2013 Leaf 32 mile commute in NE

[redo8472]

Hi all,

New to the forums and even better, new to Leaf ownership (well, lessee-ship). I just got a 2013 leaf on lease for 24 months today!

I have read a lot of forums and stuff and decided to get the leaf for my 32 mile commute based on this information. What I want to know now, is can I hear from anyone who really does a 30+ mile commute each day in the North East US region with 100% success?

My thoughts are that I will be fine 90-95% to maybe even 100% of the time (of the year), as long as I am conscious about the limitations on extreme days. I also have multiple backups in that I also have an Altima and, not in order of preference, but the Nissan dealer I bought from, on the way to/from work, with one of those 440v chargers, which does 80% in 30 minutes, about 10 miles from my house.

Can anyone comment on similar situation in the North East area (I am in PA driving to DE each day) with a leaf?

Thanks!

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

30, round trip, right? No problem at all, even in the zero degree, snowy weather we have now, with heat. Add in a QC, or even a L2, and you could handle bumper to bumper in slush ice. You'll be fine.

30 one way and you'll need to charge in those extreme conditions at some point.

Can you charge at work?

 

[LeftieBiker]

I have a 42-44 mile commute in the Albany NY area (I work in Albany) and I haven't had to use my housemate's Prius once for it since I leased my 2013 SV on may 31st. I only charged to get home once, on a sub-zero-both-ways commute, and it turned out I could have made it without the charge, with about 5 miles to spare. Had I taken the lowest energy route it would have been no problem. I normally use the heat 95-100% of the time, set to 71-76 degrees. On that dicey commute I still used it about 75% of the trip, set to 69, and using a heated throw on my lap.

 

[EatsShootsandLeafs]

Hi all,

New to the forums and even better, new to Leaf ownership (well, lessee-ship). I just got a 2013 leaf on lease for 24 months today!

I have read a lot of forums and stuff and decided to get the leaf for my 32 mile commute based on this information. What I want to know now, is can I hear from anyone who really does a 30+ mile commute each day in the North East US region with 100% success?

My thoughts are that I will be fine 90-95% to maybe even 100% of the time (of the year), as long as I am conscious about the limitations on extreme days. I also have multiple backups in that I also have an Altima and, not in order of preference, but the Nissan dealer I bought from, on the way to/from work, with one of those 440v chargers, which does 80% in 30 minutes, about 10 miles from my house.

Can anyone comment on similar situation in the North East area (I am in PA driving to DE each day) with a leaf?

Thanks!

I'll save you worrying about it: on really cold days (<10F) that car won't make 64 miles, even without heat, that is unless perhaps you drive at 30 mph the entire time without traffic. With heat you can just absolutely forget it. And if you go to work and make it to the dealer (looks like 54 miles), it will be a struggle to make even that on really cold days--and that's without the heat on, btw.

In the summer you should be fine and can use AC as well, since it doesn't take much from the battery.

 

[EvansvilleLeaf]

I disagree with the above doom. My Leaf has two years worth of degradation and has never failed to go 60+ even to LBW let alone dead, and we have averaged in the teens lately.

 

[Yogi62]

Winter will be challenging to do 64 mile from 80%, but from 100% down to LBW should be doable most days, and if you have any charging at work and "just in case" location along the way, you will be fine.

Big question, do you have nice warm garage at one end or the other? Pre-heating the car and having a warm (50+ not 30-) battery makes a difference.

 

[redo8472]

Thanks for the feedback!

It is about 64 miles round trip. Should've mentioned that.

I can't charge at work and will assume I cannot into the near future, but I am working on at least getting them to get a 110v outlet in the car park. This would absolutely save me in every situation.

Sounds like I will just take it easy when its really cold and just keep the heat off and some extra clothes. I am not really worried, else I wouldn't have bought it, but its good to get some feedback from people who actually drive the leaf as well. All else fails, there are a couple of free charging stations along the way.

Thanks everyone, have fun building trees...

 

[EatsShootsandLeafs]

I disagree with the above doom. My Leaf has two years worth of degradation and has never failed to go 60+ even to LBW let alone dead, and we have averaged in the teens lately.

Not with the heat on it hasn't. I emphatically condemn the notion that a Leaf can travel 60+ miles on a 100% charge with the heat on in temps in the Farenheit teens under anything approaching normal driving, whether it's city or hwy. It cannot be done, period. When I say heat, I mean real heat; the cabin is warm, not a bare minimum at 60 F to keep the windshield clear. My car in mid teens with heat on will do 30-32 miles before LBW kicks in.

but I am working on at least getting them to get a 110v outlet in the car park. This would absolutely save me in every situation.

Yep, even trickle charging for most of the day you'd be golden, could have heat on the way to work and back.

 

[Berlino]

but the Nissan dealer I bought from, on the way to/from work, with one of those 440v chargers, which does 80% in 30 minutes, about 10 miles from my house.

That's a nice perk, but in very cold weather your car will recharge much slower. On the other hand, you will not need to add 80% to your battery. A boost of 30% should be enough, unless it's -25°F, in which case you should take the Altima.

 

[evnow]

It cannot be done, period. When I say heat, I mean real heat; the cabin is warm, not a bare minimum at 60 F to keep the windshield clear. My car in mid teens with heat on will do 30-32 miles before LBW kicks in.

Your car has a problem. 30 miles is too low - as you see from reports on the cold whether range thread.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

I agree. Even with full heat, at 0F, I could do 50 miles of regular city driving. I'm not up on the highway much, so if I was doing 65 I might get less miles. Maybe 30 mile range is normal if you drive faster, but if not there probably is something wrong with your car.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I assumed that 32 miles was the round trip, not one way. I agree with both the people who say your Leaf won't do 64 miles with normal heat, and the ones who say it will make the trip with minimal heat. You might be a candidate for the battery-powered heater I'm working on...

 

[EatsShootsandLeafs]

It cannot be done, period. When I say heat, I mean real heat; the cabin is warm, not a bare minimum at 60 F to keep the windshield clear. My car in mid teens with heat on will do 30-32 miles before LBW kicks in.

Your car has a problem. 30 miles is too low - as you see from reports on the cold whether range thread.

How could it have a problem? Pack energy has to go somewhere. I've seen others in the range thread get similarly poor performance if they are liberal with the heat in low temps.

Examples (all from separate people):
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=15516#p347884" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My last two trips starting at 100% charge and using all the heat I wanted and getting home with around 1 or 2 status of charge bars and the Distance to Empty showing around 6 to 10 miles, were only about 25 miles.
LEAF is nominally a 40 to 60 mile range vehicle.
But in winter with battery degradation and heater use, it becomes a 25 mile range vehicle.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=15516&start=10#p348098" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The LEAF is no good at temps around 0F, if you have more than 25 miles to drive.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=15254#p342780" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The temperatures in Denver Colorado was hovering around-7 and 5f last week. My 2013 Leaf range performance was terrible. Driving with heater and seat warmers, I averaged 2.1 miles/kwh. One specific round trip to and from work with mixed city and hwy driving 27 miles, I burned 70% of the battery. I cold probably turned all heat off and frozen, but why? The Leaf has no business in artic or cold climates yet.

 

[EvansvilleLeaf]

I disagree with the above doom. My Leaf has two years worth of degradation and has never failed to go 60+ even to LBW let alone dead, and we have averaged in the teens lately.

Not with the heat on it hasn't. I emphatically condemn the notion that a Leaf can travel 60+ miles on a 100% charge with the heat on in temps in the Farenheit teens under anything approaching normal driving, whether it's city or hwy. It cannot be done, period. When I say heat, I mean real heat; the cabin is warm, not a bare minimum at 60 F to keep the windshield clear. My car in mid teens with heat on will do 30-32 miles before LBW kicks in.

but I am working on at least getting them to get a 110v outlet in the car park. This would absolutely save me in every situation.

Yep, even trickle charging for most of the day you'd be golden, could have heat on the way to work and back.

Stop on by and I'll prove it, but don't call me a liar until you have evidence. The heat is on when I need it and not when I don't. Who wants to sit in a greenhouse in winter clothes.

 

[cgaydos]

It cannot be done, period. When I say heat, I mean real heat; the cabin is warm, not a bare minimum at 60 F to keep the windshield clear. My car in mid teens with heat on will do 30-32 miles before LBW kicks in.

Your car has a problem. 30 miles is too low - as you see from reports on the cold whether range thread.

There must be severe battery degradation or perhaps high resistance snow tires, or both.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Well, after reading ES&L's posts in the Range in Cold Weather thread, his 30-40 miles sounds normal. Trickle charging at home, outdoors at zero degrees F, no battery temp bars, no pre-heating (useless on L1 anyway), drives in D mostly, CC blasting at 90 the whole time. So, take off 2 kWs for age of pack, 3 for temp, 3 for CC, leaves about 13 for driving, and he's averaging less than 3 m/kWh, so sounds about right.

 

[PV2leaf]

My 77 Mi round trip commute is not possible without L1 charging at work during winter months. (I have done it in the summer on a single 100% charge)

During winter I charge to 100% otherwise I only charge to 80%. It is pretty easy to figure out when to change charge level based on how many bars remain when arriving at destination.

 

[redo8472]

My 77 Mi round trip commute is not possible without L1 charging at work during winter months. (I have done it in the summer on a single 100% charge)

During winter I charge to 100% otherwise I only charge to 80%. It is pretty easy to figure out when to change charge level based on how many bars remain when arriving at destination.

This might be the most useful post for me. Its good to know that most of the year I will be fine without the L1 charging at work.

I just took it for its first drive, today its 10f after a the day of snow yesterday (in south east PA). I got 40 miles and used up 77% of the battery from full charge. I had the heater on occasionally when my feet got too cold. I was not uncomfortable though. The car reports 16 mile range left. So its not too bad, its also rarely this cold around here and I can either work from home, take my altima or just stop off at the dealer for 15 minutes on those rare cold days.

So the car has a total of 90 miles on the clock and 20 of those were my test driving it and the 40 above. So far loving it, its pretty cool car!

edit: Of course, I was not trying to drive conservativeky, I can't help it, its tooo fun to put the foot down!

 

[LeftieBiker]

no pre-heating (useless on L1 anyway)

Preheating on L-1 does help for sure, if the car has just finished charging. The SOC will drop, but much more slowly than it does when using the heat while driving. I'm not sure about a car that hasn't been charging for hours, but that should work as well.

 

[ksnogas2112]

Guys...everyone's road conditions are different. With the heater set to 67*F and blowing on low when the air temp is in the teens or below and the pack gets colder all day long it is not inconceivable to get only 30 miles on a charge. Around here all the driving is rolling hills so even if there's only 100 ft difference in starting and ending elevation you'll drive that 100ft multiple times for miles. We've got Evansville (south Indiana I assume?) which is flat iirc, Colorado, um...not flat, and NY (no clue) and KS chiming in. Each of these areas are completely different in how the roads are and how much variation there is in elevation. The other thing is the temperature of the pack itself because when you get to 3 battery temp bars or less and rolling hills there is practically no regen which is going to kill your range as much as the temps.

Just my 2 cents. Here's your complimentary pick axe to poke holes in the discussion.