INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY

Questions & answers 30.07.2011 18:30:00

“The battery will need to be replaced if it is regularly fast charged”     
Although it’s fine to quick charge your Nissan LEAF once a day, more regularly than that isn't recommended.

If customers follow our maintenance and usage guidelines we expect that after five years the battery will retain around 80% of its original charging capacity and 70% after 10 years.
 
Nissan has conducted some field tests in the UK to see the effect of fast charging on battery degradation. In one instance a vehicle was driven intensively for 6 weeks, over 20,000 kms, whilst fast charged 7 times a day. It was found to not have any significant impact on the battery. In this instance the battery retained 100% of its original charge capacity after this test period.
(Source: NTCE - OPQD)

Whilst we do not recommend that customers put their own vehicle though this intensity of charging, it does illustrate the type of effect heavy fast charging can have in UK conditions.     

The LEAF comes with a 5-year electrical drive train warranty that covers the battery and other electric drive train components throughout this period. 

Find out more about quick charge

Charging infrastructure is inadequate, especially in Lincoln     
Lincoln is one of the weakest areas for public charging in the UK. However, there are many areas where charging infrastructure has developed far quicker.

London already has 250 charge points with another 1000 due to be installed by 2013. And the North East has over 100 existing points and with another 1,000+ to be available by 2013.
(Source: SMMT infrastructure questionnaire)

However, the most popular and convenient method of charging is overnight at home. This is when the vehicle is stationary for long periods and also when the cheaper overnight electricity tariffs are available.
 
The cost to charge is £2 over night, but during the day can be considerably more.      
A full charge in a LEAF will take you 109 miles (NEDC cycle) and cost you £1.25 using British Gas's overnight Standard (Economy 7) tariff. At peak rate (British Gas Standard Tariff) it will cost £3.37. (Source: British Gas)

Learn more with our Cost of Ownership Tool
The range meter in Nissan LEAF fluctuates too much.
The LEAF 'distance to empty' meter continually updates, based on driving style and charge level, to give the driver up to the minute information on the remaining range.

If a driver A were to take over from driver B and had a less aggressive and erratic driving style then they would find that the distance to empty would increase significantly after just a few minutes.

See what customers have said about the range    

Intrigued? Of course, the very best way to fully-understand the benefits of a Nissan LEAF is to try it out for yourself and book a test drive.

If you have further questions, click to chat or click to call (Monday – Saturday).

Or, of course, you can simply download the latest brochure to discover everything Nissan LEAF in more detail.

All press releases are available from the Nissan UK press website.