Discussion
Just had a 1/2 hr run out in one of these. Wife quite fancies one as all local running / short trips means it suits what she needs. Nicely equipped and something a little different.
Quite impressed. Fairly comfy, good driving position and spritely around town.
Has anyone any experience of running one?
Also looking at the finance package as I would like Renault to take the risk on whether a 4 year old EV is worth anything. I guess tech will have moved on considerably by then and it might be worth bugger all. That said, 6.9% APR seems a little steep. In general I guess you can haggle with dealers on PCP rates?
Andy
Quite impressed. Fairly comfy, good driving position and spritely around town.
Has anyone any experience of running one?
Also looking at the finance package as I would like Renault to take the risk on whether a 4 year old EV is worth anything. I guess tech will have moved on considerably by then and it might be worth bugger all. That said, 6.9% APR seems a little steep. In general I guess you can haggle with dealers on PCP rates?
Andy
Hi
Yes found your thread. Financial case doesn't stack up as well for us as we don't suffer from congestion charging etc but it just feels something different and little left field. I can imagine becoming quite attached to it!
Will take a look at the forum.
I know we have a different usage profile but do you think there are any major downsides to ownership or common problems to watch out for?
Andy
Yes found your thread. Financial case doesn't stack up as well for us as we don't suffer from congestion charging etc but it just feels something different and little left field. I can imagine becoming quite attached to it!
Will take a look at the forum.
I know we have a different usage profile but do you think there are any major downsides to ownership or common problems to watch out for?
Andy
Had a look at one of these today, although couldn't drive it as battery was flat... 
Not sure on the financials yet either. Looked quite good in black and the top spec, few rough plastics inside but not too bad.
Wondering about the "lease" on the battery. Say you take it on PCP and decide to change the car in a year or two - what happens with the lease of the battery - are you locked in to the end or just stop paying - is there a notice period?
Also it seems there is a 3 pin plug option now at £495 - what is this though? A bit of cable with a commando end lobbed on or some conditioner - seems a bit steep price.
Not sure on the financials yet either. Looked quite good in black and the top spec, few rough plastics inside but not too bad.
Wondering about the "lease" on the battery. Say you take it on PCP and decide to change the car in a year or two - what happens with the lease of the battery - are you locked in to the end or just stop paying - is there a notice period?
Also it seems there is a 3 pin plug option now at £495 - what is this though? A bit of cable with a commando end lobbed on or some conditioner - seems a bit steep price.
Done 2000 miles in the zoe now and it's a great little car. I would advise 3 year pcp and battery lease with option to hand back as we don't know 2nd hand values or what will be available. Renault include all servicing breakdown cover etc less than £200PCM and some good deals on demonstrators now.
What kind of range do you manage to eke out of the Zoe? I'm in the situation of wanting to get a new car next year and I desperately want to make it an EV - but my 'benchmark' drive that I sometimes need to do seems to be just out of the range of the smaller more affordable EV's - and stuff like the Tesla or the BMW i3 with the REX are out of my price range 
Chicane-UK said:
What kind of range do you manage to eke out of the Zoe? I'm in the situation of wanting to get a new car next year and I desperately want to make it an EV - but my 'benchmark' drive that I sometimes need to do seems to be just out of the range of the smaller more affordable EV's - and stuff like the Tesla or the BMW i3 with the REX are out of my price range
How far do you need to go? Longest trip we've done in the Leaf so far has been 90 miles. Range is affected on motorway at 70mph.I liked the Zoe, but opted for the Leaf, which is now sat on my drive.
Preferred the size of the Leaf and it is quite a bit more powerful. I also have a Nissan dealer nearby whereas it's a fair distance to my nearest Renault dealer and I didn't much like their service anyway.
Cost wise there was little to choose between running the two cars, though the included servicing on the Zoe did tempt me. One thing that swayed me to the Leaf though was that you can plug it in to a domestic socket as the supplied lead has a standard 13A plug.
Zoe looks nicer, but that didn't bother me really.
Preferred the size of the Leaf and it is quite a bit more powerful. I also have a Nissan dealer nearby whereas it's a fair distance to my nearest Renault dealer and I didn't much like their service anyway.
Cost wise there was little to choose between running the two cars, though the included servicing on the Zoe did tempt me. One thing that swayed me to the Leaf though was that you can plug it in to a domestic socket as the supplied lead has a standard 13A plug.
Zoe looks nicer, but that didn't bother me really.
My benchmark drive is 120 miles (to visit my folks!) and, realistically, it wouldn't be completely out of the realms of acceptability to stop off en-route to recharge for 30 minutes? I'm completely clueless about all things EV other than I'm extremely enthusiastic about them.. I suppose I should do some research into the types of charging options available, how long it takes, etc 
In a nutshell your options are to charge at home or out and about in 8-9 hours, to do the same more quickly in around 4-5 hours, or to charge at a rapid charging point in about 30 minutes.
The latter dumps a lot of current into the batteries very quickly. It will shorten their life/capacity by a bit.
The cost at home will be £2-£3 to charge. Out and about it could cost a fiver, or it could be free via Ecotricity and others.
I bought my Leaf knowing that I pass at least two high speed chargers on my way to work, and that we also have a slow charging point at work. When my wife uses the car she'll only cover 30-40 miles per day so range won't be an issue.
The latter dumps a lot of current into the batteries very quickly. It will shorten their life/capacity by a bit.
The cost at home will be £2-£3 to charge. Out and about it could cost a fiver, or it could be free via Ecotricity and others.
I bought my Leaf knowing that I pass at least two high speed chargers on my way to work, and that we also have a slow charging point at work. When my wife uses the car she'll only cover 30-40 miles per day so range won't be an issue.
So presumably the rapid charge is damaging to the batteries - however if you're paying to lease the battery (such is the business model imposed on you by Renault) would you simply just demand a new battery as soon as it started to suffer, or would they say that you've not been using it correctly and refuse to replace it?
Chicane-UK said:
So presumably the rapid charge is damaging to the batteries - however if you're paying to lease the battery (such is the business model imposed on you by Renault) would you simply just demand a new battery as soon as it started to suffer, or would they say that you've not been using it correctly and refuse to replace it?
The battery on the Zoe is monitored remotely - in theory they advise you if it falls below 75% efficiency and call you in for a replacement. I say, in theory......Chicane-UK said:
So presumably the rapid charge is damaging to the batteries - however if you're paying to lease the battery (such is the business model imposed on you by Renault) would you simply just demand a new battery as soon as it started to suffer, or would they say that you've not been using it correctly and refuse to replace it?
You're well within your rights to charge it with the high speed charger all the time. My car is leased for 4 years, and my research suggests that after 4 years I should still be at 85-90% of the original capacity. Looking after the thing by only charging it slowly will mean my car will have a decent range for more of its life.Recent consensus is that frequent fast charging is not a problem. There was a lot of noise about this a few years ago, but it seems to have gone quiet. I've done 48,000 miles in my Leaf and the battery is fine, although I have not fast charged much - only started rolling out DC stations near to me in the past 12 months.
Chicane-UK said:
My benchmark drive is 120 miles (to visit my folks!) and, realistically, it wouldn't be completely out of the realms of acceptability to stop off en-route to recharge for 30 minutes? I'm completely clueless about all things EV other than I'm extremely enthusiastic about them.. I suppose I should do some research into the types of charging options available, how long it takes, etc
Ideally there would be a fast charger around 60 miles from your house and another one near your destination. Can you plug in at your folks place? Bear in mind that fast chargers only charge fast to 80%. The remaining 20% is much slower to protect the battery.Check the Ecotricity map: http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/for-the-road/our-elect...
c2mike said:
Recent consensus is that frequent fast charging is not a problem. There was a lot of noise about this a few years ago, but it seems to have gone quiet. I've done 48,000 miles in my Leaf and the battery is fine, although I have not fast charged much - only started rolling out DC stations near to me in the past 12 months.
Interesting. Do you still have full battery bars then? 48k miles is a very good shout, on what is obviously a Gen 1 car.It still has all 12 bars. Does about 6 miles before dropping a bar. The maths is not simple as the bars are not linear...and the software has been updated, so I can't compare from when it was new 
. Mine is one of the first UK Leafs - April 2011. High temperatures is what they don't like, so not such a problem in the UK. 2015 model year US Leafs have a more robust battery and I guess this will come to the UK cars soon.
. Mine is one of the first UK Leafs - April 2011. High temperatures is what they don't like, so not such a problem in the UK. 2015 model year US Leafs have a more robust battery and I guess this will come to the UK cars soon.Edited by c2mike on Monday 1st September 21:50
andy-integrale said:
Hi
Yes found your thread. Financial case doesn't stack up as well for us as we don't suffer from congestion charging etc but it just feels something different and little left field. I can imagine becoming quite attached to it!
Will take a look at the forum.
I know we have a different usage profile but do you think there are any major downsides to ownership or common problems to watch out for?
Andy
Running over pedestrians and cyclists who don't hear you coming when they don't bother to look. And the horn is a bit weak in those circumstances. Otherwise I am really enjoying it. Swift, well equipped, quiet, smooth and to be honest its quite nice to be driving something different. But I do have access to other cars and only use it to commute so don't have any worries about range, failed charging etc. Yes found your thread. Financial case doesn't stack up as well for us as we don't suffer from congestion charging etc but it just feels something different and little left field. I can imagine becoming quite attached to it!
Will take a look at the forum.
I know we have a different usage profile but do you think there are any major downsides to ownership or common problems to watch out for?
Andy
c2mike said:
Ideally there would be a fast charger around 60 miles from your house and another one near your destination. Can you plug in at your folks place? Bear in mind that fast chargers only charge fast to 80%. The remaining 20% is much slower to protect the battery.
Check the Ecotricity map: http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/for-the-road/our-elect...
I think I'd be happy with a single charge on the journey (stop off for a coffee, or whatever) but two would extend the drive fairly significantly and probably seem a bit of a chore. I'd certainly be able to charge at their place with a normal slow charge (mains socket) and wouldn't need to use the car whilst there. Check the Ecotricity map: http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/for-the-road/our-elect...
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