Frequently Asked Questions

By far the easiest question to answer! Apart from some planet-saving good vibes, electric vehicles are:

• More fun to drive

• Heaps less maintenance

• Cheaper to run and maintain

• Not stinky and really quiet to drive

• Safe from international oil wars and Christmas time price gouging

Heaps

Electric cars can save the average Australian driver over $1,500 per year on fuel costs. As a rough rule of thumb electricity will drive your car at around 1/3 of the cost of petrol.  You can crunch the numbers on the total cost of ownership on the EV council's website.

 Each car comes with a declared “range” prepared by Government testing agencies.  Common rating systems vary greatly from "very optimistic" to close to real-world.  In order from wildly in-accurate to believable are: NEDC, WLTP, EPA. However they are mostly prepared on a test track and not in the real world.

There is a further “real world range” managed by the EV Database.  The EV Database tests vehicles in a number of different scenarios and generate a closer “real world” range than the WLTP figures.

Goodcar.co uses the WLTP, EPA  and the EV database range. 

For our second hand cars we also "de-rate" the range to account for the fact that the cars are older and the range will have reduced slightly.  

Even still, range can only be an estimate.  The range of your vehicle depends on a number of factors. Including original battery size, age of vehicle, charging history, terrain, driving speed and temperature. 

Imagine a trip that goes from Sea Level at Bondi in Sydney to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, driving in a 40kWh Nissan Leaf.  The drive is just 107km, but involves an elevation rise of over 1000m.  The drive up will use around 64% of the range, whereas the drive down will use around 40%.  Driving in town will give longer range and high speeds lower range

If you have any questions, talk to us to see if it's the best solution for you.

Maybe!

It Depends

Charging an electric car is a lot like charging your phone.  When you arrive home, you can simply plug it in, and in the morning it's ready.  

The other main type of charging you are likely to engage with is "DC fast charging".  These are the "service stations" of EV's and are mainly used on longer journeys.

Each model has a different sized battery, so to answer the question we need to know "how far can I go from an hour plugged in".

Home

8 Amp Portable charger supplied with all our vehicles - 10 km /hour, No installation cost. 

15 Amp Portable charger - 20km /hour, 15Amp PowerPoint required,  (approx $500)

Please note: 40kw leafs and lower battery sizes are limited to 3.3kw onboard AC charging. The 62kw can go up to 6.6kw. 

Hardwired 7 kW EV Charger - 40km /hour, installation required, (approx $2000)

Hardwired 25 kW DC Charger -  140km /hour, installation required, (approx $15,000)

Public

Public AC charging (7-22kW) = 40km /hour 

Public DC fast/rapid charging (50kW) =  around 300km/ hour

Yes

The battery in electric vehicles gradually degrades over time. A study of all EV's (such as a new Tesla, Hyundai or Kia) places the average degredation of new vehicles at 2% per annum.  Nissan leafs batteries tend to fade on average around 3% per year.   A 5 year old vehicle has on average over 85% of its original battery capacity. When we buy a car we check the battery condition and only purchase the best batteries.  When we sell a vehicle we tell you the condition of the battery and its level of degradation. This is transferred into the estimated range of the vehicle at that point in time.

Use theMobility Kit

Oddly, many new vehicles don't come with a spare tyre. Rather they come with a repair foam.  This is a similar principle to many "on the go" bike repair kits.  The foam will temporarily seal most minor punctures and allow you to drive a short distance to get the tyre repaired.  It is recommended that the tyre is repaired by a qualified technician before driving distances.

For the Nissan Leaf use the "Conti Mobility Kit". This is a link to a short video on the kit.

In other jurisdictions companies are manufacturing aftermarket replacement batteries. Manufacturers in New Zealand and the Netherlands have announced affordable battery replacements. We are looking forward to testing and evaluating these products and helping to bring replacement batteries to our customers in the future.

Our cars imported from Japan used to speak Japanese.  But we have been teaching them English.  However each model and trim level has its own unique quirks.  We automatically change the dashboard to English language so the basic driving commands are simple and obvious.  However for the car head unit, each model and trim level has its own unique setup.

AZEO Model Nissan Leaf - Trim X and G

Nissan Leafs with Trim X and G have had the full language conversion from Japanese to English converting the headset with English audio and Australian radio frequencies.  With models after 2015, we also ensure that the head units have a great interface by upgrading them with Apple Car Play and Android Auto.  Where we have added Apple Car Play and Android Auto you will lose access to the cars CD player and charge timer.

With models before 2015 Apple Car Play and Android Auto are not installed.  The plus is  you have access to the cars CD player and charge timer.

AZEO Model Nissan Leaf - Trim S

The more affordable Trim S vehicles have the driver's display (behind the steering wheel) converted to English, but the stereo-unit is in Japanese. We cannot adjust these but the head-units are replaceable by local car audio shop at customer's expense if they desire. 

ZE1 Model Nissan Leaf - Trim X and G

Nissan Leafs with Trim X and G have had the full language conversion from Japanese to English. There are many models of head unit and some of them may not be able to be converted to English maps and radio. These are however, superior head units and will come with Apple Car Play and Android Auto.  Where we have added Apple Car Play and Android Auto you will lose access to the cars CD Player.

ZE1 Model Nissan leaf - Trim S

The more affordable Trim S vehicles have the driver's display (behind the steering wheel) converted to English, but the stereo-unit is in Japanese and there is no Carplay/Android Auto. The head-units are replaceable by local car audio shop at customer's expense if they desire. 

Why doesn't the CD player work?

If the CD player doesn't work in your car, it is likely because the firmware for the language conversion is based on the version from European Leafs which do not have CD players. As such we have lost the functionality of the CD player. The upside is a system that is fully converted to English with the added functionality of Australian maps, Carplay for Apple and Android Auto android smartphones (30kWh, 40Kwh and 62kWh). If you want to play music, the car has other options such as Bluetooth connectivity, USB port and an aux input and where applicable.

Yes, but it depends on your electricity

The manufacture of the battery in the electric car uses alot of resources. However over time it repays itself because they use less energy (more efficient) and can be powered off 100% renewable energy. This study from Europe shows that a normal petrol car produces 258 grams co2 per km, whereas a Nissan Leaf powered of renewables (Norway Hydro) produces 73 grams per km. In the German grid with a large burden of coal power plants (a bit like NSW or Victoria) the Leaf produces 150 grams per km.

Simply put, if you must drive, drive electric. If you drive electric charge from renewables.

Yes

Lots in fact. The “PlugShare” map below shows quite a few. they have a great app for the phone too!

Maybe not? 

We encourage you to research what other transport options exist that can meet your needs.  Your local bicycle network can help you onto an e-bike and we would encourage you to explore car share schemes.  If you do get an EV - please share it and help our community decarbonise.

Unfortunately not.

We wish this was sorted out, but still, the world cant agree on a common plug!

Nissan Leafs come with 2 charge ports on the car. A Type 1 (slow - AC) and CHAdeMO (fast - DC).

The Type 1 (J1772) is used for charging at home and we supply a charger (like a big phone charger) that will charge around 12km per hour at 2kw and will plug straight into a 10A wall socket. 

Public charging stations are varied and many are Type 2 only.

To use these, you will either need a Type 1 to Type 2 cable from your car to the station that is BYO cable. 

If the charging station has its own cables, you will need a Type 1 to Type 2 adaptor cable.

Most public  fast (DC) charging stations have both a CHAdeMO  and CSS plug.  The CHAdeMO cable will plug directly into your leaf.

To find out more info on charging stations - look at the website PlugShare and A Better Route Planner. 

Good Question...

First up, you are buying a good battery to begin with ;)  We only supply high quality new vehicles and with our second hand imports we only purchase vehicles with a good quality battery for its age.

Second, there are things you can do to keep the battery healthy in the long term.  Things that preserve the battery over the long term are

• avoiding completely flattening the battery
• try and keep the car charged between 20% and 80% (totally fine to go to 100% before a big trip or when using daily)
• charge using the home slow charger in preference to a fast charger
• don't drive like a hoon, extremely fast discharges can help degrade the battery
• don't leave the car constantly connected to the charger.

You can take a deep dive into things to preserve your battery here

Um... no.

Its best practice to use a dedicated charger or powerpoint-EVSE for your EV.  We recommend that at your home you get the circuit checked by an electrician to make sure its in tip-top condition.

We do not recommend using an extension cord or powerboard to charge your car.  They are not designed for extended high current applications.  

However, when your out or in an emergency situation and don't have the luxury of choice you may need to use an extension.  If you must use an extension lead, we suggest a few things to help

a) Most of the chargers we supply come with the ability to reduce the charge current.  You can do this by selecting the "A" button, or on older models shaking the unit.  Select 6 Amps charge current.

b) use as short an extension as possible and make sure its rated for 15 Amps

c) don't have the cable rolled up, instead have the cable extended flat

d) that you monitor the cable for overheating.  Do this by touching the cable at the powerpoint, and at the join to the cable.  If its too hot to touch, disconnect the charger

And Powerboards - don't do it.

With regards to two-way charging Vehicle to Home (V2H) and Vehicle to Grid (V2G) all our Nissan Leaf imports come enabled with this capability. Currently, we are awaiting suppliers of the charger technology to see which offers the best value and of course we will need the energy regulations to open some rules for Grid connectivity. This space has enormous potential to help with the energy crisis and we eagerly await its development.  

The average Australian commute is around 40km per day. If you only charge at home, and have a standard commute, even an older leaf with 110km range would easily cover the daily trips. 

Longer trips rely on using chargers.  Its a different mindset to a petrol car, but try and imagine bouncing between chargers to your destination.  To have a look at your travel plans check out A Better Route Planner to map a drive (including when and where to recharge.

Destination chargers (i.e. a charger at work or the holiday shack), and fast chargers throughout the country open a whole range of travel options. 

If you have any questions, talk to us to see if it's the best solution for you.