Buying LEAF

[කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වාTop contributor]

This is an interesting link, if anyone is interested in buy (or already having) one.

Nissan Leaf

[smallvilleTop contributor]

great article indeed Kith.. thanks for sharing..

[LeonTop contributor]

kith thanks.
I will share this with one of my friends who bought a Leaf last week.
+

[HUNTERTop contributor]

Great article.
Thanks Kith and thanks go to the writer as well.

I am seriously considering Leaf as an option for my next car.
Anyone having any first hand experience?

Just wondering how much would it cost per km; and arrived at the following calculations.

It seems one unit (kWH) charge can run for 5 km.
We will have to pay the highest tariff slab; Rs 45/unit;
Which gives ~ Rs9/km

A Prius (2nd Gen) can do ~18km/liter
So, Rs 120/18 per km
Which is ~ Rs7/km

So a Prius would be cheaper on mileage!?

[malanp]

Thanks Hunter, (Shares and car analyst..)

[Stumpie]

Hunter ayye,

Leaf එකක් ගන්නවා නම් ඊළඟ Edition එක එනකල් ඉන්න. ඒකෙ 300 Km range එකක් තියෙන කතාවක් තියෙනවා. අනිත් එක  ඒකෙ Design එකත් දැන් තියෙන එකට වඩා ලස්සනයි ලු. එහෙම වුණොත් මමත් එකක් ගන්නවා.

BTW Consider going for a Solar Panels as well. Within few years you can drive your car 100% free.

Always it's good to use an EV as your second car.
හදිස්සියකට ගමනක් යන්න set වුණාම Car එකේ Battery මදි නම් ඉතින් ඇති වැඩක් නැහැනේ. Wife ගෙන් කනක් ඇහිලා ඉන්න බැරි වෙයි.

[Market loverTop contributor]

For me the new LEAF design is pretty good. But i think the new design will be available from 2017 jan onwards.

[කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වාTop contributor]

Solar panel model is already in town.
(Even I would have opted for one, had it not been the distance restriction. Come 300km version and I will buy one. My present car has a Solar panel fitted but it is just there to light up a fancy storage area).

[HUNTERTop contributor]

I guess the car solar panel will be be for lighting only anyway.

What Stumpie has suggested seems to be the solar panel at home with net-metering.

If the range is a big problem, somebody has a business opportunity for 'rapid charging stations' or 'battery swapping' stations.

(I was reading Stump's post and almost typed 'wife' instead of battery)

[කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වාTop contributor]

Good that most wives are not interested in Stock Market.  

I was reading Stump's post and almost typed 'wife' instead of battery

[HAL9000Top contributor]

Great article.
Thanks Kith and thanks go to the writer as well.

I am seriously considering Leaf as an option for my next car.
Anyone having any first hand experience?

Just wondering how much would it cost per km; and arrived at the following calculations.

It seems one unit (kWH) charge can run for 5 km.
We will have to pay the highest tariff slab; Rs 45/unit;
Which gives ~ Rs9/km

A Prius (2nd Gen) can do ~18km/liter
So, Rs 120/18 per km
Which is ~ Rs7/km

So a Prius would be cheaper on mileage!?

For Hybrids, you get such fuel economies if you drive reasonably moving traffic, in Colombo heavy traffic during office hours, you get even as low as 10 Km/l, In that case Leaf is really economical if you lnstall a domestic Solar Power with net metering. Again the concern is you have to pre plan all your journeys, otherwise we know how horrible it is when the phone battery is dead, not to mention about how it feels like for the car.

Plugin Hybrid would be an ideal solution , you always have the back up petrol engine, but only few models available

[HUNTERTop contributor]

Hmmmm...

Probably we should buy two cars. One petrol and one Electric.
If you cannot plan your trips, you can tow the petrol one behind the electric. Once the battery is dead, just swap the position of the cars.

I am sure, it'll be much cheaper than a plug in hybrid.

[HAL9000Top contributor]

Hmmmm...

Probably we should buy two cars. One petrol and one Electric.
If you cannot plan your trips, you can tow the petrol one behind the electric. Once the battery is dead, just swap the position of the cars.

I am sure, it'll be much cheaper than a plug in hybrid.

Great Idea, Sri Lankan version of plugin Hybrid

[Market loverTop contributor]

http://www.lankainformation.lk/2015-07-20-04-24-43/latest-news/item/3391-around-70-phevs-await-custom-clearance-due-to-classification-issue

[pathfinderTop contributor]

Thanks Kithsiri,Anybody has experience with BMW i3 ?

[UkboyTop contributor]

Most of these cars still come from UK. If anyone really interest buy I can ship it over.

Was selling at a really low price in the UK but bcos of the sudden demand in SL the price has now increased a bit.

Still there's no tax issue with LEAFs. But most exporters have stopped sending them over to sl.

I hope the taxes wont change in next few weeks. A couple my leafs still in transit. :-( I calculate a tax hike from the budget not before that.

[Market loverTop contributor]

How much are u selling for bro 2013 - 2015 x grade ones

[HUNTERTop contributor]

Is there any truth in some say about UK-exported cars; about salt and rusting of the undercarriage/ body?

[Market loverTop contributor]

http://www.ft.lk/article/482987/Toyota-improves-Prius-fuel-efficiency

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbvqjuMr_Wk

The New look of Prius. looks ok compared to existing models.

[Market loverTop contributor]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVQuNFyuHA8

This might be the new look of upcoming LEAF.

http://bizenglish.adaderana.lk/exclusive-all-new-nissan-leaf-to-get-300-mile-range/

[UkboyTop contributor]

Taxes for LEAF could also go up around 250k

[UkboyTop contributor]

Is there any truth in some say about UK-exported cars; about salt and rusting of the undercarriage/ body?

There's truth behind that specially Nissan Navara. Overall Navara is a poor design despite how comfortable that.

But that's not valid for vehicles such Leaf, Hilux or any high end models ( 5 series, Mercs etc etc)
The cars export to Sri Lanka are pretty much new vehicles. So virtually zero impact from salt spray during winter times.

[HUNTERTop contributor]

Thanks UKB for the clarification.

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Simple calculation for 'solar powered' option.

Assuming; 3 hours 'peak' sunlight a day. 20 day usage of the car a month.

Solar system price for 1 Watt - Rs 300/- (Cheapest)
Price for 1kWH a day - Rs300*1000/3 = Rs100k
Opportunity cost @12% d.r. = Rs1000/month

1kWH gives 5km >>> 100km per month

So, for 100km, the opportunity cost is Rs1,0000/-
Means Rs10/- per km

(Not very bad, but need some marginal improvement somewhere IMO)

Any other views?

[කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වාTop contributor]

Read more

(Aqua does around 25 on the long runs and around 19 on city runs).

[Market loverTop contributor]

Simply can someone tell me with the Nissan Leaf

To travel 1000 Kms a month. What will be my electricity cost for the month assuming Rs. 45 a unit cost. And the cost per kilometre. Tks