The Dealer told me not to buy a Leaf

[ksnogas2112]

1. You will not get 80 miles on a charge in the winter. Period. No exceptions. If all the driving is city driving you can expect no more than 60 miles during the winter at least that's what I've been getting in KC and that's with the heat off.

2. There are quite a few public charging stations in the Chicago area including 12 ChaDEmo devices. They may or may not be within walking distance of your client or park and take the EL, L, train.

https://na.chargepoint.com/index.php/charge_point" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.plugshare.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Be sure you get the 6.6 kWh charger for your situation.

Let us know what you choose.

 

[Reddy]

Hi everyone,
Thanks for your support. I will not buy a new vehicle until the fall so that leaves me plenty of time to read and check out all my options. I do like the Leaf but I wish the X-terra was a hybrid, that would be my dream truck. I will study and test drive all of the cars and trucks everyone suggested.

Since you have some time, continue your LEAF research here on the forum.
Start with the Wiki: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

I suggest you start a mileage log, or update the one you are required to keep for your business mileage deductions. Include trip #, start/stop odometer, start/stop time, location, time at location, distance to charging station (L1/L2/QC), especially note your time at or near charging stations, including lunch breaks. Also, include temperature/weather/wind if you can. I'll hazard a guess at 20% days <20 mi, 40% <30 mi, 60% <40 mi, 80% <50 mi, 90% <60 mi, 95% <70 mi, 99% <75 mi. I'll also guess 20% day <1 hr break, 60% <2hr, 80%<3hr, 90%<4hr, etc. Guess at the intersection of the mileage and break times. Unfortunately, there's probably an inverse correlation of miles driven with break times because you're driving instead of breaking. You'd need some probabilistic calculations, overkill for sure, to be more certain, but you get the idea. You may be surprised by the result. Here's another newbie's epiphany:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=11318&hilit=portland&start=10#p261574

1. You will not get 80 miles on a charge in the winter. Period. No exceptions. If all the driving is city driving you can expect no more than 60 miles during the winter at least that's what I've been getting in KC and that's with the heat off.

Nope, can't be done. http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=7634&p=243033&hilit=cold#p243033
Not that I recommend it for daily driving. This was a 2011 without the cold weather package and heat off.

Also, you need to evaluate your susceptibility to cold (not that I think anyone in Chicago would be). Are you always bundled up, cold, hot, etc.? Many men & women report wide differences between their use and requirement to use the heater. If you require heat blasting (as I do on my 8 mi RT commute), then no, you will not be able to drive more than 40-50 mi in the depth of winter.

Battery degradation is known to mostly come from high ambient temps, number of charge/discharge cycles (roughly miles driven), and rate of charge/discharge (QC, hard acceleration/braking, high speeds). Chicago will not see degradation like AZ, TX, and FL. I would not expect more than 5-10% degradation for years, unless you are harder on the battery than the average driver. I'm in a similar climate and have not seen more than 5%, although most of my driving is <40 mph in town, and only slow charging. As always, your experience will be different.

Finally, please let us know more about your evaluation and experiences. That's how these forums work. It's a community with two-way communication. We're all interested in reducing gas consumption and increasing EV miles, whether by pure EV (Leaf, RAV4, FFE, Tesla), EREV (Volt), PiP, or hybrid. Everyone's driving situation is different and may require a completely different vehicle. My preference is pure EV, but that only works because I live in a small town and have an older ICE vehicle for longer cross-state trips. I could have easily went with the Volt or PiP and still had all my in-town miles be EV-only. Very few can say this because the PiP has less than 15 mi EV, and then only when driven "carefully".

Reddy

 

[laurend1985]

I want the car because I like how it looks and I don't want to use gasoline but it seems like I should wait another year or two to see if the car can get 100 miles for a 4 to 6 hour charge.

 

[TonyWilliams]

I want the car because I like how it looks and I don't want to use gasoline but it seems like I should wait another year or two to see if the car can get 100 miles for a 4 to 6 hour charge.

In Nissan's imagination, this already is the 100 mile car, and they get lots of CARB ZEV credits (that they can sell) with their "100 mile" EV with fast charging capability.

If the battery comes down in price, they will continue to get ready for the upcoming day when they have made 200,000 units and lose the $7500 federal tax credit per car. So, making the car have a longer range will likely be fairly low on the overall list of things to do.

That doesn't mean that there won't be optional battery packs (as Tesla does) for slightly longer range in the coming year or three.

 

[cwerdna]

I want the car because I like how it looks and I don't want to use gasoline but it seems like I should wait another year or two to see if the car can get 100 miles for a 4 to 6 hour charge.

In Nissan's imagination, this already is the 100 mile car, and they get lots of CARB ZEV credits (that they can sell) with their "100 mile" EV with fast charging capability.

Yeah, I'd say that Tony's basically on the mark.

Ghosn has referred to the Leaf as being a 100 mile vehicle. (At the 26 min mark of http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/10718" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; from 09, he talks about 100 miles for the US.) Nissan reps at auto shows have made "100 mile" claims (http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=11201" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false. :roll: And from http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1226" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, sure the Leaf got 100 miles on the LA4 cycle. Most people don't realize that the average speed of that test is 19.59 mph.

It really is too bad that those outside CA really don't have many significantly longer range pure BEV choices other than going w/a much pricier Tesla Model S. If only the Rav4 EV didn't have potential probs if it needs work on the Tesla bits outside CA or if someone else (viable, meaning not Coda) stepped up w/a longer range EV, possibly as an option (meaning optional larger pack).

 

[Herm]

Its a 100 mile city vehicle, stay off the hwy and you will see.. Yes sacrilege, I know

 

[GRA]

Given Chicago winters, I would personally wait on the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. 30+ miles EV only (under ideal conditions); ICE backup; and AWD. That would be the best vehicle for you, IMHO.

As the XTerra is the OP's dream truck, I agree with mwalsh: you really should wait a few months beyond the fall (Jan.? 2014) to check out the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Its a 100 mile city vehicle, stay off the hwy and you will see.. Yes sacrilege, I know

Telling the unknowing unwashed masses "it goes 100 miles" is an entirely different statement than "it can go 100 miles during an indoor climate controlled government laboratory test averaging 19.59 mph".

No sacrilege if you specify the parameters.