Nissan Leaf !! (Electric Car)

[ilovemarkb]

The more the I read about these the more convinced I am to get one!! Am I missing something obvious that puts people off buying them......don't see many driving about!! ??? !!!

[gumboil]

Baldric, let's take a look at a website concerning the Nissan Leaf that belongs to the car manufacturer. I do tend to find the information contained on the car manufacturer's website to be more reliable than a review in circumstances like this - they should know about these things after all. Here it is:

http://www.nissan.co.uk/GB/en/vehicle/electric-vehicles/leaf/prices-and-equipment/how-to-buy-my-leaf.html

Under the Nissan Leaf Flex heading, take a look at the sub-heading "Battery Pricing Grid". Notice the words "hire" in reference to the battery and then notice the cost per month figures dependent on mileage. For comparison, you should then look at the inclusive costs under the "All in one Solution" where the battery does indeed belong to the car purchaser.

Good luck with arriving at a decision over the best "option" to take.

[gumboil]

Incidentally, try costing the price of a new battery just in case the battery included in your "All in one solution" gets knackered at any time during the lifetime of the car.

Get your hanky ready before you notice the eye-watering price and no, it's not covered by the car warranty.

[hc4361]

According to that link the battery has a five year warranty if you opt for the 'all on in solution'.

[hc4361]

All on in? All in one, obviously. This keyboard has a mind of its own.

[Baldric]

///Good luck with arriving at a decision over the best "option" to take.///

Well thanks for that, but I wouldn't touch one with a barge pole, nor would I touch a manufacturers site for accurate info on a new car 'cause all that want to do is to sell me something, I'll have a look at the pretty pictures, check the price list then head for the review sites to find out what it's really like.

(I noticed on your link it can cost up to £93 a month to lease the battery)

[hc4361]

£4920 for a replacement battery, but they do give you £1000 back for your old one.

[gumboil]

While I appreciate that car manufacturers websites are biased, the point I was trying to make was that the car battery info on the Nissan website had to be reasonably reliable or they would suffer the consequences. Nissan have no choice but to be open with this info.

Just like you Baldric, i wouldn't touch one with a bargepole either. The £93 a month lease cost of the battery is ridiculous in itself, but having to pay at least £3920 for a replacement for a duff battery as hc4361 points out makes me conclude that anyone who buys one of these cars has more money than sense.

[Baldric]

But they ^^^ can hug a tree with a clear conscience.
;o)

[bhg481]

They can only hug a tree with a clear consciece if they don't bother to think where the electricity to charge them comes from in the first place. They might be green at the point of usage ie, no polltion in a city, but the electricity used to charge the battery isn't particularly green.

[ToraToraTora]

the bottom line, ilovemarkb, is that unless you are a wealthy enthusiast who doesn't mind burning vast amounts of money, don't!

[jomifl]

@TTT
From WIKI
/There are two main technologies available on the market, alkaline and proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysers. Alkaline electrolysers are cheaper in terms of investment (they generally use nickel catalysts), but less efficient; PEM electrolysers, conversely, are more expensive (they generally use expensive platinum-group metal catalysts) but are more efficient and can operate at higher current densities, and can be therefore be possibly cheaper if the hydrogen production is large enough. Reported working efficiencies are in the range 60-75% for alkaline and 65–90% for PEM./

[jomifl]

I think a rechargeable hybrid is the way to go, but not quite yet and not at current prices as they just aren't financially competitive.

[jomifl]

In case you didn't see the comparison between a pure electric and a hydrogen powered car on a trip to France(shown on sky, I think), The hydrogen car had to go quite a bit out of its way to fill up initially but with a 300 mile range did the trip without a stop (apart from having to take the cross channel ferry because hydrogen cars are not allowed in the tunnel). The electric car had to recharge every 50 miles and gave up when a recharging station failed and there wasn't another within the remaining range.

[Old_Geezer]

I may be getting the calculation wrong, but :

If it takes 15h to charge a battery to 30,000Wh would that be 2,000W ?
With about 32,000,000 cars on the UK roads that would make 64,000,000,000W or 64GW ?

That sounds one heck of an increase for the National Grid to take in it's stride.

[hc4361]

How much does the 30 minute charge cost at motorway services?

[mikey4444]

Not sure but who wants to have to break their journey every couple of hours to recharge a battery ? If you were going any reasonable distance, it would take all day to get there.

Electric vehicles were OK for milk floats but they just don't make any sense for an everyday car.

ilovemarkb....think long and hard before buying one of these ruddy things.
If you really feel guilty about wasting the earth's resources, then investigate a hybrid car instead.

[hc4361]

It seems to be free to charge your car at motorway services and other providers.