Is it worth buying a 1st generation Nissan Leaf in 2023?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 มิ.ย. 2024
- In today's video, we take a look at the 1st generation Nissan Leaf and I let you know my thoughts on whether it's still worth buying one in 2023. Is it still cheap to run, is it convenient, is it green? Watch the video to find out!
Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
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Great to see someone giving it a go. We bought a used leaf in 2019 and honestly, it's been super. OK we have other cars, so it doesn't have to do everything, but if you use it for the journeys which make sense for it, it's great - like you say very spacious and practical, comfy etc. They really come into their own if you have solar panels or work somewhere where you can charge at their expense, then, they are practically free to run. Maintenance is far lower than engined cars.
We actually make money from ours as we lucked into getting a bidirectional charger on a trial, which means we can store electricity in it bought at night and export it back to the grid at teatime benefiting from the price differential. Vehicle to grid V2G and V2H (home) charging really is the future - using the fact that cars are parked up 90% of the time and enabling that energy storage to be used to flatten out the country's power demand peaks means less need to cater for the peaks in demand with nuclear or fossil fuel power stations. The Leaf is the only car that can do that right now - because chademo, although it's dying, chademo really is the betamax of charging connectors.
sorry for the essay - only one more thing to add. Some 30kWh leafs are still in 8yr battery warranty and close to being eligable for free replacement battery from Nissan, might be worth looking into for anyone considering a used leaf at the moment
Based on the Work vans we currently use with a 200mile range EVs are good as long as you have the charging facilities
Liking your honesty!
Let's hope that prospective owners of your Leaf don't watch this video Joe 🤣
😂 It’s only what I’d tell them in person!
@@ShiftingMetal I suspect it'll be the new Berrow Motors courtesy car 🤣🤣
As a long time owner of a 2013, purchased in 2016 for a mere $6995, I would answer the question of whether or not it's worth buying as follows... My short answer is yes, but with this disclaimer; This should not be your only car, that (in my humble opinion) would cause way too much stress in your life. But if you use the leaf for what it was intended for, a grocery getter/commuter car, it is a great choice. But if your commute is more than about 30 miles each way (your mileage may vary depending on whether you charge to 80% or all the way to 100%) , you'll be pushing the envelope of range anxiety, in my opinion. To me, it's like driving a car with only about an eighth of a tank of fuel (maintaining between 20-80% in my case). It might feel more like a quarter tank if you charge to 100% but I set my charger to stop charging at 80% and at the end of my daily commute (depending on traffic) it's usually around 20-30%. My daily commute is about 34 miles roundtrip and it's about 90% freeway (yup, I live in LA). It seems counter intuitive but the heavier the traffic, the longer the charge lasts. At regular freeway speeds the battery discharges much quicker. It's funny, I've actually had times when I would get on the freeway with about 50% of charge (in bumper to bumper traffic) and 15 miles later when exiting the freeway (driving in 'B' mode), the battery had actually gained charge!
As for maintenance, the only thing we've had to replace are tires and windshield wipers. Also, this may be because I drive almost exclusively in 'B' mode, but it still has the factory brake pads and rotors and my mechanic told me a couple of months ago that they still have about 50% of life left in them. I don't know how much this car has saved us over the years but I would say it is significant. No fuel, no smog checks, no oil changes, no radiator, no belts, no hoses, etc. If you use it for what it was intended for, it is a great little car.
lol can I help you a little being a leaf owner (30kw). For a start you can get any dead cells replaced not the entire battery pack. If you had to charge at Tesco via the app then it was a 7kw fast charger. Same power as the wall box at home. If you used the rapid charger at Tesco you would of just tapped your credit card on the 50kw charger and you would of had a 80% charge in about15/20 minutes. Also if charging at home you get a tarrif for evs. I’m with octopus and for 120 mile range it costs me at the most £1.40. I charge every night as I deliver Amazon in mine doing 32500 miles a year. Faultless. I also visit events countrywide. Bought it in Scunthorpe. And visit the northern canals which I love and the midlands too. I live near Portsmouth. You need to do a leafspy to get a battery state of health for reassurance to the next buyer. Also check to see if it’s got the optional 6.6kw charger for faster overnight charging. ( not via 3 pin plug). If you would like to chat anymore about it. I’m happy to help. Previously had Hyundai ioniq 28 and Tesla model s. Best wishes.
Sounds like you’ve got it figured, I guess it takes some getting used to
Hello. I bought a used 2013 Nissan Leaf with 11 bars. Just about under 50000 kilometers in a wonderful shape. I think it’s great to commute with. And it saves us a lot of money compared to our old “second” car. If I compare the cars consumption the Leaf is outstanding. If I charge it up it costs about 12 Swedish crowns, and I can go to work and home 2 days for one charge…. That’s winner for us. Via Chademo I charge it up to 80% in about 30 minutes.Have a great 231117 ❤️
They're perfect for like you said short trips and short commutes. To put it in neutral, you hold the drive selector to the right for a few seconds
In addition to a company in New Zealand there's now another company "xihobattery" offering several options for Nissan Leaf battery replacement/upgrades.
@Tron-Jockey Yeah, right, that company has been talking about this miracle battery for over a year and promised in early 2023 for release. They have been quiet for the last 6 months. Also, at $20k, it's hardly affordable now that used 40kwh Nissan Leaf are now close to that $20k after rebate for the entire car!
They are still a great company for servicing the Nissan Leaf, as well as software upgrades, but that battery is pretty much dead on arrival.
Super in depth review and enlightening info. It was really great to hear your personal experience.
I've been driving round in a Leaf exactly like this one for years and it is the cheapest vehicle to run I've ever owned. I charge overnight on cheap econmy 7. Never needs anything other than tyres & wipers. Only good for local stuff due to 65-85 mile range depending on season. Not good on big journeys as charging take 45-60mins on chademo. Can be done but a bit of a faf.
Glad this vid made I’ve had a couple provisional down to me 2400 in trade before fees motorway. Neither seller accepted bid so still not tried one for sale.
Good second car - school runs, supermarket visits etc etc. I'm retired and a car with, say 60 miles of range, would cover most of my trips but here's the thing - we went to the coast a few weeks ago for the day - 120 mile round trip. Went up to Scotland last year - did 600 miles. I'll stick with my hybrid for the time being.
a good video A+😄
In addition to a company in New Zealand there's now another company "xihobattery" offering several options for Nissan Leaf battery replacement/upgrades.
At work we have the E-NV200 which is a small van but has the same running gear as the leaf... Great for urban work, 20, 30 & 40 mph roads. The moment you have to venture say from bristol to say swindon on the motorway the range just vanishes, I had to supercharge at the services on the return leg and still then it was touch and go as to whether I would get back with decent range (I got back but at less than half range)
Where I am electric rate is cheap ($0.068 / kWh).
600 miles in a leaf is $13.60
600 miles in 40mpg car is $63.75
600 miles in my truck is over $210
For me if I charge at home, it is quite tempting for my 30 mile daily commute. 🧐
You forgot one aspect,for tight budget. Electricity you pay at the end of the month ,so if you have financial issues you can go to work and pay after .in gas station you must pay at the moment
Maybe a car for Jordan, while his honda is off the road.
The future IS NOT electric ☺️
For someone undicided on weather an ev is suitable for you its a good entry level buy just to see
Hi there.
You did not mention the Leaf will charge at 50KW on Chademo rapid charger, i.e. adding 10 to 80% battery in around 30 minutes.
Still enjoy all your videos, thank you
Murray
Thanks for the info!
You also said it will only charge upto 80% on a 13amp connection which is wrong, I think you need to try the very last of the 1st gens , maybe as a 30kwh model and then things get a little different - especially if you have a 6.6kw on board charger.
Some of these came with the he option of a solar panel on the roof to top up the 12 volt battery. Enjoying the channel.
Sounds sensible! Thanks!
Those were the very first Leafs that were made in Japan
I had one, and the solar panel is tiny! Probably 5w panel at most, so a bit of a joke really
The Leaf does have a Rapid charge on its CHAdeMO socket, so you can charge from zero to full in around half an hour, you dont need to wait for 4 hours as stated in your video. You can charge the leaf to 100% using a 13 amp 3 pin socket too, you dont have to only charge to 80%, there is facility in the settings to charge to 80% or 100% which you can change, may be worth having a look. Charging to 80% is recommended to prolong the battery life, but if you need to charge to 100% its okay, and every now and again is recommended to help balance the cells in the battery, just make sure you use the car soon after charging to 100%.
You indicate charging to 80% only. The Leaf is capable of charging to 100% which is what you should be doing if you're concerned about range- you'll get another 15 miles of range which would be 75% of the Mrs daily work commute. We take our 2013 Leaf with 9 bars often on 45 mile round trips and it does well for a 11 year old car with 90,000 on it. In California, you can beat the economy this Leaf gives us - especially in that we have Solar and .13 per Kwh at night.
Thanks
Hi Joe. Yes I like those Leads. But i couldn't trust it on a Big journey. But nice colour Joe 😅 🇨🇮🇨🇮🇨🇮🇨🇮
If you are on a EV tariff at home then based on that 60 miles range in 24kwh will cost about 1.92. However What they dont tell you is that motorway driving they become a lot more thirsty so that 60 mile range drops lower than that. They do make sense as a second car to drive around town etc short slow journeys.
CX reg, that’s from north Wales Slaters of Abergele (not there now) keep up the good work
We've recently moved to EV vans at work, ideal cause we do similar route every day so range never becomes an issue, but in family/home life im not conviced they are the answer
Great review very honest and i even learned bit more about the ev life but i still prefer the old diesel tho 😂
I'm definitely not a fan of these Joe. Far rather blast around in my Historic Lancia Fulvia Rallye, the sound, the smell no MOT, no TAX. However, I am a big fan of the channel 😊
Hi Joe,I haven't tried a electric car but when you urgently need to put the car on charge and no points to use then gets a bit nervous.
Most important questions for the old Leaf are -
1. Can you charge at home?
2. Do you usually only do short journeys?
3. Do you have access to another car for long journeys?
Answer yes to these and its a no brainer economic great car If anwers are no best give it a swerve.
How much does a battery cost & how much has it lost in value since it was new ?
Hi joe nice informative video I am not really on keen on ev's not very practical vehicles
Problem is Tesco are 7 kWh chargers so they're slow (7 kw is for overnight ideally) Plus it's an old EV newer EVs i.e. my Model Y 2023 I charge it once a week and get over 300 miles. Appreciate this video is about the Leaf but in general EVs are getting better
How can you have a 7 kWh charger? Pls
The government seem to think this isn’t a problem. 2030 is not a long way away and we’re still dealing with these issues today. They’re hardly eco friendly either. The most carbon-heavy part of a car’s life is it’s production; EV production has been shown to be carbon-heavier than conventional vehicles.
Until I can charge an EV to 100% full in less than 5 minutes, and get 850 miles to a charge, I’ll be sticking to my diesel VW Passat - which, incidentally, gets over 70mpg when careful and costs just £20/year to tax
At that age is it battery lease?
This would work best where EV's can get you into cities where congestion charges or certain inner suburban areas of cities like London.
Would you recommend this car for a first-time driver?
Can you keep it outside during the winter or will it damage the car? Also, does the battery degrade horribly or it’s not too bad ?
Yes of course. The cold weather effects it but you don’t have to keep it inside
My old house and commute in North London it would have been ideal, also ULEZ exempt . Nowadays it just wouldn’t work for me.
I don't ever drive more than 60km per day I am thinking of getting one of these second hand 5-7 thousand range and with with gas often being over $2 ltr in canada, if I save $200 a month in gas I can pay off one of these in savings in 3 years no problem
I never liked the leaf or any ev BUT I really hate em now good man Joe 😂
Electricity must be a lot more expensive in the UK than here in California, my average weekly cost to keep it charged is about $10/week. (Driven about 150 miles/week)
55 miles sucks. Why the world would anyone want to get something with that little range. If you are going to put something out, at least give it a big enough battery that will last more than a few days. I don't go a lot of places now, but if I have to do errands that are back to back, I want to be able to get home and not crap my pants trying to eek it home!
With the cost of electricity at the moment I can just about afford to run a house let alone an electric car ! 😂 I can see this electric car future going tits up 😮 Apparently there is this amazing stuff called petrol, you put it in your old car that's been around for 20 years and you can travel over 400 miles, must be witchcraft 😊
Petrol is 300% more expensive to run on
@@bdeithrick not if you regularly do longer journeys....for a domestic town car and short commutes EVs are cheaper to run, but if you ever need to use public charging it is up to twice the price to run.
About time someone gave us a portable spare charge . Like that can of petrol.
A generator in the boot....
Will you get an ICE car that's very efficient for 4k though?
10:09 greater kWh. kWh is the unit of capacity. kW is power. Battery not measured in power.
Its amusing that this 10 year old Nissan Leaf has more torque than the latest MG4!
With new EV's like the Nio ES6 offering a 150kw solid state battery giving a range of 578 miles, I think the future looks pretty rosie for leccy cars. By 2030 the idea of range anxiety being an issue will be for the birds.
I say yes and no. Yes if your commute is short, hopefully not for a road trip. With lots of traffic lights or mandatory stops around town, any EVs will be a deal breaker.
If the 12v goes flat you can use a jump starter.
I just bought a 14 plate one for 4.5k dies 90 miles and charges on the 3 pin granny charger in 7 hours from empty, considering the first owner paid 27k for it and the miles has only dropped by 15 miles maybe i think its a bargain, also when doing the math its about £6 to do 80 miles our peteol car is about £12 to do the same and when our tariff drops to 9p a kw soon it will be £2 per 80 miles, it is what it is a cheap run about cheap to run no tax whats not to like 🎉
Some countries' petrol is very expensive, here in NZ petrol is currently around $2.50 per lt vs 15.7 cents per kwh for night rate power. So the difference for us is much larger. Our ICE vehicle averages around 9lt per 100km in the city or $22.50 per 100km. The Leaf I used to own until I destroyed it last Monday in a car crash (my fault) would do around 6km per kwh, so around $2.60 per 100km. So, as you can see, a saving of $20 per 100km is quite a sizable amount over, say, 20,000km per year that I was travelling, or $4k per year just on fuel savings alone, and that was at worst as sometimes I would use a free local charger and save even more!
Do you own the battery's on these or do you have to lease them from Nissan?
You own the batteries. But go 2015 model and above as the batteries last longer due to a change in the chemistry.
they might be ok if you want to go the shop and back before you need to charge the batteries lol
I work in the auction industry and the cars I see that comes through the doors some excellent some bad and some you just think why ie 2 seater smart cars lol this looks in good condtion ones I have seen haven't lol
As both you and your partner have found, range anxiety is the biggest problem and 40 to 50 miles on a good day with no lights or aircon on is appalling, they were a good gimmick when then first launched, but now perhaps only good for the school run which is reflected in second price so low, parkers value yours at about 3K, but EV's in general do not hold their value and lose 50% in 2 years or less as overpriced from new
You do know there are EV electricity tariffs out there. Costs £1.80 to charge that
I'm a petrolhead not an electrichead....1) i have no where to charge one as have no drive and have to park mon the road at work ...2) i do a 36 mile round trip commute........we haven't the infrastructure yet...and feel my 25 year old Rover is doing less harm to the world
👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼🚘
Looking at the cost on standard tariff electric your figures stack up,
However if you get your electric on the ev tariff you would be running that car at 50 % lower cost than a petrol,
Looks like a decent car but the range is terrible, 85 miles at best, if i fill my toyota yaris with petrol i get 450 miles, the leaf is ok if you are only driving short distances but a long journey would have to be well planned out for charging stops. I'm not knocking Electric cars but the range apart from Teslas is not very good.
if your paying as much to charge your leaf as you did paying for fuel, your doing something wrong.
The car for people who don't like cars
But you can change to an EV tariff and charge for 7.5p per kWh
My 1.6 diesel does 60 mpg...
. It cost £100, in 2016....and still going strong.. Why would I give up my big car that cost nothing and doubles as a van for a cheap ev for say £4k... And an old one that only does 70 miles.... Love the EV tech.... But hate the price. 😂
Some really cheap Renault Zoe Gts floating about in the trade 22/23 plates with 220 mile range ending up at £15-16k at the supermarkets IMO that’s where the value is in EV
that's expensive parkers value about 11K
No I like the sound of an engine.
I don't think you plugged it into the right connector, it takes about 20 mins to charge on a rapid charger
Didn`t the first generation Leaf have battery problems, where the batteries overheated due to them not having fan assisted cooling, leading to premature battery failure or mileage loss.
Yes, the chemistry in the battery was change on the 2015 model. Hence the one in this video having a low mileage but has lost 2 bars. My 2015 has the same mileage but still has 12 bars and 85% (18.8 KWh) of the usable 22KWh left. It can still do 85 miles on a 100% charge
Sign up for Octopus Energy and get the Intelligent Octopus tariff - £0.07 per kw for 8 hours. Costs me around £6 to “fill” my 90kw car.
I wonder why they only give you that if you have a smart meter?????????????? Hmm
@@fredflintstone1 They can't control the cheaper hours on an old meter.
@@robertpowell7672 I know 🙂 but they could sell an economy 7 meter that was dumb
You must have a rubbish tarrif or not using the night tarrif to charge the car if it works out at the same as petrol or diesel
I don’t have a night tariff
@@ShiftingMetal fair enough then that’s why it costs the same as a petrol/diesel car
I will just stick too petrol
And I'll stick to planet destroying Diesel 💪😂
This continues as it starts... Everything is wrong 😂
I would never own an EV I have a Peugeot diesel £35 a year to tax and getting 600 miles on a full tank👍🏻
Ev cars are not for me I love the sound of an engine petrol or diesel. The ev cars are bulled up as eco friendly. But lithium batteries aren’t good for ozone layer either.
Good for a wheel chock😂
Had this when it was new. Sold for 5k 4y later... Apart of the depreciation back then, I loved it. Flatout everywhere. Used to be the best car for London back thrn but still had to have 2nd car for any journey ohtside of the city. Due to paying over 60k back then, so close to 100k these days for 2 cars, around 3k each year in insurances ... No, these days one can buy single electric car ehich does all the job and that's the best way of going. These old electric cars simply don't have the range and with ChaDeMo charger they are doomed.
No we had 6 on fleet at work one burst into flames at around 3 months old and took 3 others with it whilst on charge. We didn't keep the remaining 2 long afterwards 😅. Insurance bill was massive as it badly damaged the building aswell. I can't find the article as it was in the local news.
Oh dear!
@ShiftingMetal apparently the battery overheated and ignited whilst charging, pretty scary. This was going back some years think they were 11 plates. They were a PR stunt to show the our company going green, kinda backfired 🤣🤣🤣 we have petrol octavia and diesel superb estates now.
instant torque instant Battery miles lost!! if you plug in at work you would then come in for BIK tax Joe! even if its ur own car!
Gawd, a range of 60 miles, top end E-bikes will do that these days. I SHOULD be tempted as my commute to work is 12 miles one way and there are free EV charging points at my place of work, so free travel right?
Well yes, but every now and then I want to drive from Leeds to London or Scotland...or somewhere else more than 60 miles cos I want to. So now I resign myself to public transport or have a second (piston) car for long journeys?
Doesn't stack up. The EV fad needs a revolutionary invention in electricity generation to make it stick. Might happen. I'm prepared to wait and see. 😉
Hydrogen is the way to go.
Mr Putin agrees.💣
How many charging stations are there in the UK for hydrogen?
You are beginning to sound like High Peak the more vids you do... Unfortunately that is not a channel I like.
Agreed
Simple answer No.£6000 geeezzzz wouldn't give you £6 for it.
I wouldn’t even give 6p for it! 😂
@@priteshchampaneri5101 🤣😂🤣
I wouldn't give 1p
Have had my 2013 for awhile now and I'll be the first to say it is the ugliest car I've ever owned but it is the most fun to drive.
No is the answer.
Not sure where you get the figures from on cost being equivalent to a 40mpg petrol car. On 30p home electric (above the current price cap) vs the 157p a litre I paid yesterday for petrol it looks to be about half the price per mile to plug in at home! I'm pretty intrigued by the idea of a used Leaf as they are great if you just want a straightforward to drive car, it helps that I have a motorbike as well though so I wouldn't be fully committing to a shorter range vehicle.
Same here. Just purchased in may a 2015 24kwh leaf, replaced my old diesel car. Compared to that on standard tariff charged at home half a cost to cover the same miles. Now I went for octopus go tariff and day rate is just below 30p/kwh but during the night 4 hours window /slot I can charge the car on 9p/kwh. So more miles covered more money saved. I love the car. Covering about 30 miles a day
Electric cars R.I.P
They are an absolute nightmare in winter, if you use the heater the range drops dramatically, We ended up driving around in thermals and overcoats, even using the windscreen wipers affected the range, it was like driving a Morris Minor or an old Beetle with a six volt battery and no heater and only half a gallon of petrol in the tank lost on a freezing night such was the range anxiety!
Jeez, that’s crazy!
I find with mine if I leave the climate control set on a decent temperature it is much better and doesn't lose too much range.
Your who?? LMAO jus a lil drunk and didn't hear that the 5th time round lmao
Huh?
@@ShiftingMetal I didn't get what you said at the beginning of the video!!! I was a lil drunk watching it and still didn't get it on the 5th time of watching it lol
I lost count of the amount of inaccuracies during this review! It's like doing a review on a ford model T and complaining about it compared to modern vehicles....
This car will charge up on Chademo in about 20 minutes, not 4hours. With it's range it's designed for short journeys only. You said your wife does a 10 mile commute, you said that the car can do 60 miles to a full battery, why would you charge it every day?!?! You charge it every other day or every third day overnight at home. You also mentioned that the electric charging would cost the same if not more than petrol?!?! What's on earth are you paying per kilowatt at home!!! Even at 30 pence a kilowatt this would cost half the price of the petrol car to run.... And of course if you had an electric car you would have a cheaper overnight tariff, (usually around 9 pence per kilowatt) so this would make a "full tank" cost around £1.80, (60 miles at £1.80 equals 3 pence per mile!!! This also doesn't take into account how much cheaper an electric car is to run. Parts don't wear out as quick and servicing is much much cheaper......
The slow AC charging is due to the fact that the car will have a 3 kW on-board charger, (all modern EV's cars have a minimum 7 kW on-board charger AC). Terrible and anti EV review, very frustrating!!
Get a grip
You bought one of the first generations of EV and your expectations are far too high. Today’s EV’s have a lot longer range and charge quickly. That Leaf won’t even come close to today’s charging speeds. Charging at home, as we do, is a damn sight lot cheaper than petrol or diesel. I’ll bring my new EV down and show you how today’s EV’s are a different animal to gen one.
No, not really. I’m just saying how the first gen is everyday. I know newer generations are much better but that doesn’t help someone considering buying a cheap leaf 🤷♂️ Sure, I’d love to try it
How are these batteries still holding up its a decade old not even lfp
In other words it's crap 😂😂😂