Hi Ian, just wanted to say thank you for you honest account and continuing updates. your early videos led us to buy our Leaf about 3 years ago, we haven't looked back since. like yourself it was purely about savings and convenience. I am very much looking forward to your next video on the repair. I must admit, I am surprised it's failed so badly.
Cheers! The sudden nature of the failure was a bit of a shock to us as well (she was 10 miles into a 40 miles journey when I got the call that something is wrong as miles are dropping every 250 meters…she was panicking as not sure she would make it home, so for her it made her a little scared of the whole situation. All sorted now though after a cash injection!)
@@IanSampsonRLO It's never nice being the victim of a breakdown in any vehicle. Thankfully these battery failures on Nissan EVs seem to be very rare. It might be worth adding up all the mileage and combined time of ownership of your EVs in comparison to the one real issue you've had.
I had the same reason to get an EV and solar panels. When the panels were installed the neighbor immediately said 'wow you really love the planet', my reaction: 'No, I love my wallet'. The planet is just a bonus.
Having owned an EV for 9 years (partly because of you Ian) it has informed me quite a lot on how media/ society works. The 'truth' about EVs is somewhere in between the positive and negative articles. It's made me a lot more cynical and critical about MSM and how people form knowledge (including myself!); I feel like I have a better understanding about the soup of society we live in, an unexpected EV bonus! You are refreshingly boring in your honest reporting!
Have enjoyed your unbiased views for many years, Ian, helping me take the plunge into a Nissan Leaf 7 years ago here in New Zealand. Now a fully electric family with a Nissan Leaf and Ioniq 5. Will continue to enjoy your vids!
We never had any illusions about 'saving the planet' when we bought our Zoe almost 4 years ago. The possibility of cutting running costs were the prime reason, but the quietness, convenience and lack of noxious exhaust fumes were also factors. As it happens, even with our low annual mileage, the ~£3,000 premium we paid for having an EV with similar performance to a petrol car has been more than recouped: So we've saved at least £2,500 in petrol costs, 4 years in Road Tax, the new vehicle tax of around £3,000 over the years, and had reduced servicing costs. The car is also still worth over 40% of its purchase price, which compares favourably with a petrol car's depreciation. For those people who claim that their fossil car has covered 400,000 miles, you've probably spent £80,000 on fuel alone. An EV would cost about £8,000 in electricity over 400,000 miles, if using Night Rate tariffs at today's prices (Our electricity costs about 9p per kWh and we can drive for at least 4.5 miles per kWh in Winter, and about 6.5 miles in Summer.). If using Solar PV electricity, then the costs fall further. I could buy a couple more good EV's for that fuel cost saving. Furthermore, I've never driven a fuel-burning car which has achieved 400,000 miles, and don't know anyone who has managed that. I've had 5 petrol cars which were on their last legs at 65,000 to 120,000 miles, despite careful use and proper maintenance. The killer was the engine for 4 of those, and the other was devoured by 'rust maggots'.
Great video, been following you since the beginning (fellow forester) and in the last 9 years we've had 2 Leafs, 2 MG ZS, 2 Zoes and an Ioniq and the only one that required repair was our 1st zoe ( inverter under Warranty), We currently have a 50kw Zoe and a 73kw ZS and like you we have solar and battery storage and the fuel savings vertually pay for the cars, like you we leased first off but now have the confidence to own.
I’ve always found your video content, to be honest and down to earth, in real world day-to-day travel. I’m glad to hear your problem has been resolved.
Hi Ian, really happy to hear you got the Env200 fixed. It's funny, you never here the diesel lovers mentioning particulate filter failure/replacement, EGR valves, high pressure fuel pumps, fuel injectors, all these can be costly and can fail on most modern diesel vehicles at some point. You have been unlucky to have your current issues but you resolved it in the end. 👍
Or the flywheel/clutch (BMW - £2500) or £8 pipe that ended up costing me £1100 as the EGR flaps were degraded and a new inlet manifold was needed, and the rear exhaust box that fell off. Lol.
My Mercedes E Class diesel is 15 years old, has had no faults from new, runs perfectly at 51 mpg on a run and the range it was bought with at 650 miles. I also own a 20 years old Mazda MX5 works perfectly and in A1 condition. It has had a new EGR valve fitted, which cost me about £50, to fit myself after i diagnosed the fault with my ob2 port fault scanner. My EV has lost 33% range and battery capacity at 7 3/4 years old and 39k miles with degradation. I bet Ian paid more than £50 for his ENV 200 battery fix, which i am curious to copy if i can, with my Leaf. Enough said !
Sold my hybrid 4 years ago, and went full EV. still some growing pain. around the house, up to 200 km, it's all fine. really depends on the weather, but fine for round trips with dodgy infrastructure. longer journeys make me search for a hybrid. my ev regarded as one of the most efficient, in winter or summer, is not as cost effective as a similar sized car, say corolla, and time use, a 2000 km trip takes 50% longer. done a few of them, don't think I'll do another, I don't know how Bjorn is doing them so fast, but in real life, for me at least it doesn't;t work. for day to day use, it's no battle. whilst in the middle of the summer you, or maybe just I, could not think about staying in the car with the engine running while running errands. in the ev, I just stay in or leave the ac running while I'm out. even when inefficient you still get confort that might be unthinkable in ICE. for me the only minus is long journeys, in any weather, with a packed car, and a schedule. I've been wanting to buy a ENV200 for years, the first generation-ness of the car is keeping me away, and maybe even some of your stories, with each part not being shared with the regular car, higher cost, even seen as an exotic, parts wise. but I'll reconsider. anyway, cheers! great videos, make more of them .
Thanks for all your posts about your EV journey. Documenting things which we hope don't happen such as running out of battery power and now failure of a few (or more than a few) cells. I for one was grateful for your running out of battery log as I had one of those moments on my original 24kW Leaf after a failed charger left me with just enough to get to the next charger. At least I knew what to expect and we made it! Keep up the vlogging.
Thanks for the update. Curious to hear what the solution is you found. We've had our issues with a Zoë we had as I wrote in a previous comment (not battery problem..), now drive a Mokka-e as we love the ride of an EV (and complete have forgotten about fuel prices..😊). But your diary has been a constant friend for me in my EV journey learning how this all works.
Hi Ian, I've watched a few of your videos over the last few weeks and just wanted to say thank you for taking the time and making the effort to share your journey. I learnt things and questioned things I may never have considered thanks to you. Appreciated.
Hi Ian. Firstly, I'd like to say I've always enjoyed your no frills, open and honest dairy of your EV experiences over the years. I saw the original video on the eNV200 problem but didn't get chance to comment at the time. The 'save the planet' comments are always bewildering, as the planet doesn't need saving, the planet will be fine. Whether we get the chance to live a reasonable existence is looking a bit more wobbly. And to that end, one of the huge benefits of driving your family around in a zero emissions vehicle, is that they are not being subjected to as many toxic fumes as they would be, if you were driving around in a petrol or diesel powered car. Having taken an interest in air pollution and studying it for a while, I now have an air quality monitor with me on my travels. Like you I also swapped to an EV to save money 5 years ago. My monthly fuel bill was £300-400 and Evezy (because ONTO) was offering Zoes for £289 a month including insurance etc so a massive saving. Plus EVs are so much nicer to drive. Something that the EV haters don't seem to take into account is that those of us that have made the switch are helping to keep the cost of petrol and diesel down. When we didn't have an alternative, OPEC would put prices up knowing we didn't have any option other than to pay the higher costs. Now they have to avoid pricing themselves too much higher than the competition. Anyhow, I look forward to hearing how you got the eNV back on the road. Best wishes Doug
I should also add, that this time last year, my friends 12 year old daughter was diagnosed with throat cancer. Her surgeon said that it was caused by the air pollution in her city. She has since had an operation, (it was too dangerous to remove all of the cancerous cells) and chemotherapy. We are not hoping it won't come back and they are moving to an area outside of the city. Air pollution from traffic causes millions of cases of cancer and heart disease. Even for those that don't believe or care about climate change, isn't it worth having fresh air to breath?! And part from the loss of life and suffering, air pollution costs the NHS £billions each year.
I pray she has a full recovery, what a sad and difficult time for the family 😢 Agree with your comments above, seems most do it for financial reasons looking at the later comments (contrary to MSM/popular opinion)
Thanks for the update. Bought my 64 plate leaf on the back of those vids and still going strong after many years. Like yourself bought to save money for family life. Cheers :)
For me I watch to see how a typical ev user gets on over time. I have a diesel van for work and a diesel car but when we need to change the car and van I will be looking at evs so great to see long term typical use. Thanks for your vids.
Hi Ian So glad you’ve got it sorted I do think Nissan should be made to do more think they are letting us all down. Been watching your channel from the beginning, didn’t you get a really good deal when you bought the env 200 ?seem to remember I couldn’t find a deal anywhere as good as the one you got on it. To many click seeking rating chasing numpties on here and their followers nice to see a common sense down to earth video for a change looking forward to your next one.
Well done finding a cost effective solution. Always a PiTA having to rejig finances around when something goes belly up. I’d have sworn it would be too prohibitive cost to keep the ENV200, and I’m in the pro EV camp. Just better, generally less hassle. Who’d have known that ICE alternatives were so expensive! Perhaps it’s the post covid inflation, coupled with heavier depreciation on small battery vans/ENV200s. Can’t wait to see how you did it. Your diary/vlog helped me researching my 40kWh Leaf 3 years ago. I travel all over the UK in it mostly for work. No problems. Averaging about 18k per year at the mo, getting even easier now that Gridserve are updating their sites to have multiple Chademo.
Hi Ian you are correct it's about money saving not saving the planet but still loving my Honda E and Model Y. The Solar panels and battery system so I have saved €10 k in fuel ⛽️ alone since 2021 Keep up the good work
Hi Ian. Looking forward to your update on how, where, and at what cost you got your battery pack replaced. There still seems to be a dearth of specialists (up and down the country) who can deliver after-market repairs etc. Glad you got sorted 👍
It's a pity that Nissan didn't cover your battery, especially given that those first generation air cooled batteries were known to be less than Trouble free. My 2011 Leaf battery was replaced in warranty at nearly 100,000 miles here in the US, but I suppose the UK warranty is different. As I mentioned on the last video it was following your diary back in the day that helped me learn to get on with that high mileage used Leaf almost 8 years ago.. After 12 years on the road and nearing 150,000 miles it is still in use every day. I look forward to seeing the solution you found for your van.
Cheers Bill. The Env200 actually does have cooling using the HVAC system (it differs from the leaf in this regard). Also UK climate is pretty much the best for longterm EV ownership…it rarely gets hot ha ha
@@IanSampsonRLO Which puzzles me even more that Nissan wouldn't replace it for you. You document your use and it clearly wasn't abusive of the battery.
@@Miata822 yeah I think because of their stance on the 24kwh. The 40kwh and 60kwh (60kwh was never put in the env200) have more grace on their warranty by a considerable margin. (UK anyhow)
Hi Ian, thanks for your video and a great outcome, I have followed you since you first were on UA-cam and I bought a new BMW I3 range extender, I went back to diesel after 17months for financial reasons and nothing to do with the car and for other reasons I have never bought an EV since but watch and listen and am an avid reader of all opinions and although not a owner fully support those that are, I am looking forward to part 2 of the battery saga.
The FUDster's have nothing better to do than try to bring everyone down to their level of misinformation, I started my EV journey off watching you all those years ago & still have one to this day, A MG ZS EV which has been faultless over the last four years so thank you.
I bought our 2011 LEAF for cost savings as well. I remember the salesman at the dealer laughing at me for even suggesting an EV could save enough money to pay for the extra cost of the EV. I kept detailed records. I was wrong but in a good way, I saved even more money than I initially calculated My grand daughter now has the old LEAF to get to high school and back, she doesn't have to pay for gas (petrol), she gets her fuel at home or at our house when she visits. Its almost 13 years old and is still going strong. All in all it was (and is) a great car.
As others have said have followed your vids (on and off) for many years and along with other "pro EV" vids on YT helped me to make change to EV ('22 Niro EV ~love it!) as part of our attempt to stabilise outgoings and stop burning stuff (Solar plus battery for🏠) Glad the ENV lives to travel many more miles and look forward to vid showing how you fixed it 👍
I agree with Ian on the reasons why I bought my EV that have very little to do with saving the environment directly. However, companies like Tesla ride on an environmental agenda, at least publicly, so it's not just the MM that propagate the notion of EVs being better for the environment. EVs are getting better with every iteration and I believe the best is yet to come. Burning stuff is not good for our health in general, so we need to seek and implement alternatives for future generations.
Same here: I bought my EV primarily for cost - even now it's saving nearly 12p a mile over a 48MPG petrol vehicle. Depreciation? At worst maybe £2000 worst compared to the equivalent petrol. The petrol equivalent will not do 48 MPG, not even close. One thing I've learned is that people calling you an idiot just means you're doing something right, you'll make the right decision I'm sure!
Ian. Your early Zoe videos made me want an ev. Now I have had 5 no issues. There are people that are so anti ev and you can’t convince them otherwise. They say that Tesla is failing while Tesla has the biggest selling car in the world. It’s crazy. I ignore them and happily drive our two EVs with super low cost per mile
Thanks for the update. I went from the Zoe back to petrol because I wanted a convertible. I'll get another EV once day but will go with something with a longer range next time just for ease of use on longer journeys. I'm please you have a resolution - looking forward to the video. I'm yet to see someone who posts a video about a petrol or diesel car breaking down getting hundreds of replies extrapolating that experience to all ICE cars being rubbish.
I bought my first EV for the same reason as you after watching your videos, I was fed up of doing repairs to my old diesel vehicles , found I could own a year old vehicle for less half the price of monthly diesel costs in my old car. I then bought a BMW i3 , now on a Tesla model 3 . I never bought it to be green, just so I could afford a newer car. My favourite out of the 3 is the BMW i3 !
Hi Ian IMHO the problem seems to be that the EV haters don't actually hate EV's I think that they hate the Government appearing to tell them that they must have this form of propulsion for their cars even though this will probably never effect them and it's more a question for their grandchildren. A bit like you I bought my first EV a Zoe ZE40 back in the day NOT to save the planet but to save my bank balance. It also helped that I liked the design and tech in the car. That was back in 2017. I then went on to upgrade to the Zoe ZE50 in 2020 as I found that the range of the ZE40, in winter, wasn't enough to get me from my home to my daughter's and back on one charge. In 2023 I changed again to a Tesla Model 3 AWD only because I could now afford a second hand one and I have always liked the car and envied the people that could use the Supercharger network. In summary did I ever think about saving the planet NAH. Keep doing your updates they are and have been good.
Yeah, 5 years and 60,000 miles on the 24kwh packs (here in the UK anyhow) "24 KWH LEAF : If the battery capacity level gauge of your 24 kWh Nissan Electric Vehicle falls below 9 bars (out of 12 bars) within 60,000 miles or the first 5 years of the vehicle’s life (whichever comes first), Nissan will repair or replace the damaged battery components free of charge to bring the capacity up to 9 bars." Source, Nissan UK: www.nissan.co.uk/content/dam/Nissan/gb/vehicles/leaf/product_code/1_carryover/owner_benefits/EV%20Customer%20Promise%20T%26C%27s%2005.02.18.pdf
Most of the Leafs that you had direct knowledge of were 24 kwhr and ownership time wasn't a great deal of time to see degradation. The trouble I think, particularly with 30 kwhr like mine and above, is the same sized battery casing as a 24 kwhr but greater heat generation in the same sized container as a 24 kwhr, leading to greater heat build up and greater inability to dissapate said heat, particularly when rapid charging causing greater degradation. My degradation was also not apparent until well over 5 years, when battery bars started disappearing, then it accelerated. People put great emphasis on the 'saving the panet' angle, because the government is pushing exactly that agenda and net zero. like you all those years ago, I bought my leaf thinking it would save me money and the fact that I am a gadget type person. The leaf has saved me no money in the long run really. The trouble is a battery degrades just sat there with time, as well as use cycles. You could argue that an ice vehicle only degrades with use, as my 15 year old Mercedes E Class and nearly 20 year old Mazda MX5, would tend to indicate. The good thing about your story is that there might be hope for my Leaf to repair it and I am looking forward to seeing the solution you came up with, to get your EV back working correctly again.
1:07 ah, I guessed the anti-EV brigade might be behind the rise in views 😤 As a pro-EV person (and I do think they are better for the environment than petrol/diesel if not a magic wand) I found your video a bit worrying in case my Zoe fails, but the truth is the truth, we shouldn’t hide it. I hope the extra views give you some new subscribers and views on older vids 😊
I realise the eNV200 suits your particular needs but I just don't think it's a great EV by modern standards. Range, charging, sub standard battery management with nothing but air cooling and not a particularly good warranty. Nissan has launched the Townstar and there's a couple of 7 seat offerings from Stellantis - Peugot e-Rifter (other brands Vauxhall/Citreon e-Berlingo) and the bigger Citroen eSpace Tourer and while they're much better EVs I don't know if they fit your budget. Otherwise prices just skyrocket with a bunch of Mercs, the Kia EV9, the ID Buzz or a second hand Model X. Glad you got it fixed by Cleverly.
Hi Ian, I commented on that video 🙂. But the issue of EV's, this us and them emotional comments thing has only come about because of the Government mandate on electric cars. It's become political, including the governments position on this net zero thing. People by choice do not believe or accept what is being said to them by a government. Do you trust the government spin? I am sure you don't. The mass majority (94%) drive ICE cars and a small percentage have opted to drive EV's. In my book that is fine. I just view what I drive from a financial and practical point as I pointed out in your last video.
I take what they say (sadly) with a pinch of salt, worse maybe is that I no longer even listen at all anymore. Due to their ongoing behaviour in regards to honesty and lack of moral standards
The video got more views because whether you intended it to be or not, it was useful for the anti EV crowd - all social media is tuned for conflict, so youtube brought the views to you - like you say, 90% of the views were from people who don't know any of your history of EVs and didn't realize this was a one off, but I have to say Ian, the tone and presentation, again, not your intention, but it did come across as EV negative, thus some of the defensiveness. It's pretty rough out there right now for EV advocates, especially with the Mac Master / Taycan and Geoff Buys Cars nonsense going on, so when 'one of our own' (been watching your stuff for ages, and learnt an EUC partly because of your Speedy Feet work too) suddenly comes out with something that could be construed as 'EVs are crap' defences likely went up. Looking forward to the fix details, but the question is, will it reach your original 'new' 24k views from the "it's broken and a write off" video, or will they ignore it because it doesn't fit the narrative? Welcome to the new politics of "batteries in things" - it would appear we might have to pick a side and stick to it! I'm as frustrated with this as anyone.
Strange old world! Regardless; the diaries will still keep coming, as honest as they always have been. In the first video it was a desperate few days as the EV failed, and the support to my surprise is very limited out there (for a reasonable price and within reach- UK anyhow). My experience is when they do fail you have to scratch around trying to work out how you can piece together a solution, incredibly limited options, I think the message is, we as a country, if EV’s are to actually work mainstream need to have local garages that can collect/receive a failed units and fix..just like ICE. Thankfully for what one might call the ‘ev community’ I have a vested interest in seeing it resolved and also mildly technically minded; for those that aren’t they would in most cases just have to give up. Actually, the reality is, if it were not for the youtube video we would not have that env200 anymore…thankfully someone helped us out, and due to that it made it JUST financially viable to keep it on the road. Being a ‘normal’ owner the story would have been unheard and because of that almost certainly resulted in it being sold off as spares or repairs to someone else. Hopefully this entry into the diary will point others as and when they occur in a direction that may keep another ev on the road rather than being taken off.
Congratulations on getting it fixed. The internet is very polarising which is such a shame as encourages people to be unkind and thoughtless. On the flip side, the good folks helped you fix it so I guess you have to take the rough with the smooth.👍
@@IanSampsonRLO totally fair points - I don't disagree one bit, glad the reach of the video got results. I have a Model 3, the battery is made of 4 strips and each one seems completely unrepairable, I watched the Munro 'teardown' of the pack, using dry ice in a sandblaster, and each strip is glued together with some pink thermal foam stuff - no chance of getting a cell out for sure. After the warranty goes, I'm not sure what the options will be once the degradation becomes too much - it's only 5.5% at 77,000km so far - but, yeah, local garage offering EV services in the future? I do hope so. If you can, please go into detail about why the bad module / cell wrecked the rest of the pack - really interested in that. Glad you were able to avoid scrapping it.
Thanks for the update - only saw the previous video after it was linked on another channel - will look at some older ones now 😊. Great to hear you found a solution without scrapping the car - will look forward to the fix diary video- hopefully another good few years of use for your family
Being "green" is just a positive byproduct of EV ownership. I bought mine for economical reasons through my business, a love for modern tech, smooth ride and delivery of power, instant torque and the ability to embarrass almost any ICE car from the lights. Get an EV if it suits you, if it doesn't....don't. Just make sure you do your homework first
EVs are superior to ICE and are here to stay, of that there is no doubt to any well informed person. However I do question your choice of successive Nissan vehicles :)
Hi Ian, just wanted to say thank you for you honest account and continuing updates. your early videos led us to buy our Leaf about 3 years ago, we haven't looked back since. like yourself it was purely about savings and convenience. I am very much looking forward to your next video on the repair. I must admit, I am surprised it's failed so badly.
Cheers! The sudden nature of the failure was a bit of a shock to us as well (she was 10 miles into a 40 miles journey when I got the call that something is wrong as miles are dropping every 250 meters…she was panicking as not sure she would make it home, so for her it made her a little scared of the whole situation. All sorted now though after a cash injection!)
@@IanSampsonRLO It's never nice being the victim of a breakdown in any vehicle. Thankfully these battery failures on Nissan EVs seem to be very rare.
It might be worth adding up all the mileage and combined time of ownership of your EVs in comparison to the one real issue you've had.
I had the same reason to get an EV and solar panels. When the panels were installed the neighbor immediately said 'wow you really love the planet', my reaction: 'No, I love my wallet'. The planet is just a bonus.
Doesn't matter EV or ICE there will always be failures of one kind of another. Always enjoyed your updates.
Enjoyed your journey. Thank you for your time and effort.
Unfortunately social media brings out the worst in some people.
Having owned an EV for 9 years (partly because of you Ian) it has informed me quite a lot on how media/ society works. The 'truth' about EVs is somewhere in between the positive and negative articles. It's made me a lot more cynical and critical about MSM and how people form knowledge (including myself!); I feel like I have a better understanding about the soup of society we live in, an unexpected EV bonus! You are refreshingly boring in your honest reporting!
ha ha brilliant. I need a T-Shirt with 'Refreshingly Boring' ha ha
Have enjoyed your unbiased views for many years, Ian, helping me take the plunge into a Nissan Leaf 7 years ago here in New Zealand. Now a fully electric family with a Nissan Leaf and Ioniq 5. Will continue to enjoy your vids!
Thanks for the update Ian. Glad your eNV lives on. Looking forward to the next video showing how you did it!
I’m glad to hear that you were able to repair the van. As a follower who has watched the entire journey I appreciate your content very much.
Awesome! Thank you!
We never had any illusions about 'saving the planet' when we bought our Zoe almost 4 years ago. The possibility of cutting running costs were the prime reason, but the quietness, convenience and lack of noxious exhaust fumes were also factors. As it happens, even with our low annual mileage, the ~£3,000 premium we paid for having an EV with similar performance to a petrol car has been more than recouped: So we've saved at least £2,500 in petrol costs, 4 years in Road Tax, the new vehicle tax of around £3,000 over the years, and had reduced servicing costs. The car is also still worth over 40% of its purchase price, which compares favourably with a petrol car's depreciation.
For those people who claim that their fossil car has covered 400,000 miles, you've probably spent £80,000 on fuel alone. An EV would cost about £8,000 in electricity over 400,000 miles, if using Night Rate tariffs at today's prices (Our electricity costs about 9p per kWh and we can drive for at least 4.5 miles per kWh in Winter, and about 6.5 miles in Summer.). If using Solar PV electricity, then the costs fall further. I could buy a couple more good EV's for that fuel cost saving. Furthermore, I've never driven a fuel-burning car which has achieved 400,000 miles, and don't know anyone who has managed that. I've had 5 petrol cars which were on their last legs at 65,000 to 120,000 miles, despite careful use and proper maintenance. The killer was the engine for 4 of those, and the other was devoured by 'rust maggots'.
Great video, been following you since the beginning (fellow forester) and in the last 9 years we've had 2 Leafs, 2 MG ZS, 2 Zoes and an Ioniq and the only one that required repair was our 1st zoe ( inverter under Warranty), We currently have a 50kw Zoe and a 73kw ZS and like you we have solar and battery storage and the fuel savings vertually pay for the cars, like you we leased first off but now have the confidence to own.
Great to hear you have the van sorted.
Thanks 👍
I’ve always found your video content, to be honest and down to earth, in real world day-to-day travel. I’m glad to hear your problem has been resolved.
Cheers
Hi Ian, really happy to hear you got the Env200 fixed. It's funny, you never here the diesel lovers mentioning particulate filter failure/replacement, EGR valves, high pressure fuel pumps, fuel injectors, all these can be costly and can fail on most modern diesel vehicles at some point. You have been unlucky to have your current issues but you resolved it in the end. 👍
Very true.
Or the flywheel/clutch (BMW - £2500) or £8 pipe that ended up costing me £1100 as the EGR flaps were degraded and a new inlet manifold was needed, and the rear exhaust box that fell off.
Lol.
My Mercedes E Class diesel is 15 years old, has had no faults from new, runs perfectly at 51 mpg on a run and the range it was bought with at 650 miles.
I also own a 20 years old Mazda MX5 works perfectly and in A1 condition. It has had a new EGR valve fitted, which cost me about £50, to fit myself after i diagnosed the fault with my ob2 port fault scanner. My EV has lost 33% range and battery capacity at 7 3/4 years old and 39k miles with degradation. I bet Ian paid more than £50 for his ENV 200 battery fix, which i am curious to copy if i can, with my Leaf. Enough said !
Sold my hybrid 4 years ago, and went full EV. still some growing pain. around the house, up to 200 km, it's all fine. really depends on the weather, but fine for round trips with dodgy infrastructure. longer journeys make me search for a hybrid. my ev regarded as one of the most efficient, in winter or summer, is not as cost effective as a similar sized car, say corolla, and time use, a 2000 km trip takes 50% longer. done a few of them, don't think I'll do another, I don't know how Bjorn is doing them so fast, but in real life, for me at least it doesn't;t work. for day to day use, it's no battle. whilst in the middle of the summer you, or maybe just I, could not think about staying in the car with the engine running while running errands. in the ev, I just stay in or leave the ac running while I'm out. even when inefficient you still get confort that might be unthinkable in ICE. for me the only minus is long journeys, in any weather, with a packed car, and a schedule. I've been wanting to buy a ENV200 for years, the first generation-ness of the car is keeping me away, and maybe even some of your stories, with each part not being shared with the regular car, higher cost, even seen as an exotic, parts wise. but I'll reconsider. anyway, cheers! great videos, make more of them .
Thanks for all your posts about your EV journey. Documenting things which we hope don't happen such as running out of battery power and now failure of a few (or more than a few) cells. I for one was grateful for your running out of battery log as I had one of those moments on my original 24kW Leaf after a failed charger left me with just enough to get to the next charger. At least I knew what to expect and we made it! Keep up the vlogging.
Cheers!
Thanks for the update. Curious to hear what the solution is you found. We've had our issues with a Zoë we had as I wrote in a previous comment (not battery problem..), now drive a Mokka-e as we love the ride of an EV (and complete have forgotten about fuel prices..😊).
But your diary has been a constant friend for me in my EV journey learning how this all works.
Hi Ian, I've watched a few of your videos over the last few weeks and just wanted to say thank you for taking the time and making the effort to share your journey. I learnt things and questioned things I may never have considered thanks to you. Appreciated.
Thanks for watching, glad its helped
Hi Ian. Firstly, I'd like to say I've always enjoyed your no frills, open and honest dairy of your EV experiences over the years. I saw the original video on the eNV200 problem but didn't get chance to comment at the time. The 'save the planet' comments are always bewildering, as the planet doesn't need saving, the planet will be fine. Whether we get the chance to live a reasonable existence is looking a bit more wobbly. And to that end, one of the huge benefits of driving your family around in a zero emissions vehicle, is that they are not being subjected to as many toxic fumes as they would be, if you were driving around in a petrol or diesel powered car. Having taken an interest in air pollution and studying it for a while, I now have an air quality monitor with me on my travels. Like you I also swapped to an EV to save money 5 years ago. My monthly fuel bill was £300-400 and Evezy (because ONTO) was offering Zoes for £289 a month including insurance etc so a massive saving. Plus EVs are so much nicer to drive. Something that the EV haters don't seem to take into account is that those of us that have made the switch are helping to keep the cost of petrol and diesel down. When we didn't have an alternative, OPEC would put prices up knowing we didn't have any option other than to pay the higher costs. Now they have to avoid pricing themselves too much higher than the competition. Anyhow, I look forward to hearing how you got the eNV back on the road. Best wishes Doug
I should also add, that this time last year, my friends 12 year old daughter was diagnosed with throat cancer. Her surgeon said that it was caused by the air pollution in her city. She has since had an operation, (it was too dangerous to remove all of the cancerous cells) and chemotherapy. We are not hoping it won't come back and they are moving to an area outside of the city. Air pollution from traffic causes millions of cases of cancer and heart disease. Even for those that don't believe or care about climate change, isn't it worth having fresh air to breath?! And part from the loss of life and suffering, air pollution costs the NHS £billions each year.
I pray she has a full recovery, what a sad and difficult time for the family 😢
Agree with your comments above, seems most do it for financial reasons looking at the later comments (contrary to MSM/popular opinion)
Thanks for the update. Bought my 64 plate leaf on the back of those vids and still going strong after many years. Like yourself bought to save money for family life. Cheers :)
Nice one.
So pleased the e-NV200 has been fixed. Our e-NV200 7-seater is still fantastic. Did a 1500 mile road trip in it recently.
Awesome!
For me I watch to see how a typical ev user gets on over time. I have a diesel van for work and a diesel car but when we need to change the car and van I will be looking at evs so great to see long term typical use. Thanks for your vids.
Hi Ian
So glad you’ve got it sorted I do think Nissan should be made to do more think they are letting us all down. Been watching your channel from the beginning, didn’t you get a really good deal when you bought the env 200 ?seem to remember I couldn’t find a deal anywhere as good as the one you got on it.
To many click seeking rating chasing numpties on here and their followers nice to see a common sense down to earth video for a change looking forward to your next one.
Well done finding a cost effective solution. Always a PiTA having to rejig finances around when something goes belly up. I’d have sworn it would be too prohibitive cost to keep the ENV200, and I’m in the pro EV camp. Just better, generally less hassle.
Who’d have known that ICE alternatives were so expensive!
Perhaps it’s the post covid inflation, coupled with heavier depreciation on small battery vans/ENV200s.
Can’t wait to see how you did it.
Your diary/vlog helped me researching my 40kWh Leaf 3 years ago. I travel all over the UK in it mostly for work. No problems.
Averaging about 18k per year at the mo, getting even easier now that Gridserve are updating their sites to have multiple Chademo.
I’m glad you’ve got it sorted. Can’t wait for the next video.
Ta!
Hi Ian you are correct it's about money saving not saving the planet but still loving my Honda E and Model Y. The Solar panels and battery system so I have saved €10 k in fuel ⛽️ alone since 2021
Keep up the good work
Brilliant update. I have been wondering how you were getting on with your decisions.
Im glad you got it sorted.
Look forward to hearing how you solved the issue. My leaf is down 3 bars after 84k of admittedly hard use. An economical solution would be good 👍
Does it owe you a lot? (buy it new?)
@@IanSampsonRLO bought it pre reg for 16k. So with factoring in fuel savings, Probably not much! I haven't really kept detailed figures on it.
12:17 yay - glad you got it fixed 😊
Hi Ian. Looking forward to your update on how, where, and at what cost you got your battery pack replaced. There still seems to be a dearth of specialists (up and down the country) who can deliver after-market repairs etc. Glad you got sorted 👍
Glad you got it fixed.I was very surprised at some of the negative comments you got.I have followed your Zoe ZE40 videos.
Thanks Ian for the update. Look forward to your next video.
Ta
It's a pity that Nissan didn't cover your battery, especially given that those first generation air cooled batteries were known to be less than Trouble free. My 2011 Leaf battery was replaced in warranty at nearly 100,000 miles here in the US, but I suppose the UK warranty is different. As I mentioned on the last video it was following your diary back in the day that helped me learn to get on with that high mileage used Leaf almost 8 years ago.. After 12 years on the road and nearing 150,000 miles it is still in use every day. I look forward to seeing the solution you found for your van.
Cheers Bill. The Env200 actually does have cooling using the HVAC system (it differs from the leaf in this regard). Also UK climate is pretty much the best for longterm EV ownership…it rarely gets hot ha ha
@@IanSampsonRLO Which puzzles me even more that Nissan wouldn't replace it for you. You document your use and it clearly wasn't abusive of the battery.
@@Miata822 yeah I think because of their stance on the 24kwh. The 40kwh and 60kwh (60kwh was never put in the env200) have more grace on their warranty by a considerable margin. (UK anyhow)
Hi Ian, thanks for your video and a great outcome, I have followed you since you first were on UA-cam and I bought a new BMW I3 range extender, I went back to diesel after 17months for financial reasons and nothing to do with the car and for other reasons I have never bought an EV since but watch and listen and am an avid reader of all opinions and although not a owner fully support those that are, I am looking forward to part 2 of the battery saga.
Thanks!
glad you got your EVN200 fixed.
Thanks Ian for this and all your vlogs
The FUDster's have nothing better to do than try to bring everyone down to their level of misinformation, I started my EV journey off watching you all those years ago & still have one to this day, A MG ZS EV which has been faultless over the last four years so thank you.
Looking forward to the next video 👍
Great update. I got my leaf in 2015 after seeing your videos. I now have an i3 and have never had any issues. Glad you got it sorted.
I look forward to your next video with details of the fix.
I bought our 2011 LEAF for cost savings as well. I remember the salesman at the dealer laughing at me for even suggesting an EV could save enough money to pay for the extra cost of the EV. I kept detailed records. I was wrong but in a good way, I saved even more money than I initially calculated My grand daughter now has the old LEAF to get to high school and back, she doesn't have to pay for gas (petrol), she gets her fuel at home or at our house when she visits. Its almost 13 years old and is still going strong. All in all it was (and is) a great car.
Brilliant account of ownership!
@2:28 - Did you mean £300 per month or per year of diesel bills? Couldn't quite gather. I imagine per month.
Yes per month (this after edit correction is in the description)
As others have said have followed your vids (on and off) for many years and along with other "pro EV" vids on YT helped me to make change to EV ('22 Niro EV ~love it!) as part of our attempt to stabilise outgoings and stop burning stuff (Solar plus battery for🏠) Glad the ENV lives to travel many more miles and look forward to vid showing how you fixed it 👍
Cheers!
I agree with Ian on the reasons why I bought my EV that have very little to do with saving the environment directly. However, companies like Tesla ride on an environmental agenda, at least publicly, so it's not just the MM that propagate the notion of EVs being better for the environment. EVs are getting better with every iteration and I believe the best is yet to come. Burning stuff is not good for our health in general, so we need to seek and implement alternatives for future generations.
That is a notable point re Tesla (and I would guess others in the industry as well).
Completely off EV or ENV topic can i say I miss seeing your dogs, they are gorgeous..
ha ha, will have to get them to re-appear!
Same here: I bought my EV primarily for cost - even now it's saving nearly 12p a mile over a 48MPG petrol vehicle.
Depreciation? At worst maybe £2000 worst compared to the equivalent petrol. The petrol equivalent will not do 48 MPG, not even close.
One thing I've learned is that people calling you an idiot just means you're doing something right, you'll make the right decision I'm sure!
Ian. Your early Zoe videos made me want an ev. Now I have had 5 no issues. There are people that are so anti ev and you can’t convince them otherwise. They say that Tesla is failing while Tesla has the biggest selling car in the world. It’s crazy. I ignore them and happily drive our two EVs with super low cost per mile
Thanks for the update. I went from the Zoe back to petrol because I wanted a convertible. I'll get another EV once day but will go with something with a longer range next time just for ease of use on longer journeys. I'm please you have a resolution - looking forward to the video. I'm yet to see someone who posts a video about a petrol or diesel car breaking down getting hundreds of replies extrapolating that experience to all ICE cars being rubbish.
Ian please do a solar battery update and how they have also handled this recent cold snap
I bought my first EV for the same reason as you after watching your videos, I was fed up of doing repairs to my old diesel vehicles , found I could own a year old vehicle for less half the price of monthly diesel costs in my old car. I then bought a BMW i3 , now on a Tesla model 3 . I never bought it to be green, just so I could afford a newer car. My favourite out of the 3 is the BMW i3 !
Hi Ian IMHO the problem seems to be that the EV haters don't actually hate EV's I think that they hate the Government appearing to tell them that they must have this form of propulsion for their cars even though this will probably never effect them and it's more a question for their grandchildren. A bit like you I bought my first EV a Zoe ZE40 back in the day NOT to save the planet but to save my bank balance. It also helped that I liked the design and tech in the car. That was back in 2017. I then went on to upgrade to the Zoe ZE50 in 2020 as I found that the range of the ZE40, in winter, wasn't enough to get me from my home to my daughter's and back on one charge. In 2023 I changed again to a Tesla Model 3 AWD only because I could now afford a second hand one and I have always liked the car and envied the people that could use the Supercharger network. In summary did I ever think about saving the planet NAH. Keep doing your updates they are and have been good.
I miss all your videos. I’ve been watching since 3 months after you started the leaf videos. I hope you and your family is doing well.
Cheers Ray
Great to see you got the vehicle fixed. I am sure your wife is happy.
She is! Different vehicle now!
Glad Amy's eNv is fixed.
Glad you have it sorted. Intrigued as to what you went for stock 24kwh, stock 40kwh or did you go for a 55kwh full of id3 cells from Dima?
If it is the ENV200 you had from new , I remember you getting that, was it really outside the battery/motor warranty period..? 😮
Yeah, 5 years and 60,000 miles on the 24kwh packs (here in the UK anyhow)
"24 KWH LEAF : If the battery capacity level gauge of your 24 kWh Nissan Electric
Vehicle falls below 9 bars (out of 12 bars) within 60,000 miles or the first 5 years of
the vehicle’s life (whichever comes first), Nissan will repair or replace the damaged
battery components free of charge to bring the capacity up to 9 bars."
Source, Nissan UK:
www.nissan.co.uk/content/dam/Nissan/gb/vehicles/leaf/product_code/1_carryover/owner_benefits/EV%20Customer%20Promise%20T%26C%27s%2005.02.18.pdf
Most of the Leafs that you had direct knowledge of were 24 kwhr and ownership time wasn't a great deal of time to see degradation. The trouble I think, particularly with 30 kwhr like mine and above, is the same sized battery casing as a 24 kwhr but greater heat generation in the same sized container as a 24 kwhr, leading to greater heat build up and greater inability to dissapate said heat, particularly when rapid charging causing greater degradation. My degradation was also not apparent until well over 5 years, when battery bars started disappearing, then it accelerated. People put great emphasis on the 'saving the panet' angle, because the government is pushing exactly that agenda and net zero. like you all those years ago, I bought my leaf thinking it would save me money and the fact that I am a gadget type person. The leaf has saved me no money in the long run really.
The trouble is a battery degrades just sat there with time, as well as use cycles. You could argue that an ice vehicle only degrades with use, as my 15 year old Mercedes E Class and nearly 20 year old Mazda MX5, would tend to indicate. The good thing about your story is that there might be hope for my Leaf to repair it and I am looking forward to seeing the solution you came up with, to get your EV back working correctly again.
1:07 ah, I guessed the anti-EV brigade might be behind the rise in views 😤
As a pro-EV person (and I do think they are better for the environment than petrol/diesel if not a magic wand) I found your video a bit worrying in case my Zoe fails, but the truth is the truth, we shouldn’t hide it. I hope the extra views give you some new subscribers and views on older vids 😊
7 people in one of those tiny vans? My word.
#Tardis
Glad its sorted out. The ev/anti ev discussion has become very Tribal.
Yeah, its an odd one!
I realise the eNV200 suits your particular needs but I just don't think it's a great EV by modern standards. Range, charging, sub standard battery management with nothing but air cooling and not a particularly good warranty. Nissan has launched the Townstar and there's a couple of 7 seat offerings from Stellantis - Peugot e-Rifter (other brands Vauxhall/Citreon e-Berlingo) and the bigger Citroen eSpace Tourer and while they're much better EVs I don't know if they fit your budget. Otherwise prices just skyrocket with a bunch of Mercs, the Kia EV9, the ID Buzz or a second hand Model X. Glad you got it fixed by Cleverly.
Hi Ian, I commented on that video 🙂. But the issue of EV's, this us and them emotional comments thing has only come about because of the Government mandate on electric cars. It's become political, including the governments position on this net zero thing. People by choice do not believe or accept what is being said to them by a government. Do you trust the government spin? I am sure you don't. The mass majority (94%) drive ICE cars and a small percentage have opted to drive EV's. In my book that is fine. I just view what I drive from a financial and practical point as I pointed out in your last video.
I take what they say (sadly) with a pinch of salt, worse maybe is that I no longer even listen at all anymore. Due to their ongoing behaviour in regards to honesty and lack of moral standards
@@IanSampsonRLO Totally agree.
😄👍🌹
Just imagine if this was your first experience of an EV? I know any car can fail however for a lot of reasons
The video got more views because whether you intended it to be or not, it was useful for the anti EV crowd - all social media is tuned for conflict, so youtube brought the views to you - like you say, 90% of the views were from people who don't know any of your history of EVs and didn't realize this was a one off, but I have to say Ian, the tone and presentation, again, not your intention, but it did come across as EV negative, thus some of the defensiveness.
It's pretty rough out there right now for EV advocates, especially with the Mac Master / Taycan and Geoff Buys Cars nonsense going on, so when 'one of our own' (been watching your stuff for ages, and learnt an EUC partly because of your Speedy Feet work too) suddenly comes out with something that could be construed as 'EVs are crap' defences likely went up.
Looking forward to the fix details, but the question is, will it reach your original 'new' 24k views from the "it's broken and a write off" video, or will they ignore it because it doesn't fit the narrative? Welcome to the new politics of "batteries in things" - it would appear we might have to pick a side and stick to it!
I'm as frustrated with this as anyone.
Strange old world!
Regardless; the diaries will still keep coming, as honest as they always have been.
In the first video it was a desperate few days as the EV failed, and the support to my surprise is very limited out there (for a reasonable price and within reach- UK anyhow). My experience is when they do fail you have to scratch around trying to work out how you can piece together a solution, incredibly limited options, I think the message is, we as a country, if EV’s are to actually work mainstream need to have local garages that can collect/receive a failed units and fix..just like ICE.
Thankfully for what one might call the ‘ev community’ I have a vested interest in seeing it resolved and also mildly technically minded; for those that aren’t they would in most cases just have to give up.
Actually, the reality is, if it were not for the youtube video we would not have that env200 anymore…thankfully someone helped us out, and due to that it made it JUST financially viable to keep it on the road. Being a ‘normal’ owner the story would have been unheard and because of that almost certainly resulted in it being sold off as spares or repairs to someone else. Hopefully this entry into the diary will point others as and when they occur in a direction that may keep another ev on the road rather than being taken off.
Congratulations on getting it fixed. The internet is very polarising which is such a shame as encourages people to be unkind and thoughtless. On the flip side, the good folks helped you fix it so I guess you have to take the rough with the smooth.👍
@@IanSampsonRLO totally fair points - I don't disagree one bit, glad the reach of the video got results. I have a Model 3, the battery is made of 4 strips and each one seems completely unrepairable, I watched the Munro 'teardown' of the pack, using dry ice in a sandblaster, and each strip is glued together with some pink thermal foam stuff - no chance of getting a cell out for sure. After the warranty goes, I'm not sure what the options will be once the degradation becomes too much - it's only 5.5% at 77,000km so far - but, yeah, local garage offering EV services in the future? I do hope so.
If you can, please go into detail about why the bad module / cell wrecked the rest of the pack - really interested in that. Glad you were able to avoid scrapping it.
Thanks for the update - only saw the previous video after it was linked on another channel - will look at some older ones now 😊. Great to hear you found a solution without scrapping the car - will look forward to the fix diary video- hopefully another good few years of use for your family
@@chrisbudge1159 out of interest,
can you remember the other channel?
Being "green" is just a positive byproduct of EV ownership. I bought mine for economical reasons through my business, a love for modern tech, smooth ride and delivery of power, instant torque and the ability to embarrass almost any ICE car from the lights. Get an EV if it suits you, if it doesn't....don't. Just make sure you do your homework first
EVs are superior to ICE and are here to stay, of that there is no doubt to any well informed person. However I do question your choice of successive Nissan vehicles :)
Great to see you got the vehicle fixed. I am sure your wife is happy.
Over the moon!