Nissan Leaf Acenta
Discussion
Its not exactly a normal Pistonheads car, so bear with me. This thread is about my 2014 Nissan Leaf Acenta, bought from new as our second car.
Why a Leaf? In a word - MONEY. I had a decade of company cars which went from the usual Mondeo and Vectra reps fare up to an E91 3-series and then an F10 5-series. Then I changed job and joyously handed over the keys to my 520d and freed myself from the 57k miles a year prison and took a job 10 miles away that came with a car allowance. We decided we needed a car with three seats across the back (3 kids, 2 in child seats) and bought a Citroen Grand Picasso. Fabulous practical family fun bus, but hateful in every other way. After 18 months of neither of us wanting to drive it we decided it had to go. A change in role meant that my mileage was going to drop again (from 25k to around 15k a year), so we started looking at options.
And the one that stood out was a Leaf. I wanted to buy something out of Sunderland (support local industry) and had decided the hatebus was my last ever diseasal. So when a friend started talking about the great deal he got on a Leaf we looked at it, did the maths, and discovered it would save us something like £1,500 a year. My wife has a 2009 Hyundai i30 which has done 6k a year in that time so is like new, but her mileage is now less than 4k a year. So the plan was on, buy a Leaf for her to mainly use, I take the i30 and we leave the petrol engined car at home as much as possible.
We've had it nearly a month now so I can talk about what its like to live with:
1. Driving. Its fun! Sensationally quiet even at motorway speeds, rapid with full torque available straight from a stand, and the lack of gearing makes driving completely effortless. In an urban environment that makes it as quick as you ever need - repeatedly I get either boy racer types or middle aged cocks in Audis seeing the Leaf and changing lanes behind me on the lights or roundabout to get past me. And they can't - the Leaf beats everything in the real world (why? Because in the real world 0-60 times are irrelevant unless you sit revving the engine then dumping the clutch).
2. Interior. Its a full size hatch with 5 seats and plenty of room. Dashboard is dominated by a large touch screen in the centre console which displays everything from nav map through climate settings to energy use.
In front of you are two displays - one showing battery temperature, charge, range, power gauge, the other speed and eco-meter.
The circular display top left is the eco-meter - the more bars displayed the more efficient your driving. It then grows a tree in the middle the better you do.
In the back there's plenty of room for 2 (we will use the i30 on the rare occasions that all 3 of my kids travel together with a pronounced transmission tunnel in the middle. Of course its not transmission its batteries, but having had several beemers its a familiar setup.
3. Under the bonnet. In case you are wondering yes it has a bonnet and yes you can open it.
And under the bonnet is the engine! Just that this is a traction motor not internal combustion, but its in the same place as a normal car and has all the same ancillaries as a normal car (screen wash, brake fluid bottle, 12v battery etc etc). Leaf's are made on the same line as the Juke, and the bodyshells go along the line the same as ICE cars with the Leaf batteries and powertrain inserted at the point the Juke engine and gearbox go in.
4. Charging. Two types of charging on the car. First is standard charging. You get a mains lead with the car which plugs in anywhere (here in my garage) and charges the car overnight (about 10 hours from flat)
I also bought a lead to plug in to the public charger points (Nissan should give you both but don't!) for £160. My car has a standard 3.3kW charger on board which means at a 7kW public charger it charges from flat in about 6 hours). I chose not to pay Nissan £850 for the uprated 6.6kW charger circuit (as its virtually all profit margin for them) - had I done so I'd have received the lead for public chargers and not the home wall lead (....!) and public chargers would charge the car from flat in 3 hours. As we don't expect to use public chargers a huge amount it didn't make sense to upgrade. Anyway, here is what a charger point looks like and the car plugged in at my local pool.
Here in the north east its free to park at a public charger point (where its pay to park for other cars) and free to charge up....
The other charging option is rapid charging, where Ecotricity have fitted charging stations at most motorway services (all by the end of 2014) and other locations. At these you plug an angry looking monster connection into the car, the charging station makes a whooshing sound, and the car charges from flat to 80% in around 25 minutes. You can get it to charge to 100% but it takes twice as long as the machine throttles the current at the end to protect the battery. As with the other chargers these are free to use.
In both cases the car sends me an email when its finished charging, and I can set timers or switch charging (or climate control) on and off from my phone.
5. Design. Its a marmite car. Personally I love the swoops in the arches, the side profile, the outrageous curve on the rear screen. I've even got used to the bulbous headlights - they mark the corners of the car and shape the airflow over the mirrors.
From the drivers seat visibity out front is good, with small windows in the B pillar helping. Out back its a typical high tail hatch but the reversing camera makes that not be a probem.
Range? 100 miles or so on a full charge. Car has averaged 145 miles a week since arriving, so range anxiety isn't exactly a problem - its a second car! I am going to do a few longer trips in in soon, and will report back.
So, plenty of updates to come about usage, range, charging etc and happy to answer questions, laugh at caveman abuse etc....
Why a Leaf? In a word - MONEY. I had a decade of company cars which went from the usual Mondeo and Vectra reps fare up to an E91 3-series and then an F10 5-series. Then I changed job and joyously handed over the keys to my 520d and freed myself from the 57k miles a year prison and took a job 10 miles away that came with a car allowance. We decided we needed a car with three seats across the back (3 kids, 2 in child seats) and bought a Citroen Grand Picasso. Fabulous practical family fun bus, but hateful in every other way. After 18 months of neither of us wanting to drive it we decided it had to go. A change in role meant that my mileage was going to drop again (from 25k to around 15k a year), so we started looking at options.
And the one that stood out was a Leaf. I wanted to buy something out of Sunderland (support local industry) and had decided the hatebus was my last ever diseasal. So when a friend started talking about the great deal he got on a Leaf we looked at it, did the maths, and discovered it would save us something like £1,500 a year. My wife has a 2009 Hyundai i30 which has done 6k a year in that time so is like new, but her mileage is now less than 4k a year. So the plan was on, buy a Leaf for her to mainly use, I take the i30 and we leave the petrol engined car at home as much as possible.
We've had it nearly a month now so I can talk about what its like to live with:
1. Driving. Its fun! Sensationally quiet even at motorway speeds, rapid with full torque available straight from a stand, and the lack of gearing makes driving completely effortless. In an urban environment that makes it as quick as you ever need - repeatedly I get either boy racer types or middle aged cocks in Audis seeing the Leaf and changing lanes behind me on the lights or roundabout to get past me. And they can't - the Leaf beats everything in the real world (why? Because in the real world 0-60 times are irrelevant unless you sit revving the engine then dumping the clutch).
2. Interior. Its a full size hatch with 5 seats and plenty of room. Dashboard is dominated by a large touch screen in the centre console which displays everything from nav map through climate settings to energy use.
In front of you are two displays - one showing battery temperature, charge, range, power gauge, the other speed and eco-meter.
The circular display top left is the eco-meter - the more bars displayed the more efficient your driving. It then grows a tree in the middle the better you do.In the back there's plenty of room for 2 (we will use the i30 on the rare occasions that all 3 of my kids travel together with a pronounced transmission tunnel in the middle. Of course its not transmission its batteries, but having had several beemers its a familiar setup.
3. Under the bonnet. In case you are wondering yes it has a bonnet and yes you can open it.
And under the bonnet is the engine! Just that this is a traction motor not internal combustion, but its in the same place as a normal car and has all the same ancillaries as a normal car (screen wash, brake fluid bottle, 12v battery etc etc). Leaf's are made on the same line as the Juke, and the bodyshells go along the line the same as ICE cars with the Leaf batteries and powertrain inserted at the point the Juke engine and gearbox go in.
4. Charging. Two types of charging on the car. First is standard charging. You get a mains lead with the car which plugs in anywhere (here in my garage) and charges the car overnight (about 10 hours from flat)
I also bought a lead to plug in to the public charger points (Nissan should give you both but don't!) for £160. My car has a standard 3.3kW charger on board which means at a 7kW public charger it charges from flat in about 6 hours). I chose not to pay Nissan £850 for the uprated 6.6kW charger circuit (as its virtually all profit margin for them) - had I done so I'd have received the lead for public chargers and not the home wall lead (....!) and public chargers would charge the car from flat in 3 hours. As we don't expect to use public chargers a huge amount it didn't make sense to upgrade. Anyway, here is what a charger point looks like and the car plugged in at my local pool.
Here in the north east its free to park at a public charger point (where its pay to park for other cars) and free to charge up....
The other charging option is rapid charging, where Ecotricity have fitted charging stations at most motorway services (all by the end of 2014) and other locations. At these you plug an angry looking monster connection into the car, the charging station makes a whooshing sound, and the car charges from flat to 80% in around 25 minutes. You can get it to charge to 100% but it takes twice as long as the machine throttles the current at the end to protect the battery. As with the other chargers these are free to use.
In both cases the car sends me an email when its finished charging, and I can set timers or switch charging (or climate control) on and off from my phone.
5. Design. Its a marmite car. Personally I love the swoops in the arches, the side profile, the outrageous curve on the rear screen. I've even got used to the bulbous headlights - they mark the corners of the car and shape the airflow over the mirrors.
From the drivers seat visibity out front is good, with small windows in the B pillar helping. Out back its a typical high tail hatch but the reversing camera makes that not be a probem.
Range? 100 miles or so on a full charge. Car has averaged 145 miles a week since arriving, so range anxiety isn't exactly a problem - its a second car! I am going to do a few longer trips in in soon, and will report back.
So, plenty of updates to come about usage, range, charging etc and happy to answer questions, laugh at caveman abuse etc....
2. Had 18 months left on my M&S flexi loan for the Citroen hatebus which was £300 a month. Plus up to another £100 a month accrued towards tyres brakes servicing and MOT etc. Leaf costs £170 a month plus £70 for the battery lease
3. I'm not clear how residuals will hold up, and the batteries are effectively untested compared to years of engine research. So a PCP is literally zero risk - if the batteries die its under warranty in my ownership, if it depreciates lots its Nissan's loss. On a 22,500 mileage cap I'll never have to replace tyres or brakes due to wear, its free servicing, its free VED. It literally costs nothing.
3. I'm not clear how residuals will hold up, and the batteries are effectively untested compared to years of engine research. So a PCP is literally zero risk - if the batteries die its under warranty in my ownership, if it depreciates lots its Nissan's loss. On a 22,500 mileage cap I'll never have to replace tyres or brakes due to wear, its free servicing, its free VED. It literally costs nothing.
If battery technology evolves sufficiently to double the range, or if Nissan ever produced a range-extender version, I could quite happily use one of these as my work car.
I like the idea of the seamless and effortless acceleration with no engine or transmission noise, and although I'm not totally sold on all aspects of the styling it's certainly distinctive. Do like the rear, especially the light clusters, not as keen on the front end. Interior looks like a decent place to sit, and Nissan seem to give you a lot of equipment for the money, too.
I like the idea of the seamless and effortless acceleration with no engine or transmission noise, and although I'm not totally sold on all aspects of the styling it's certainly distinctive. Do like the rear, especially the light clusters, not as keen on the front end. Interior looks like a decent place to sit, and Nissan seem to give you a lot of equipment for the money, too.
RochdalePioneers said:
In an urban environment that makes it as quick as you ever need - repeatedly I get either boy racer types or middle aged cocks in Audis seeing the Leaf and changing lanes behind me on the lights or roundabout to get past me. And they can't - the Leaf beats everything in the real world
Great write up on the Leaf but this bit really made me cringe. 
Why would you deliberately stop people getting past you? Doesn't make sense.I'm guessing he doesn't deliberately stop people getting past, just they choose to go into a second lane that then merges back in to the OP's lane. But due to the way the Leaf is powered pulling away normally to the speed limit is sufficient to keep the knobs behind. That's my guess any way.
A few things:
1. Overtaking shenanigans. What I refer to are single carriageways in 30/40 limits where they widen to two lanes through the lights/roundabout then immediately drop to one lane again. I'm not blocking people, what I'm doing is surprising them. Certain kinds of drivers think Leaf = s l o w. They're not being held up by me but think they have to get past the milk float. So they make a last minute dart into lane 2 to blast me away from the lights or through the roundabout. I don't have a problem with such driving as I do it myself.
What I do in the Leaf is not give them a chance to pass me. For example lights turn green. Audi wassock thinks his car is faster. And it is. On paper. In the real world his transmission has to gather itself and change gear. Mine just goes, so before he has a chance to be blocked by me he's already left well behind. Don't do it all the time, but it does put a smile on my face.
2. Costs. From completely to flat to fully charged would cost £2.70 at home. But its never completely flat so call it a couple of quid. And we use public charge points wherever possible to subsidise this further (I even charge the car at the local school sometimes - its a 3 minute walk and the chargers are public access). So I calculated it as around 1.75p per mile in electricity costs so far. Vs 12.5p a mile in my petrol i30
We recently had a home charging station installed using the government subsidised scheme. This has been suspended due to fraud (
installers fitting chargers to houses knocking door to door for takers and then banking the government grant and will relaunch in September as less subsidy only for EV owners.
Anyway, several national companies do it, and most fit you a charger box with a car specific lead on them. As there are several different standards of connector (think VHS vs Betamax vs Video 2000) I didn't want this, so paid £95 "upgrade" to have a socket fitted. That means that instead of the Type 1 lead coming off the box (only fits a Leaf or Prius plug in, and may not fit future models) I get a type 2 socket as found on every public charge point.
Using my purchased lead this connects into the charger on the car under the flat at the front (note the electric blue on the Nissan logo....) which I've just popped open
Underneath are two sockets. On the left is the monster ChaDeMo (Charge on the Move) socket for the rapid chargers on motorways. On the right is the Type 1 socket for public chargers, my home charger, and the mains adaptor.
And finally the car hooked up.
And no, you can't steal the lead. Its electrically locked whilst charging, and there is a mechanic lock on the car socket (via internal switch) so the lead is 100% secure.
1. Overtaking shenanigans. What I refer to are single carriageways in 30/40 limits where they widen to two lanes through the lights/roundabout then immediately drop to one lane again. I'm not blocking people, what I'm doing is surprising them. Certain kinds of drivers think Leaf = s l o w. They're not being held up by me but think they have to get past the milk float. So they make a last minute dart into lane 2 to blast me away from the lights or through the roundabout. I don't have a problem with such driving as I do it myself.
What I do in the Leaf is not give them a chance to pass me. For example lights turn green. Audi wassock thinks his car is faster. And it is. On paper. In the real world his transmission has to gather itself and change gear. Mine just goes, so before he has a chance to be blocked by me he's already left well behind. Don't do it all the time, but it does put a smile on my face.
2. Costs. From completely to flat to fully charged would cost £2.70 at home. But its never completely flat so call it a couple of quid. And we use public charge points wherever possible to subsidise this further (I even charge the car at the local school sometimes - its a 3 minute walk and the chargers are public access). So I calculated it as around 1.75p per mile in electricity costs so far. Vs 12.5p a mile in my petrol i30
We recently had a home charging station installed using the government subsidised scheme. This has been suspended due to fraud (
installers fitting chargers to houses knocking door to door for takers and then banking the government grant and will relaunch in September as less subsidy only for EV owners. Anyway, several national companies do it, and most fit you a charger box with a car specific lead on them. As there are several different standards of connector (think VHS vs Betamax vs Video 2000) I didn't want this, so paid £95 "upgrade" to have a socket fitted. That means that instead of the Type 1 lead coming off the box (only fits a Leaf or Prius plug in, and may not fit future models) I get a type 2 socket as found on every public charge point.
Using my purchased lead this connects into the charger on the car under the flat at the front (note the electric blue on the Nissan logo....) which I've just popped open
Underneath are two sockets. On the left is the monster ChaDeMo (Charge on the Move) socket for the rapid chargers on motorways. On the right is the Type 1 socket for public chargers, my home charger, and the mains adaptor.
And finally the car hooked up.
And no, you can't steal the lead. Its electrically locked whilst charging, and there is a mechanic lock on the car socket (via internal switch) so the lead is 100% secure.
I was going to post a couple of pictures showing internal layout.
Front
The small windows in the door pillars are surprisingly useful - you can see the kerb and lines very well through them. Seats in this mid-level trip are soft velour and very comfortable. Plastics are generally very good, centre console has two proper cupholders, a big cubby under the armrest, and a mouse instead of a gear stick. P button on top for park, then slide right and forward for reverse, right and back for drive. Do it again and its in B mode which makes the throttle all you need. Works as throttle as expected, or lift off and you get heavier than normal battery regen which brakes the car down quickly. And there's neutral too.
Usual controls on the wheel including voice activation (which works well), a range button which shows how far you can go on the nav screen, and a big "Eco" button. This puts the car in relaxed mode dampening the throttle, increasing regenerative braking a touch, and and makes the climate control (if switched on) work on a gentler eco mode.
And in the back? Well, no complaints from my kids. But the middle seat is for small people even without the child seats in. But so many cars are the same (my F10 Beemer had a narrower rear bench.....)
Front
The small windows in the door pillars are surprisingly useful - you can see the kerb and lines very well through them. Seats in this mid-level trip are soft velour and very comfortable. Plastics are generally very good, centre console has two proper cupholders, a big cubby under the armrest, and a mouse instead of a gear stick. P button on top for park, then slide right and forward for reverse, right and back for drive. Do it again and its in B mode which makes the throttle all you need. Works as throttle as expected, or lift off and you get heavier than normal battery regen which brakes the car down quickly. And there's neutral too.
Usual controls on the wheel including voice activation (which works well), a range button which shows how far you can go on the nav screen, and a big "Eco" button. This puts the car in relaxed mode dampening the throttle, increasing regenerative braking a touch, and and makes the climate control (if switched on) work on a gentler eco mode.
And in the back? Well, no complaints from my kids. But the middle seat is for small people even without the child seats in. But so many cars are the same (my F10 Beemer had a narrower rear bench.....)
Ah, I see what you mean now. Thought you meant you became an eco road block overnight 
apologies.
Just another quickie, is there anything to stop someone unplugging your car when its at a public charging station? Do the bonnet flap and the charging station have some sort of lock on them? I can just see the local yoofs making off with the charging leads otherwise and flogging them on ebay.
apologies.Just another quickie, is there anything to stop someone unplugging your car when its at a public charging station? Do the bonnet flap and the charging station have some sort of lock on them? I can just see the local yoofs making off with the charging leads otherwise and flogging them on ebay.
Campo said:
<snip>
Just another quickie, is there anything to stop someone unplugging your car when its at a public charging station? Do the bonnet flap and the charging station have some sort of lock on them? I can just see the local yoofs making off with the charging leads otherwise and flogging them on ebay.
Just another quickie, is there anything to stop someone unplugging your car when its at a public charging station? Do the bonnet flap and the charging station have some sort of lock on them? I can just see the local yoofs making off with the charging leads otherwise and flogging them on ebay.
RochdalePioneers said:
And no, you can't steal the lead. Its electrically locked whilst charging, and there is a mechanic lock on the car socket (via internal switch) so the lead is 100% secure.
Another point - no stupid bloody electronic handbrake. In a car that's all new tech you'd think they'd have been tempted to fit one. I literally had nightmares about the F10 with that switch, and did once come back to it in a multi storey where clearly I hadn't put it on and it had rolled into the car in front and shunted it (no damage happily).
No, instead the Leaf has a foot operated parking brake with a proper ratchet. What that means is this. Pull up to lights. Left foot on parking brake. Right foot off brake and car pul
S forward at a stand (like a torque converter auto it moves forward with the brake off). Car sits at a stand in complete silence whilst chav Corsa sits to your right ticking over.
You see the lights for the joining road start to change. Both feet to the pedals. Left sits on top of the parking brake, right on the throttle. Left foot pushes brake against the detent and holds. As lights change simply lift your left foot as you plant your right and get every torque instantly. Leave everything behind you, lift off to ensure you remain in 30/40 limit. Repeat.
On the Leaftalk forum people are trying "launch control" where its either plant foot in neutral then nudge mouse back into D, or left foot on brake and lift as right foot is buried. In the real world I'm yet to find another car faster 0-30 or even 0-40. And if there is something its something sat revving at a stand before slipping the clutch as I sit silently.
No, instead the Leaf has a foot operated parking brake with a proper ratchet. What that means is this. Pull up to lights. Left foot on parking brake. Right foot off brake and car pul
S forward at a stand (like a torque converter auto it moves forward with the brake off). Car sits at a stand in complete silence whilst chav Corsa sits to your right ticking over.
You see the lights for the joining road start to change. Both feet to the pedals. Left sits on top of the parking brake, right on the throttle. Left foot pushes brake against the detent and holds. As lights change simply lift your left foot as you plant your right and get every torque instantly. Leave everything behind you, lift off to ensure you remain in 30/40 limit. Repeat.
On the Leaftalk forum people are trying "launch control" where its either plant foot in neutral then nudge mouse back into D, or left foot on brake and lift as right foot is buried. In the real world I'm yet to find another car faster 0-30 or even 0-40. And if there is something its something sat revving at a stand before slipping the clutch as I sit silently.
RochdalePioneers said:
In an urban environment that makes it as quick as you ever need - repeatedly I get either boy racer types or middle aged cocks in Audis seeing the Leaf and changing lanes behind me on the lights or roundabout to get past me. And they can't - the Leaf beats everything in the real world (why? Because in the real world 0-60 times are irrelevant unless you sit revving the engine then dumping the clutch).
just no.I'm sure you win many 0-30 "battles" when attempting to show them "cocks in Audis" a thing or two whilst they are blissfully unaware / interested though.
Brilliant read, as a few have said, very tempted by the leaf (or a Zoe or Twizy) as i work 5 mins down the road, so as a second car/daily, its a no brainer.
Plus as much as some people think your no a proper petrolhead by liking alternatively powered vehicles, balls to that, as much as i love a great stonking V8 (and i really, REALLY do) for every V8 there are further million and one wiesel powered vehicles (german at that lol) on the road stinking it up, I for one am looking forward to the very bright future of motoring.
Plus as much as some people think your no a proper petrolhead by liking alternatively powered vehicles, balls to that, as much as i love a great stonking V8 (and i really, REALLY do) for every V8 there are further million and one wiesel powered vehicles (german at that lol) on the road stinking it up, I for one am looking forward to the very bright future of motoring.
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