(13 February 2017, 12:48)Barneyboy Wrote: Well the leaf in the USA must be different than the uk ,they say 180 miles ,but more realistic 120 on a charge,the good thing about Nisan is you can drive one for a month and see if you like it ,so no problem there
Probably is a difference, and my friends had the older models. They had much lower advertised ranges and most owners never saw what was advertised.
The newer ones have larger battery packs and the base Leaf still only gets 84 miles and our advertisements only offer 120 mile charge life on the larger SUV models with the bigger batteries. And note that it was not a technological advancement that extended the rage, just a bigger battery pack, which also means more weight.
The Leaf is not very popular over here for several other factors. Not many sold. I can not remember ever seeing one on the road. Neither do we have a "drive it for a month" program because all of them would be returned.
Several of my friends and relatives fell for the Hybrid scheme back when they first came out and the Prius was everywhere! None got either the electric range or the gas mileage advertised and I often told them the tests had been made in Canada using the 5 quart Imperial gallon and shorter miles!
The closer they got to the 8 year life span of the battery pack the lower the resale value became to the point that after 8 years they zeroed out due to the almost immediate anticipated need for a $5k battery pack. You are charged for the new battery pack and for recycling the old pack in my area.
My FIL even tried to scrap his when the pack finally failed and the salvage dealer quoted him a salvage cost in the thousands due to the cost of scrapping the battery pack.
He fussed and cussed constantly for the life of the vehicle because he never got more then 45 mpg trip range from the thing and it was advertised at 75.
Our driving customs over here are different from those in GB, with 75-100 mile one way commutes to work common and the quick weekend trip often being 300-500 miles. Our holidays are normally vehicle based and sometimes wind up being 3500 mile swings through the country side to see America before it gets more European.
A couple of years ago I made a 1900 mile camping trip and just going to see the grand-kids is a 600 mile drive. The stops for recharging would make seeing the family an 8 day round trip in a Leaf!
The electric vehicles are generally considered toys for limited use over here, not basic transportation.
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