2019 40 kWh Battery Nissan Leaf Tekna

In march 2019 I took delivery of this 2019 40 kWh Battery Nissan Leaf Tekna in storm white.

This is my third Leaf now and I part exchanged my old 30 kWh Leaf Acenta for it through Barnstaple Nissan.

Out with the old…

Sadly with 13000 miles on the clock and just coming up to two years old Kermit the second had to go as it was coming to the end of a two year PCP deal. (You can read my review of the 30 kWh Leaf here)

Whilst doing the hand over the new car was put on charge at the dealership. This was the only gripe with the transaction as when I arrived for change over it had just 38% charge when I had a 90 mile return journey home!

In With The New…

The Deal

Some interesting facts about my first experience with a PCP deal. I paid £1000 deposit two years ago with monthly payments of £249. I expected the GMFV to be £13480 but I received £16000 in part exchange! It seemed almost too good to be true, second hand EV prices have been steadily rising as demand out strips supply.

This is also true for new vehicles. I reserved this new vehicle back in January 2019 at it had already been on back order for three months by the dealership. I had hunted around to try and find a Hyundai Kona or a E Niro but these had order books with 52 week waiting lists and I did not want to wait that long.

The new Kona and E Niro have much larger 64 kWh batteries with over 270 mile range and did appeal to me but the wait of 52 weeks was the killer as well as the Kona has to be ordered on line by click and collect.

That meant I called up the salesman who sold me Kermit the second and after some delay he found me this Storm White Tekna 40 kWh model.

I paid a deposit over the phone and waited for a call to arrange to handover and pick it up. I signed up for a 3 year PCP and had a number of extras added such as 2 years free servicing, 3 years gap insurance and other bits and bobs. Again just a £1000 deposit and 36 payments of £495 per month.

Now I had bought the previous Leaf intending to hand it back after 2 years as I knew a bigger battery version was coming. As the 40 kWh Leaf has been out since 2018 I knew a fair bit about its range and issues from the UK Leaf Owners Facebook Group.

The 100 mile range of my previous 30 kWh Leaf was all I needed except for two trips where I needed to stop and charge to get me home and that was in two years of motoring.

I anticipated the new 40 kWh would meet all my needs with its longer range. Most reports put it at 120 miles in winter rising to 150 in summer.

I have therefore decided to withdraw from the PCP and buy the car outright as I may well keep this car for much longer.

Below are two screen shots from the App. On the left you see the range showing for a full charge from my 30 kWh Leaf and on the right you see a full charge from my new 40 kWh Leaf. The difference of around 40 miles is quite a significant improvement and will meet all my motoring needs.

These figures are only estimates based on previous driving conditions and are not truly accurate for the next journey but are a good enough guide to plan a trip.

First Impressions

I have had the new car nearly a month now and it is slowly beginning to impress me.

It has E Pedal and Pro Pilot fitted but does not have park assist which I think is unnecessary in any car.

E Pedal

Pro Pilot

It feels a better made car with leather and suede trimmed seats and blue stitching.

It drives better than the previous model and has slightly better performance with its bigger motor.

Its major difference is in charging.

I find I only need to charge it once a week instead of the frequent top ups I gave my old Leaf. I actually find I no longer think about range being an issue any more.

The E Pedal has become addictive and I wonder if this will make its way into all cars in the future.

I was sad to see my old Leaf going as I felt like being a pioneer with this quirky shaped electric car. It got noticed wherever it went.

The new Leaf however looks like any other Nissan and does not shout out its electric qualities to the uninitiated, apart from its zero emission door badges you would not know it was electric.

Its early days yet but this feels like a car I might keep long term, it is that good.

Why don’t modern cars have spare wheels?

Continental ContiMobilityKit

Sadly I had to use the Continental ContiMobilityKit that came with my new Leaf this week which prompts me to ask Why don’t modern cars have spare wheels?.

I was driving with Karen and Archie in the car and had just joined the A38 at Ivybridge. I was lucky to have been travelling slowly as I joined the dual carriageway when there was a load thud and the dash lit up with a warning displays show showing the tyre pressure monitor and I saw the rear nearside tyre was losing air at a rapid rate as the car started to pull to the left.

Luckily again I was just a few dozen yards from the Cadliegh Lane exit and I was able to slow and pull off this busy dual carriageway really quickly.

I knew that I did not have a spare tyre as like my other Leaf it only comes with a puncture repair kit.

Having safely moved to the side of the road I ferreted in the boot and took out the repair kit. Following the instructions I connected the solution bottle to the pump and then to the tyre. I then plugged the pump into the socket in the car.

Needless to say I was not impressed when I saw the solution pour out from under the bottom of the tyre!

It just left a pool of white sticky solution on the road!

So there was only one solution, call Nissan Assistance.

I have to say they were very helpful and the recovery lorry was only a short distance away when they made the call for him to come and collect us.

Whilst waiting I was calling every tyre depot I could to try and locate a new replacement tyre.

The tyres fitted from new were Dunlop Enasave EC300 215/15/R17/.

Every tyre depot and specialist I rang could not find or obtain this tyre. It appears Dunlop no longer make it anymore.

I therefore decided to ring Vospers Nissan Plymouth. They had a suitable replacement tyre available and had experience of not being able to locate the Dunlop to match for other customers.

It seems strange that Nissan fits a tyre you cannot easily replace on a new vehicle.

After a short drive to Plympton and a 20 minute wait for a new tyre to be fitted and the bill paid I left £89 poorer following my experience.

It turned out a metal bolt or nail had made a serious hole in this new tyre hence the repair solution stood no chance of making a seal around it!!

What should have happened was this…….