Considering buying a LEAF, need specific range data.

[minispeed]

Yeah. Mine had a manufacture date of May 2014 and we bought it in late August. It only had 80 miles on it when we bought it, but that doesn't mean that it didn't sit on the lot for 2-3 months beforehand during the summer. I also think we didn't have the best charging habits when we first got it. Since the wife has free L2 charging at work, she was charging to 100% in the morning then plugging in and charging it back to 100% again when she got there, then would go to lunch, only use 5-8% and charge back up. Lots of topping off isn't good for it I hear. We also trickle charged a lot at home for the first 2 months before we got our EVSE installed and I read in the manual that's not good for it either. 5K miles now and 281 gids at 100%, but I hear it reads a bit lower during winter. Still getting 100+ miles out of a full charge.

I've been trickle charging mine at work to 100% many times (some days it just gets to the 9X%). The trickle charge may do a top balance better than other chargers which can be a good thing for batteries. I've also noticed that 100% isn't always "full" I've looked at the charge at 100% seen up to 40 min left on the trickle charge eta, checked the GIDS (can't remember the number but 28X) then come back later and the charge eta says it's done, still says 100% and now 290+ GIDs.

Still getting 100+ miles out of a full charge.

So, you've driven 100+ miles on a single charge w/o any charging in the middle? And, you've done this multiple times?

I've done it many times in the warmer weather, I can get economy that suggests I'd do it in cooler weather (0C to 8C) but haven't had the conditions/need. My drive is 90 miles and I have L1 at work for 10 hrs and 2 QC around the corner from work. I don't want to drive to work at 410am instead of 430 at a lower speed just to prove I can do it. I'm comfortable that if anything is wrong with my 3 convenient charging options at work I can get home 45 miles on 50% charge even in normal winter temps.

 

[redLEAF]

As a long term Chicago area owner (3 years this week) with a '12 the 62 mile R/T is still doable for us but on the real cold and snowy days, I simply avoid using it as we have an AWD ICE SUV that I drive (gas also just dropped to about $2/gal as well). The other thing not mentioned is that to extend battery life we all would only charge it to 80% as much as possible and it just will not make it when its below freezing --- you would need to almost always charge to 100% during the winter months; leasing it doesn't matter on that aspect but you haven't mentioned how long you plan to keep the car. Getting a 10% MSRP (up to $4K) cash rebate was a nice add-on to the $7.5K Fed Tax Credit but agree with others on waiting if you can to see what range the '16 has if you had planned to buy instead of lease. Our max daily work commute is only 30 miles so we never have any real issues --- we have an L2 in the garage and in winter will typically charge to 100% on weekends so we have enough for errands, etc, -- if its just really cold, we may split the errands so we have so time to add some range in-between.

Although we received a 5 star 'report' on the battery for its 3-year check we have seen a loss of capacity of probably just a percent or two at about 27K miles (it loses its first 'bar' after driving about 5 or 6 miles); based on your 62 mile commute you would get to this point in 2 years, perhaps with a bit more degradation if its fully charged daily.

A Chicago area LEAF does make it as a great commuter car for a high majority of people but extreme cold really limits the range -- be sure to look through the 'Chicagoland' thread on this forum as some early adopters switched their LEAF's for a Volt or some other PHEV due to the winter limits; it will never be our 'only' car so we've been fine, others perhaps not.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=357&start=1490

 

[TimLee]

Lots of topping off isn't good for it I hear. We also trickle charged a lot at home for the first 2 months before we got our EVSE installed and I read in the manual that's not good for it either. .

I've been trickle charging mine at work to 100% many times (some days it just gets to the 9X%). The trickle charge may do a top balance better than other chargers which can be a good thing for batteries. I've also noticed that 100% isn't always "full" I've looked at the charge at 100% seen up to 40 min left on the trickle charge eta, checked the GIDS (can't remember the number but 28X) then come back later and the charge eta says it's done, still says 100% and now 290+ GIDs.

Using 120V EVSE is not bad for the LEAF battery.
Occasional charging to 100% at a very slow rate is actually good for cell balancing as the cell pair shunts are more effective at balancing near 100% charge level.
It is less efficient and will put more usage on the LEAF coolant pump but I doubt that would ever be a problem unless you put 200,000 miles on the LEAF.
The 2013 on LEAF charging protocol is better than 2011 and 2012. It spends a lot of time at low charge rate doing cell balancing the last hour.

What Nissan does not want is keeping the LEAF at 100% all the time with always topping it back to 100% every time you get to 95%.
But precooling of the vehicle at 100% does that too, so you can get less than five stars just for doing that.

Why Nissan recommends 120V EVSE for only emergency convenience use is safety.
Most garage outlets are not a good idea.
You really need to be certain.

There are risks with 120V :shock:

As I have advised many people considering use of 120V EVSE that comes with the LEAF and other plug in vehicles:

A repeat of my input from previous questions on 120 V EVSE use:
Note that Nissan recommends the 120V EVSE for limited emergency use only.
Some people have used it for a long time without problems yet, but in general that is a bad idea unless you have a newly properly installed dedicated circuit with high grade receptacle using properly tightened screw connections.

Previous info from another thread:

...
Trickle charging should be safe, though, right? I wouldn't necessarily need to have the circuit certified for it or anything, should I? If I were to go to a friend's house, would I be safe plugging into their outlet?

How safe 120V charging is depends on how lucky you are.
Very few garages have the correct properly installed high quality single outlet supplied by a single breaker.
Code only allows using 80% of the circuit rating for a long term continuous load.
So on a 15 amp circuit nothing else should be on the same circuit while the car is charging.
And a lot of 120V gets put in poorly using push in connections.
One person had a bad fire most likely from staples that had damaged the cable in the wall.
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=15784&hilit=+fire#p352567" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[1212123]

Thanks to all of you who replied. There sure is a wide range of experiences out there. Congrats to those who seem to be having better luck.

I have been trying to get an extended test drive so I could do my commute as a test but no luck so far.

Here is some info for the trickle chargers out there.

I noticed the manual said Nissan did not recommend using the trickle charger as the main method so I sent off an email to them to ask why.
Here is the reply.

================================================================================
Thank you for contacting LEAF Customer Support. We appreciate hearing from you.

Nissan does not recommend using the 110v charger for everyday charging because it exposes the battery to heat over an extended amount of time which can prematurely degrade the battery.

Nissan also does not recommend using a 440v quick charger more than once a day because it will expose the battery to too much heat at one time. This again will prematurely degrade the battery.
______________
Vehicle Connected Services
Infiniti USA
http://www.infinitiusa.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Division of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
====================================================================================

 

[cwerdna]

^^^
LOL! That's a new one for 120 volt charging. I think people here w/LeafSpy can attest to there being barely any battery heating on L1 charging.

Gotta love Nissan's changing story on the multiple DC FCs/day. They warned of that at the very beginning but then listen to what (now "retired") Mark Perry said at ~2:15 of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXrrQ6vM2OM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

 

[TimLee]

Not sure why they have the answer wrong on 120V charging now.
The YouTube video caption provides the real answer.
States that the receptacle must be inspected by a licensed electrician.
That is for safety.
They know most people will not do that so they recommend against 120V charging based on safety.
Plus most people would find charging that slow inconvenient, and they do not want that negative perception of the LEAF.

 

[bbrowncods]

OP, you should not have any problems with that range. Most 2011/12 user data on battery performance does not apply to 2015+ vehicles (maybe even 2013+).

 

[TimLee]

OP, you should not have any problems with that range. Most 2011/12 user data on battery performance does not apply to 2015+ vehicles (maybe even 2013+).

The OP should keep in mind this person is in Virginia with winter average low temperatures in low 30F range and has an SL.
With SV or SL heat pump heater there the winter range reduction isn't as bad.
But the OP's Chicago winter low average is in low 20F range, and temperatures below 4F are pretty common.
For the OP to make the LEAF work in the winter they will be driving a lot with very little cabin heat and lots of range anxiety.

 

[tkdbrusco]

Yeah. Mine had a manufacture date of May 2014 and we bought it in late August. It only had 80 miles on it when we bought it, but that doesn't mean that it didn't sit on the lot for 2-3 months beforehand during the summer. I also think we didn't have the best charging habits when we first got it. Since the wife has free L2 charging at work, she was charging to 100% in the morning then plugging in and charging it back to 100% again when she got there, then would go to lunch, only use 5-8% and charge back up. Lots of topping off isn't good for it I hear. We also trickle charged a lot at home for the first 2 months before we got our EVSE installed and I read in the manual that's not good for it either. 5K miles now and 281 gids at 100%, but I hear it reads a bit lower during winter. Still getting 100+ miles out of a full charge.

I've been trickle charging mine at work to 100% many times (some days it just gets to the 9X%). The trickle charge may do a top balance better than other chargers which can be a good thing for batteries. I've also noticed that 100% isn't always "full" I've looked at the charge at 100% seen up to 40 min left on the trickle charge eta, checked the GIDS (can't remember the number but 28X) then come back later and the charge eta says it's done, still says 100% and now 290+ GIDs.

Still getting 100+ miles out of a full charge.

So, you've driven 100+ miles on a single charge w/o any charging in the middle? And, you've done this multiple times?

I've done it many times in the warmer weather, I can get economy that suggests I'd do it in cooler weather (0C to 8C) but haven't had the conditions/need. My drive is 90 miles and I have L1 at work for 10 hrs and 2 QC around the corner from work. I don't want to drive to work at 410am instead of 430 at a lower speed just to prove I can do it. I'm comfortable that if anything is wrong with my 3 convenient charging options at work I can get home 45 miles on 50% charge even in normal winter temps.

I've really only driven it over 100 miles without a charge on one or two occasions, but I regularly do 55 miles round trips to work and get home with 45-50% of the battery left, so this would mean that a 100+ drive is still possible. I also average about 4.7mi/kwh, which is pretty efficient.