30kWh Nissan Leaf (Teckna) new user tips

Driving economically will save energy and save you money. Use the eco mode by pressing ECO on the steering wheel as this will increase the level regenerative braking and also it dulls the acceleration pedal and makes thing more gentle. You should also practice using the B mode to increase the regen braking for slowing down, this will reduce wasted energy and save you some brake pad wear as well. You can switch between B and D to continuously as needed to make you drive more dynamic.

If you switch your heating and AC on you will use more energy and you will reduce your range (obvious but needs to be said). A number of users have found that just having the heating on (without AC) has resulted in windows demisting!

The wing mirrors do not automatically fold but there a button which allows you to manually do so. A number of users have reported squeeky operation of the mirrors!

Squeals when reversing, is another commonly reported issue. A solution that appears to have worked for a number of users is to dab the park brake a few times whilst driving forward (lightly and also make sure no other road users because if you don’t execute this well is locks up the wheels – as a parking brake is designed to do!)

Things to consider:

1. Home charging point: If you only ever charge overnight and have a conveniently located 3pin socket to plug your vehicle into then you might be happy to not do anything more. However if you would like to charge at a fast rate then a home charge point may be of use. You can boost your charge time (start at 0% battery) from approx. 14hrs on a 3pin to 4hrs on 7kW home charge point (for a typical 30kWh Nissan Leaf, other makes and models will vary). A secondary benefit of a home charge point is that you can take advantage of some of the charge time limited EV specific electricity tariffs (see below).
2. Parking sensors: This car comes with front and rear cameras, these are useful but a number of people prefer parking sensors. There is no reason why you can’t have both, parkingssensor can be retrofitted from about £120 – £220
3. Cost of charging: Whilst the electrical energy costs are cheaper than diesel and petrol under most scenarios. You may also want to further maximize this by reviewing your electricity tariff because there is now a plethora of tariffs which are particularly beneficial to EV owners.(Once you’ve selected a tariff, be sure to search for referral codes which also give you significant discounts e.g. £20 or £50 credit to your account – we’ll find some examples to include below).
4. Night time charging: you can set the timer via the Infotainment console to charge your car  only at certain times (useful for tariffs such as the Octopus Go if you want to make you only charge between 00:30 and 04:30 for example). There is an override but you can press should you need to charge at a different time on the odd occasion.

Octopus Energy referral link, £50 pound for both of us, if you sign up via this link: https://share.octopus.energy/sky-lark-695 (but you don’t have to use the link you can just sign up direct via the Octopus site.)