19 April 2016

100,000 km travelled and still rolling along happily


After 100,000km, my LEAF still drives like it did when it was new (but not as far on a single charge). I had the tyres replaced, a few air conditioner filters and two brake flushes. I thought the eight capacity bar would go before I could travel 100,000km, but it never did. So the battery capacity fade really does slow as the battery is used.

100,000km travelled, still 9 bars of capacity

My electricity price changed twice, once when the carbon tax was introduced and another when it was abolished (tariff 11 pricing). The price never returned to the pre carbon tax price :(   I only record the cost per kWh, not the daily connection fee, which also increased.

kWh / 100km

$ AUD / 100km

After 100,000 km, my LEAF total fuel, tyre and servicing costs were $6,492, less than the cost of petrol for my old 2001 Toyota Corolla $9,000 (7500 litres @ 1.20c / litre). If you add tyres and services for the Corolla, you could add another $2,000. (10 x $150 services and $500 tyres).  I stopped recording petrol prices in 2012 when I bought my LEAF. Caltex provide historical pricing until 2015  http://www.caltex.com.au/LatestNews/FuelPricing/Pages/HistoricalPricing.aspx

The other column is car repayments, which I never include in the running costs as I am a private purchaser and will own the car (treat it like an asset). Also insurance costs are not included.


Expenses to 100,000km

02 April 2016

New tyres

Today I took my LEAF for a new tyres. I decided to purchase the original spec tyres, as they lasted 99,000km. The tread ware indicators were still below the tread, but the smaller channels had worn down. It cost $637 for 4 x Bridgestone EP150 205/55R16, which included a wheel alignment. Fingers crossed they will last another 99,000km.

Old Bridgestone EP150 (after 99,492km)

New Bridgestone EP150