I think you are being overcritical - that applies to the OP and the later posters.
As mentioned, sounds like your heater was defective. The resistive heater system does take a moment longer than the heat pump system, but only a minute or two from cold. To be fair, it isn't a particularly powerful heater system, so, again as mentioned, better to give it half a chance and warm up the car a little first.
Difficult to judge what mileage you were actually getting. If you were always keeping 20% in reserve and not charging over 90% then, yeah, you are only getting 70%! Going on the GOM says nothing, it is miles covered. A lot of stop start does bring the range down, yes, because while the heater is running and heating and reheating the car then the slower you go clearly the faster the range drops because of the heater. The question may instead be how long were you in the car rather than how far.
It doesn't sound to me like you were far off a 70 to 80 real-world commuting range, but it is impossible to tell. But, hey, you are your own boss and if the Leaf wasn't doing what you thought it should then its your choice.
EVs aren't for everyone, particularly they aren't for people who can't plan what they are doing. If you need to leave 20 miles worth in the battery 'just in case', like you'd certainly do with an ICE, then EVs just aren't going to be for you. You have to maximise their use by planning your journey, getting used to how much energy a particular driving style, terrain and heater/ac setting uses, and then use the full range. Once you get used to the particular behaviour of your own EV, you should find their range is 'digital' in a way that is difficult to judge with an ICE. Unlike an ICE, you should be able to tell within a mile or two what remaining range you will have at the end of your journey. I agree, thought, that the Leaf's gauges do not provide quite the right level of detail and accuracy to do that and you have to make judgements on the non-linear battery charge level, which is far from ideal.
As mentioned, sounds like your heater was defective. The resistive heater system does take a moment longer than the heat pump system, but only a minute or two from cold. To be fair, it isn't a particularly powerful heater system, so, again as mentioned, better to give it half a chance and warm up the car a little first.
Difficult to judge what mileage you were actually getting. If you were always keeping 20% in reserve and not charging over 90% then, yeah, you are only getting 70%! Going on the GOM says nothing, it is miles covered. A lot of stop start does bring the range down, yes, because while the heater is running and heating and reheating the car then the slower you go clearly the faster the range drops because of the heater. The question may instead be how long were you in the car rather than how far.
It doesn't sound to me like you were far off a 70 to 80 real-world commuting range, but it is impossible to tell. But, hey, you are your own boss and if the Leaf wasn't doing what you thought it should then its your choice.
EVs aren't for everyone, particularly they aren't for people who can't plan what they are doing. If you need to leave 20 miles worth in the battery 'just in case', like you'd certainly do with an ICE, then EVs just aren't going to be for you. You have to maximise their use by planning your journey, getting used to how much energy a particular driving style, terrain and heater/ac setting uses, and then use the full range. Once you get used to the particular behaviour of your own EV, you should find their range is 'digital' in a way that is difficult to judge with an ICE. Unlike an ICE, you should be able to tell within a mile or two what remaining range you will have at the end of your journey. I agree, thought, that the Leaf's gauges do not provide quite the right level of detail and accuracy to do that and you have to make judgements on the non-linear battery charge level, which is far from ideal.
