Looking at certified pre-owned 2015 Leaf

Just got CPO Leaf 2015 SV with Nav and Bose audio, but no QC for $12.7K in PA. Really like the car and size factor: not too big, not too small, just right. Battery is at 287 GIDs (102.1%), SOH=98.84% after 30,300 miles. Already, put over 1000 miles on it. I specifically bought local car after lease. It was leased from the dealer and returned back to the same dealer, CarFax report is included for free. I did not want QC (would not mind if it had QC, but would not pay for it) as I do not plan to use it for travel and I have ICE cars for that and as backups. Carvana may not be the best venue for EVs, although they sell EVs, they do not take correct pictures of the motor compartment or charger ports, no dashboard shots of capacity indicator. Kind of sneaky about it. Another problem even if you want to physically inspect the car it is may not be possible, because of they do not have customer facing facilities to arrange it. At least they provide CarFax report, so you can figure out its origin.

I am glad your 2015 Leaf is working out well! I think the size is perfectly fine as well. If the car is not particularly expensive, I would want the QC port as an option to take advantage of increased charging infrastructure coming along in the near future. Currently, when I get the Leaf, it will be metro car, and my Forester will handle the long hauls.

@Charviolon I researched QC infrastructure around my area of interest and we have only few spots in 25 miles range. Even known one near by at Nissan dealer is almost always off duty or have other cars parked so you can not reach it. L2 chargers are like 100:1 ratio and are all over the place, but they are slow. But sometimes when you poorly plan some trip, or should I say did not plan at all (I would suggest car with built-in GPS as those are EV specific and help in emergency situations) those L2 broad network could come handy, so you can at least make it home after spending 1-2 hours @ L2 charging. I do not blame car, as it is mostly driver mistakes or ignorance in my case.

GerryAZ said:

After reading this whole thread, I recommend that you continue to look for a nice 2015 LEAF. Like the others, I am concerned about long-term reliability of a Tesla out of warranty. Your daily range needs are moderate so a 2015 Leaf would serve you well even after significant battery deterioration. I recommend an SV or SL to get the heat pump HVAC system. Pick whichever model has the features you want. If you get a 2015 SV or SL, there is no cost to have Nissan replace the original cellular modem with a 3G unit so that you can use remote access.

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This is one time Gerry and I might disagree. I would not be concerned about a Tesla's long term reliability out of warranty unless it has a branded title.

It is interesting that you mention Tesla regarding its reliability. There is a local wholesaler who brings in pre-owned Teslas frequently, and I recently saw a 2014 S 85 with over 70k miles on the odometer. It looked to be in great shape, and the ride was nice. But without a warranty, what am I supposed to do when little repairs come up - or a wreck, Heaven forbid - and the closest service center is hundreds of miles away? I find it interesting that you do not feel that a post-warranty Tesla purchase is problematic. I welcome more of your thoughts here! And please explain your exception, too. Thanks.

I finally got the 2015 S Leaf a few days ago! I am, finally, an EV owner, and the price came down to a far more reasonable $12999. It was not fully charged when I drove it off the lot, and it has been a bit problematic keeping it charged along the way as I have no home charging mechanism at this point. Any recommendations for home charging? I have a carport, not a garage. Thanks.

What type of existing electrical connections do you have in your carport? If only 120V, you can trickle charge with the stock EVSE (charger).

If you want to charge faster (16A @240V), then you'll likely need to get an electrician to wire a NEMA 14-30R (or NEMA 14-50R).

For a 2015 LEAF S, a NEMA 14-30R is really all you need as the onboard charger (OBC) is limited to a 3.6 kW charging rate. Note that the stock EVSE won't do 240V charging, so budget $200 for a 240V @ 16A portable EVSE accordingly.

Leaf15 said:

Just got CPO Leaf 2015 SV with Nav and Bose audio, but no QC for $12.7K in PA. Really like the car and size factor: not too big, not too small, just right. Battery is at 287 GIDs (102.1%), SOH=98.84% after 30,300 miles

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These number sound too good to be true. Recheck with LeafSpy in a couple of months or perform a charge test from VLB warning

Charviolon said:

I finally got the 2015 S Leaf a few days ago! I am, finally, an EV owner, and the price came down to a far more reasonable $12999. It was not fully charged when I drove it off the lot, and it has been a bit problematic keeping it charged along the way as I have no home charging mechanism at this point. Any recommendations for home charging? I have a carport, not a garage. Thanks.

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Congratulations! If you drive less than about 40-50 mi/day, the stock 120V-12amp cord will work (I've been doing this for nearly 7 years). Just be careful to use a dedicated plug, make sure it's in good shape, tight connections, and mount the EVSE to the wall so that the weight doesn't pull on the plug/receptacle. On the other hand, using a 30 or 40 amp 240V unit, while more expensive, is a requirement for faster charging and longer daily distances.

SageBrush said:

Leaf15 said:

Just got CPO Leaf 2015 SV with Nav and Bose audio, but no QC for $12.7K in PA. Really like the car and size factor: not too big, not too small, just right. Battery is at 287 GIDs (102.1%), SOH=98.84% after 30,300 miles

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These number sound too good to be true. Recheck with LeafSpy in a couple of months or perform a charge test from VLB warning

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I did originally and did a couple weeks ago and I am being already through couple of VLB to Full during 1.5 month now and my range keeps going up and at some point was 105 miles with eco on & climate off . 100 miles range is pretty much a norm. I am charging once every 3-4 days with 20 miles/day commute. Although I am getting a bit sophisticated in EV driving with average 6.1+ miles/KWH. Do not know if this is common or an exception with 2015 Leaf though.

6.1 mi/kWh is very good unless the mileage is all at lower speeds (eg 35mph). If you can get that going 60+mph I need to know how....

Leaf15 said:

SageBrush said:

These number sound too good to be true. Recheck with LeafSpy in a couple of months or perform a charge test from VLB warning

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I did originally and did a couple weeks ago and I am being already through couple of VLB to Full during 1.5 month now and my range keeps going up .

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A charge to full from VLB will give you a kWh result from the meter. Some home EVSE products have metering built in, or you can use a commercial charger, e.g. ChargePoint.

At 6 miles per kWh or better, it only takes about 16 kWh to travel 100 miles so that is no proof that LeafSpy is reporting correctly. Of course you may not want to know, which is fine too. Just beware that you may be in for a surprise come winter if you live in a 4 season climate.

goldbrick said:

6.1 mi/kWh is very good unless the mileage is all at lower speeds (eg 35mph). If you can get that going 60+mph I need to know how....

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I usually follow huge trucks at safe distance (more distance than others drivers following me behind or on other lanes around me) on the highway 55-70mph, not dragging, but not fighting drag on my own and alone. The right distance for following a truck is the distance that is not encouraging other drivers to get in between of your car and the truck you following. Also, I use Eco on local roads as the moment you accelerate you need to slow down on next intersection. On highway though I switch to normal D mode as keeping the right distance is very critical and Eco is just too slow to keep up even with trucks and it also regen too aggressively for the constant speed driving. When following ICE car - you car should follow the same kind of coasting characteristics and that would be D mode. Also trucks are not capable to stop quickly, so they are like armor shield for your car in case something happens ahead and your car can brake faster to get to safety (hopefully drivers behind you would not be on the phone or texting). When there is no truck, then bus, large van or SUV still helps. Geography and traffic patterns also helps, on my way to work there are plenty of trucks on the road and it is fast ride with mainly downhill, so it is not very surprising I reach work place with surplus in range 1-3 miles due to regen. On the way back trucks are rare and I need to fight uphill battle, but it usually have a few jam spots, so I travel on the slowest lane, as I have no hurry to loose my range and jams reduce speed to the level I do not even care about drag (35m/h). So for me the highway EV rule #1 - never travel alone and rule #2 - always follow at safe distance. Works for ICE cars as well, but they usually luck any instrumentation to motivate driver. I also use brake pedal to modulate regen when I need to alter regen profile and rarely end up using brake pads (only when regen is not possible at very low speed). The Christmas Tree "Arch" indicator actually shows when you are exceeding regen and start applying brake pads. Bunch of other things, but I think highway is the biggest hit on any EV, so other things pale when comparing.

Before I consult with the electrician, what is a solid, inexpensive way of doing Level 2 charging at home? A portable apparatus would be quite handy, as I could charge at RV sites or similar places that have 240v plugs as well as at my home 240v source. An acquaintance described an adapter to his Volt's 120v charger that enables him to do Level 2 charging at his house. Is there similar equipment in the Leaf world?

Although my 2015 Leaf is an S, it has a QC port and therefore has the 6kw on board charger.

Thanks!

I'm sure there are posts about this here in MNL forum but I've heard good things about the ZenCar EVSE. It has adjustable current ranges which is nice but apparently doesn't have GFCI built into it. If you are willing to buy from China the price is quite attractive.

You are probably thinking of EVSE Upgrade, and I had mine modified by them. It works great and is a viable solution. You can often find them used or find someone who wants to trade for your OEM EVSE plus some cash. If you own your home, then putting in a 240 Volt outlet is worth looking into and not all that hard to do if you're somewhat handy and can follow some important safety precautions!

No, he meant the product he named. There is a whole topic on it here.

Where are you located in the south? There is a Nissan dealership near me outside of Atlanta that has 2 Leaf S cars for about 11.5 K. One is a 2015, the other is a 2014. If you are in the area you may want to check them out.

I have noticed from Level 2 commercial chargers in my area that I am getting at least 20 miles of range per hour of charging; the most recent one from today of slightly greater than one hour's charge from a commercial ChargePoint unit yielded 25 miles of charge and added 7.261 kWh to the battery. Will any home unit or portable unit such as an EVSE Upgrade to my included-with-purchase EVSE plugged into a 240 volt outlet provide as much charge/range to the car as these commercial chargers?

Charviolon said:

I have noticed from Level 2 commercial chargers in my area that I am getting at least 20 miles of range per hour of charging; the most recent one from today of slightly greater than one hour's charge from a commercial ChargePoint unit yielded 25 miles of charge and added 7.261 kWh to the battery. Will any home unit or portable unit such as an EVSE Upgrade to my included-with-purchase EVSE plugged into a 240 volt outlet provide as much charge/range to the car as these commercial chargers?

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Any home charging setup that will charge at 6.6kw per hour or 27.5 Amps, should do so.