My thoughts on a weekend with a 2015 Nissan Leaf 24Kw Acenta

[M1C]

Well, I could be seriously tempted to be honest.

Driving:

I was well well, well impressed. The performance pleased me muchly.

Like..on Saturday morning, I was on an errand at 7am to collect a parcel from the Royal Mail depot….the roads were v quiet….so I took off from a set of lights onto a DC and climbed to an indicated 99.... (where it seemed to be limited to) in what seemed like no time at all. The other traffic that was at the lights behind me….were nowhere to be seen.

And all of this in near silence (other than a bit of wind and road noise). You do get a little whine from the motor….but even that it amplified. You can turn this ‘sound’ off…and when you do, it really is almost silent. Too quiet for pedestrians etc, I left the sound on.

I later timed a 0-60 twice on a local straight flat road, and they came out as 8.8 and 9.0s which isn’t amazing by any stretch….but I gather the 0-30 and 0-40 times will be more impressive.

It was just like….really responsive effortless performance! The lack of any gearchanges just gives a seamless pull, which is very satisfying. It’s strange though….it doesn’t feel like ‘push you into the back of your seat’ kinda ‘go’….it just feels lively and sprightly.

Sadly…..a bit of this driving really does get the range down. But I’ll keep talking about the good stuff before turning to the less good.

Other good stuff – it rides and handles nicely. The ride has a generally soft edge so it’s quite comfortable – but not wallowy. The handing is good! I’m guessing because of the batteries being all down the middle of the floor must work wonders for CoG. The steering is light…but not bad, I’ve used much worse.

The brakes are a bit weird. They are the only bit of the driving where you get the sense there is a compromise. They feel a bit spongy….but inconsistent. You can tell they are doing more than just braking and that other electro-trickery is going on whilst you brake. It’s not bad….but to me it was a bit noticeable.

It’s just….serene. It’s relaxing…..but quick and response when required.

The above is all with Eco mode off.

When you put Eco mode on, this immediately dulls the throttle response (and performance as a whole I believe) by….i would say….approx 20-30%. It feels pretty rubbish (in comparison) to start with…..but if you leave it in Eco, you get used to it….and performance is still decent.

The reason I persisted with Eco is because you can put it in ‘B’ mode, which gives you stronger like…..off throttle braking. It’s not braking….it’s like….you know…I can’t remember what it’s called, but when you release the throttle, you slow down. I like this as you don’t need to use the brakes. And it seems to give more green dots on the display, so it’s putting a little bit back into the battery.

However! The ‘regen’ isn’t very strong. And it doesn’t really do this at all when not in B mode. This surprised me as when I’ve driven the Outlander PHEVS (i work with/for a Mitsubishi dealer), you can set the B to ‘5’ which is a nice strong regen, it really does kinda bring about ‘1 pedal driving’. (The new Leaf does this I think, they called it ‘E Pedal’ and you can set it to be like this)

Plus – if you drive in Eco most of the time….when you take it off….you get a real grin as you feel live you’ve engaged a turbo switch (hehe, turbo, how rudimentary……)

Erm, what else.

Practicality – the Leaf is nice and spacious inside. Front room is good, rear room is good and the boot is large and deep (but sadly doesn’t have a spare wheel, which probably is why it’s so deep). Plentiful space for our family.

It’s perhaps a bigger car than it looks though. I it felt like more of a squeeze on the drive than my C3 Picasso (in terms of both length and width (Matron).

The interior is smart and decent quality…and highly specced (sat nav, rear camera, cruise, climate etc blab la bla plenty of stuff) I DID notice a couple of squeaks and rattles when driving..but these were very slight…and felt I was only noticing them as there was no engine noise or vibration etc.

At speeds….like….60+mph…I wouldn’t say it was any quieter than any other car. By those speeds the wind and road noise become a thing and so it just seems like any other car. However….below this and especially in town etc, it’s super quiet.

So, it’s great to drive, comfy, spacious, very refined....it’s great!

BUT.

And yes, there sadly is a but….

The range. Range anxiety. It really is a thing.

When you drive away with a full charge….and before you have driven a mile….the battery display changes to 99%.....you know it’s a thing. And you just keep checking that graphic as the miles and percent go down and down.

You kinda wish they weren’t there….as it’s a constant reminder….but they need to be there….purely because the range isn’t great and you need to be kept aware of how you are doing.

On a very good day (or days) you will could approx. 90 miles from the battery (full). Normal is probably 70-80 miles...?.

With lots of use of the go pedal for fun driving, I can see below 50 miles being a realistic thing.

And again, in winter or on a cold wet day with use of heater, lights and everything else, people do indeed report the usable range as being 50 miles or less.

Now really – this shouldn’t be a thing. If you don’t do more than 70 miles a day, which I well undercut (mine is 30 max, usually less) But it’s that thing of not having much in reserve in case you need to do an extra journey etc.

It would absolutely be more than enough for me as a commuting car. But you would have to have that ‘other’ car for bigger journeys.

Yes, you can do long journeys in the leaf if you plan ahead and use rapid chargers etc but that’s a lot of extra organisation – AND….you have to know you’ll have a rapid charger available at the time…and there is no guarantee of that.

I've done some sums and at the minute, a £5-6k Leaf would break even. The cost of financing (and charging) the car would be less than i currently spend on fuel alone for the Picasso.

Come on now…these numbers are seriously starting to work!!!!!

(Lets make sure we ignore the elephant in room of the gradual degradation of the battery…..and the risk of potential failure of it would would surely wipe out a huge chunk of the savings….BUT – then an ICE car would have associated maintenance/repair costs too….lets keep things balanced)

So there you go. My thoughts and some approx. sums.

Surely it could happen…sometime?

Open to thoughts and recommendation from forum Leaf owners/tryers/thinkers?!!

Thank you!

[M1C]

Thank you everyone for your your responses and comments, recommendations

The car 'belonged' to a friend who works for NMUK and had the car on lease. I didn't really want to give it back.

One thing i did wonder - would be if the whole electric car thing would...have a kind of....honeymoon effect....and once gone, would be boring?!

But it seems like you owners are still very happy.

Yeah, it does seem like the Gen2 is the one to get to, if i can. I am really strongly considering it now.

My electric at home is very cheap. We have a pre-paid 'key' meter thing and i refuse to get it changed as the electric bills have definitely worked out cheaper in this house than our last one.

PLUS - i could very likely charge it at work too. So thats a bonus. But my daily commute is probably....20 miles...sometimes less, sometimes more. We do do a 40 mile-ish round trip to the out-laws once a week but that should still be fine.

As someone mentioned/asked - i did indeed feel strange going back into my Picasso - it's a 2011 1.6 Diesel....and although it's actually fairly refined compared to similar diesels of that age/type....it did feel so......stone age?! The vibrations and noise from the engine, the clunky gearchange....it really did seem like going back in time in many ways. I felt like...WHY? Why would you have this....when the Leaf was so....smooth, quiet, quick?!!

I think i could make it work. It would defintely do for 90% of my usage, i reckon. And we have the other car for other stuff...

Hmmmm.....veery tempted. Just wish i'd been properly tempted say....12-18 months ago as Leafs seemed cheaper then! The prices are definitely holding up.

It'd have to be a battery owned one, the figures dont work out for me on a flex one.

[M1C]

Ah, that's interesting about the B mode in normal, thank you.

As I liked the responsiveness of the whole thing in normal...but liked the B mode in ECO...so to hear that you can have B mode in normal is great.

Understood about the rear lights not coming on, thank you.

As I say, if anything I prefer a stronger B mode as per the PHEV.

[M1C]

I'm so very tempted.

I have a couple in mind....and i feel like i'm almost ready to go for it.

But....should i?

My concern is - (because this will have to be a longish term thing).....will i get bored??!?! Will, after a few days / weeks whatever...i suddenly see it as an appliance and derive no pleasure from it?

I dont know....i guess nobody can answer that for me as everyone is different....and it's good to read all of the positive reviews from people.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[M1C]

Oh no, i dont think it's an exciting car at all....and i'm not looking for an exciting car...i know this is the answer for that.

I just meant...do you turn cold to them....do you not appreciate or like them any more....kinda thing.

But i DO think it's an INTERESTING car in terms of what it does and how it goes about it - (this is coming from never having a EV before and being like....'totes amaze' (urgh!) by the one i used for a weekend/3 days.

[M1C]

Here's a question to all - bit of a EV NOOB question.

Most of the ones im looking at are a fair trek away and would almost certainly need 1 or more stops on the way back for charging.

Are there any particular types of charger where i can just plug in and pay/not pay for it without having to be registered/member / have the app etc?

I would just be looking to 'get home' kinda thing, even if it was a slower standard charge where i had to wait around a while.

I know thats a very vague question as there are many different types in different places...but i'd be most likely coming off a motorway at a service station for a quick (or slow) splash and dash.

[M1C]

I need to update this thread - i got one a couple of weeks ago!

A 'Gen 2' 2013 63 with 85k miles, for £5800. 11 of 12 bars showing.

Think i got it for a decent price looking at other adverts and ebay listings etc. Thats good to know in case i have a change of heart and want to sell, i shouldn't loose much/any money at the moment.

However, i want to persevere.

One think i perhaps should have done is get the app and OBD11 reader first! As mine is only on 80.3%, so it's not too far from it's second bar going...

So, thats not great, especially when i read ScotlandTims post, 90,000 and still 96%? Thats amazing! What kind of charging methods have you been using to keep things going that well?

I will be using the granny cable and keeping fast charging to a minimum as i hear that helps a bit, also keeping to 80% charge as again i gather that helps.

It's looking at about 65-72 miles realistic at the moment, although it can do more in the right conditions, it seems to LOVE like...under 30mph town stuff..the range barely moves in that. However, my commute is a mix so i wont be able to get more miles than i currently do.
It's OK though as my general weekday miles are usually under 20, sometimes up to 30.

Mine has the optional 6.6Kw charge mode and the optional beige interior?! Not the best and wouldn't be my choice but it's bright and airy i suppose!

Still early days but im really liking how it drives, its refinement, comfort, space for the kids, big boot etc, it's just the right size for us. I like the spec too, still haven't set up the carwings etc. Or the heating timer etc.

Although i am strangely getting phone notifications to tell me the car has finished charging....when it isn't even charging or plugged in. Not sure if i'm somehow linked to someone elses car? Hehe.

It's just like....you drive around in it.....and you get this feeling of....."why doesn't everyone drive one of these?" It's just so smooth and nice! And quite quick too, if you want it to be.

[M1C]

ElectricSoup, thank you.

Mr E - yes, its definitely a Gen 2, foot operated ratchet brake etc. Upon reading up etc, i realised i definitely needed to go for one of those over the Gen 1. It's a September 2013 63 plate.

I know the Gen 1s all had the beige interior as standard, and the Gen 2s had the (much nicer IMO) dark interior as standard, but the beige became an option, which for some reason the previous owner chose! It's alright i suppose, just will need to keep on top of the cleaning etc to keep it looking nice.

The reason i went for it is that, when i did my man maths, the cost of the loan for the car + my electic cost per month was working out less than the amount i spent on diesel per month (in a decently economical 50mpg car) - so the tipping point had been reached.

it is faviourable as i'm on a very cheap electric tariff at home. I can also occasionally charge at work, if really needed, the option is there.

It's a battery owned model, a battery lease model would have thrown the sums out of the window.

I've used both an Ecotricity rapid charger and a Instavolt (ChargePoint) charger where you use your card and both worked nicely. However i'll mainly be granny charging overnight.

Does anyone here know how to set up the carwings thing? I've set up a Nissan+You account but can't seem to log in to the app on my phone. Somebody on the EV forum said i need to ring Nissan and set it up with them?

[M1C]

Sounds good Soup!

I quite like the red!

Mine is white, looks just like Tims.


Sounds like you have got a decent setup there with regards to charging etc.

What is your normal routine? Do you granny charge or fast charge and do you always go to 100% or limit to 80%

I'm gonna try the 80% thing, it should be doiable with the miles i do (most, if not all days)

According to Leaf Spy my car has had 105 Quick Charges and 7586 L1/L2 charges. Alghough i read somewhere that you need to halve that number as it usually counts one charge as two?

I still have much to learn!

Shame about the Carwings thing. I've read it's a bit ropey to say the least. I would like to see if i can control the various things from my phone.

[M1C]

ElectricSoup said:

SCEtoAUX said:

Carwings is a waste of time. Haven't used in in almost my entire five years of ownership.

Just had mine serviced and MOT'd at my local indy. The bigger of the two services. Total cost £142.00 (yep, all in).

Zero VED, peanuts to service, very cheap to insure and fuel costs about 20% (at most) of an ICE. Anyone who does a regular 50 mile round trip for five days of the week would be an idiot not to have a Leaf as a second car.

Buy it for £8k, pay £100/month on the loan, save £120/month on fuel. That's a free car.

And that's the bullseye.

Yeah. thats kinda my way of thinking. The monthly cost of the loan for the Leaf + the electric i use is less than i was spending per month on diesel before. Plus i was able to sell my previous car to pay off some of the loan also.

Man maths in overdrive....but hopefully it works out.

[M1C]

I'm still liking it . Which is good as this needs to be more of a long term thing to work. Although strictly speaking, it doesn't as I could move away at the moment without losing much/anything.

I find it's much more relaxing. Going to work in a smooth, quiet and controlled way...it's Nice.

Not really a car you can drive 'in anger' although the point and squirt is fun when you are in the mood (matron!)