New member from New Mexico

[gltheosEV]

Hello all,
Picked up my Pearl White Leaf-S over the weekend. 125 miles in so far! It is a 2016 S, options included: quick charge, floor mats and splash guards (dealer's choice). I purchased through the Costco program, which was very painless. Price was $100 over invoice and I used the $4K incentive from Nissan along with the 0%. New Mexico has no other incentives. Melloy Nissan in Albuquerque was awesome. Susan Miller totally took care of me, and even offered to meet me at an EZ-charge station on Sunday morning for my first charge to make sure everything went smooth!

I have a 53 mile daily round trip commute. I live at 7,000 feet and my office is at 5,400 feet, so I have 1 big highway downhill in the morning, and 1 big climb in the afternoon! Started this morning's drive with 92 miles on the range, and got to the office with 101 miles. I expect my 26 miles on the way home to cost a bit more than that! My employer has a quick charge station, though, so eventually I should be able to charge at work only, and skip the overnight home trickle charge.

Looking forward to reading through the posts and I'm sure I'll have some questions as I get more comfortable with my new ride!

Happy Monday!
-Greg

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Welcome!

You might as well not charge at home much. If you leave home fully charged, you'd miss a lot of regen on the way down.

When you say your employer has a quick charge station, you mean the 440 V DC version right? Not a 240V AC level 2? So, you could do a half hour a day and commute just on that? Unless it breaks down. L2 at work might be safer.

With the 2016, you shouldn't have any problems for a long while. Enjoy.

 

[jjeff]

Welcome!

You might as well not charge at home much. If you leave home fully charged, you'd miss a lot of regen on the way down.

Agree, ideally I'd leave home at 80% or lower. Not only will they miss out on regen but also put lots more wear on the breaks. With a newer Leaf using B I'd bet they'd hardly have to use the break pedal.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I hope you also got the $7500 Federal incentive, on top of the $4k from Nissan...?

 

[RonDawg]

I have a 53 mile daily round trip commute. I live at 7,000 feet and my office is at 5,400 feet, so I have 1 big highway downhill in the morning, and 1 big climb in the afternoon! Started this morning's drive with 92 miles on the range, and got to the office with 101 miles. I expect my 26 miles on the way home to cost a bit more than that! My employer has a quick charge station, though, so eventually I should be able to charge at work only, and skip the overnight home trickle charge.

Make sure you have a backup plan in case you find that your employer's charging station is down. Having a QC port helps as there's a few of them scattered around the ABQ area, but they're all Greenlots network so sign up for a subscription just in case you have to use it suddenly. Also see if there are any 120 volt outlets in your parking lot, and if so ask if you can use them.

Your situation is perfect for having the "Long Life" 80% mode on your car, as that would allow you to have enough charge for a round trip but still leave enough room in the battery to take advantage of regen, but unfortunately Nissan took that away from us North Americans starting with the 2014 model year.

 

[gltheosEV]

Welcome!


When you say your employer has a quick charge station, you mean the 440 V DC version right? Not a 240V AC level 2? So, you could do a half hour a day and commute just on that? Unless it breaks down. L2 at work might be safer.

Yes, that's the plan. Employer actually has the 240V AC level 2. I plugged in this morning for my 1 hour time limit, and gained 40% charge and 55 mile range (though that will get eaten up pretty quick with the uphill trek home). I tested it out yesterday, and my 26 mile uphill trip home uses 37% charge and 52 miles of range. So if I can use this for at least an hour a day, and possibly plug in the rest of the day on a 120 that are also scattered around the parking garage, I should be good to not even plug in at home.

I also have a greenlots charger and the Nissan dealer on my way home in case I get in a bind....or a number of other employees decide to start using the 240!

 

[gltheosEV]

I hope you also got the $7500 Federal incentive, on top of the $4k from Nissan...?

Yes, also got the $7,500...but unfortunately will not be able to take advantage of until I file 2016 taxes! I figure I'll take the $7,500 when I get it next year, invest it in some renewable energy stocks, and cash it in at the end of the loan to pay it off early. Hopefully the renewable energy stock will appreciate more than the 0% financing for the remaining 4 years I will have at that point!

 

[gltheosEV]

[/b]

Make sure you have a backup plan in case you find that your employer's charging station is down. Having a QC port helps as there's a few of them scattered around the ABQ area, but they're all Greenlots network so sign up for a subscription just in case you have to use it suddenly. Also see if there are any 120 volt outlets in your parking lot, and if so ask if you can use them.

Your situation is perfect for having the "Long Life" 80% mode on your car, as that would allow you to have enough charge for a round trip but still leave enough room in the battery to take advantage of regen, but unfortunately Nissan took that away from us North Americans starting with the 2014 model year.

Yes, backup plan is greenlots quick charge which is actually on my way home. Second backup plan is the Nissan Dealer, who has a level 2 240V available. Dealership gave me an EZ-Charge card, which gets me free charges at the greenlots quick charge station. Got signed up and gave it a test run last weekend. Worked great!

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Employer actually has the 240V AC level 2. I plugged in this morning for my 1 hour time limit, and gained 40% charge and 55 mile range (though that will get eaten up pretty quick with the uphill trek home).

An L2 will give you 5.5-6 kWh in one hour, depending on if it's wired 208V or 240V, so at 4m/kWh, that adds 22-24 miles. But going uphill, may only yield 16.6-18 miles.

The numbers you see on the GOM will be inflated since your last trip was all downhill.

One hour limit? That's hard. No flexibility there?