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There’s no gap at all. The 2013 Leaf in Holland has been discounted 3000 euros, making the cheapest version 32.590 euro. The cheapest Zoe is 20.690 euro, zo still 11900 euro of difference. Of course the main reason is that you lease the battery with the Zoe, which is also the main benefit IMHO since you don’t have to worry about the write off.
The new Leaf has slightly better range, slightly more room as well. But it still is nearly 12000 euros more expensive, the Zoe is by far the cheapest EV car to buy.
I assume when I charge the ZOE in a public charging station that I have to use my own cable, or are there cables built in on the charging stations?
Are all these charging stations compatible? The ZOE comes with a map where it shows the nearest charging location, anyone knows if this map is public so we can plan longer international trips?
If I have to use my own cable when charging away from home, would it be possible for someone to steal this cable? Is there a protection like you need to use the keycard to ‘unlock’ the cable or something? These cables seem very expensive and would be a sought after item for thieves.
I think we don’t yet know the answer to most of those questions, sorry.
I’ve been chatting with Renault on FB the past week and they are saying:
1. Only the Type2 to Type 2 cable is included for sure
2. The EVSE cable might be included, it’s not decided yet
3. The wallbox is not included either (even though Renault Sweden told me it would be…)
About theft; this seems to be a problem in many countries where people steal a 600Euro cable for the copper value (a few cents worth). Some person got his socket jammed when the thieves tried to unplug it… To combat this problem some ideas are to make a loop on the cable and thread it through the front wheel and use a padlock to lock the loop to the cable. But if they just want it for the copper, they are more likely to cut it and then this wouldn’t help.
To update this thread, the previously mentioned French forum posters have found a German EVSE cable manufacturer. It’s a wholesale company, the cable would be a bit less than 1000 euros if you would include tax:
The posters there are already in contact with them, we might try the same? The cable is 4 meter spiral cable.
@perlyngemark, in a few (French) reviews of the Zoe I read that the cable is actually electronically locked to the car. Only the owner can unlock it. This is something the Leaf apparently doesn’t have (perhaps the new version, but I haven’t read about such an update). I did see a trick for the EVSE cable in the Leaf, where some owners put the charger under the main hood and route it in a way that the charge hatch stays closed.
@nosig; you mean that this cable will actually work on the ZOE? So the ZOE doesn’t detect an EVSE and refuse to charge? This is what I have been hoping all the time, but have not received an answer to.
I already bought an EVSE here in China two weeks ago, it’s the same thickness of the cable and also 16A, but can do three phases maximum. I assume the ZOE is smart enough to detect and take it down to 1-phase if that is the maximum allowed from EVSE.
The manufacturer here have tested my cable on 3-phase 16A and it passed all the tests, but that is of course no guarantee for the ZOE, since I assume each car is slightly different.
I hope my dealer in Denmark are willing to let me test the cable (before I buy…), if not I will buy from Germany from this source.
Thanks for the great news!
Ps. About theft I bought a DVR for the front of the car that will record up to 8hrs or so, and I will make a loop on the cable, take the loop through the wheel and then secure it with a padlock, hopefully that will deter thieves…
I don’t know it if will work on the Zoe, but you can follow (after translation) the discussion on the French Zoe forum linked earlier in this thread.
The electronic locking should already prevent theft, a looping dashcam will indeed help.
Why not go for the new generation Leaf (coming out in June)? Same range as the Zoe, EVSE included, no battery lease constructions to worry about.
Electronic locks are the best of course, where I assume to open the cable you press the key on the door, or on the remote or your iPhone?
I will also write a sticker on the cable warning people of ‘severe electric shock’ if they remove the cable or cut it, hopefully the copper thieves are literate…
I cannot see any price indication of the Leaf 2013 neither in Sweden nor in Denmark, so I doubt such a near release.
This page shows how many charging pods there will be by 2020, you can be very lucky to live in a developed country like the Netherlands!
My Elife Now reports on an Italian ‘granny cable’ prototype testing successfully:
AnonymousEncouraging!
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