ONE Tesla or keep my Flying Spur and buy a Leaf

ONE Tesla or keep my Flying Spur and buy a Leaf

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AudiUrquattro

Original Poster:

18 posts

128 months

Monday 5th October 2015
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I currently have a Prius as everyday runner in London traffic, school runs etc, We also have a Flying Spur Bentley which I use for the occasional long distance weekend trip ( and hardly ever in London). I was thinking of buying a Nissan Leaf to replace the Prius, but was just wondering why not selling the Bentley as well and upgrade to one Tesla: we spend so many more hours in the city anyway so might as well go the whole way EV....

deltashad

6,731 posts

196 months

Monday 5th October 2015
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I thought the interior was tasteless and cheap in the Tesla. I'd keep the Bentley and buy a leaf.

hman

7,487 posts

193 months

Monday 5th October 2015
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Test drive one, I am soon.

Stuart70

3,910 posts

182 months

Monday 5th October 2015
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Your first idea is much better than your second, but that is only my opinion clearly

JonV8V

7,177 posts

123 months

Tuesday 6th October 2015
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Depends how much you love the Bentley and whether you can stomach driving a very big car every day in the city but there's no comparison between the tesla and a leaf.

I'm not sure anyone knows your lifestyle and taste well enough to really tell you.

gangzoom

6,254 posts

214 months

Tuesday 6th October 2015
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The Leaf is a great city car. It's small, you have a good view of everything, and 15ich wheels makes parking really easy. It'll handle traffic jams just as well, if not better than a Model S, and range will be a non-issue. Upto 30 mph the Leaf is more than quick enough.

The biggest advantage the Model S has over the Leaf range. Yes it's clearly stupidly fast, but unless you want to look like a idiot, no one is going be 0-60 mph runs in a 30 zone. But the range of the Model S is phenomenal, and if your doing inter city travel no other EV can get close to the Model S.

I'll be ordering a Model S to replace my Leaf, but at the same time for my needed (city commuting) my Leaf had been fab. For the money I'm paying I haven't got a bad word to say about the Leaf, it's a fab city car. The P85D I test drove a few weeks ago was also fab, but given the cost of my Leaf deal is the same as leather seats+paramonic roof options on the Model S.....Again I really cannot complain about the Leaf. I cannot wait to go get a Model S, but I also appreciate what good value for money the Leaf is. If you can afford both, go for it, your love both smile

Oh the Leaf is also much more efficient than the Model S when in city traffic, I'm averaging 5 miles per kWh in the Leaf, compared to 3 miles per kWh Model S owners report.

Edited by gangzoom on Tuesday 6th October 06:52

AudiUrquattro

Original Poster:

18 posts

128 months

Tuesday 6th October 2015
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Thanks for the replies- I am trying to compare the combo of Leaf + big old luxury ICE ( like the Bentley) to just one Tesla. I do not need 2 cars, but liked idea of city car and long distance one. Can Tesla do BOTH?
have driven one and Models S are great, refined ( ride) and at least as quick as a Bentley but interior very different..... And almost as big for driving in town.
Cost wise, selling my low mileage but 8yr old FS would still need some top up for buying a Tesla.
One thing I did notice though is that Model S seem to keep their value quite well.... ( not just The few UK cars, but checking US and EU resale values), whereas Leafs are a bargain ! So depreciation wise that Tesla seems less costly

gangzoom

6,254 posts

214 months

Tuesday 6th October 2015
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If you want the best EV on the market get the Model Ssmile

tankplanker

2,479 posts

278 months

Tuesday 6th October 2015
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The Tesla is extremely relaxing to drive long distances on if you go for the radar option, and when they add auto lane changing it'll be even easier to drive long distances in. How far could you get on a tank of fuel for a long motorway trip in the FS? Tesla will need more planning for your route and likely 50% more stops, which will need to be longer than a splash and dash even with a supercharger.

Personally I hated the complete lack of feel in the Tesla, when I pointed this out to the sales man he made the steering heavier but did nothing to improve feel. I found the interior low rent with the woods looking really bad and not enough choice of leather colours either. Around London you can bag free parking for a few hours at a supercharger, that has to be worth a fair few points over the leaf?

s3fella

10,524 posts

186 months

Saturday 10th October 2015
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Keep the Bentley, IMO. What an ace car!! A leaf will keep your day to day green credentials buoyant!

c2mike

419 posts

148 months

Saturday 10th October 2015
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I've owned a Leaf (4years, 60k miles) and now I have a Tesla S 85 (6 months, 6k miles). The Tesla replaced the Leaf and a V8 M3. Not owned a Bentley.
Leaf is nippy and cheap, but outside of town you'll feel the lack of range all the time. The new 30kWHr version is worth a look for the extra range.
Tesla is in another league and has more range than you'd ever likely need for daily driving. Motorway range is not as good as a diesel, but broadly comparable to many high performance cars (200 - 250 miles). The supercharger network is good and getting better and so easy to use. The drive is "big car" but very precise. I like the driving feel, but it is not traditional ICE noise, vibration, lag, etc. Needs time to fully appreciate. IMO a Tesla is viable as an only car. As for the interior, I love the style of mine, but I don't like retro cars and button fest dashboards. The way the controls are integrated into the touch screen is way ahead of other "luxury" cars. Servicing and running costs a incredibly low too. My biggest reservation about the Tesla was size, but the camera and sensors do help a lot in tight situations.
If you love your Bentley, keep it and get a Leaf. If you want something different and futuristic, get a Tesla.

budfox

1,510 posts

128 months

Sunday 11th October 2015
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I have a Leaf and it's bloody brilliant. No good as your only car, but we cover 12k miles per year in it just going in and out of town. The sort of trips that kill normal engines but which the Leaf was born for. (Some longer trips too, mainly up and down to Bristol and we pass 8 free/rapid chargers during the trip).

I'm seeing a lot more Leafs on the road around here (Nissan is the only main dealer in town) and clearly Nissan are going to have a Leaf with a 200 mile range on the market within the next few years. My feeling is that's a magic number and at that point they will sell by the bucket load. About two years after that there will have to be some kind tax changes as I think the fuel duty take will have dropped too low.