Moving a Leaf to Europe...

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4runner

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Feb 20, 2015
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3
I've had the Leaf for only 8 months and now it looks like I am being relocated to Germany.

Interested in hearing any and all stories of owners who operate EV's to Europe, especially things like negotiating with the other residents in an apartment building to get a charging outlet set up.

Thx.
 
Might want to consider getting rid of the car beforehand. Looks like it could run a couple thousand to get it there, and weeks to ship.

http://www.toytowngermany.com/lofi/index.php/t76231.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.toytowngermany.com/lofi/index.php/t137560.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
If the OP is being "relocated" to Germany that implies that the OP's employer, possibly the US military, is behind this move so he or she won't have to worry about shipping costs.

The EVSE is definitely going to be an issue. A non-upgraded stock one is NOT going to be compatible with Europe's 230 volt 50 Hz electricity. The OP may want to contact EVSE Upgrade to see if their units will work in Europe with a plug adapter, or if a different cable is needed.

Switching the displays to metric is just a matter of a push of a button. The AM/FM radio will work but many European radio stations are on the .05 (like 101.75) whereas ours are every .2 so there will be some radio stations you will not be able to pick up. Many European radio stations are also digital now and you won't be able to pick those up. XM of course will not work.

If the OP has an SV or SL, another thing that will definitely not work is CarWings; I don't know if anybody who has imported a U.S. Leaf to Europe was able to successfully swap out the AT&T SIM card for a local one. Swapping out the GPS data card may be an issue as well.
 
Thanks for the thoughts so far.

1) The move is indeed being paid for. Even if it weren't, the price difference in cars is so large that I could move it myself, sell it when I got there, and still come away with $3000 or so.

2) It looks like charging at home would be quicker. The standard wall outlet in Germany is already 230 V. It is not unheard of for driers to be on a 16 Amp fuse. I can by a Euro-appropriate charger when I get there.

3) My biggest issue is getting my own dang line. Unless I win the lottery, I'll be living in a multi-unit building. I can't imagine the neighbors being too keen on paying for me to charge my car at night.
 
One more issue, which I am also interested in with imported US car to Europe is making the navigation work with European map. So far I haven't found any solutions online. If I missed some, I would be more than happy if someone posts it here. Thanks!
 
lipcius said:
One more issue, which I am also interested in with imported US car to Europe is making the navigation work with European map. So far I haven't found any solutions online. If I missed some, I would be more than happy if someone posts it here. Thanks!

You will need to buy a new Nav SD card with the European maps on it. Here is one here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-Connect-LCN1-OEM-LATEST-Map-Europe-2014-2015-SD-Card-KE288-LCN1E14-/251860482821" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for what looks like 80 pounds ($150ish I think). All you would have to do is pop out your current SD card, pop this in, and then it will load the maps and you will be good to go. Save your current SD card though for when you return! Things are $200 from the dealer if I'm not mistaken.
 
Roadburner440 said:
lipcius said:
One more issue, which I am also interested in with imported US car to Europe is making the navigation work with European map. So far I haven't found any solutions online. If I missed some, I would be more than happy if someone posts it here. Thanks!

You will need to buy a new Nav SD card with the European maps on it. Here is one here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-Connect-LCN1-OEM-LATEST-Map-Europe-2014-2015-SD-Card-KE288-LCN1E14-/251860482821" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for what looks like 80 pounds ($150ish I think). All you would have to do is pop out your current SD card, pop this in, and then it will load the maps and you will be good to go. Save your current SD card though for when you return! Things are $200 from the dealer if I'm not mistaken.

Sadly this does not work. The US head unit is not compatible with European SD cards. Furthermore - every SD card is encrypted to exactly one car (when purchasing), so to buy a SD card on ebay is just a waste of Money.. As far as I know the only way is to either buy a completely new Navigation unit (~5000$) from the dealer, or find a crashed European Leaf and buy such unit second hand, or reprogram the US Navigation Unit. Sadly haven't heard that anyone was succesful with this yet... Same goes with Carwings unit and sim card compatibility...

If someone has more information, would be great if you share.
 
I was in a similar situation. Besides the navigation system (and carwings) not working, I also had to install a Rear fog lamp. Nebelschlussleuchte (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebelschlussleuchte" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;).
 
I'm in a similar boat, moving to either Belgium or France (somewhere in that border area) in about 2 months and wondering whether it's worth bringing my Leaf. The energy efficiency is very appealing with gas at 5-6$ a gallon there.

- I saw a reference to the 230 volt electricity there - does that mean I could use the basic US 3 prong wall charger plugged into a standard $10 US/EU outlet adapter? This sounds dangerous, but I don't understand the first thing about electricity. Could I just buy a European Leaf-to-wall cord? I have a big Siemens 240 volt deal in my garage now but I understand that would be useless in Europe?

- Other than Carwings and nav (neither one a big deal to me), any other major issues I should be thinking about?

Thanks!
 
In order to register the car there, some equipment will need to be changed to make it compliant with EU standards. For example, you will need to add a rear-facing fog lamp; on European Leafs it's an add on light below the middle of the rear bumper.

nissan-leaf-rear-quarter.jpg


Other lighting modifications will need to be made such as disabling the amber side marker lights, and if you have the halogen headlight setup you will need to add a white-only parking light; steady amber to the front is not allowed in the EU. If you have a 2013 or later model, you will also need to add turn signal repeaters to the front fenders as found on the 2011-2012 models.

Unless the OEM 120 volt EVSE has been properly upgraded to accept higher voltage, DO NOT plug it into anything but a 120 volt source! You will fry the EVSE.

In Europe, it's BYOCC (bring your own charging cord) at public charging stations and you will need to buy one of those cords to use a public EVSE over there. Europe uses the "Mennekes" charging standard which has a different pin configuration than the J1772 used here, but adapters are available. Europe is 230 volt, 50 Hz which is different from the 240 volt 60 Hz electricity in the US so unless it's rated to do so, an electrical appliance from the US won't work properly in Europe even with adapters. As Siemens is a German company it possibly will work in Europe but I would contact them to see if that is the case. If in doubt just buy a EU-spec "wallbox."

European radio stations are closer together on the dial than in the US and you won't be able to pick up those "in-between" frequencies with a US radio.
 
I have never found it a good idea to take anything large or cumbersome with me on a long distance move, ESPECIALLY internationally.

Even smaller things like furniture, tons of clothes, or housewares are not a good deal. There is nothing that you own (like the Leaf), that is so important that you need to drag with you. My feeling of moving, "when in Rome, become an Italian", I think is the best, and the most "liberating".

Heck, you may find that their stuff is even better than the U.S. products.. I have often found that in international travel...
 
Hey all,

It has been 2+ years since my original post-- just wanted to let everyone know what happened.

I did indeed move my 2015 Leaf over to Germany with me. Finding charging stations has not been a problem. Our town has a free one downtown (about two blocks from my home). It is underutilized and very convenient.

However, getting the car registered was a royal pain in the ___. I live in Bavaria and had to go through TUV. TUV is a private company endowed with the authority to define which features of a motor vehicle are safe on German roads. They are very strict.

The changes required for registration included
-a new set of tires of a type that had been approved by TUV,
-adding a rear light (a TUV-approved light bolted on below the bumper worked fine), and
-getting the US headlight fixture approved for registration in Germany.

It was the headlights that proved to be the biggest headache. The US headlamps were not approved by TUV and TUV-approved headlamps are not compatible with the US Leaf.

After spending some time and effort figuring this out, I ended up paying a testing company to get TUV approval. It was a 6 week process and cost ~1200 Euros. Apparently, the test results are available at TUV for anyone else who needs them. If you find yourself in the same boat and can't find them at TUV, let me know and I'll help you get them. No need for this racket to get more money from another poor sucker...
 
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