Considering the possibilty of having to sell my Leaf

[ravi100]

My worst nightmare scenario is suddenly becoming a possibility....I got my Leaf SL in April
and due to a job change I might be in a situation where I have to commute to a location
that is 60 miles away....and in TX there are no L3 stations yet and no immediate plans
to build them.

So forum members, is there a market for a 5 month old Leaf with 4000 miles on it?

Thoughts?

 

[Stoaty]

Any chance you could do L1 or L2 charging (e.g., with modified L1 charger from Ingineer) at the new job location? That would solve your problem nicely.

 

[Bassman]

Can you charge at work at the new location? If so, then you don't have to sell. I commute 63 miles one way, charge at work using the modified L1/L2 EVSE and a Quick 220 adapter and make it home no problem. And I live in the foothills (A 1500 foot elevation change with numerous hills between).

 

[ElectricVehicle]

My worst nightmare scenario is suddenly becoming a possibility....I got my Leaf SL in April
and due to a job change I might be in a situation where I have to commute to a location
that is 60 miles away....and in TX there are no L3 stations yet and no immediate plans
to build them.

So forum members, is there a market for a 5 month old Leaf with 4000 miles on it?

Thoughts?

If you have even 120V charging at work, you'd get about 32 LEAF miles of range over 8 hours of charging. Though that doesn't leave much distance or time for errands in your LEAF. I'd check with the new employer and see what options you might have for charging at work. With the modified EVSE and access to 240V, even as low as 12 amps, it would be no problem if you got 4 hours of charging everyday at work. This is also assuming leaving home at 100% charge. That 60 mile commute, is it ion commuter traffic or would it be 75 mph all the way? Anything less than 75 mph and charging at work, even 120V would probably work for you. You could always try it out for a week or two and make the decision to keep or sell after that. (And you'd save a bunch of money on Gas!!!)

There's definitely a market for used LEAFs, the question is at what price. There are definitely people in the used car market who would rather buy electric than gas, but there aren't many production EVs in the used car market yet.

I presume you've seen the range chart to help your analysis:

Edit - 2 September 2011, Version 6c, downloads available in English and Metric measures, in both PDF format and XLS:

Range chart in PDF; English Statute Miles (UK / USA), Version 6c
http://bayfiles.com/file/XLl/tJKAp3/LEAFrangeChartVersion6c.pdf

Range chart in Microsoft Excel; English Statute Miles (UK / USA), Version 6c
http://bayfiles.com/file/XLh/012wjZ/LEAFrangeChartVersion6c.xls

Range chart in PDF; Metric (kilometers) for the rest of the world, Version 6c
http://bayfiles.com/file/XLn/ZWMn0a/LEAFrangeChartVersion6Cmetric.pdf

Range chart in Microsoft Excel; Metric (kilometers) for the rest of the world), Version 6c
http://bayfiles.com/file/XLj/5SwrGl/LEAFrangeChartVersion6Cmetric.xls

If you decide to use this chart, you can print it out, and just cut off the Battery % column on the left. Lot's of changes based on user input that you can read through the thread.

If you want an emailed PDF or the original Excel file, just PM with you email address, or probably easier for me, just email me at:

TonyWilliams@ LoveMyLeaf dot
com

 

[davewill]

So forum members, is there a market for a 5 month old Leaf with 4000 miles on it?

Thoughts?

I would certainly think so, especially if you can discount most of the amount of the tax rebate.

 

[cdub]

Well - if you're in a two car household... just drive the other car? If not... well try charging at work.

 

[cwerdna]

Would help to post your location or to have it in your profile. I think there's a market.

 

[SkiTundra]

What have Nissan said about xfer of warranty and such with used sales?

 

[Rat]

You had better check the requirements of any incentives, too, such as the federal tax credit. You may have to keep the car for a minimum period of time to get it and I don't think it is transferable, so you can't get it back from the buyer in the price. I agree finding a way to charge at work is the best option. Another option to consider if you can't charge at work is to drive to some point closer to work, perhaps 40 or 45 miles from home at the edge of the metro bus range of the city where your new employer is. If there is an express bus or perhaps rail connection it might be pretty fast and not too expensive; it's not ideal, but worth considering.

 

[EVDrive]

if you drive careful and charge at work on l1, you could make it. it just means driving 55mph all the way to work. i drive 50 miles to work everyday and get there with 5 bars left easy. If i go 70 to 75mph then i usually have 2 bars left after 50 miles. The modified l2 with a quick 220 is your best option though if you want to keep the Leaf and drive fast. Good luck.

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

You should not have much problem finding someone who does not qualify for the entire rebate who is willing to pay you something pretty close to what you paid minus the federal rebate that you will be getting. The requirement for getting the rebate is that the purchase not be fore resale, though I have not been able to find out what time limit, if any there is fore resale.

Offering to pay for the install of a 240V plug at work with a meter should not be a big deal. You could even go off the cars meter for reimbursing the employer. I'm with others on this one, get the EVSE upgrade and have a 240V line/plug added. A romex line can be added on the exterior of a wall pretty cheap! Think of how much money you'd save on gas$$

g

 

[smkettner]

Companies pay relocation fees all the time. Just make yours for the EVSE. It is not like you are actually getting the money.
A cup of coffee may cost more than the electric provided.

 

[SkiTundra]

I disagree on offering to pay for it (unless you really begged for the job and feel like you owe them). Companies should be willing to do this on their own and need to get that message. Providing convenient L2 and L3 charging at work is an important and valuable benefit to employees. Company's HR folks talk to each other all the time about benefits. The more they hear requests like this from employees (and customers) the more they'll talk about it at HR functions ("are you guys getting a lot of requests for EV charging too?") and the more quickly these will get installed. When someone else requests it from their company the company won't be blind-sided because they'd heard about it a lot before.

And, sell it to them as a good PR move - they're now a green company who's making the community better by reducing pollution, noise from loud cars, and our dependence on gas from terrorist supporting nations.

 

[ravi100]

Thanks for all the input:

1. I live in a Dallas TX suburb....public transportation is not an option

2. I do have the upgraded L1/L2 charger from Ingineer. The only option
of charging at work is L1.

3. The real issue is the range. My experience over this summer closely matches
the range chart. Given all hwy miles, say at 60mph at least so someone doesnt shoot
me (this is texas after all) and A/C running, temp averaging 100F for 70 days a year
my realistic range so far has been 60 miles...so making it one way even is
uncomfortably close.

4. The Fed tax rebate does not have a minimum ownership period....I checked.

5. The warranty is completely transferable.

Hope that clarifies the picture.

 

[garygid]

If you can get 2x 120v (the two different phases) to make 240v for charging, and cut your speed just a bit, you might be well off.

 

[mitch672]

Do you want to trade a 2010 Prius, Package V for it? Original cost $33,000 (its the highest end package availble on the Prius, low profile tires, Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, etc) 24,000 miles on it, gets 50mpg on average.

Or you could:

Slow down to 55mph and stay in the right lane. Yes, its very annoying, but you seem to need a little buffer space because of your 1 way commute distance.

turn the AC up higher, to just dehumidify, not cool. this should save you same range as well, and might just be enough to give you the buffer you need.

I can't even place an order for a Leaf, as I am in Boston, "Fall / Winter 2011 ordering", no date announced yet.

 

[abasile]

For your purposes, it's too bad the LEAF doesn't have just a bit more range. If you're okay going back to burning gasoline, then Mitch's Prius trade offer might not be a bad idea... On the other hand, if you really want to drive electric, here are some possible options:

1. As others have suggested, try using a Quick220 to charge at work at 240 V.
2. Get off the freeway for at least a portion of your commute and drive on smaller, slower roads in order to stretch the range. Driving at 55 mph could accomplish the same thing, but you indicated that's not an option.
3. Sell the LEAF and purchase an upcoming, more expensive EV with more range. The CODA sedan, the new RAV4 EV, or the Tesla Model S might work for you if you can spend the money. However, with the CODA or RAV4, you'd have to arrange to make the purchase from California.

 

[smkettner]

60 mile commute would have me looking for a home closer to the job.

 

[adric22]

60 mile commute would have me looking for a home closer to the job.

I agree. I wouldn't commute 60 miles every day. That is just too much.

I will also agree with the OP's range estimate here in Texas. Most of our freeways are flowing at 65, 70, 75, and even 80 mph. It is actually quite difficult to drive 60 mph even in the right-hand lane without causing a backup and a lot of irritated drivers. It isn't so much of a problem during off-peak driving hours because people can easily go around you. And I certainly noticed my A/C usage during the 105 degree days would eat about 20 miles of range from a full battery. So 60 miles is actually pushing it for a one-way commute. I'd say the Leaf just isn't going to be the right car for the commute. Its one thing to be able to say the car "can" do it. Especially if you take side-streets. But you're talking about the difference of getting to work in 1.5 hours or 3 hours. Some kind of hybrid would probably be the best choice for that commute.

 

[SanDust]

The only way you're going to find out what the market is like is to try and sell it. Start with CarMax. You might get a good price because they ship vehicles all over the country and might want to test the potential pent up demand for Leafs. Then again they may not want to touch it because they don't have any data. In either case it will be a data point and the process is painless.

Should be interesting. Given that the supply is still very limited, if you work at it you should be able to do pretty well.