Electric cars

[Piemaster]

Anyone got one? Thinking about a Nissan Leaf / Renault Zoe. This place seems to have a reasonable used selection of both, and they are now getting more into our price bracket as used buys. as depreciation on new one seems horrendous (Guardian article)
Due to change in my job I now have a works pickup, which is getting used for longer journeys. The Skoda Roomster is only getting used for short city journeys now to the point where I doubt its properly warm before it gets to the destination most of the time, an electric car would seem a better option - it can be parked in the drive for charging. The Skoda has faults that require some ££ to repair too.
Reviews of the Nissan seem quite positive, the Renault more.....mixed.

 

[biggs682]

@Piemaster this will thread will get some comments i would think , not sure what i would suggest , you certainly see more Leaf's than you do Zoe's .

Years ago i would have suggested Nissan build quality to be much higher than Renaults not sure much has changed these days .

Do Mitsubushi still offer the i-mev ?

 

[Slick]

They have improved it.

http://www.mitsubishi-cars.co.uk/imiev/

 

[keithmac]

I suppose second hand wise battery longevity and condition are your biggest concerns.

What sort of trips will it be used for 10 miles or less?.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

I suppose second hand wise battery longevity and condition are your biggest concerns.

What sort of trips will it be used for 10 miles or less?.

Typically hot the issue people believe it to be. Battery life is proving to be much better than predicted.

 

[keithmac]

Typically hot the issue people believe it to be. Battery life is proving to be much better than predicted.

Which is great!, but do they have a maximum number of recharge cycles built into the firmware?.

Would the dealer diagnostics tool give battery condition and recharges left status?.

Not looked into it myself but would be very interested in that before buying one.

 

[Piemaster]

@keithmac yup, usually <10 miles. Longest regular one I can think of offhand is taking the dog to the beach - 25-30 round trip, or perhaps a bit further to a relative, around a 60 mile round trip.

 

[Piemaster]

I'm from Yorkshire. There is of course one electric car that has to be considered. Volkswagen's E-Up!

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Which is great!, but do they have a maximum number of recharge cycles built into the firmware?.

Would the dealer diagnostics tool give battery condition and recharges left status?.

Not looked into it myself but would be very interested in that before buying one.

Leafs tell you, the driver, what the battery deterioration is, I know (in terms of maximum charge available). Others may do, too.

Away to the EV Forums with you - be prepared to visit Geek Central!

 

[Sandra6]

I'd suggest test driving both and see which you prefer.
Mr6 had a bit of a "thing" for electric cars a while ago and we took a few out. I didn't like any of them, but I hated the leaf the least, although to be fair it was the size of the zoe that did it for me.
The biggest problem we had was watching the mileage left reduce so rapidly when you went over 50mph. A 15 mile round journey used up over 30 miles of battery life. Second problem was finding a recharge point when we were out. There are a couple in the town centre, but the next closest is 20 miles away.
You really need to think whether it is going to be a practical car to go places in. For us, it really wasn't.

 

[Drago]

Funny you mention electric cars. Saw a Leaf abandoned at the side of the A45 today, presumably battery kaput. The cold won't have helped.

I don't know how the driver planned to retrieve it. Not like he can buy a bucket of electricity at the station.

I must admit to having been tempted to but a Twizy for a laugh.

Unless you're desperate for one in a hurry I'd hold fire. Who's going to want a Leaf when the new Tesla arrives for less money. It's win-win then - you could buy the Tesla and pocket the change, or buy a used Leaf as the prices get hammered.

 

[Levo-Lon]

I seriously considered one of these last month when buying my new van...but cost and practicality won the day...

https://www.nissan.co.uk/vehicles/new-vehicles/e-nv200.html

 

[GuyBoden]

I'll try to persuade the wife to get a Kia Soul EV.

 

[DRM]

I had a quick look on Nissans website, all the technology that they are making big with is really quite old hat, and has been available on electric powered fork trucks for years, for example hill hold, regenerative braking ( which in truth puts very little power back in the battery) only difference being the Nissan has an approximatley 403 volt lithion ion battery, most fork trucks are lead acid, usually 48 volt, no doubt simply due to cost, but I reckon the electronics will be of the same type and are very reliable, and as far as the technicians concerned will have a lot of settings, as tecnology & infrastructure improves the range will improve and make electric cars more & more viable, don't forget that auto guided fork trucks are available & this technology will easily transfer to electric cars too.

 

[Piemaster]

Had a drive of both a Leaf and a Zoe today. I had nipped into a main Nissan dealer when passing to have a look at a Leaf, but apart from the woman on reception telling me servicing wasn't a problem and directing me towards one at the other end of the showroom no-one seemed interested in talking to me. Not as though I was going to buy the £28k one that was on display, but never mind.

So, a trip to the place I linked to above and a drive in both a Zoe and a Leaf. Salesman just put some trade plates on both of them and left us to go out for a drive. Local roads fairly mixed so a reasonable test of what they were both like to drive for what it will be used for.
I liked the Leaf - just seemed more mature and grown up and incidentally a fair bit bigger than I'd thought. I had more Micra sized in my head. Interior felt lifted from another Nissan somewhere.
Wife liked the Zoe as it was a bit smaller and felt quite light and airy in the cabin. Use of lighter colours instead of the universal black everywhere, even if the materials felt a bit cheap.

So, the Zoe is arriving tomorrow. Salesman even threw in VED (£0) and a full tank of electricity