2017Leaf30
Member
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2023
- Messages
- 11
New Member from New Zealand.
Yesterday I brought home my first EV, a 2017 fully-loaded 30 kWh leaf with 8 bars and a promised range of 145 km after an overnight charge with the car set to stop charging at 80%. With 65,000 km on it, it looks new. Clearly never parked outside. The degraded battery is not a concern because it still should go a week between charges. By the time it is inadequate, I expect replacement costs will be affordable, and we will keep the old battery as a whole-house battery.
There are 1,200 Leafs on sale in New Zealand right now (almost all imported from Japan), but when my wife wants a light interior and a neutral (white, silver, grey or black) exterior, limited to a 2016-2017 30 kWh, the selection gets much smaller. This one was a dealer trade in where the dealer knew virtually nothing about EV's. So the only way to get the story was to examine the car. NZ$16,800 including English conversion and GPS maps I will never use (Google maps is far superior).
I looked at one, 2016 with 12,000 km and 85% on the battery ($19,500), but the motor showed corrosion spots as if it was near the sea or driven in salt. And it was $3,000 more with only one key and a few dings. Another had questions raised because the odometer was replaced and the private party was selling three Leafs. Many were dealer offer, looking like they had come off lease, showing evidence of having been parked outdoors. They qualified for the $3,450 rebate, but the dealers built that into the price - asking $20-26,000 depending on battery.
I live on the island that dealers say is where Leafs come to die. With a distance of 12 km from the ferry at one end to the last village beach on the other, and a speed limit of 30-50 km/h with lots of hills to recharge the battery, there probably are more Leafs on our island than anywhere else in the country. The first Leaf expert started out here, but now has expanded to the Auckland mainland.
The decision to go EV was not eco-minded. While I am an environmentalist, I view EV's as greenwash. A recent report found Auckland had 74 million tons of microplastics in its air. Car tyres are the second largest generator of microplastics and an EV will not change that. I could not find data on a Leaf, but a Tesla battery requires 230,000 litres of water just to turn raw lithium into a battery, and the electricity required to make a Tesla aluminium body is double the electricity it will use in its lifetime. The only real answer to the environmental impact of cars is to build new towns based on the ancient model of market towns where a local economy is sufficiently large that almost all day-to-day destinations are within walking distance - meaning a critical mass of 10,000 people to support about 250 local job types.
My decision was prompted by COVID. We had fuel shortages because the ferries that deliver fuel suffered staffing problems. When the COVID tax holiday ends on April 1, our petrol (gasoline) will cost about $4 litre (US$10 / gallon) and eventually we can expect a carbon tax on ICE car registration (currently about $100). First thing I will do is shift my power plan to low-cost night charges and next am learning everything about solar panels. The power company will pay more for daytime solar than they charge for night-time use.
But for me it is not about saving money so much as not being impacted by systemic failure. COVID exposed the vulnerability of national and global systems, with shortages and price rises, and remarkably flawed actions and inaction by government. I'm not one to truck in conspiracy theories, and I only act when national and global events start to bite personally. So now, we're becoming more like homesteaders, upping our food growing and moving toward energy independence. We already are water independent with three huge rainwater tanks (15,000 gallons) that will hold us through droughts and a bore (well) with manganese-infused water good for the garden and toilets but not potable.
I'm now selling our 2008 Mercedes B170 that the Leaf replaces. Very similar vehicles, but the EV adventure begins
Here are some pics the dealer sent me of the actual car - impressive photographer
Yesterday I brought home my first EV, a 2017 fully-loaded 30 kWh leaf with 8 bars and a promised range of 145 km after an overnight charge with the car set to stop charging at 80%. With 65,000 km on it, it looks new. Clearly never parked outside. The degraded battery is not a concern because it still should go a week between charges. By the time it is inadequate, I expect replacement costs will be affordable, and we will keep the old battery as a whole-house battery.
There are 1,200 Leafs on sale in New Zealand right now (almost all imported from Japan), but when my wife wants a light interior and a neutral (white, silver, grey or black) exterior, limited to a 2016-2017 30 kWh, the selection gets much smaller. This one was a dealer trade in where the dealer knew virtually nothing about EV's. So the only way to get the story was to examine the car. NZ$16,800 including English conversion and GPS maps I will never use (Google maps is far superior).
I looked at one, 2016 with 12,000 km and 85% on the battery ($19,500), but the motor showed corrosion spots as if it was near the sea or driven in salt. And it was $3,000 more with only one key and a few dings. Another had questions raised because the odometer was replaced and the private party was selling three Leafs. Many were dealer offer, looking like they had come off lease, showing evidence of having been parked outdoors. They qualified for the $3,450 rebate, but the dealers built that into the price - asking $20-26,000 depending on battery.
I live on the island that dealers say is where Leafs come to die. With a distance of 12 km from the ferry at one end to the last village beach on the other, and a speed limit of 30-50 km/h with lots of hills to recharge the battery, there probably are more Leafs on our island than anywhere else in the country. The first Leaf expert started out here, but now has expanded to the Auckland mainland.
The decision to go EV was not eco-minded. While I am an environmentalist, I view EV's as greenwash. A recent report found Auckland had 74 million tons of microplastics in its air. Car tyres are the second largest generator of microplastics and an EV will not change that. I could not find data on a Leaf, but a Tesla battery requires 230,000 litres of water just to turn raw lithium into a battery, and the electricity required to make a Tesla aluminium body is double the electricity it will use in its lifetime. The only real answer to the environmental impact of cars is to build new towns based on the ancient model of market towns where a local economy is sufficiently large that almost all day-to-day destinations are within walking distance - meaning a critical mass of 10,000 people to support about 250 local job types.
My decision was prompted by COVID. We had fuel shortages because the ferries that deliver fuel suffered staffing problems. When the COVID tax holiday ends on April 1, our petrol (gasoline) will cost about $4 litre (US$10 / gallon) and eventually we can expect a carbon tax on ICE car registration (currently about $100). First thing I will do is shift my power plan to low-cost night charges and next am learning everything about solar panels. The power company will pay more for daytime solar than they charge for night-time use.
But for me it is not about saving money so much as not being impacted by systemic failure. COVID exposed the vulnerability of national and global systems, with shortages and price rises, and remarkably flawed actions and inaction by government. I'm not one to truck in conspiracy theories, and I only act when national and global events start to bite personally. So now, we're becoming more like homesteaders, upping our food growing and moving toward energy independence. We already are water independent with three huge rainwater tanks (15,000 gallons) that will hold us through droughts and a bore (well) with manganese-infused water good for the garden and toilets but not potable.
I'm now selling our 2008 Mercedes B170 that the Leaf replaces. Very similar vehicles, but the EV adventure begins
Here are some pics the dealer sent me of the actual car - impressive photographer