We collected our Leaf .Then decided to try out Ecotricity charge point. The car is smooth, quite fast, very quiet. I love the Propilot, and Epedal. The wife hates the Propilot haha. Car is now setup for overnight charging on economy 7 tariff

 

FFS park in the lines

 

Nice, how does it compare to the old Leaf inside?

 

About the same for space, which is very ample front and rear seats.. Our car comes with nearly all the bells and whistles, heated seats front and rear, heated steering wheel. There are lots of settings to play with, but actually quite easy to navigate. Phones connection was painless and loaded contacts . Navigation looks pretty good, so is charge point location. The car is connected to Nissan for updates and POI updates. Steering is light and precise. Wife doesn't dislike the car which is a positive endorsement, she doesn't like new tech, but was not too negative with first drive feeling.

acceleration is super smooth, with a constant surge from whatever speed you're cruising at.

​​​​​​I hadn't noticed before but it has a pedestrian awareness sound emitted below 19mph so won't sneak up upon un aware folk

 

It was a 5 minute plug in to get familiar with the setup

 

Sounds good and very similar to my 2017 Leaf Tekna. I love the heated steering wheel, have poor circulation so get cold hands a lot and it's lovely to warm them up without gloves.

My wife loves the Leaf and probably won't drive anything else now, certainly nothing that isn't automatic. I really like the contrast between the Leaf and the Impreza, keeps things interesting.

Would be interested to see what the real life range is like on the 60 kWh battery...

 

More noticeable than the old one? It was a kind of high pitched white noise before, has it changed?

 

I don't know, I wil have to test it out

I've told Nissan we will trade this car back in if the '19 model has the range and performance improvements. Probably go for the Tekna . By the end of this year there will be several EVs available from all the big manufacturers, so I will have a group to pick from.

Good news, I've got rid of the Diesel. I don't think it will last much longer, started using a fair bit of oil

 

According to grid watch, currently the grid is running on over 26% coal, presumably to take the strain off the gas infrastructure. Maybe better for the environment to lay off charging until the solar comes back online?

 

Nice car enjoy ...ownership


Kind of got me thinking with all this snow talk.

How would an electic car fair in a tailback, on say a motorway. Like we have seen over past few days on TV, can you run lights/heater over a certain period of time?.

Not taking a snipe was just wondering.

 

Indeed goodness knows what would happen if everybody bought a leccy car tomorrow

 

Electric grid lock.

 

I think youll be able heat your steering wheel for a while at least in the leccy car

 

You can run everything whilst stopped. Advantage 'engine' is NOT running so no power drain and very importantly no pollution whilst stopped

 

What is running the cabin heater ?!

 

Setup remote app now. I can now start stop charging, switch on climate control to heat or cool car, check status(battery level) and location.

 

heat pump .

ICE require engine to be running to run all auxiliary functions, creating even more pollution. An idling, stationary ICE is very poor fuel efficient

 

How much amperage / battery will that use over 12 hrs though , and still start car

 

You are time limited to usage whilst plugged in and less when not charging.

After 30 mins cabin temp 20 Deg C heated seats and steering all toasty. -2C outside

 

I suppose you could always grab some roadside firewood

 

You're obviously missing the point, the remote app is time limited. when driving the heating will stay on as long as you require. Just like ICE cars you will run out of fuel eventually. Just that an electric car doesn't need the main motors running to produce heat.

 

Yes I get that, but there's no figures as how much your range is reduced

 

How much Extra was the heat pump btw

 

Even the cheap Smart EV has a heater and preheat, it's pretty obvious you can use the heater on it's own for longer than the heater and electric motor.

 

You could stick a heat pump in any car after all !

 

Standard install on all Leaf in moderate climates. I think they use a different pump system in the hot California areas

 

I can only tell you what I've seen, we lost 3 miles range from no heating to having all the heated seats and steering wheel on. not a massive hit on range

 

Thanks for the impressions Andy keep them coming. It's nice to hear from someone who has a EV to hand and is running day to day on what it's like.

 

Yep, 15 mins preheat takes a couple of percent battery, or a couple of miles of range, whichever way you want to measure it. I don't know how long a tank of petrol lasts if you're idling and using the heater/electrics, but the heating system on most EVs is much more efficient per unit power than ICE cars. The poverty spec Leaf (Visia) on the old ones didn't have the heat pump so was much less efficient, but I can't imagine many people bought them.

 

My first day of ownership of the '18 Leaf. 3 Journeys, 4 miles, 16miles and 38 miles. The heater was on high most of the time with heated seats aswell.-2 C outside most of the day. I spent 30 mins waiting at a train station for offspring to arrive with heating running. Had nearly 40% 56 miles range left when I got home. Pretty much standard day to day mileage we are going to use car for.
I tried the car without eco mode and the torque leaves other cars trailing behind on acceleration until they build up momentum. 10 to 60 mph is very rapid compared to most but the bigger engined cars.