Nissan Leaf

[Paul2023]

Hi all,

So I’m considering buying on PCP a Nissan Leaf. Not a new one , but used. For either 3 or 4 years.

Im just comparing the cost of having a nicer car than my current diesel one. I have an old Astra diesel, my round trip to work is 60 miles. Well it’s actually 28 miles each way . This is five days a week.

My trusty old diesel costs me about £200 per month in fuel. The car runs ok , but is 12 years old.

I’ve seen online for example Nissan Leaf’s you can get on PCP staring at around £170 per month for the smaller battery ones.

Does anyone have any advice about them? Or what battery size to look at for approximately £260 odd miles each week?

Obviously I won’t have to buy fuel anymore but how much is the electricity likely to cost me to fill the power up on a weekly basis ?

Id also have to install a charge point , so thats a cost I have to consider but also maybe a long term investment.

Will this be more costly doing this ?

Will it not cope doing 60 miles per day ?

My husband has one that's pretty old for his work commute. He charges it daily and it's cheaper than paying for petrol (in his previous car) so in that respect it's pretty good. I want to say he gets maybe 30 miles in winter, more in the summer.

However, for an only car it wouldn't work for us at all because the range isn't high enough and that's ultimately the problem. I want to be able to get at least 80 miles in range in winter with the heating on which an older leaf just wouldn't do so we needed a second option and that's where my hybrid comes in. In winter I get maybe 20 miles daily which is perfect for me, I don't use it that often and when I do it's very very local journeys. However, there is the back up of petrol there for when I want to do longer journeys or if there is an emergency and my car isn't charged (like the time I had to rush the cat to the emergency vet)

If you want any sort of longer range I wouldn't recommend an older one unless you have the time to stop and charge plus the extra money it costs out and about to charge.

We have two Nissan leafs. An old first generation one that we used for nipping round town. It’s a 13 plate but battery health is still 11/12. It’s done very few miles though for the age of the car, but was very cheap. It can do my commute to work - round trip of 50 miles, but I tend to give it a quick top up at work just for safety of mind. We rarely charge it to 100%.
We also have an extended range 21 plate leaf, which will do 200 miles on a full charge. Very economical and fab to drive.
A lot depends on your commute to work, if it’s motorway, it will use more power, but if there’s lots of stop/start/breaking then the regenerative breaking will kick in and you use much less power. You end up playing a game - how economically can I drive! I can definitely recommend the second gen extended range Leaf. The first gen one is good, but I wouldn’t have it as my only car.

You don’t have to have a charger installed. Ask if the car comes with the trickle charger/granny charger - it’s a 3 pin plug with a transformer.
Its worth noting that it would take a good 12 hours to charge to full on a 3 pin, Or you could top up nightly.

I have a 6 year old E-Golf from new.
my commute is also a 60 mile round trip which is a mix of motorway/town/country roads.
Yes it looses range in the colder months, and the heater will drain that range too. I have the winter pack with heated seats/screen which helps.
It is without doubt, the perfect commute car and we have had maybe a 10% drop in range from what we had when it was new.
We have the use of a staff car whilst at work, which is a Leaf and I don’t rate them! Nowhere near as nice to drive as the E-Golf.

We’ve had one for the past three years and love it, it is my sons Motability vehicle,

I get around 140 miles per charge even now. We’ve done about 20.000 miles in three years in terms of usage,

It’s not a long distance car but I get to our closest big zoo (DS’s happy place) and back and to hospital appointments etc .

Very nice car.

Downsides are that many vehicles have a longer range and also that many vehicles now use a different charging connector to Nissan which is important if you plan to charge away from home. Apart from that it’s fine though.

It will - but you will be charging it a LOT more than you think you realise.

That translates into more money. And if you rely on a 3-pin plug to charge, you'll be waiting 10-12 or more hours.

Bear in mind also - that even if you charge fully for the next day - one overnight temps of frost and sub-zero temperatures will degrade whatever charge you have too.

And of course, if you intend to ever take a longer journey somewhere, that Leaf thing wont get you very far - and public chargers are far from cheap either.

Suggest you look at a better car like a hybrid of some sort. Ultimately, your choice.