Nissan Leaf - extended test drive
Discussion
Hi,
Just picked up a Nissan Leaf from my local garage for a 4 day test drive. Initial thoughts are good, it's a lot of fun to drive actually.
I just need to see if it's a viable option for me. They garage didn't have a Type 2 cable they could lend me, so I'm having to rely on the 3 pin charger and the local IKEA for a rapid charge. There are some cracking deals appearing for Leafs, so fingers crossed it works out...
Any other Scottish EV drivers around? Or other Leaf owners that can share their thoughts?
Just picked up a Nissan Leaf from my local garage for a 4 day test drive. Initial thoughts are good, it's a lot of fun to drive actually.
I just need to see if it's a viable option for me. They garage didn't have a Type 2 cable they could lend me, so I'm having to rely on the 3 pin charger and the local IKEA for a rapid charge. There are some cracking deals appearing for Leafs, so fingers crossed it works out...
Any other Scottish EV drivers around? Or other Leaf owners that can share their thoughts?
Edited by Tophatron on Thursday 20th February 10:43
henrycrun said:
Please Keep us posted.
BTW why are there different cables ?
The Leaf comes with a 3-pin cable for charging at home, but to use the (few) public stations you need one of these:BTW why are there different cables ?
Unless they're one of the CHAdeMO rapid chargers.
It's a shame they don't come with one of these cables as standard (well, the 6.6kW Leaf does, but then you lose the 3-pin charging cable!).
Tophatron said:
That's interesting - what sort of faults have you had?
The heater stopped working (300 miles on the clock). The boot latch was not setup correctly making the boot difficult to shut properly. The drivers window fell out of its runners. The garage has sorted the window and boot but I'm waiting for parts for the heater. It now has around 850 miles on it and most of them have been very cold ones!.HWMBO has now had her Leaf for 5 weeks and done around 1300 miles - it has replaced a Volvo V60 edrive company car.
She does a 40 mile round trip commute and its working out great. Ride quality is much better than the volvo, and build quality, ok not as good as the volvo has not been a problem. Nothing has fallen off yet. And it is surprisingly good to drive.
We have a 32A charging point at home, and there is a fast charging point at her place of work that she is able to use FOC at the moment, so for us this and with the current lack of company car tax it's proving to be very cost effective. Work have provided a type 2 lead to charge at the public charging points - Nissan wanted in excess of £500!!!!!! for the lead, but they have managed to source an alternative for £190.
There are other cars to use in the household so if there is a need for her to go further its not a problem - for us the change to EV was a no-brainer. Also we are well supported with public charging points in Newcastle, most council city centre car parks have preferential parking and charging points for EV's which makes life easy when parking on a busy day.
I'm not a green liberal tree hugging type either I'm a certified petrolhead - I've just taken delivery of a new Audi RS4 (replacing a 911 turbo), but the Leaf compliments this extremely well and from our so far limited experience I would whole heartedly recommend one, it works well for us and fits in with our busy lifestyle at the moment. it has surprised me......
She does a 40 mile round trip commute and its working out great. Ride quality is much better than the volvo, and build quality, ok not as good as the volvo has not been a problem. Nothing has fallen off yet. And it is surprisingly good to drive.
We have a 32A charging point at home, and there is a fast charging point at her place of work that she is able to use FOC at the moment, so for us this and with the current lack of company car tax it's proving to be very cost effective. Work have provided a type 2 lead to charge at the public charging points - Nissan wanted in excess of £500!!!!!! for the lead, but they have managed to source an alternative for £190.
There are other cars to use in the household so if there is a need for her to go further its not a problem - for us the change to EV was a no-brainer. Also we are well supported with public charging points in Newcastle, most council city centre car parks have preferential parking and charging points for EV's which makes life easy when parking on a busy day.
I'm not a green liberal tree hugging type either I'm a certified petrolhead - I've just taken delivery of a new Audi RS4 (replacing a 911 turbo), but the Leaf compliments this extremely well and from our so far limited experience I would whole heartedly recommend one, it works well for us and fits in with our busy lifestyle at the moment. it has surprised me......
I've had my 2013 acenta for about 3 months now, and I can honestly say I'll never go back to using a fossil fuel powered car as a daily driver ever again.
It has saved me an absolute fortune. My commute is 80 miles / day, which is do-able if I stick to 60 on the motorway. But there are 2 rapid chargers en-route, and my client has installed fast chargers onsite. So now I can go as fast as I would have in my last car (vw golf) without any range worries.
It has saved me an absolute fortune. My commute is 80 miles / day, which is do-able if I stick to 60 on the motorway. But there are 2 rapid chargers en-route, and my client has installed fast chargers onsite. So now I can go as fast as I would have in my last car (vw golf) without any range worries.
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