Honest question from a hybrid driver

[DeaneG]

..Hopefully Leaf is racking up most of the miles in household while the gas cars collect some more dust

At least 10 Leaf miles for every 1 gas mile in our household. The $22K (after credits) 2011 Leaf is way better to drive than our $44K (after credits) 2007 hybrid, at least when the Leaf fits the trip, which it usually does.

 

[N1ghtrider]

I regularly drive my LEAF more than 100 miles on a charge and usually need to take it down to 5-10 miles remaining on the GOM to get that range. I have never been stranded and find that the GOM is fine for getting me home with power to spare. I also have a hybrid (2006 Honda Civic with 116,000 miles that still gets 50-plus mpg) and motorcycle for long trips and transportation while the LEAF is re-charging.

 

[aqn]

The original OP should see a couple of trends:
1) There's no "one size fits all" with range predictions
2) Range anxiety definitely fades as you own the car

Bottom line: the car definitely has a range >73 miles MOST OF THE TIME, and there's nothing wrong with pulling into the garage with "--" miles remaining (although it's not something I ever do).

And what emergencies can happen that one can't address with:

• Do without (ask oneself: will I remember this tomorrow? A week from now? A month from now? A year from now? If the answer is "no" to all questions, why sweat it?)
• Ask a neighbor
• Ask a friend
• Ask a relative
• Call a taxi
• Call 911

And if one has such "emergencies" on a regular basis, perhaps one needs a diesel with a 30-gallon tank and not a Prius or an EV?

In any case, "if you have to ask, you can't afford it": asking such questions is a probably your subconscious' way of telling you that you shouldn't own an EV.

 

[Stoaty]

Hopefully Leaf is racking up most of the miles in household while the gas cars collect some more dust

Yup. Estimate 10,000 miles per year for Leaf, about 3,500 for the Camry. I really hate getting the Camry out :evil:

 

[walterbays]

Here's a question FOR a hybrid driver from a former hybrid driver. How's your gas mileage, really?

I drove a gen2 Prius and while I easily beat the EPA highway mileage on road trips I could seldom come close to the EPA city mileage around town - 95% of my miles driven. I watched the MPG time graph display and noticed that it always started out with abysmal gas mileage, steadily improving as the engine warmed up. Even though the battery was full and my foot was light on the accelerator it wouldn't run on electricity, but ran the gas engine. Finally when the engine was all warmed up it would use the gas engine and electric motor together as intended, and the gas mileage was excellent. But by then I had arrived at my destination. Later on my return the engine would be cold again and I'd start all over.

If this sounds familiar to you, then there's an excellent chance that a BEV like Leaf could meet your city driving needs very well. The short trips that are such bad news for your hybrid are great for a BEV; I could charge up just every 2 or 3 days if I wanted. Conversely, if it doesn't sound familiar to you, if you are getting great mileage in your hybrid, then you may frequently have trips that would tax the range limitations of the Leaf. In that case I'd recommend you keep a driving log for a few months before ordering, to make sure that the car would work for you.

 

[lpickup]

Hopefully Leaf is racking up most of the miles in household while the gas cars collect some more dust

This is EXACTLY what is happening in my household. I sold my car to get the LEAF, but my wife mostly drives it to work since I work from home. I normally wait until she gets home if I need to go out somewhere, and then we always use the LEAF in the evening and on weekends. Coming up on 4 months of ownership we're approaching 5600 miles. On pace for 22,400 miles in a year? That's crazy! I've never put that many miles on a single car, but the LEAF really is taking the place of almost 2 gas cars (sometimes we do have to physically be in two different places at the same time!)

 

[wcanl]

Here's a question FOR a hybrid driver from a former hybrid driver. How's your gas mileage, really?

I drove a gen2 Prius and while I easily beat the EPA highway mileage on road trips I could seldom come close to the EPA city mileage around town - 95% of my miles driven. I watched the MPG time graph display and noticed that it always started out with abysmal gas mileage, steadily improving as the engine warmed up. Even though the battery was full and my foot was light on the accelerator it wouldn't run on electricity, but ran the gas engine. Finally when the engine was all warmed up it would use the gas engine and electric motor together as intended, and the gas mileage was excellent. But by then I had arrived at my destination. Later on my return the engine would be cold again and I'd start all over.

If this sounds familiar to you, then there's an excellent chance that a BEV like Leaf could meet your city driving needs very well. The short trips that are such bad news for your hybrid are great for a BEV; I could charge up just every 2 or 3 days if I wanted. Conversely, if it doesn't sound familiar to you, if you are getting great mileage in your hybrid, then you may frequently have trips that would tax the range limitations of the Leaf. In that case I'd recommend you keep a driving log for a few months before ordering, to make sure that the car would work for you.

I use fuelly.com and am at 49.5 MPG average. Yes, it's the 'less than 5 mile trips' that whittle away at the FE gage. But, now the Pri plug-in's avoid the short trip MPG blues.

 

[dgpcolorado]

I live in a very remote rural area and essentially all my car trips are planned; there's no running down the block to the corner store where I live. I can't imagine what sort of "emergency" would require a spontaneous car trip, short of evacuating for an approaching wildfire.

In a real emergency, if the LEAF isn't charged enough I would just use my ICE car, since that's one of its functions. Or call a neighbor since that's what neighbors do in this area. When I hit a deer and totaled my previous car I called a neighbor, because I knew he was just about to leave for work, and he rescued me. This is routine stuff here: we all look out for one another and my neighbors have a standing offer to help me out because they know I live alone.

When I arrive home with the LEAF low on charge I usually charge immediately to get it back to three to four fuel bars (30%-40%) to keep the battery in the "happy middle" of the SOC range. The rest of the charge will wait until midday the next day if it is sunny—so I can use my solar power directly—or midnight if it is cloudy or I need to leave early the next morning. Spontaneous trips just don't happen in my life; it's nine miles—one way—to the nearest small town.

 

[LEAFfan]

I'm aware that even though Prius GHG emissions are 220 g/mi, Leaf is about 120 g/mi in our area. That is a clean car!

That's the BIG difference between your Prius and a LEAF. Yours can't be zero emissions, but the LEAF IS when charged with PVs or any other 100% renewable. So even in your area, the LEAF isn't necessarily 120g/mi, but your Prius will always be 220g/mi. :mrgreen:

 

[adric22]

I watched the MPG time graph display and noticed that it always started out with abysmal gas mileage, steadily improving as the engine warmed up.

With my short commute, working only 4 miles from home, I used to encounter this all of the time with my Prius. I had a scan-gauge attached to it and I would notice that the engine would reach operating temperature right about the time I was pulling into work. I had upgraded my Prius with an Enginer kit, and I could usually do the whole trip in EV mode, but it would require careful planning and driving to keep the speed under 32 mph so that the car would stay in EV mode.

I imagine a PiP would be excellent for my daily commute, but it was not and still is not available in my area. So I went with the Leaf. I have not regretted it.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

my new job which is a 400% increase in commuting distance is 45 miles RT. i get home with 100-120 GID which is plenty for any random in town errands.

as far as how much should you get home with?? 1% is fine. if you have a driveway that slants downward towards the garage, you dont even need one percent. :mrgreen:

but seriously, i kept my 2006 Prius for 4 months and it sat. never drove it one single time when the Leaf could not do it. eventually i got tired of going out to start it up once a week to charge the 12 volt battery and sold the thing.

i still have my 2010 Prius but we are a two commuter household. she travels south in the morning, i head north. so carpooling is not an option. but so far so good.

the Prius has only been used 15 times (when only one car was needed) and of those 15 times, 6 times "could" have been done by the Leaf but someone chickened out (it was not me) but then again, a more mature public charging infrastructure will cover those 6 trips easily.

if you are a two car household, i would HIGHLY recommend the Leaf. keep in mind the Leaf has actually boosted my Prius mileage because now the Prius only does 1 in 3 of those short trips around town. (wish it could be lower but...)

the Leaf is definitely the errand car so the Prius miles most of which is freeway will be much easier on the car.

 

[kubel]

I'll be driving around 55 miles per day. I can charge at work so whatever I lose in the first half of my commute is topped up while in the parking lot trickle charging. So when I get home, I'm expecting to still have at least 30 miles left, even in the coldest part of winter. That should be plenty to get me almost anywhere should an emergency happen. I'm not planning on selling my gas car, though.