EV general discussion

Presumably a Leaf 24. Check how many bars of battery life it has, probably not the full 12. It always had significantly less range in winter (50 miles?), so do the math on whether it'll do the journeys you need. Not really a weekend trip car, more a "does the short commute cheaply" car.

Plenty more about the car here, see this guy's oldest videos:
Ok thank you, yes it'll be used for the shorter trips we do.
 
Yeah Zoe is a good shout as well.

I just hear so much anecdotal talk about batteries failing and costing thousands to get new ones, but not sure if this is an actual real life concern...?
 
Not a real life concern, just a journalist looking for clicks concern.

Leaf batteries are actually pretty repairable if the worst does happen but in reality the issue with those is degradation on vehicles that have had a hard life or kept in a hot country, not outright failure.

From what I’ve seen (but I can’t say I have looked) there isn’t much conversation about significant degradation issues in Zoe batteries.

The leaf gets talked about a fair amount in that regard but there are many older good examples out there with 11/12 bars still.
 
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Not a real life concern, just a journalist looking for clicks concern.

Leaf batteries are actually pretty repairable if the worst does happen but in reality the issue with those is degradation on vehicles that have had a hard life or kept in a hot country, not outright failure.

From what I’ve seen (but I can’t say I have looked) there isn’t much conversation about significant degradation issues in Zoe batteries.

The leaf gets talked about a fair amount in that regard but there are many older good examples out there with 11/12 bars still.

Thanks, I'll go and see what's about :)
 
Well I'm starting to have a total rethink, we are a family of 5 and our main car is a Qashqai, which to be fair has been brilliant.

But most of the time it's just my wife and 3 kids, which would easily fit into a smaller car, and I'm thinking a leaf might be a good option.

We will need something bigger to fit all 5 of us in for weekend trips etc, I'm thinking about parting with my Z4 which I barely use, to make money for something that can accommodate all of us.

I definitely wouldn't recommend one as your only family car, but as something for local trips and commutes with a bigger ICE (or newer, longer range EV) for longer trips then why not.

Just bear in mind, as @throwaway4372 says, you'll get maybe 50 miles in colder weather, so figure out if that will be enough for your planned trips, or if you'll just end up using the Qashqai so much that it's not worth it.

As mentioned, the Zoe might be a better option, in that you can get a battery leased model, which - while it has a monthly fee (mileage dependent) - effectively gives you an endless battery warranty. It's smaller and slower than the Leaf, depends how old the kids are I guess, if they need child seats then it might be a bit tight in the back!
 
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Are battery lease costs reasonable? I probably spend maybe £150 a month on fuel at the moment, so any lease costs would cut into those savings...
 
I've no idea why you'd lease a battery. The cars have proven to be perfectly reliable over a long time.
 
Are battery lease costs reasonable? I probably spend maybe £150 a month on fuel at the moment, so any lease costs would cut into those savings...

You can get a buy out quote from RCI, the 22kWh version can be pretty cheap as the cost is based on age. You could save £2K+ buying a battery lease Zoe, and then only pay £1,500 for purchase of the battery from RCI. I wouldn't write them off altogether, look at the comparisons between the two versions.
 
Ah I see, thanks all.

All the Zoe's on AT under 5k explicitly state they are on leases, so I'm guessing I'd either had to fork out for a new battery or take on the existing lease?
 
Ah I see, thanks all.

All the Zoe's on AT under 5k explicitly state they are on leases, so I'm guessing I'd either had to fork out for a new battery or take on the existing lease?

You either take on a lease with RCI, or buy out the battery from them, no need to buy a 'new' battery.
 
Are battery lease costs reasonable? I probably spend maybe £150 a month on fuel at the moment, so any lease costs would cut into those savings...

Depends on the mileage you do, its been a few years since I looked at it, but iirc the lowest is £19/month for 4k miles/year. I also have a vague recollection that if you buy out the battery after leasing for a while then they take off a certain number of monthly payments (although I might have imagined this :p)

I've no idea why you'd lease a battery. The cars have proven to be perfectly reliable over a long time.

I agree, it was more a suggestion to alleviate any concerns about battery reliability/longevity.
 
Nio coming to uk with their battery lease option , so, there's as resurgence;
but practically battery technology is evolving and I'd question whether after warranty expiration it will be economic to fix them (unless there are massive stockpiles of modules/controllers)
this would start to reflect in residuals for older cars, as that population grows.

Noted that chevrolet had, like ipace had an LG battery issue https://www.designnews.com/automoti...lution-its-chevrolet-bolt-ev-battery-problems
 
I wouldn’t characterise one manufacturer as a resurgence. The reason they do it is their battery swap system. That model just doesn’t work unless you have a battery lease.

I don’t know about others but I don’t actually see battery swapping catching on, certainly in its current form. It’s a nice marketing point but that’s it for me.

Having actually owned what I’d describe as a medium range EV and travel long distances in it, I don’t really see what ‘problem’ it’s trying to solve for the masses. In that it doesn’t actually save that much if any time.

It seems to me that it’s a concept which was born in the days of Nissan leafs with tiny batteries which took an hour to charge.

Even on long trips, it doesn’t actually save that much time. You really are talking minutes because you have to stay in the car while it is being swapped. So after driving for 4 hours, you spend 5+ mins swapping the battery the you have to go park up to take a toilet break (7-10 mins), longer if you want to do anything else like get a drink or something to eat.

In those 15 mins a Tesla or Kia/Hyundai would be back up to 60-70% already, potentially more if they were not that low when they started charging. A swapped battery isn’t fully charged also, I think they are 90%. (Edit: a Nio charges relatively slowly despite having big batteries which is a big shortcoming IMO)

This is born out in that Norwegian dudes contrived ‘how fast can I drive 1000km’ with only stopping to charge tests. It’s literally minutes on 9-10 hours driving.
 
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You can still fast charge the NIO but it is worth baring in mind its battery can be twice the size of a Tesla so going from zero to full in a quick stop for the range is worthwhile, I'd consider it niche, but I don't tend to need cross country daily range anymore. A few years back though that would be a boon.

These days for me my 36 mile battery does all I need :D
 
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