50,000km and still going

Woo, have done 50,000 km in my Nissan LEAF and still going happily. I have not had any mechanical repairs and my tyres are looking good.

Fuel costs are low, only $1960 of electricty. My old Toyota Corolla would have used $5512 ($3552 more) of petrol (7.5litres/100km @ $1.47/litre). I don't use petrol anymore so I don't have records. I used ACCC Petrol Pricing and QLD Gov Stats Office to estimate an average of $1.47 / litre (for Brisbane).

Service costs were $820, higher than I expected. A Toyota Corolla is $650 (this comparison is due to previously owning Toyota Corolla's). I suspect that could change after the Toyota capped service pricing expires at 60,000 km (Nissan's expires at 120,000 km).

I don't include the purchase price in my cost calculations. It was costed when I bought it and did not weigh heavily into my purchase decision. I find when looking at the differences between various cars, I ignore / justify the price, using other measurements (like features/safety etc.), only using price as a guideline.

If the purchase price of the car is the most important factor to you (i.e. keeping it to a minimum), then you are not going to purchase a new car. So perhaps wait for 2nd hand LEAFs (ex lease) from 2015 - 2016 onwards. They should be cheaper than a new petrol car and still have more than 80% battery left.

When I purchased the LEAF, I was thinking about

• Do I like the look of the car? - YES
• Does it drive well? - YES, very fun
• Is it comfortable to drive? - VERY, low noise and lot of headroom
• What extras does it come with / can purchase? - Almost everything was standard
• How reliable is it? - UNKNOWN - but I am hoping more than a petrol car
• What is special about the car? - High Safety Score, Reduced impact on the environment
• Can I afford it without pushing financial security? (i.e. did I have 25% income left after paying bills) - YES
• Does it cost more / less to run than my current car? - Much Less

My main reason for purchasing was because it drove really well (much nicer than previous cars I had owned). I also loved that you only need three things to make it go

1. Sun
2. Solar Panel
3. Battery

Also, I have put my home charger on PlugShare. If you install the application on your phone (iPhone / Android), then my charger should appear on the map. It is handy if you are on your way to / from the Gold Coast and need some juice (Is in my garage, so ring / SMS me if you need it [number is in the app]. I can leave the cord hanging outside if I am not home).

Pulled over on the side of the road to take a picture of the dashboard

KW/h per 100 km (falling as this summer had very few hot days)

Price per 100 km (there was a 4c per KW/h price rise half way along)

Summary of the running costs (excluding car repayments)

Bridgestone tyres still have lots of tread

Lost Capacity Bar

On the 7 of November 2013 I lost my first capacity bar.

I had noticed that I could only get about 110km from a 80% charge (down from 120km).
But I had not noticed the missing capacity bar on the car display (it is hard to see the border of the display, as it is black on black).

In January 2014, I needed to travel to Redcliffe (approx. 134km round trip). So I filled to 100%. That is when I noticed the capacity bar was missing.

I went looking through the charge notification emails from Nissan and found it had reported it three months earlier (I should check them more often).

I had a 40k service performed in November and they did a battery report, but again, I didn't see it. The bar is definitely missing. For some reason, I assumed the bars on the report would disappear from the left to right, but they are the opposite. I am not sure why the service centre didn't tell me, but I guess they thought I would know already.

Nissan Leaf just did 40,000 Kms

I had the 40,000km service done for my Nissan Leaf and everything is fine.
Battery reports shows all bars and I still have not noticed any change in range.

This service replaced the air filter, replaced the brake fluid and had the tyres balanced, so it was about $340. I do notice the brake peddle had a different feel (softer, like when it was new) after the service.
The tyres still have heaps of tread and I expect them to last another 20,000 - 40,000kms.

I use about $4.10 of peak electricity for every 100km traveled.

Overall I have used $1556 of electricity and $732 of services to travel 40,000km (significantly lower running costs than my old corolla).

In the future, I really want to add the Nismo kit (if Nissan ever release it in Australia).

15 months old

I received the electricity bill for this quarter and my energy usage this winter has dropped again (I didn't use the heater very much as Brisbane does not get very cold). It cost $326 to travel 7800km. My average for 100km has dropped over this period to $4.12 (from $4.20), not too shabby.

The days have warmed up again (warmer spring than normal), so I now have 110-130km range from an 80% charge, up from winter range of 100-120km. I still can't tell if I have lost any range (don't have a GID meter, but I gather it has lost something).

Someone asked me recently what I love about the leaf

• Regen (I love how the leaf holds speed down hills - police love hills for speed traps).
• Sensitive throttle (I like being able to manoeuvre without the car lurching).
• Quiet (I can pass bikes and hear the chains rattling).
• Cool (Even on 34 degree Celsius day, I can cruise along with the windows down. No heat radiating from the engine bay).

One thing that I would love would be able to display non english characters on the AUX menu. Sometimes I listen to asian pop (jpop / kpop / mpop / ipop) and the characters are missing from the song titles.

This week I am going to visit the Brisbane branch of the Australian Electric Vehicle Association to see what is happening. Hopefully something good.

Still saving to purchase a fast charger for the Gold Coast. Only have $3500 of $40,000, but better than nothing :)

30,000kms

30,000km's and running fine. Had the 30k service and battery check, everything is fine.
The trip to the Motorfest was good. Heaps of people visited my leaf and had a good look.
On the whole, most people were interested and I spoke with many people. There were a few nasty comments, but you get that anywhere I guess.

1 Year old

My leaf is one year old today! I have travelled over 27,000 kms and had heaps of fun doing it.
I have used about $1,060 in electricity (approx 4,100 KWh).
Recently the electricity went from 26 cents/KWh to almost 30 cents/KWh, so now it is about $4.20 for 100km (used to be about $3.80).

I have not done much exploring in the leaf due to work on weekends, but I hope to purchase some chargers in November for Gold Coast and North Lakes / Redcliffe, which will extend my range. Just need to find spots that property owners will allow installation.

Tomorrow I am going to the motorfest (car show at Eagle Farm Racecourse, Brisbane). I hope to introduce lots of people to the leaf.

Driven 20,000 kms already!

I was on my way to work when I noticed I was at 20,000 kms. I pulled over and took a picture of the dash. Battery is still good and I have not lost any capacity bars.

I took my leaf to have a service and they lubricated my door locks etc, replaced my air filter and filled up my windscreen wiper bottle. I also got them to rotate and balance my tyres. So very happy to not be polluting the environment with used Oil and Oil Filters.

My electricity costs for 20,000 kms were $795 and servicing costs were $305, so that is about $5.50 for each 100km (plus purchase costs).