I’ve found a 2023 leaf for some $10k, and with selling my ICE car, which is starting to cost more to maintain than it’s worth, it’ll realistically only cost me about $5k, maybe less. It’s got 33k miles on it, or about 10k/yr which is kinda high-average, but meh. The range in it is far enough to go all the places I’d realistically be going. (If not for making regular trips over 100 miles I’d get one of the ultra-cheap 2015 era EVs that can handle 60-80 miles…)
I probably want it even tho I’ve never test driven one. I’d obviously still do that but I think I kinda want it anyway. This one is located about 3 hours away, but it sounds like they may do inter-dealership trades up to this area, so maybe not a concern.
So what do I need to know? Can the tracking modem be disconnected? Do the batteries fail a lot? Does this model have a ton of quirks? Is it just cheap because people don’t want used EVs? Is this a horrible idea?
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33k miles is nothing on an EV. The batteries don’t fail, although they do degrade. Try to keep within 20-80% to reduce this. I’ve not heard of any quirks with the Leafs. Go for it, you won’t regret it!
Does it have a way to keep the charge in that range if, for example, it sits on a charger most of the time because I don’t use it?
I believe you can set a limit on the Leaf so it will stop when it reaches it (I don’t have one, but that’s what I’ve heard)
You cannot. We own both a Hyundai and a Nissan. The Hyundai has a % based charge limiter in the the software.
The Nissan does not. It only has a timer. Figuring out how to charge to 80% involves math I’m unwilling to do.
It’s frustrating and tbh is one of the things that would be easily solved, which is probably why they won’t, and hence my next vehicle will not be another Nissan. This is also probably why their batteries burn out. on average, sooner than the competition.
My 2018 Nissan Leaf tells you how long it’ll take to charge to 80%, to the nearest 30 mins. I use that all the time to set the charge timer.
Yes, ours does that too. My point is that you have futz around with the timer each time instead of just setting it to the nearest increment of 10% and getting on with things.
True.
The leaf was one of the first mass market and usable EVs, and iirc, originally they had or planned a setting that let you charge to 80% by default and 100% as an option, which is of course exactly what you want, but some regulator or other decided that they would only be allowed to quote 80% range if that were the default, so to satisfy some pen pusher, it’s quite deliberately inconvenient. Of course once the trail had been blazed everyone knows what the deal is so newer cars can have more convenient settings.
This is very good info. I appreciate that.
I guess I’ll have to leave my cave more often, or reduce the charging it can get. Ungh. I’ll do the math on the minimum errands and visits I need to run before I’ll ever do math on electricity.
I have both 110 and 220 in my garage, so maybe I can find a configuration that works to supply minimum power without a fancy charge limiting thing (yes I do watch technology connections, and yes I probably will need such nonsense)
Our place came with a decent charger in the garage so it’s really just about me remembering to unplug it before I crash for the night. But I’d much rather dial it it.
Here are some more notes/observations in case they help anyone:
The leaf has a 60kwh battery compared to the 37.5 in the Hyundai.
Surprisingly they have comparable practical range. On a nice spring day 320km on the Hyundai and 380km for the leaf.
The leaf (used, 2024, 8000km) definitely feels like a nicer build and has smoother suspension, the Hyundai (2020, brand new) is feels peppier and (imo) handles a bit more like it is trying to prove something (not in a bad way. It’s just…eager). It also has slightly more granular settings for resistance on the braking side (0-3) an auto-hold feature (press brakes and you’re held in place until you press accelerator) but it’s not possible to drive it one-pedal mode.
The leaf has an “e-pedal” mode that will come to a complete stop if you don’t actively press on the accelerator.
The display on the leaf looks like windows CE OS from the 90s. Hyundai’s is sleeker but they are both in-car displays so you can set your expectations accordingly.
Tldr; Hyundai is more efficient and feels sportier. Leaf feels higher end, drives smoother but burns more watts.
Easy fix: charge at the minimum power you can. Less stress for the battery.
Pre-2026 model Nissan leafs have very slow charging speeds, like 50 kW or less. And they might have an uncommon charging plug (chademo). If you plan to charge only at home or perhaps if your work has a level 2 charger, that could work. But road trips or other instances where you might like a fast charger will be excruciating.
Used Hyundai Kona EVs may be slightly more expensive but max charging rates are around 100kW. Hyundai Ioniq 5s and Kia EV6 or EV9 can charge north of 200kW, but that comes at a much greater cost.
The problem isn’t charging at 50KWh or less. Is the maximum range. If you can drive 400 km with one charge you drive 2 or 3 hours, stop and recharge while eating something and using the bathroom and you have almost filled the battery again. But with 100 km or less you have to stop every hour at most. It’s like having a prostate problem.
In the US, road trips of 1,600km aren’t even half way across the country. Charge speeds make a big difference on getting to your destination in a single day.
But you have to stop every couple of hours anyway, if you want to drive safely, so not that much of a problem.
Thanks for that info :) fortunately I don’t expect to need to charge on the road much, just at home, and it can take days between most of the time and I won’t know.
That’s why I wanted the 150mile range. The furthest thing I need to go to is just over 120 miles so it -should- be fine, I would think. Anything else I’ll just rent something.
But I’ll get an adapter all the same, if needed. The listing doesn’t say what kind, but I’m going to look at it Saturday, so I’ll keep that in mind :)
Remember that you have to go there and go back home, not just go. 120 miles means a range of 60 miles if you want to recharge at home.
That’s a super fair point. I’m definitely treating total range as one way. Most of the time I’ll use it, that’s perfectly fine to do, but I’m sure I’ll run into it eventually.
I loathe driving tbh, and would strongly prefer public transit, but that would be 3x as long as driving (roughly 11 hours to do a 2.5 hour-by-car trip) So when I have to drive more than an hour in a day, I try to find a way to not do that. I have friends at my destinations who would be happy for me to charge with them, if it means I visit more often and stay over :)
Another low cost option is a Chevy bolt. They have more range, a more common charger type, and about same charging speeds as leafs
Unfortunately none in my (exceptionally low) price range, within 200 miles of my state. At least not newer than 2016. Leafs are pretty common, tho this is by far the newest in my price range… some bmw cube van thing is represented a lot…
There’s an app called a better route planner. You can tell it you have a 2023 leaf and then plan that 120 mile trip to make sure the leaf will make it. I’ve found it to be quite accurate.
Good to know, thanks!
I have a 2018 Leaf with a stated range of 150. From experience I never pan to make it more than 105 miles between charging.
It is an absolute joy to drive, though, and I love it more than any car I’ve ever driven, all others just don’t compare.
If you often do this long journey, you’ll probably want a longer range. Sadly I think that means something a bit less fun to drive, but still good.
Does it have the old CHAdeMO charging port or did they switch to CCS or NACS?
If CHAdeMO, you may have trouble finding public chargers that support it, so you’ll need to carry around an adapter.
No idea, I’m going to see it Saturday tho and I’ll totally make sure to ask. I’m kinda thinking it probably does for how cheap it is.
But I don’t really plan to use public chargers much, so hopefully not much of an issue.
Leafs, at least historically, have been air cooled. Fine if you’re in the northwest, but really bad for battery health if you’re somewhere like Arizona.
Battery health can be tricky to verify. Don’t just count on the bars. If you’re somewhere cold, anticipate that 150 mile range to cut in half with the heater going.Also air cooled = air flows over the sealed box we keep the batteries in. It’s not spectacular at it’s job. Leafs are the ONLY EV I have ever driven so far that has a battery temperature gauge, and warnings to charge when it’s cool. Hyundai has a non combustible heating/cooling system to keep the cells at optimal temp ( so you can…you know…use the car)
However, I believe this warning applies to fast charging only which we very seldom do.
That’s great advice. It’s currently 5 f’d degrees, so quite cold. And I know all the extra stuff also drains so heat is right in there.
Do you know if there’s anywhere to “learn to drive efficiently in electric”? Because I assume the handle is different than ICE…? But maybe it’s just the same because energy is energy.
Its similar. Just don’t be an idiot that slams on the gas when it goes green and brake hard when it’s red.
My MG4 has 36K Km and is just one year and a half old 🤷♂️ 33k miles is not that much.
The reason they’re cheap is that replacing the battery costs more than the car
I see a possible business there, changing the batteries for better ones.
People are working on it. However itis tricky to get into as most ev’s don’t need a battery change yet - and by the time they do other parts will be very worn. Is it worth putting $10k into a car that will be worth $5k when you are done?
