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Here in Tokyo I ended up with a Nissan Leaf v.2 (2018 model) with the 40kw/h model with real world range of 150 km (93 miles). It sees about 10 to 20km for err
by jac_no_k 8y ago
Here in Tokyo I ended up with a Nissan Leaf v.2 (2018 model) with the 40kw/h model with real world range of 150 km (93 miles). It sees about 10 to 20km for errands, ideal city car model. It's home is a stand alone house with a 200v outlet, rare for this area. Typical residences are dense apartments with over subscribed mechanical parking spots.
I did consider the Toyota Prius and all it's variants; the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV; and Nissan's e-power series. Several negatives. Both the Prius and Outlander 10% to 20% more expensive then the Leaf. After government discounts; manufacturer discounts; and dealer incentives they ended up nearly 60% more expensive. All of these hybrids had the shortcomings of ICE (internal combustion engine) of dealing with fuel, oil changes, belts, plugs, and others.
The PHEV (plug in hybrid electric vehicle) would have worked in my use case as the battery has 30km range. Just recharge daily at home but the price was a turn off.
The perceived negative with the Leaf was range. But just the other day I've made a 300km round trip and the three 30 minute breaks to charge the battery was just fine. Japan is easy with such good density of chargers: https://www.plugshare.com/ https://www.plugshare.com/
We rarely use the charger at home. The Leaf gets charged at the local market whenever it's below 50%. Charge time is limited 30 minutes at the public spots and it's enough to get the charge to over 80%. This means that even for people without access to a charger at home easily use the public spots. The salesperson used the same pitch, saying that Leaf owners regularly drop in for a 30 minute charge and hang out at the lounge with free soft drinks.
Anyways, this was my reason and experience on getting BEV instead of a hybrid.
- yuhong 8y ago>Here in Tokyo I ended up with a Nissan Leaf v.2 (2018 model) with the 40kw/h model with real world range of 150 km (93 miles). 150 miles is the EPA range, not 150km.
- jac_no_k 8y agoEPA (US environmental protection agency) rates it as 241 km (150 miles) JC08 (Japan's rating agency) rates it at 400km (248 miles). Even the dealer says this is wildly optimistic. At 100% charge, my car reports 220 km. It's starting to "learn" my driving style. My lead foot, my preference for 25dC (77dF) cabin temperature when it's 40dC (104dF) at 90%+ humidity drags this down to real world 150km (93 miles). I'm sure if I drove more conservatively during more reasonable weather conditions, I could easily get over 220km. But with fast charge stations no more then 50km apart, no need to hypermile. It's good to take a break hour and half or so. (Speed limit in Japan is maximum 80kph (49mph) on highways.)