Is my commute to far for a Nissan Leaf?

Is my commute to far for a Nissan Leaf?

Author
Discussion

jgy6000

Original Poster:

199 posts

170 months

Thursday 15th June 2017
quotequote all
Hi all,

I'm really keen on getting into an electric car and like the idea of a second hand Nissan Leaf for £6-7k.

The only oncern I have is I do 33 miles to work and 33 miles back every day (66 total a day)

Is that comfortable in a second hand Leaf, even in winter or will that be pushing it ?

Mostly free flowing 60-70mph dual carriageway and motorway.

Thanks


anonymous-user

54 months

Thursday 15th June 2017
quotequote all
Pushing it in winter imo

Can you charge at all at work?

Is there a charge option on the route?

An older one will likely be showing some battery degradation vs a new one

Free flowing, higher speed driving uses battery quicker

Winter is the potential killer for it. You would be pushing it close and any little incident might cause you to run out



Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 15th June 21:48

austinsmirk

5,597 posts

123 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
join the UK nissan leaf group on facebook.

the advice, friendliness etc is fantastic. they'll tell you.

i know our 30kw is happily doing around 124 miles per charge. 24kw I really don't know.

anonymous-user

54 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
The problem is the fact that the power to push air out the way goes up as the Cube of speed! If you are going to want to do 60 and 70mph, then you will have range issues on that commute.

However, if it is practicable (and safe) to do say 50mph, then you will be able to manage that sort of distance. And the good news is that, unlike with ICE vehicles that have a min speed for max economy (usually around 40mph), EVs get more and more economical the slower you go, so you can actually 'range extend' your journeys significantly by just slowing down!

My commute is 32miles round trip, of mostly B roads. if i sit at the legal limit (60mph) my i3 consumes on average, around 275 Wh/Mile (17kWh/100km), but slow down to say 35 to 40mph , and consumption plummets to just 194 Wh/Mile (12kWh/100km), which translates into a range increase of around 30 miles on my 18kWh battery!


page3

4,916 posts

251 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
For < 70 miles a day you could floor it all the way and still have reserve, even in winter. So says my calculations and experiences from a test drive.

I have one on order...

jgy6000

Original Poster:

199 posts

170 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
Thanks all!

Driving slower is not really much of an option as it's pretty free flowing m1 and a14 so wouldn't want to go lower then 60 really.

There's some car chargers where I work but I need to find out if we can use them as I think they are more for show than anything

anonymous-user

54 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
page3 said:
For < 70 miles a day you could floor it all the way and still have reserve, even in winter. So says my calculations and experiences from a test drive.

I have one on order...
With the latest "big battery" Leaf, yes, i agree, but with an s/h small battery one, nope, not in winter for sure

page3

4,916 posts

251 months

Friday 16th June 2017
quotequote all
Max_Torque said:
With the latest "big battery" Leaf, yes, i agree, but with an s/h small battery one, nope, not in winter for sure
Sorry yes I agree totally. Didn't realise the smaller battery was the one in question.

lost in espace

6,160 posts

207 months

Monday 19th June 2017
quotequote all
We have a 24 and a 30. My wife commutes Welwyn to Epping never been caught out, about 60 miles.

Either will do it, but the 24 will not allow for detours of any significance. The 30 is actually a practical car range is not an issue with some planning.

The fuel savings cover the loan she has on the car. A gen 2 24 is a decent proposition if you are mindful of its limitiations, I feel at ease driving the 30 but a bit fidgety driving the 24 due to range anxiety and we have had electric cars for 3 years.

Edited by lost in espace on Monday 19th June 13:28

jgy6000

Original Poster:

199 posts

170 months

Monday 19th June 2017
quotequote all
lost in espace said:
We have a 24 and a 30. My wife commutes Welwyn to Epping never been caught out, about 60 miles.

Either will do it, but the 24 will not allow for detours of any significance. The 30 is actually a practical car range is not an issue with some planning.

The fuel savings cover the loan she has on the car. A gen 2 24 is a decent proposition if you are mindful of its limitiations, I feel at ease driving the 30 but a bit fidgety driving the 24 due to range anxiety and we have had electric cars for 3 years.

Edited by lost in espace on Monday 19th June 13:28
What's the real world range from both?

Jag_NE

2,973 posts

100 months

Monday 19th June 2017
quotequote all
Max_Torque said:
The problem is the fact that the power to push air out the way goes up as the Cube of speed! If you are going to want to do 60 and 70mph, then you will have range issues on that commute.

However, if it is practicable (and safe) to do say 50mph, then you will be able to manage that sort of distance. And the good news is that, unlike with ICE vehicles that have a min speed for max economy (usually around 40mph), EVs get more and more economical the slower you go, so you can actually 'range extend' your journeys significantly by just slowing down!

My commute is 32miles round trip, of mostly B roads. if i sit at the legal limit (60mph) my i3 consumes on average, around 275 Wh/Mile (17kWh/100km), but slow down to say 35 to 40mph , and consumption plummets to just 194 Wh/Mile (12kWh/100km), which translates into a range increase of around 30 miles on my 18kWh battery!
are these single carriageway roads that you drive on whereby you choose to drive at 35 in a 60 limit?

bmw320ci

595 posts

226 months

Friday 30th June 2017
quotequote all
doing motorway speeds in an EV drains your battery in the matter of minutes.

In our ZoE you can look down and watch the miles drop off, if you drop your speed to 50mph ish you will keep your range

Captain Answer

1,352 posts

187 months

Friday 30th June 2017
quotequote all
30kw Leaf should much that up no problem even in winter,

Got all the way from Wigan to Nottingham without stopping to recharge when I picked mine up in Feb (91 miles). Average speed restrictions most the way of 50mph probably helped.

SilverSixer

8,202 posts

151 months

Friday 7th July 2017
quotequote all
I've got a test drive booked in a Nissan Leaf in a couple of weeks. Popped in the local dealer this morning for a squizz and a chat. They were quite helpful and non-pushy. So far so good.

Getting tempted to lease/PCP a new one at £180-200 a month as a commuting/school run car. I usually only do 50 miles a day (work and back, including school and railway station run for the children/missus), so even the 24kwh version should be OK. Right? It would replace a 2006 Mazda 6 2.0 petrol auto (thirsty), our current daily drive 2005 Mercedes E320 CDI auto estate would become our second/longer distance/weekend car. I currently spend £200-300 a month on diesel/petrol, I could knock this down to about £30 electricity (good estimate?), and take away the £25 a month VED on the Mazda. I'd be a few quid up, with a brand warrantied car and no maintenance/repair bills.

I don't think any other electric car with a decent size boot (cricket bags, hockey bags, multiple school backpacks/games kit bags need to be carried all at once) is available anywhere near this sort of monthly cost.

Car As A Service. Electric Cars. Time to embrace the future, perhaps.

Any thoughts/pointers from experienced users?

familyguy1

778 posts

132 months

Friday 7th July 2017
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@ SilverSixer which dealer in the TV area did you go to, out of interest ? I'm in the same area so would like to know which is a good/better dealer with knowledge of EV's.

TIA

SilverSixer

8,202 posts

151 months

Friday 7th July 2017
quotequote all
familyguy1 said:
@ SilverSixer which dealer in the TV area did you go to, out of interest ? I'm in the same area so would like to know which is a good/better dealer with knowledge of EV's.

TIA
Westway in Basingstoke. Can't fully vouch for them, as I only had an initial 15 min chat, but the sales guy was helpful, knowledgeable and wasn't pushy.

Dazed and Confused

979 posts

82 months

Saturday 8th July 2017
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Seems fairly common on EVs that the range won't be what you were hoping.

page3

4,916 posts

251 months

Saturday 8th July 2017
quotequote all
Dazed and Confused said:
Seems fairly common on EVs that the range won't be what you were hoping.
Depends on if you believe the official figures or real world ones. No different from MPG for a petrol/diesel car.

Our 3 day old Leaf is used for 60-70 miles a day. It's returning home with 49% charge remaining. The wife is driving it just like the old Audi diesel > 70 mph on motorway.

jgy6000

Original Poster:

199 posts

170 months

Saturday 8th July 2017
quotequote all
The reason I want to get an old one is as I'm doing 17-20,000 miles a year, so anything I buy is going to get well abused.

Think I'll stick with my Volvo S60 "dirty" D5 for the next few years as an early Leaf isn't going to be practicals for my commute.

WJNB

2,637 posts

161 months

Saturday 8th July 2017
quotequote all
I think you mean 'too' far not to far. Easy & common mistake.