Nissan Leaf Vs Toyota Aqua

[sfernando]

Dear Friends,

I am dirving 60 kilometers per day and 25 days per month. I would ocassinally go outstations trips.

For my case I need to know which vehicle would suit me in terms of economy, after sale value, comfort, driving pleasure.

Regards

[Dushyantha]

well u wouldnt be able to get both driving pleasure and economy both in one car so better decide which u want the most .

not much of an idea about the leaf except that it probably is great on pickup and speed , and that charging the car isnt as simple as plugging it into your normal household plug point . it needs special cable and plugs and all sorts of stuff to be set-up . Leaf would be great if u have another car with an internal combustion engine at home . so u could use the leaf for going to the supermarket and stuff and use the other car for long distances .

Oh and at some point u would need to replace the Leaf battery and since ur considering economy i think they have stopped bringing down reconditioned batteries from japan due to some environmental issue . hence a brand new battery replacement wouldnt be cheap .

since both are Japanese and the srilankan people hav some wierd concept that jap cars are better than european cars u wouldnt hav to worry much about secondhand market.

Or U could buy something like a 2000 model BMW 320D which would be better in fuel and provide u with awesome driving experience and would have a better show off than a aqua or leaf . but then they arent economical in maintenance . so .. ur back to the first question ... better to decide if you want a car which is less on economy but a pleasure to drive or a more economical car with less driving pleasure.

and if ur choosing between the aqua and leaf .. buy the leaf and rent a car on ur occasional outstation trips rather or u could sacrifice some of that economy and buy the aqua so u wouldn't have to worry about outstation trips.

p.s . i would go for an aqua if i had to choose between the leaf and aqua mainly coz i wouldnt wanna calculate the distance i have to travel every time i get into the car .

Edited June 6, 2016 by Dushyantha

[matroska]

If you have another car at home get a leaf. If it's the only car get am aqua.

[Vengeance]

Agree with Dushyantha. Both these cars have been discussed extensively on this forum, why don't you do a search? Heck, the leaf even has a complete review from a forum member on one of the threads.

Economy - Leaf, provided that your monthly consumption stays within the ranges 91-120kWh or 121-180kWh after charging the car. Since you run about 1500km you're more likely to exceed 180kWh, so its hard to say, you might have to do the calculations yourself.

Aftersale value - Both hybrids and electric cars will depreciate faster than the average petrol/diesel cars due to the involvement of the HV battery.

Comfort - No idea

Driving Pleasure - Honestly, both of these are not a driver's car. This varies from person to person, you're better off doing a test drive yourself and deciding as you'll be person who's gonna drive the car after all.

The leaf is very quiet, but you get some serious initial acceleration due to the electric motor, maximum torque is literally available from zero rpm. This is available up to a few thousand rpm, so you feel being pushed forward in an instant whereas in an internal combustion engine, you might have to exceed 1000rpm (slightly above idling rpm) to get at least 30% of the maximum torque. The gearbox comes in to play to reduce this effect in an engine, but is still somewhat behind compared to an electric motor.

Having a leaf alone will come with its own problems, such as forgetting to charge the car overnight and having to use the bus and so on, but has a comparatively lower maintenance.

[RViji]

How often you have to go over pools of water on the road during heavy rains? After hearing the horror stories of irreparable damage to some hybrids in recent Colombo flooding,I would stay away from both and go for a normal petrol car like swift,passo,vitz,demio.

[Crosswind]

I know your topic specifically says aqua vs leaf. If I was making the same decision, I would consider a diesel car instead of an electric or a hybrid. A 141 would be a safe conventional choice. You dont even need super diesel for it. The 2C engine on it runs on any gunk.

A car I woule buy without any hesitation would be a diesel fiat punto. Its got everything u have mentioned except so-called resale value.Its cheap, economical, reliable and comfortable.

[ghostwriter]

If I was you and the only options I am left with are leaf and aqua, I would go and buy an aqua. I have traveled in them as passengers and its obvious that leaf is a bit more spacious. the leaf is also comparatively economical if you have a structured route to follow everyday. a colleague of mine uses a leaf to come to work (64km up and down) and he has no issues so far except for the days there was a power cut when he had to take a cab to work. you won't have such problems with aqua. so at least until the charging points are available more than they are now, I would vote aqua. and hey it's a Toyota and this is Sri Lanka

Edited June 7, 2016 by ghostwriter

[kush]

We have a Leaf and a FIT GP5, Leaf is mainly used to commute to work and week end short runs.

In town it is the best, no noise, vibration, fierce initial acceleration.

Has very good ground clearance and ride is very comfortable. Handling in par with any average Jap (low center of gravity helps)

No oil, no filters servicing is cheaper, battery costs are coming down (generally they get half every 5 years or so) in few years there will be enough places to repair them using replacement cells. However must warn this is a Risk. Replacement battery in USA US$ 5500

I have TOU metering so my charging cost per unit is Rs. 13 which works out to around Rs. 3 per km i don't think anything with more than 2 wheels could beat that.