Reader question: What’s a good low cost EV for driving around town in regional Australia?

Hello, I am retired and living in the western NSW wanting to go electric for general driving around town.

My thinking is to buy a used Nissan Leaf as I am not contemplating using it for long trips on the highway.

Any thoughts alternatives?

Peter

Hi Peter – if looking at doing local commuting around town, either of the first two first generation EVs that came to Australia could suit you – the original Nissan Leaf and the Mitsubishi iMiEV.

If you were to stretch the budget a ‘bit’ – then an early Hyundai Ioniq (with the 28kWh battery) or a Renault Zoe could both come into play.

Sadly, none of these four were brought into Australia in numbers, so you may have a bit of difficulty in finding any of them. Plus second-hand EV prices (even more so than fossil fuelled ones) are stratospherically priced at present. 

By the way – there is a third category of second-hand EVs available – these being ‘grey’ import ones. (Generally, these are Nissan Leafs and e-NV200 vans as well as Mitsubishi  iMiEVs and MiEV vans imported mostly from Japan). These have both advantages and disadvantages – as I have detailed here. 

The first generation Leaf you mention I can attest to being a lovely car to drive (I had one for about 5 years) and they have held up well body and interior wise – although the same can’t be said of their battery.

All early Leafs will have seriously reduced ranges by now unless the battery has been replaced. Originally, they had a realistic range of 120 to 130km, but many have dropped to 30 to 40km (or even died) by now.

This was a result of the early batteries having a number of flaws that resulted in accelerated aging. If buying an older Leaf, you would need to check the battery health. (This can be done this with an app called LeafSpy coupled with an OBDII dongle).

Battery health can also be assessed from the dashboard: look for the small bars above the charge level – these indicate remaining battery capacity. (1 bars = a full capacity battery. First bar lost means a reduction of 15%, remainder equal 7% each).

Alternatively, you could look at the Mitsubishi iMiEV. They might look a bit odd from the outside – but inside they feel like a perfectly normal car.

In fact, having owned one as a second car for around 6 months now, I can attest to their being a delightfully easy and comfortable drive. Their batteries have also held up somewhat better – as an example, my very early (2010) one still has a reliable range of around 70km. (Down from the original 110-120km).

An added advantage of the iMiEV is there is an aftermarket battery upgrade option available that effectively doubles the original 110 – 120km range to around 220km. Whilst the same company in Queensland is working on battery replacement options for the Leaf, they are unlikely to be available till perhaps early next year.

Cost-wise, a used Leaf starts at around $15k now (up from 10 – 12k only a couple of years ago). A few bargains can be had of ones with seriously degraded batteries – but they are few and far between.

Nissan dealer battery replacements currently cost another $15k, so all up you could be looking at a car that’s cost you $30k car within a couple of years.

Second-hand iMiEVs are hard to find with the last one I saw being around $10k. That plus a later aftermarket battery replacement (at $12,750-ish) could therefore set you back all up perhaps $23k in the medium term.

If you are looking at $30k for a Leaf factoring in a battery replacement within the next couple of years (if not immediately) – then stretching to $40k may not seem quite so bad. (???!) For that you could pick up a 2018 Hyundai Ioniq with the 28kWh battery and a driving range of around 260km.  

Another option in the $35-$40k price range is a used Renault Zoe. These have a driving range of around 270-300km and can charge at up to 22kW AC if using three phase power, making them useful in larger city travels. 

For people in the same situation as Peter, but perhaps wanting to include a bit of out of town travel, it is worth noting here that all of the above mentioned models except the Zoe have DC fast-charging, so travelling beyond town limits is an option provided there is a DC charger or two near you.

(The NRMA in NSW is doing a good job of setting up a skeletal network of them throughout NSW, so for you Peter, one may very well either be nearby or about to come soon).

However, as the Zoe doesn’t have DC charging (in fact the Zoe was the only full battery EV to be sold here without it) – whilst you can use three phase outlets to travel somewhat greater distances, intercity commutes (like my recent Melbourne to Perth trip in a Kona EV) are out of the question for it even though the battery is a reasonably large one.

Summing up, if push came to shove and this was me looking for a vehicle to do local town commuting (and having owned both): my head would pick the iMiEV and my heart the Leaf.

If budget is the biggest issue – then the iMiEV wins hands-down as it is cheaper to buy to begin with and has a fantastic battery upgrade option to boot.