A Second Leaf?

[evanmf]

Big debate in my house as to who gets to drive the Leaf. Apparently it's in high demand between my wife and I

So the question I have is who out there has bought a second Leaf and who's considering buying a second one?

The concern is that we'll still have to hold on to a 3rd car for those long trips, but that's not a huge issue since my daughter will be driving in another couple of years.

Though what we were wondering if it was possible to upgrade our Blink unit to get 2 charging ports or if we need to get a second Blink unit, or do what they do in emergencies with scuba gear and buddy breathe on the one that we already have..


Thoughts?

 

[nkole]

We took delivery of our silver Leaf at the end of March. Have almost 5K miles on it now. Ordered a second one (red) in April and hope to take delivery in September. Both cars were originally reserved in April of 2010. The Leafs are replacing a pair of Prius' which were sold in March and May. We have a third car (X5 diesel) for longer trips.

 

[abasile]

The concern is that we'll still have to hold on to a 3rd car for those long trips, but that's not a huge issue since my daughter will be driving in another couple of years.

If you only want to own two cars, you might want to consider a plug-in hybrid as your second car, such as the upcoming Plug-in Prius or a Volt depending on your driving patterns.

 

[smkettner]

Another example of why a 16a evse on a 20a circuit should be available from Nissan.
With a second evse you now get to commit to 80a out of the electric panel :roll:

 

[OilFreedom]

If you only want to own two cars, you might want to consider a plug-in hybrid as your second car, such as the upcoming Plug-in Prius or a Volt depending on your driving patterns.

We only want to own two cars, so our long-term plan is to own a Leaf and a plug-in hybrid. That will completely cover all our driving needs while maximizing electric miles when practical. We're on the list for the new plug-in Prius, but we're not sure if that's the way we'll go or not.

Although I like the 40 all-electric (well, mostly electric!) miles before the Volt switches to hybrid mode, I am not a fan of its complex drive train design. The Prius seems to be a simpler and more elegant design (though still far more complex than the Leaf). The whole GM EV1 debacle doesn't sit well with me either. IMHO, GM is reluctantly offering the Volt now because of California vehicle emissions laws and of course the Prius and the Leaf.

The plug-in Prius will only have around 12 all-electric miles. I wish it were more, but the car is proven over several generations. I also like the fact that Toyota (like Nissan now) stuck their neck out years ago to come out with a mass produced hybrid.

It will be interesting to see what new hybrid / plug-in hybrid options are available next year when the Prius plug-in is available.

The bigger question will be: Who gets to drive the Leaf every day!? :lol:

 

[wwhitney]

Another example of why a 16a evse on a 20a circuit should be available from Nissan.
With a second evse you now get to commit to 80a out of the electric panel :roll:

You could take your 40A circuit, put in a small panel with two 40A breakers, and run two 40A EVSEs off of it. This is fine because you know the cars will only draw 16A (continuous) each, so the actual connected load is still only 40A.

Cheers, Wayne

 

[DaveEV]

There's a number of plug-in hybrids coming out soon - besides the already available Volt and coming later this year Prius PHEV, Ford will have their C-MAX Energi (available next year).

The complexity of the Volt is really no different than the Prius, IMO - aside from the extra battery HVAC and a clutch in the transmission. The transmissions are actually very similar in design - the Volt just has an extra clutch to allow for more efficient operation at high speeds when in EV mode.

Biggest drawback of the Volt is price, charge sustaining mode fuel economy and interior room. I really dislike paying more than $30k for a vehicle (prefer to pay no more than $25k before taxes, etc) and if I'm getting a car for long trips, it better have near best in class fuel economy on the highway at 75 mph (40mpg+) and the back seat has to be roomy enough to comfortably hold 2 people for hours (Volt is seriously lacking in rear leg room).

 

[leaf561]

Is the Federal $7500 rebate per car or per household?

(Sorry if this was discussed somewhere else)

 

[jimcmorr]

snip .. snip..

Snip.. snip..

The bigger question will be: Who gets to drive the Leaf every day!? :lol:

I think we all know the answer to that one already! :shock: :lol:

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Is the Federal $7500 rebate per car or per household?

(Sorry if this was discussed somewhere else)

per car, but must have a pretty significant household income to take advantage.

 

[davewill]

Though what we were wondering if it was possible to upgrade our Blink unit to get 2 charging ports or if we need to get a second Blink unit, or do what they do in emergencies with scuba gear and buddy breathe on the one that we already have...

You'd have to ask Ecotality about a second Blink, I suppose it's not impossible. If that fails, I'd just install a smaller capacity EVSE for the second car, or get an upgraded L1 (http://evseupgrade.com) and run a 20a 240v line to run it on. That should do the job nicely.

 

[TomT]

Frankly, our next second car will not be a pure electric. It'll either be a hybrid of some sort of an ICE (but not a Volt). We simply need more versatility and range in a second vehicle than electric can presently provide...

So the question I have is who out there has bought a second Leaf and who's considering buying a second one?

 

[LEAFfan]

Biggest drawback of the Volt is price, charge sustaining mode fuel economy and interior room.

The biggest drawback of the Volt to me is that it uses gasoline (premium).

 

[smkettner]

As great as LEAF is in the present form I would wait for the next generation in three to five years. It will only get better.

 

[tzzhc4]

My wife and I took delivery of our Leaf in early June. We have ~1500 miles on it and absolutely love it. About 2 weeks into owning we both talked about getting a second Leaf but in the end decided we would wait until battery capacity increases so we can just get rid our ICE vehicle (2006 Jeep CRD). We use the Jeep for long trips, hauling stuff etc.

 

[LEAFfan]

My wife and I took delivery of our Leaf in early July.

I think you meant 'early June'.

 

[planet4ever]

Though what we were wondering if it was possible to upgrade our Blink unit to get 2 charging ports or if we need to get a second Blink unit, or do what they do in emergencies with scuba gear and buddy breathe on the one that we already have...

You'd have to ask Ecotality about a second Blink, I suppose it's not impossible. If that fails, I'd just install a smaller capacity EVSE for the second car, or get an upgraded L1 (http://evseupgrade.com) and run a 20a 240v line to run it on. That should do the job nicely.

You know the Blink isn't going to pull more than 16 amps, even though it is on a 40 amp circuit. I would just cheat and put an L6-20R outlet on the same circuit then plug an upgraded L1 EVSE into it semi-permanently. Worst case: Three years down the line you trade for an EV with a 6.6 kW charger, so you disconnect the outlet from the Blink circuit and run a separate circuit for it. Big savings now; nothing thrown away later if you do upgrade.

Or, here's an even cheaper solution: Use a standard L1 if you have an available circuit, and let the cars take turns between L1 and L2. That should give you about 60 miles/day on each car. (40 miles for 10 hours of L1 + 80 miles for 7 hours of L2 = 120 miles in two days.)

Ray

 

[Rat]

I did order a second Leaf but it was for the purpose of getting into the EV Project, not because I wanted two. Nissan had delivered an SV instead of the SL I upgraded to which is why I wasn't getting in on the basis of my first order. It worked; I got accepted. In addition, after I got into the EVP and took delivery of the first Leaf I was able to use the second order as a bargaining chip with the dealer to get a better trade-in value on my old car and a price reduction on the Leaf in exchange for not cancelling my 2nd order and letting the dealer sell it as an orphan. That advantage will probably disappear pretty soon as the first adopters and anyone else who has already order has his/her order filled. There won't be such a premium on orphans when the waiting list is gone so dealers will be able to order as many as they think they can sell. Still, if you can do without the $99 for a few months, there's no risk to ordering a second one and it could be a benefit.

 

[tzzhc4]

My wife and I took delivery of our Leaf in early July.

I think you meant 'early June'.

Yeah, I did. Fixed it. Thanks