Category Archives: Leaf

The Milton Keynes Electric Vehicle Experience Centre (EVEC) has Launched

July 26, 2017Blog, BMW, BP Chargemaster, Charging, Electric Cars, EVEC, Golf GTE, i3 94Ah, Leaf, Milton Keynes, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Outlander PHEV, VolkswagenTrevor Larkum

Last weekend saw the long awaited opening of the Electric Vehicle Experience Centre (EVEC) in Milton Keynes. It officially opened to the public on Saturday 22nd July. It is funded through a government scheme awarded to the local council and is managed by Chargemaster, the company that has installed the majority of charge points around Milton Keynes.

The Preview Event at the Electric Vehicle Experience Centre (Image: T. Larkum)

The EVEC is essentially a car showroom for electric cars but is located in a shop space on Crown Walk in the main centre:mk shopping centre (it’s close to the middle and next to Boots). It doesn’t resemble an out-of-town dealership so much as the boutique style shops developed by Tesla, Apple and most mobile ‘phone companies.

EVEC Purpose

The aim of the Centre is to both showcase existing electric models and be an information point for EV ownership in general. Visitors will be able to talk with staff about all elements of owning and running an EV, with test drives available too. It has been established to increase the number of EVs sold in the area. Milton Keynes’ target is for 23% of all new cars registered locally to be electric by 2021.

We are grateful to Chargemaster for inviting us to the Preview Event on Friday Night (Jo’s thoughts: A Little Bit of Zen). Most of the other guests appeared to be existing EV owners. The showroom housed examples of the Nissan Leaf, BMW i3, Volkswagen Golf GTE and Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. There were drinks and snacks, and then introductory speeches by David Martell, Chief Executive of Chargemaster, and Ted Foster, the new EVEC Manager. After the talks we had an opportunity to talk to Ted and the other staff.

EVEC Test Drives

As well as providing help and guidance on electric cars and EV driving, the EVEC is also making cars available for test drives. These can be short accompanied drives, however there is also the option of week-long extended test drives. For these there will be a charge (we understand about £70) largely to cover the inevitable cost of insurance. That’s seems fair to us – £10 per day to drive a new car, particularly considering the fuel costs will be negligible.

The Preview Event at the Electric Vehicle Experience Centre (Image: J. Pegram-Mills)

The enthusiasm of the EVEC ‘gurus’ is clear and we certainly appreciate the enthusiasm and resources that have gone into building and staffing the first dedicated electric vehicle showroom in the UK (and probably in the world). We wish it every success and will be supporting it by passing local customers to it for test drives.

If you live near Milton Keynes and are interested in taking a test drive in any one of a large range of new electric cars (including the Renault ZOE, Nissan Leaf, BMW i3, Golf GTE, and others) just get in touch with us on 01908-904020, or by email at sales@ fuelincluded.com.

Nissan to turn over new Leaf on September 6

July 18, 2017Electric Cars, Leaf, News, Reviews and Comment, NissanJo

Pioneering electric car must make big advancements in range, tech to keep pace.

After seven model years and hundreds of thousands of units sold, it’s finally time for Nissan to reveal a new Leaf. The Japanese automaker has just confirmed that its second-generation all-electric hatchback will bow on September 6, although it remains cagey about further details.

The next Leaf is expected to draw its styling inspiration from Nissan’s well-received IDS Concept, an aggressive-looking five-door showcar from 2015 featuring next-generation electric propulsion as well as autonomous drive tech. The new hatchback — which will likely come to market as a 2018 model — is expected to substantially improve on the 107-mile range offered in today’s car.

It had better. Fresher competitors like the Chevrolet Bolt EV, Hyundai Ioniq and next-generation Volkswagen E-Golf have all eclipsed Nissan’s pioneering EV in both range and in-car electronics, and Tesla’s Model 3 looms large over the segment (even though it hasn’t been shown in production form yet). In other words, Nissan is going to have to seriously up the Leaf’s technology game in order to compete in this small but fiercely competitive segment.

The company may well be up to the challenge. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has made developing all-electric powertrains a cornerstone of the brand’s future product plans, and as the first modern mass-production electric automobile, the Leaf maintains a special place in the company’s heart.

To that end, the Yokohama-based automaker recently disclosed that the next Leaf will be available with a version of its ProPilot driver-assist technology. The hardware will manage acceleration, braking and steering within a single lane on the freeway to help increase safety and lower driver stress. Thus far, class rivals have yet to bring anything similar to market.

Source: Road Show

Nissan LEAF charges to 20,000 UK sales as all-electric favourite is named ‘Best Green Car’ in 2017 Driver Power New Car Survey

As Nissan LEAF charged past the milestone of 20,000 sales in the UK, owners of the best-selling electric vehicle have heaped praise on the model in the 2017 Driver Power survey.

Diane Ray collects the 20,000th LEAF from Hammond Nissan

The Nissan LEAF was awarded Best Green Car overall and also came top in the Best Engine and Gearbox and Best MPG and Running Costs awards categories.

Driver Power is the UK’s biggest and most in-depth car satisfaction survey, with seven surveys covering the different phases of vehicle ownership. There also nine Judging Category awards split into satisfaction categories.

Editor of Auto Express, Graham Hope, commented;

“The Nissan LEAF’s results in the 2017 survey indicates that the hard work that the Nissan team has put in developing the vehicle and educating the market about the benefits of Electric Vehicles (EV) has paid off.”

“Leading the way in EVs is important. People are becoming more conscious of green vehicles (Hybrids and Electric Vehicles) and this year we have seen a 375% increase in the number of green vehicle owners.”

The Driver Power results came as Nissan GB confirmed it had sold its 20,000th Nissan LEAF in the UK.

The buyers of the milestone model were Diane and Chris Ray of Hollesley in Suffolk, who took home a range-topping 30kWh LEAF Tekna from local dealer Hammond Nissan.

It is the couple’s second Nissan LEAF – replacing a two year-old 24kWh model – and it was the only car on their shopping list when the time came for a replacement.

Diane, who runs a holiday let business, said:

“I love the LEAF. It does everything I want from a car and is beautiful to drive.

“When the time came to replace mine I didn’t look at anything else. I only wanted another LEAF but this time with the bigger battery.”

She added:

“It was a real surprise to find out I was the 20,000th LEAF customer but it’s so encouraging to see more and more people switching to all-electric cars and exciting to know I’m a part of that story.”

Nissan Leaf Charges To 20,000 UK Sales

June 27, 2017Electric Cars, Leaf, Leaf 30kWh, News, Reviews and Comment, NissanJo

As Nissan LEAF charged past the milestone of 20,000 sales in the UK, owners of the best-selling electric vehicle have heaped praise on the model in the 2017 Driver Power survey.

The Nissan LEAF was awarded Best Green Car overall and also came top in the Best Engine and Gearbox and Best MPG and Running Costs awards categories.

Editor of Auto Express, Graham Hope, commented;

“The Nissan LEAF’s results in the 2017 survey indicates that the hard work that the Nissan team has put in developing the vehicle and educating the market about the benefits of Electric Vehicles (EV) has paid off.”

“Leading the way in EVs is important. People are becoming more conscious of green vehicles (Hybrids and Electric Vehicles) and this year we have seen a 375% increase in the number of green vehicle owners.”

The Driver Power results came as Nissan GB confirmed it had sold its 20,000^th Nissan LEAF in the UK.

The buyers of the milestone model were Diane and Chris Ray of Hollesley in Suffolk, who took home a range-topping 30kWh LEAF Tekna from local dealer Hammond Nissan.

It is the couple’s second Nissan LEAF – replacing a two year-old 24kWh model – and it was the only car on their shopping list when the time came for a replacement.

Diane, who runs a holiday let business, said:

“I love the LEAF. It does everything I want from a car and is beautiful to drive.

“When the time came to replace mine I didn’t look at anything else. I only wanted another LEAF but this time with the bigger battery.”

She added:

“It was a real surprise to find out I was the 20,000th LEAF customer but it’s so encouraging to see more and more people switching to all-electric cars and exciting to know I’m a part of that story.”

Heathrow chooses Nissan Leaf to inspire EV usage

Heathrow airport has added 17 Nissan Leafs to its fleet to inspire a new culture of electric car usage.

The airport has allocated 12 vehicles to airside teams such as security and baggage while another five are to be used as pool cars.

Heathrow is committed to making the cars and small vans within its fleet electric or plug-in hybrids by the end of 2020.

Sales director at Nissan Motor (GB), Darren Payne, said:

“I’m sure this initiative will inspire other businesses to follow Heathrow’s lead by using Nissan’s electric vehicles to both reduce their emissions and cut their running costs.”

It is hoped that the visibility of the airside vehicles will encourage third parties operating at the airport to follow suit.

Head of operational strategy at Heathrow, Peter Leeming, said:

“We trialled the Nissan Leaf and found it was the perfect fit for many of our teams and the types of journeys they make. The trial went seamlessly, and within months we placed our order and put the Leaf into full time service.”

A video has been released detailing how the airport intends to implement the conversion and the trial process.

Source: FleetNews

Cheapest Electric Car UK

June 9, 2017Blog, Electric Cars, Leaf, Leaf 30kWh, Nissan, Renault, ZOE, ZOE Z.E. 40Trevor Larkum

Cheapest Electric Car in the UK

A lot of people are searching for ‘cheapest electric car UK’ at the moment. We can help with that, though it can be difficult to say what’s the cheapest electric car in the UK because it depends on what you mean by ‘cheapest’. Let’s dig a bit deeper.

The most popular electric cars, are as follows:

Cheapest Electric Car UK (Image: Fuel Included) — Cheapest Electric Car in the UK (Image: Fuel Included)

Cheapest Electric Car UK: Monthly Cost

Of these the cheapest on a monthly basis are consistently the Nissan Leaf and the Renault ZOE. Typical starting prices are as follows (June 2017):

Nissan Leaf: £999 deposit plus £227 per month for 3 years. That’s a monthly equivalent cost of £255 (if we consider the deposit). That includes 10,000 miles of free charging.
Renault ZOE: £999 deposit plus £281 per month for 3 years. That’s a monthly equivalent cost of £309. Again it includes 10,000 miles of free charging.

Those are great prices considering they include fuel (charging) plus with an electric car road tax is free, congestion charging is free, parking is often free, and servicing is cheap.

Clearly, though, this provides an answer to the original question. The Cheapest Electric Car UK (on monthly cost) is the Nissan Leaf.

Cheapest Electric Car UK: Cost Per Mile of Range

However, that’s not the end of the story. Electric cars are better than conventional cars in virtually every respect (performance, noise, smoothness, pollution, etc.). They do, however, typically have shorter ranges. Therefore it is usual to pay a premium for longer range electric cars (the Tesla being a well-known example, though it’s out of the reach of most people).

Let’s consider the question of range then. We’ll use the official NEDC (New European Driving Cycle) ranges, though we’d be the first to say these should be taken with a pinch of salt. In the real world you’ll only get about 75% of the NEDC range. However, they do give us a consistent metric for comparison purposes.

The NEDC ranges are as follows:

Nissan Leaf (30kWh battery): 155 miles
Renault ZOE (44kWh battery): 250 miles

If we take these into account we can work out the monthly cost per mile of range:

Nissan Leaf (30kWh battery): 155 miles for £255 = £1.65 per month per mile of range
Renault ZOE (44kWh battery): 250 miles for £309 = £1.24 per month mile of range

And so we have a new answer to the original question. The Cheapest Electric Car UK (cost per mile of range) is the Renault ZOE. And it’s that unprecedented range in a small, affordable and stylish electric car that explains why it’s so popular. See our Renault ZOE prices here.

To see how much an electric car could save you, use our total cost of ownership calculator.

To find out which electric car would suit you best, just ask.

Hail the Electric: Amsterdam’s EV Taxis

Amsterdam is the electric vehicle taxi capital of the world, as more taxi companies operate Nissan LEAF and e-NV200 vehicles.

Cheap Car Lease

May 23, 2017Blog, BMW, Buying/Leasing, Electric Cars, FAQ, Hyundai, i3, i3 94Ah, IONIQ Electric, Leaf, Leaf 30kWh, Leasing a new car, Nissan, Renault, Sales, ZOE Z.E. 40Trevor Larkum

Cheap Car Lease

Many people are in the market for a cheap car lease, and that’s something we can help with. We source our cars from around the UK and have negotiated some great deals, so talk to us.

We provide all of our cars on a monthly contract so it’s much like a mobile phone tariff. These contracts take two different forms and it’s worth outlining them:

Personal Contract Hire (PCH) or Business Contract Hire (BCH). These are straight leases, also known as contract hire. Essentially they are a form of long term rental, and are becoming increasingly popular.
Personal Contract Purchase (PCP): this is like a lease. However it has the benefit that at the end of the lease you can choose to keep the car. This is done by making a large one-off or ‘balloon’ payment. A PCP is now the most popular way for people to buy their new car.

Cheap Car Lease – Electric Car

We specialise in selling electric cars. With an electric car you get a new car at a low monthly cost, and it’s also especially cheap to run. The technology of electric cars is developing very fast with new models coming out all the time with longer range and greater performance. Our advice, therefore, is always to expect that you will give the car back at the end of the contract. Then you can upgrade to a new and better model.

Most popular electric cars on cheap car leases (Image: Fuel Included)

Essentially you don’t want to be in a situation like someone paying off an iPhone 4 contract when everyone else is upgrading to an iPhone 8. That’s why for our purposes you can consider leases and PCP to be equivalent. They are just finance contracts where you get a new car with an initial upfront payment plus a regular monthly payment. The key thing is what the car is costing you per month.

The beauty of electric cars, of course, is that you can save a lot of money each month on fuel and road tax. This can virtually pay for the car, i.e. you can get a new car for free. It’s because of the low ‘fuel’ costs (i.e. charging with electricity) that many of our cars are offered with free charging. Specifically we provide the first 10,000 miles of charging at home for free. This, along with email and telephone support, is the Fuel Included service.

Cheap Car Lease – Saving Money

If you’d like us to work out how much money you can save with a cheap car lease on an electric car, try out the Fuel Included ‘total cost of ownership’ service.

If you just want to see how much an electric car would cost check out our most popular deals below. We provide both fully electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV):

Watch This Nissan Leaf Rally Car Display its Off-Road Chops

The madmen of Scotland-based Plug In Adventures, along with RML Group, have created a monster. It’s a formidable off-roader called the Nissan Leaf AT-EV (all-terrain electric vehicle) and it will be the first EV to do battle in the Mongol Rally this summer.

Plug In Adventures is a group of EV enthusiasts who like to do weird stuff with electric cars. They’ve teamed up with RML Group, a high-performance automotive engineering firm, to modify this Leaf into something Nissan probably never intended. Modifications for rally prep include Maxsport RB3 rally tires, braided brake lines, skid plates of sorts, a roof rack with a light bar, and mudflaps despite having fake mud graphics behind the wheels.

Nissan UK has made a demo video showing off what the Leaf AT-EV can do. It should be able to silence any naysayers of the little EV’s potential off-road when properly modified. Granted, it’s not quite rock crawling in Moab, but it’s still pretty impressive. See for yourself what this beast can do.

Electric Car Day – Focus on Renault ZOE

May 22, 2017Blog, Electric Cars, Leaf, Leaf 30kWh, Nissan, Renault, ZOE, ZOE Z.E. 40Trevor Larkum

We were very pleased to be able to show off a Renault ZOE at our test drive event recently. It’s one of the new longer range ZOEs with the larger 41kWh battery (where the previous version was just 22kWh) so it has nearly twice the range.

Renault ZOE at our test drive event in Milton Keynes (Image: J. Tisdall)

It was a very popular vehicle, with all available slots for test drives taken. The general opinion was very favourable – this is a lovely car. Plus having the longest range of any electric car on the market (bar the Tesla) certainly works in its favour.

Prices are here: Best Renault ZOE Z.E.40 Deals

Below is a brief video walkaround comparing the Nissan Leaf and the Renault ZOE.

Our thanks go to Paul Smith of Brayley Renault for bringing the ZOE to central Milton Keynes and for taking our customers out for test drives.