Anyone here on a 2nd hand EV? What has the buying/ ownership experience been like so far?
Anything, really. But of particular interest is how the range holds up from the original stated, powertrain degradation if any, and other general stuff like fit and finish, electronic gremlins, weather effects etc. Thanks in advance!
I think much of the Leaf's lack of innovation was due to price, the goal was for it to be an everyday car in looks, operation and price, and that last one means it'd never be very profitable, at least not for a long time, so updates just weren't feasible. A good question is how does the Arriya compare to other brands EVs, since that's their newest most modern vehicle.
Cost isn't the only factor to adding a cooling loop, there's a good chance that they'd have to make room in the pack for the cooling system, which means either a bigger pack or a less powerful pack. As to cost, have to engineer the radiating, plumbing, plumbing mounting, computer controls for the cooling system, and of course the radiator needs good airflow which might require a redesign of the front end, and the charger port is there, so that might need moving which requires more engineering. It snowballs easily.
I actually agree, we leased our Leaf because we wanted an inexpensive electric car, and this was at the height of the Bolt battery mess, so that really only left the Leaf, but we weren't dumb enough to buy it, use it during it's best years, then give it back and let it be someone else's problem.
There are a lot of very ordinary EVs from Hyundai, Opel, VW, Peugeot etc that aren't screwed up this way. It's very much doable. Nissan just fails at making cars.
Do remember that those were designed from the start to have active cooling, the Leaf wasn't, in fact it's a great example of a lack of foresight between the lack of active cooling and the Chademo plug.
Rain / water is not a concern at all unless you're flooding the car. Even then it's not the battery that has problems. It's the low voltage electronics that are the same on any modern car.
Most likely much better for the HV and drive parts. And there's no air intake or exhaust for the engine either, so it's a lot less sensitive to water.
12v side is pretty much the same junk that's in all cars. Apart from model specific mistakes (e.g. Cybertruck), which sometimes happen, all remotely modern cars are waterproof in any sane use.
That there are occasionally car models which have design flaws leading to water ingress or condensation issues. Sometimes there's a fix, sometimes not.
Cybertruck dying in a car wash was one recent example.
Possible, unlikely though below the level that would make any ICE vehicle an insurance write off too, so no real reason to worry about that unless you plan on regularly driving through flooded roads