and said to myself why would I want to drive anything else? 

I’ve driven 134 miles today in my Leaf and thoroughly enjoyed every one of them. I just never feel stressed when driving it; it is so relaxing that it is influencing my whole life making me much more chilled. I harbour no ill will to people who have ripped me off and quite recently told someone who owed me £1500 to forget about it; a harmonious life is worth more than money. 

Get a Leaf; get a happy life.😊

NigeWick

Grumpy_chap said:

Is that comparing the TMY range to a different version of TMY, or to TM3?
As I understand it, based on the Tesla website:

• TM3 LR = 360 mile range
• TMY LR = 326 mile range

When they do the three part underbody for the Y and 3, I suspect the range will go up fo both. I don't think I'd get 360 miles out of my 3LR unless I drove everywhere at no more than 40 or 50mph in the summer months.

Solarchaser

JKenH said:

Martyn1981 said:

Am I the only one thinking ..... Fanbois!     

Yes I admit to being a Leaf fan but I like all EVs. I am not a great fan of SUVs so despite there being a few exciting new EV SUV models on the horizon they’re not for me. What I am looking forward to is more small (city car size) EVs.

I also admit to being a leaf fan.
If not for having the leaf over the last couple of years I'd never have realised how different driving an ev is.
I'd heard loads of people say it's just like driving an automatic, and that really put me off, but the reality is its nothing like driving an auto, you don't sound like a 90 year old trying to slip the clutch at 6krpm, and the drive is instant.

I love the wee leaf, it's a great car.
If it did 300 miles on a charge, I'd probably have pushed my company to get one if those. 
If they had given me the 60kwh leaf, I can honestly say I'd have been pretty darn happy.
There is quite a few things I prefer in the leaf to the Tesla, like being able to select the level of regen for a start, and proper dials instead of the daft screen in the middle of my dash.

Neighbour asked the other day if I had a TV on the dashboard. 😳🙄

But would I be happy to take the leaf over the Tesla... no, not now having driven it a few weeks.
Not just for the acceleration,  not just for the games to keep you amused,  but for the way it's been thought out, I think the Tesla is a better car.
Is it 20k better, no, but its easily 10k better