Oh dear robert3356 - what a pity. It does rather sound as if the previous user had become stranded with a flat battery - and it was probably not all his or her fault either Because - it really is not good enough for both Nissan and Renault to offer 'running cost - price comparison calculators' that take the very gentle driving profile of the official European Driving Cycle as the basis (for the cost comparison with petrol cars for example). These gentle driving tests record around 130 miles range for both the Nissan Leaf and for the slightly smallerand lighter Renault ZOE. However, in the published literature, if used for more normal, brisk urban driving, a fully charged LEAF or ZOE will 'run out of charge' well before the 100 mile mark and potentially several miles before then if the fan and airconditioning are switched on! Furthermore, even using a roadside 7.2 KWH 'rapid charge' point for up to 3 hours, whilst away from home, will only give a maximum of 80% charge at the best, which will yield a reduction in range of at least 20% down to a realistic 'return to home' range of less than 80 miles. It is a law of physics that a rechargeable battery cannot be forced to accept a full charge in a hurry. I.E. it cannot be charged at a rate exceeding about one third of its its capacity per hour. The manufacturers state that in order to 'fully charge' the 24KWH Battery, it will need to be charged for 8 to 9 hours from a typical 3.6 KWh/16 amp/240 volts AC charge point. As they say on STAR TREK - you cannot change the laws of physics ! In reality, it takes about 13 to 15 hours to fully charge the battery at the 'one tenth of its capacity' per hour charge rate, so even the 16 amp home charge point for 8 to 9 hours is 'pushing' it a bit - and a more leisurely 13 to 15 hour charge at say just a steady 12 to 13 amps (ideally in a cool overnight driveway) would give a more complete charge of the 24KWH battery - as this rating is probably just a 'nominal' figure based on the recommended (and fairly practical) overnight charge of 7 hours at 'Economy 7 rates' plus an extra hour or two at the daytime Economy 7 tarriff.

Never the less 'robert 3356' do not let this experience put you off electric cars - they can be very useful for some purposes and need to be tried before dismissing them out of hand.

Edited by Firmbutfair on 18/09/2014 at 22:34