Help!! LEAF as a 30 mile to and from work daily driver in Texas?

Hello guys!

I'm currently driving an integra as my daily driver and I now have all the parts I need to stop daily driving it and convert to a track car. I've been planning and really wanting a LEAF as my daily as I build the Honda. My only concern is, is it a good idea to daily drive a LEAF every day to and from work? I live in the DFW Texas so weather is not too bad so I don't need the heater that much. And it's about a 30 mile trip to work and back home.

Any answer will help! Thank you guys!

-Danny Trinh

Dannytrinh said:

... is it a good idea to daily drive a LEAF every day to and from work? ...

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Excellent idea. You will smile when you pass the pump and realize you don't have to fill up and the money stays in your pocket. You might also find the low end torque cool and the no vibration drive luxurious.

Also another thing. I live in an apartment complex so I don't have anywhere to charge it over night. What's the best option? Leave it at a charging station for a few hours when I'm not using the car? I'm most likely buying a LEAF from my work because we sell many cars, and we have a charging area but it's used for the for sale. So I just need a back up option in case they don't let employees use the station.

Thanks a bunch!!

Can you plug into a 120 volt outlet at work, and use the L2 (208/240 volt) charging station when it's not in use? If you don't have a reliable non-public place to charge, an electric vehicle is not going to work for you. By relying on public charging stations, you run a good chance of the station being in-use (especially if it's free), or broken, or ICEd (occupied by a non-plug-in car). Plus if it is a for-pay charging station, you may well end up spending as much as if not more in "fuel" as a high MPG regular car.

I don't recommend that anyone without a guaranteed charging station at either home or work get an EV. Leaving your vehicle blocking a public charger all day isn't a good option. Even if you buy a model with the 6.6 kW charger, you are going to need almost 1.5 hours of charge EVERY DAY. If you buy the S model with the 3.3 kW charger, double that. Is there any way they could give you an outlet to charge from at work? Trickle charging for 8 hours would be more than enough.

keydiver said:

I don't recommend that anyone without a guaranteed charging station at either home or work get an EV. Leaving your vehicle blocking a public charger all day isn't a good option. Even if you by a model with the 6.6 kW charger, you are going to need almost 1.5 hours of charge EVERY DAY. If you buy the S model with the 3.3 kW charger, double that. Is there any way they could give you an outlet to charge from at work? Trickle charging for 8 hours would be more than enough.

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I am unclear whether the OP has a TOTAL of 30 mile commute or 30 mile EACH way. If its 60 mile total and no access at home he would need around 20 hours for trickle charging, which is not feasible. I usually got around 3 miles/hour on 110v charging.

Danny,

In short, no. Don't do it without a reliable and accessible way to charge your car. The previous owner of my 2015 LEAF tried to do what you are trying to do and failed, selling the car back to the dealership after only 225 miles. :shock:

If you have a reliable and accessible way of charging your car, then go for it. For example, if you move from your apartment to a rental house (there are plenty here in the DFW area!), then you will love this car.

All of this advice helps a lot everyone! I'm still considering it because they might allow me to charge the LEAF at the charging station in the back because I work at Vroom.com. We have another employee there that bought a LEAF and daily drives it, so I'll also ask him if he charges it at work.

And to Epirali, I meant that the drive to work is 15 miles, and the drive back is 15 miles. So about 30 miles a day.


Thank you all~

Dannytrinh said:

All of this advice helps a lot everyone! I'm still considering it because they might allow me to charge the LEAF at the charging station in the back because I work at Vroom.com. We have another employee there that bought a LEAF and daily drives it, so I'll also ask him if he charges it at work.

And to Epirali, I meant that the drive to work is 15 miles, and the drive back is 15 miles. So about 30 miles a day.


Thank you all~

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In that case you very well may be able to charge the car from 110v for 12 hours each night and be fine.

Update: Asked one of my coworkers that also daily drive's his LEAF. He says he doesn't charge at home. He charges at a Cracker Barrel eVgo station that is only 2.3 miles from my apartment.

And I'll only be driving this LEAF to work and back. So exactly 30 miles a day total.

Still a good idea to buy a LEAF?

Oops, sorry I got that wrong. It's a 10 mile drive to work and 10 miles back.
20 miles a day for Tuesday-Saturday every week.

Seems doable as long as you don't mind the hassle of having to charge away from home. With only a 20 mile commute, you might even get away with skipping days here and there. If you get the 6.6kW charger, even an hour on the work plug would put you in a good place.

I might have not read the post close enough, but you stated your coworker doesn't charge at work. But have you asked your boss of you can charge at work. Because really that would be the easiest way to go about it.

Nothing wrong with asking.

Good luck.

Dannytrinh said:

Update: Asked one of my coworkers that also daily drive's his LEAF. He says he doesn't charge at home. He charges at a Cracker Barrel eVgo station that is only 2.3 miles from my apartment.

And I'll only be driving this LEAF to work and back. So exactly 30 miles a day total.

Still a good idea to buy a LEAF?

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Check Plugshare to see how reliable that station is and to find an alternate station.
Visit the cracker barrel at the time you plan to be be charging and see if there is a line. You will need the QC option so you don't have to be there for hours.

I would do that without any hesitation. Plenty of QCs in the area. I frequently go from Denton to DFW (3 legs before charging at Grapevine Mills) or HEB area. Do you work with Leatherwood? If you do and have questions get my number from him. I may even let you borrow one for a day or so to make sure it works.

Everestsdad, I did work with Leatherwood, but he left Vroom a few weeks ago. Didn't want to ask him why, in case it was personal.