which cheap ELECTRIC runabout
Discussion
HI All,
I've been thinking of adding an electric car to the fleet, just out of curiosity more than anything else!
So to scratch a little itch, which sub £6k electric car would you recommend?
I'm thinking Nissan Leaf or Renault Zoe.....but what about:
1. Range?
2. Cost and easy of charging?
3. Batteries, are they going to be as good as dead at this age?
4. How do you check the batteries and motor, general condition etc?
The use would be sort town trips, shopping etc...and I guess it needs to charge from a 3 pin plug!
Discuss.
IceBoy
I've been thinking of adding an electric car to the fleet, just out of curiosity more than anything else!
So to scratch a little itch, which sub £6k electric car would you recommend?
I'm thinking Nissan Leaf or Renault Zoe.....but what about:
1. Range?
2. Cost and easy of charging?
3. Batteries, are they going to be as good as dead at this age?
4. How do you check the batteries and motor, general condition etc?
The use would be sort town trips, shopping etc...and I guess it needs to charge from a 3 pin plug!
Discuss.
IceBoy
Edited by IceBoy on Monday 8th October 10:23
For the most part, if you're looking sub-£6k you will have to factor in the battery lease that nearly all the Zoe/Leaf range will require.
Some have owned batteries, but fewer than you'd think.
The Mitsi iMiev/Cit C-Zero/Pug iOn are a good left-field option here. I think they are owned batteries, which helps in the bottom line, and generally seem to get good reviews.
None of them are particularly head turning, though.
Some have owned batteries, but fewer than you'd think.
The Mitsi iMiev/Cit C-Zero/Pug iOn are a good left-field option here. I think they are owned batteries, which helps in the bottom line, and generally seem to get good reviews.
None of them are particularly head turning, though.
There are a few early Leafs with owned batteries around that price. Anything with "flex" in the name will be leased battery - Nissan can deal with buying them out now to switch to owned but it'll add more to the cost. The heater isn't as efficient as later ones but they seem to be reliable, and if it's just a local runabout then range / battery degradation isn't a massive issue anyway.
The thin line on the right of the "fuel" gauge is a crude capacity indicator - they have 12 blocks when new. You can also plug into the OBD2 port and use LeafSpy software on your phone to get a more comprehensive view of the state of the battery.
You'll get a newer Zoe for considerably under £6k but you'll be paying £49+ per month for battery lease - on the flipside that includes breakdown cover and replacement if capacity goes under 75%.
The thin line on the right of the "fuel" gauge is a crude capacity indicator - they have 12 blocks when new. You can also plug into the OBD2 port and use LeafSpy software on your phone to get a more comprehensive view of the state of the battery.
You'll get a newer Zoe for considerably under £6k but you'll be paying £49+ per month for battery lease - on the flipside that includes breakdown cover and replacement if capacity goes under 75%.
Leaf gen1 (so up to 2013) are all battery owned but have older battery tech and most at this price range will have lost at least a bar of capacity (I think the first bar drops at 85%).
gen2 can either be battery owned or rented (FLEX). Entry point for gen2 battery owned seems to be around £7k
Avoid base model leafs (visia) you want acenta as a minimum.
Since 2016 you can get a zoe with owned batteries - indicated by an 'i' in front of the model designation eg i-dynamic nav. Be aware when looking at ads that vertu/bsm seem to list all their cars as i models but none of them ever are if you ring up to check.
imiev/c1 (all same thing) are smaller and cheaper but have lower range batteries dont seem to last too well.
gen2 can either be battery owned or rented (FLEX). Entry point for gen2 battery owned seems to be around £7k
Avoid base model leafs (visia) you want acenta as a minimum.
Since 2016 you can get a zoe with owned batteries - indicated by an 'i' in front of the model designation eg i-dynamic nav. Be aware when looking at ads that vertu/bsm seem to list all their cars as i models but none of them ever are if you ring up to check.
imiev/c1 (all same thing) are smaller and cheaper but have lower range batteries dont seem to last too well.
IceBoy said:
So if I purchased a used Zoe, I pay Renault £49 per month to hire the battery pack. Is this forever and if the battery range drops below 75% they pay for the replacement?
IceBoy
Depends on your annual usage, so it can be as high as £99 pcm.IceBoy
It is for as long as you own the car and lease the battery. Battery will be replaced for free if it drops below 75%, and you get rescue/assistance included in the price.
Unfortunately, the rental costs of the battery are what screws with the "economy" in the second hand market.
cj2013 said:
IceBoy said:
So if I purchased a used Zoe, I pay Renault £49 per month to hire the battery pack. Is this forever and if the battery range drops below 75% they pay for the replacement?
IceBoy
Depends on your annual usage, so it can be as high as £99 pcm.IceBoy
It is for as long as you own the car and lease the battery. Battery will be replaced for free if it drops below 75%, and you get rescue/assistance included in the price.
Unfortunately, the rental costs of the battery are what screws with the "economy" in the second hand market.
Op asked about range; don't know about the others, however the ZOE will give anything between 60-100 miles on a charge, also you will need a Type 2 charging point installed at home.
Edited by HTP99 on Monday 8th October 11:56
HTP99 said:
cj2013 said:
IceBoy said:
So if I purchased a used Zoe, I pay Renault £49 per month to hire the battery pack. Is this forever and if the battery range drops below 75% they pay for the replacement?
IceBoy
Depends on your annual usage, so it can be as high as £99 pcm.IceBoy
It is for as long as you own the car and lease the battery. Battery will be replaced for free if it drops below 75%, and you get rescue/assistance included in the price.
Unfortunately, the rental costs of the battery are what screws with the "economy" in the second hand market.
Op asked about range; don't know about the others, however the ZOE will give anything between 60-100 miles on a charge, also you will need a Type 2 charging point installed at home.
You can charge both from a 13amp plug overnight.
Worth checking zapmap or similar for local chargers. Lidl seem to be putting rapid chargers in their stores (free to use and will give 80% charge in half an hour or so).
They really are a super option for local driving and shorter commutes. Very pleasant to drive and its nice to get into a pre-warmed car on a cold morning.
I'm quite interested to see what happens with zoes as they get older. used prices tank because of the battery rental (most new ones are on pcp deals so the battery rental is sort of irrelevant). At some point they are going to be worthless and once people realise how low the resale value is it must have a knock on effect on purchases.
There are a lot of new models coming through that might help push down used prices. The early leaf + zoe have 24kwh batteries, later cars have 30 or 40kwh and 60 is coming soon. The Kona and Niro haven't properly arrived yet with 60kwh batteries and decent range.
I think there's a model for short-to-mid term lease on them like https://eevonline.com/ have been trying to. Get them cheap coming off regular PCP or lease deals, knock them out on a rolling monthly arrangement at a sensible monthly fee that includes the battery rental.
No longer term worries about depreciation or reliability or battery degradation because you can just give it back. Makes them far more appealing than sinking thousands of pounds into one then still paying x per month to rent the battery for ever more.
No longer term worries about depreciation or reliability or battery degradation because you can just give it back. Makes them far more appealing than sinking thousands of pounds into one then still paying x per month to rent the battery for ever more.
sjg said:
I think there's a model for short-to-mid term lease on them like https://eevonline.com/ have been trying to. Get them cheap coming off regular PCP or lease deals, knock them out on a rolling monthly arrangement at a sensible monthly fee that includes the battery rental.
No longer term worries about depreciation or reliability or battery degradation because you can just give it back. Makes them far more appealing than sinking thousands of pounds into one then still paying x per month to rent the battery for ever more.
eevonline is just a marketing websiteNo longer term worries about depreciation or reliability or battery degradation because you can just give it back. Makes them far more appealing than sinking thousands of pounds into one then still paying x per month to rent the battery for ever more.
"Our website is a ‘beta’ version which is for testing purposes only. It is made available by us to ascertain and analyse market demand for the goods and/or services that feature on this website, namely electric vehicles on subscription."
IceBoy said:
I've been thinking of adding an electric car to the fleet, just out of curiosity more than anything else!
So to scratch a little itch, which sub £6k electric car would you recommend?
Surely, from that description, it's got to be a Twizy with a tuning box.So to scratch a little itch, which sub £6k electric car would you recommend?
Edited by IceBoy on Monday 8th October 10:23
The Ors said:
Surely, from that description, it's got to be a Twizy with a tuning box.
Battery rental kills the Twizy stone dead imo - it’s properly just a toy rather than a useful car (would be excellent for a short run to a station or whatever, and I’d love one) so if you’re buying something with a battery lease anyway why not an actual car like a Zoe!cj2013 said:
The Mitsi iMiev/Cit C-Zero/Pug iOn are a good left-field option here.
Going to be pretty much the only option at this price. Autotrader have a couple of I-MIEV's and an ION under budget.Although I guess you need one near you as with about a 70 mile range and no fast charging picking it up could be a problem in itself.
maffski said:
Going to be pretty much the only option at this price. Autotrader have a couple of I-MIEV's and an ION under budget.
Although I guess you need one near you as with about a 70 mile range and no fast charging picking it up could be a problem in itself.
Apparently you can charge one in 15 mins using a CHAdeMO cableAlthough I guess you need one near you as with about a 70 mile range and no fast charging picking it up could be a problem in itself.
Second hand early Leafs, (ex Japan), are a common site in Christchurch NZ.
The price should depend entirely on the number of bars left on the battery (mileage doesn't really matter). The fewer bars, (out of 12) the shorter the range.
You have to be able to live within the range and charging time.
Mrs Caziques Leaf has a range around 75 miles in summer (10 bars), two other used in my business have 8 and 7 bars - but the 7 bar one only cost £3500.
The 30kW version, as opposed to the 24, have a commensurate longer range (but also cost more).
No such thing as battery rental here.
Lowest cost car motoring that exists today.
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