Some may remember me looking into buying a Nissan Leaf e-car some while ago and the conclusion that at £32,000 and a replacement batttery after about 4 to 5 years at £16,000, it simply wasn't worth trying, even without the other problems like short range etc. Even the government's £5,000 grant didn't improve that enough
Since then the failure to sell them has led to steep price drops. The list price of the most basic model is now £20,790 after the government grant discount, but no dealer sells at that still too high price. So I did a national price quote sweep for a new one with battery included at the on-the-road price,
The highest price quoted was £16,640, including my nearest dealer. The lowest was at Leicester and Liverpool, both at £11,640 or about a third of the original cost. I don't know what it was about that £640 on the end, it appeared on some intermediate prices too so is obviously precious to dealers. Perhaps it's what the salesman pockets?
However, at £11,640 it's very competitive with similar petrol and diesel hatchbacks, so well worth investigating.
But there's a problem for me. Like many in cities my garage is a little separate from my home with land not owned by me in between, so the only way i can get electricity to it for charging is for it to have its own supply and meter, connected to the National Grid main. As there's just 23 metres of grassland and one narrow footpath between the garage back wall and the nearest main supply cable I thought maybe £1000 would fix that.
So I contacted the website of the National Grid agent for my zone, UK Power networks, to learn that they have a minimum charge for this of £1548, plus a minimum of £55 per metre to dig the trench.So that total cost will be £2813 plus some more for the footpath crossing added cost. But that just gets the cable to the garage wall.
To get a meter I have to have an electricity supplier to provide it at an extra cost for the connection, meter and box on the back wall. But still there's still nothing into the garage, so I have to have them or an electrician to drill the garage back wall and connect a pyro line to a twin socket and light fitting inside, all at another cost. I could easily do that myself since I've done so as part of my work many years ago, but changes in the law have outlawed anyone other than a recoginsed electrician doing so now.
The conclusion is that I can see the supply costing between £3,500 and £4,000 when completed, so that added to the cost of the car returns it to being a somewhat unattractive option. The aggro doesn't help either, with up 8 weeks and sometimes much more to get the main supply laid, it makes it difficult to arrange the car purchase timing, since it would be no use without a supply. And that delay could mean the current special car discounts disappearing, adding several thousands more to the cost. Either that or paying for the car perhaps months before being able to use it.
So for the second time the I've abandoned the idea. Since they still aren't selling even at these extreme discounts, maybe I'll wait until they start giving them away.
.
Since then the failure to sell them has led to steep price drops. The list price of the most basic model is now £20,790 after the government grant discount, but no dealer sells at that still too high price. So I did a national price quote sweep for a new one with battery included at the on-the-road price,
The highest price quoted was £16,640, including my nearest dealer. The lowest was at Leicester and Liverpool, both at £11,640 or about a third of the original cost. I don't know what it was about that £640 on the end, it appeared on some intermediate prices too so is obviously precious to dealers. Perhaps it's what the salesman pockets?
However, at £11,640 it's very competitive with similar petrol and diesel hatchbacks, so well worth investigating.
But there's a problem for me. Like many in cities my garage is a little separate from my home with land not owned by me in between, so the only way i can get electricity to it for charging is for it to have its own supply and meter, connected to the National Grid main. As there's just 23 metres of grassland and one narrow footpath between the garage back wall and the nearest main supply cable I thought maybe £1000 would fix that.
So I contacted the website of the National Grid agent for my zone, UK Power networks, to learn that they have a minimum charge for this of £1548, plus a minimum of £55 per metre to dig the trench.So that total cost will be £2813 plus some more for the footpath crossing added cost. But that just gets the cable to the garage wall.
To get a meter I have to have an electricity supplier to provide it at an extra cost for the connection, meter and box on the back wall. But still there's still nothing into the garage, so I have to have them or an electrician to drill the garage back wall and connect a pyro line to a twin socket and light fitting inside, all at another cost. I could easily do that myself since I've done so as part of my work many years ago, but changes in the law have outlawed anyone other than a recoginsed electrician doing so now.
The conclusion is that I can see the supply costing between £3,500 and £4,000 when completed, so that added to the cost of the car returns it to being a somewhat unattractive option. The aggro doesn't help either, with up 8 weeks and sometimes much more to get the main supply laid, it makes it difficult to arrange the car purchase timing, since it would be no use without a supply. And that delay could mean the current special car discounts disappearing, adding several thousands more to the cost. Either that or paying for the car perhaps months before being able to use it.
So for the second time the I've abandoned the idea. Since they still aren't selling even at these extreme discounts, maybe I'll wait until they start giving them away.
.
