Advise on buying used Leaf for a newbie

Hi there,

I'm writing as I'm look at buying a used leaf 2014 model and would like to find out some information which I haven't noticed or come across and would truly appreciate your expertise.

1. Is the Leaf Tekna (UK) the same as the SL (US) model?.

2. How can you identify if the car has a 24kw or 30kw battery?.

3. How can you identify what type its has, lizard or standard?.

I'm in Sri lanka (heat tolerance) and all Leaf's are imported (no warranty) into the country, therefore I can't get any information from the Nissan dealership or any assistance regarding the Leaf.

Once again would greatly appreciate your assistance with answering these questions and any advise on what to look out for.


Thank you

Lahiru

1. I don't know. This is a US-centric forum, so our knowledge of Leafs outside the US market is limited.

2. It's kWh, not kW.

kW and kWh are very different metrics. It's the same as confusing gallons with horsepower. Think of kW = horsepower, kWh = gallons.

If one somehow consumes 80 kW for 1 hour, then that's 80 kWh consumed, which is way beyond the capacity of the Leaf's 24 kWh battery (~21 to 22 kWh usable). If it's 10 kW for 1 hour, it's 10 kWh consumed. 1 kW for 1 hour? 1 kWh.

(BTW, 1 hp = ~0.746 kW and 1 gallon of gasoline=33.7 kWh.)

In the US, the 30 kWh battery didn't begin until model year 2016 and it's only on the SV and SL trims of that '16 Leaf. See http://nissannews.com/en-US/nissan/usa/presskits/us-2016-nissan-leaf-press-kit and release date verbiage at http://insideevs.com/2016-nissan-leaf-107-miles/.

Given that, it's impossible that any 2014 Leaf would have a 30 kWh battery.

3. In the US, the "lizard" battery official began with the 2015 model year Leafs. See http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=17168.

Also, see my post at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=22067&p=462532&hilit=facebook#p462532.

3. In the US, the "lizard" battery official began with the 2015 model year Leafs. See viewtopic.php?t=17168.

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It should be noted that the Leafs made after 3/2013 are more degradation resistant than those made earlier. The "Lizard battery" started in 2015 (possibly with a few late-build 2014s) but even that pack will degrade significantly in extreme or sustained heat. For that reason you should expect degradation, and make sure that a Leaf with 80% or so of original range will still meet your needs in a few years.

The US SL model is the only Leaf with a solar panel in the rear (it charges the 12 volt battery, not the pack, and only a little) and a leather interior. The SV is essentially the same otherwise, so if you have the solar panel and leather it should be the SL-equivalent model.

Is the Leaf Tekna (UK) the same as the SL (US) model?.

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EVs meant for the US and Canada, and EVs meant for Europe, use different charging connectors. The North American market uses a "J1772" connector, and the EU version is called "Mennekes." The most important part to know is that the plugs are NOT interchangeable as the pins are in different places. I believe adapters do exist to connect one to the other since many ex-US Leafs are now residing in Norway.

As Sri Lanka is a country where you drive on the left side of the road, it would be easiest for you to import a car from a country that also drives that way, such as the UK or Japan. Ex-Japan Leafs are popular in New Zealand but a major disadvantage is that those cars do not have English menus, so you have to know a bit of Japanese to work some of the functions.

The European Tekna is rougly similar to the US SL. It has leather and LED-headlights. There can be some minor differences, but they are pretty much the same.

By the way, all European Leafs also use the J1772-plug, just like in the US. You will however often find Mennekes/Type 2-connectors at charging stations, but you can buy cables which let you connect your J1772-equipped Leaf to a charging station with Mennekes. That is why US-Leafs are so popular in Norway, they work straight off the boat.

kaiat said:

By the way, all European Leafs also use the J1772-plug, just like in the US.

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That's interesting. When I attended the previous Los Angeles Auto Show (or possibly the one before that), I was at the Audi display to look over the A3 eTron. I noticed that the car and the charging station next to it had Mennekes connectors, so I figured that all EVs sold in Europe (with the exception of Tesla) were that way. This was before that car was officially on sale in the US so it appears that they brought over an EU-spec model for display purposes (and VW AG will often do that for auto shows).

Yes, the CCS/Combo-equipped cars use Mennekes in Europe. So it is likely that the e-Tron you saw, was an European-market car brought over for the show. Nissan, Kia, Mitsubishi and Ford use J1772 in Europe if I am not mistaken.

By the way, Tesla also use Mennekes in their EU-spec cars. It is appearantly a modified version of the Mennekes-connector to allow for those high power outputs from the Superchargers, but it looks like the standard Mennekes-connector.