Considering a First Electric Car. Are Nissan Leafs That Bad?

barge-in hunter on 25/03/2025 - 14:26
Last edited 25/03/2025 - 14:27

Hello brainstrust

I've been interested in electric cars for a while. We'll soon get solar panels (and am open to a battery if the costs weigh up), so the value prop is starting to shape up. Having said that, I'm not 100% convinced so would like to test the waters with an EVwithout investing a lot of money.

We're in a position where this car only needs to travel around town, and selling the old ICE vehicle will net us ~$15k?

This has squarely put us in the realm of a new/almost new small Chinese brand (with a decent chunk of extra money put in) or - an older Nissan Leaf (2016/2017 onwards, from $16k+++). Are these older Nissan Leafs as bad as some people say?

  • I know Nissan haven't been great with ICE reliability (gearboxes particularly), but I assume these gearboxes are either different, or non-existent
  • they have relatively modern safety features like AEB, lane change alerts, blind spot monitoring etc (which is a must)
  • I don't know much about their charging tech - this could be an issue…
  • Range doesn't look as good as newer models, but this vehicle won't need to cover long distances

Anyone have first hand experience? Better alternatives at a similar price? Or is the tech just too recent to have worthwhile second hand options?

Automotive Car Nissan Electric Vehicle

Comments

    • barge-in hunter on 27/03/2025 - 10:19

      Wow - no degradation at all since 2017? That sounds pretty solid - the 2nd gen is what I was looking at as well.

      Yeah I completely understand that the range won't be as good as a 'newer' EV. I guess I'm just trying to understand how much of a difference that will make to us - compared to the extra $10-15k investment… but of course, that will impact depreciation and resale value (it already has, hence their price). I'll definitely look at the gray imports - it's a good callout.

      • another-geek on 27/03/2025 - 12:28
        +1

        Bought an ex-demo Nissan Leaf last year and honestly I'm quite happy with the car. Leaf comes with both Type 2 & CHADEMO charging ports.
        I charge at home most of the time (using Solar or Ovo Energy super off-peak) using the Type 2 port and if I ever need to top-up there's a Jolt charger with CHADEMO pretty close to home. I haven't tested yet, but I believe free chargers(like the ones provided by some councils) can be used with the Leaf Type 2 port.
        Even though the car was driven by the dealer for ~2 years(based on date of registration), the battery health is still at 100%. After I bought the car, I realized that it came with a full-size spare which was unexpected because most EV/PHEV do not come with a spare.
        I was aware of the lack of active cooling in Leaf but still bought the car knowing that I have space in garage to park it. I regularly check the battery temperature using battery information shown on car dashboard. The temperature has never exceeded the mid-range even after driving close to 100 kms during summer. I think battery temperature might be an issue for Leaf during long trips when one might do a fast-charge and discharge in quick succession.

        The only negative I can think of is that Leaf in Australia lacks a phone app to monitor state of charge and other information about the car. I believe other EVs have apps that can be used to control charging and other things. I have setup Charging Timers & Climate control Timers in Leaf to overcome the lack of phone app.
        I always drive the Leaf in eco mode as the torque with eco turned off is too much to handle (for me).

      • v2t on 27/03/2025 - 22:17

        Correction on my post - my model is ZE1 (doh!).

  • V2L on 27/03/2025 - 09:02
    +1

    short answer is yes. yes it is. you can get a better value proposition with literally any other EV, and no one who doesn't feel the need to justify their purchase will tell you to get the older gen leaf

    if your budget can be stretched to 20k, the 2020-21 MG ZS EV / IONIQ are much better vehicles two size classes up with more range more tech and better battery

  • zuuutoootuuu on 27/03/2025 - 14:37
    +2

    I've had both AZE0 (30kwh) and ZE1 (40kwh), I've owned them since 2019, sold them off a few months ago. No major complaints, great for short trips etc. The most annoying thing is watching the battery capacity drop because they lack cooling and average BMS programming which needed to be revised. Weather, A/C, charging patterns etc influence the capacity readout (Leafspy app gives super accurate readouts).
    Selling prices are around 10k for a 30kwh and $12-14k for a ZE1 40kwh, anything more and people are dreaming. If you add a couple of thousand to the budget then you will be able to get a 60kwh ZE1. It may be worth your while to import through a company like J-Spec and you'll be able to pick the colour/spec you want without having to wait for that combo pop up here while saving you a few $$$.
    Without a doubt I would recommend you did buy a car with native CCS2 (fast charging) and Type-2 (slow charging) because chademo and type-1 are being phased out forcing you to either charge at home or buy a CCS2 to chademo adapter that costs $1.5k+. The change in technology that happened in the few years is worth looking into another brand TBH.

  • Yamete Kudasai on 27/03/2025 - 15:04
    +2

    get a dolphin, i think it provides a better value for your money.

  • BartholemewH on 27/03/2025 - 15:43
    +1

    Hkw long will there be a Nissan to purchase spares from?

    • Euphemistic on 31/03/2025 - 14:06
      +1

      How long do they realistically keep spares for old cars? Its the same for lots of older cars, aftermarket suppliers will keep selling consumables for a while.

      Vehicle specific parts are always hard to get for older cars. Often wreckers are the only option.

      • BartholemewH on 31/03/2025 - 18:09
        -2

        You're right. I think I'm just jaded by the original Leaf, which I went in at an EV expo, back when it was new. I thought it was the ugliest, slowest pos I'd ever been in. I would've driven a pink prius in a priscilla costume before driving a Leaf.

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