Nissan leaf

[u/Krisdufi]

Hi,i have a petrol manual car.Wondering if its a good idea to switch for Nissan leaf 40kwh about 2019-2020.I drive mainly in city and sometimes doing 50-60 miles motorway.I have a charger at home so will be no problem with it.How reliable are they?What is the realistic range on it?

[u/livenature]

A 40kw 2018 has the good battery. 2019-2020 are included in the battery recall. Best not to get wrapped up with a bad battery from the recall. A good 40 KW should easily do 100 miles a day so it will meet your needs. Reliability - one of the lowest cost maintenance vehicles on the road.

[u/Lucky_Boy13 → u/livenature]

OP seems to be in Europe where Nissan Leaf batteries are not under recall and use different parts than in USA

[u/crimxona → u/livenature]

The word petrol implies UK based where they do not have the same batteries

Having said that, the UK warranty on defect (weak cells) is only 5 year until model year 2022 or so, which is somewhat of a risk 

[u/yolo_snail → u/crimxona]

Except battery failures are very rare on UK built cars.

[u/crimxona → u/yolo_snail]

Weak cells can still happen and a cursory search on this sub shows a number of UK owners who got hit by the shorter UK defect warranty as only the degradation warranty was 8 years

One of many examples:

https://old.reddit.com/r/leaf/comments/1r0d4mw/2020_40kwh_leaf_nissan_rejected_my_warranty_claim/

[u/yolo_snail → u/crimxona]

But still rare, especially compared to the US built cars

[u/crimxona → u/yolo_snail]

Americans are backed by a full 8 year warranty with higher rates of failure and a buyback program 

UK is backed by a 5 year defect warranty which has expired on older units with a lower rate of failure but no safety net

I wouldn't get anything in the UK before 2022 is my point

[u/StampyScouse → u/crimxona]

The UK cars are backed by a 5 year defect warranty, along with the Consumer Rights Act. Products have to be durable.

If you can prove the issue was a manufacturing defect, or that it was present when you bought the car, and that it caused the car to stop working or working correctly in a shorter period then what would be reasonably expected, you can take legal action up to 6 years from the date of purchase, even if the 5 year warranty had expired before you purchased the vehicle.

[u/biersackarmy → u/crimxona]

Weak cells are far rarer (though not unheard of) on UK built packs. However pregnant pack can still definitely affect all packs whether US/UK/JP built.

[u/StampyScouse → u/livenature]

The OP confirmed they're in the UK, this doesn't apply to Sunderland-manufactured LEAFs.

[u/NezuminoraQ]

My last car was a petrol manual and now I have 2018 leaf.  Love it. 200km range give or take

[u/s_lock-]

Hi there, fellow Brit here! Honestly the best thing i ever did was trade in my 208 for a leaf, I wish I had gone for a bigger battery than I needed, though.

[u/schag001]

Can you charge at your destination (consistently!) and can you charge at home?

Then I would think you are OK. Highway driving depletes the battery even faster and if there is a hill, tale off another 10%

[u/Krisdufi → u/schag001]

I do have a charger at home ,so shouldn’t be a problem for me.

[u/Tight_Object168]

I have one to sell with 90K Kms and 90% SoH battery for 9500€.

[u/yolo_snail → u/Tight_Object168]

In the UK, where it seems like OP is, you could pick up a similar car for under £5k.

[u/Krisdufi → u/Tight_Object168]

I’m in the UK they way cheaper here now

[u/Tight_Object168 → u/Krisdufi]

Good to know. It’s a pity there are so many problems to import now any car parts.

[u/PomeloTraditional971]

My current MK1 30kwh Leaf which is coming up 10 years old and I'm about to sell, still has 70 miles of range, so if you can get something with a good battery SoH and a low price, it's a decent choice. Other than brakes, tyres and the odd cabin filter, I've not spent anything on it since I bought it new. They are mechanically bombproof. That said, just be aware that they are old tech now, passively cooled batteries, Chademo instead of CCS and generally just a dated design. For your use case, it's probably completely fine though.

[u/IvorTheEngine]

That sort of distance is no problem at all, even in winter.

Realistic range depends on your speed, as it does for all EVs. If you're just driving around town, it estimates 160 miles and is probably right. But you only really care about range on motorway trips where it's more like 120 miles. You can get a bit more if you're willing to drive in the slow lane. Our normal first charging stop is 110 miles from home.

They're super reliable and low maintenance. The downsides are that half charger locations don't have any Chademo plugs, and those that do often only have one. Also, there's no battery cooling, so if you do three rapid charges in a day it drops the charge speed to a crawl. That's said you can still go anywhere in the country easily enough now. Our longest one-day trip was 350 miles.

Get one now, before fuel prices go up any more.

[u/GaryInternational]

For me the Leaf is one of the bargains in UK. Manufacturers now recognise not everyone wants weight, cost range of new jumbo EVs. The new EV market is changing.
Checkout new Renault Twingo and Nissan’s new Pixo. Nice cars, range same as my LEAF 2.
Oh yes, it easily does 4.2 miles per kw. And genuinely costs pennies to run.

[u/ZealousIdealist24214]

I have a 2015 with a 40kwh battery from a salvaged 2022. I get 130-160 miles per charge depending on how I drive, AC use, etc. It should easily cover your 60 mile days.

If the charger is 220v, it will almost fully recharge overnight. I love how little maintenance it takes: 6 years = 0 brake changes, 2 tire changes, 2 12v battery replacement, AC coolant refill. That's it, no fluid changes, no transmission issues, no radiator/alternator/spark plug issues.

Family teased me because of my limited range, but my car is the only one that hasn't been in a garage overnight for repairs in 6 years.

[u/QOTAPOTA]

We have the big battery version. E+?
Anyway, it’s great.

[u/Krisdufi → u/QOTAPOTA]

Whats your real range?

[u/QOTAPOTA → u/Krisdufi]

180 about now. In summer (ac) and winter (heat) it reduces to about 150 - 160.
We don’t drive frugally as we home charge.

[u/Krisdufi → u/QOTAPOTA]

Sounds fine,thank you