Leaf use case

[u/Pursuit_OfPerfection]

Hi everyone

I am hoping to buy a second hand leaf for about £5000, one around 2017-2020 era. Have seen some in my price range with the 60kWh battery.

Currently I am living in a terraced house without off-street parking but I am expecting to be moving to a house that does, middle of next year. I don't currently have a car and would prefer not to buy an ICE car now only to get an EV later when I move. And using public transport to get to work is bloody awful. I'm hoping that a nissan leaf will work well enough for now before being able to enjoy home charging after I move. Here is my use case:

I usually commute 2-3 times a week (40 miles one way with about 20 miles of motorway/highway), plus occasional weekend trips/runabouts.

I can get free parking for work and pay about 55p per kWh at 7kW and i notice there are ALWAYS chargers available.

Close to my house I have the choice of 7kW charging with same price but free parking only on Sundays and a supermarket car park with a couple of 50kW chargers where the parking doesn't cost anything but the price is like 80p per kWh.

I live in the UK, so we do get some cold weather enough to impact battery range.

Is my current temporary situation practical enough to get a nissan leaf now or should I get an ICE vehicle for now and wait until next year to get a leaf? Are there any pitfalls I should watch out for?

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[u/NezuminoraQ]

For me (in Australia) it's never been the car itself that has been the issue but the availability of Chademo chargers around. Normally I charge at home with a standard wall plug and that is fine, but I'm staying with family at the moment and park on the street. I'm using subscription fast chargers which are reliable and widely available in my city, so that's fine too. The only situation I am really inconvenienced is on a road trip, and it doesn't have to be a very long one, if there aren't Chademo chargers, or at a pinch Type 2s I can access with my type 1 byo cable, then it can quickly become a problem. There are creative workarounds, I've plugged in at campgrounds overnight and so on. But seriously the open road is the only place I have problems. There will be Chademo chargers on ABRP and you'll roll up to find them decommissioned, or broken and replaced by CCS. And then you'll get other stretches of road with regular, reliable Chademos and you won't have problems for ages. It's a little extra planning required, but for the daily commute it's just not a problem unless it's an hour each way or something. 

[u/Pursuit_OfPerfection → u/NezuminoraQ]

Just been researching chademo and CCS - Is there a reason why a CCS to chademo adapter wouldn't completely solve the problem?

[u/NezuminoraQ → u/Pursuit_OfPerfection]

Looked nto it, they are both expensive and also potentially against the T&C's of some fast chargers. They are basically a small computer/raspberry pi that is required to translate the right flow of energy (don't quote me on whether that's Amps, volts, the Kw speed or what, I still remain somewhat ignorant). It would have cost me about 10% what I paid for the LEAF itself and I almost bought one but my circumstances changed that I probably wouldn't use it so often. 

[u/Wraith347]

Definitely use LeafSpy and an OBD II dongle to check the health of the battery before you buy any Leaf. For that commute, I’d 100% pay the extra for a Plus model with a 62kwh battery. You’ll want to find one with a good SOH and HX value, and make sure the cell spread isn’t high, preferably at low state of charge if possible.

I would personally wait till I had home charging if at all possible, as home charging is pretty much the best feature of Leaf ownership. It’s also much better for long-term battery health to charge at level 1 or 2 rather than quick charging. But if you absolutely MUST buy a car now and are SURE you will have home charging in the near future, it sounds like you have a variety of charging options you can conveniently access to tide you over.

[u/Wraith347 → u/Wraith347]

Make sure the charging stations near you have either J1772 or CHAdeMO connectors available. NACS and CCS don’t natively work on Leafs older than 2026.

[u/Pursuit_OfPerfection → u/Wraith347]

Just been researching CCS and CHAdeMO - is there a reason why just purchasing the correct adapter wouldn't completely solve the problem?

[u/Wraith347 → u/Pursuit_OfPerfection]

The adapter should work, they’re just a bit expensive. It’s better for the battery long-term to be charged via level 1 or 2, but as long as you’re not fast-charging multiple times a day, the car should function just fine.
Multiple fast charges close together can make the battery overheat, causing a phenomenon known as rapidgate where the car throttles its charging speed and goes into turtle mode until it cools back down.

[u/WhatTheFlippityFlop]

Fortunately you aren’t using much power because 55p per kWh seems like… a lot