Which Leaf and EVSE is right for me?

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TargetJ941

Member
Joined
May 28, 2016
Messages
5
Hey all,

Forgive me if I use any incorrect terminology here (e.g. charger) as I am not a leaf owner yet but hope to be in the next week.

I was all but sold on the 2013 Leaf S. It seemed like a great balance between price and mileage for most. I then realized though that the Leaf S doesn't have the quick charge feature though, which I believe could be a game changer in the coming months.

A bit about me...

Currently I have a 2001 Honda Insight (2 seater hybrid) and I live in Chicago. I'm getting transferred to Fort Worth TX and because of the lack of public transportation, I will need a second car. The leaf will mainly be used for my 5 mile commute 4 days a week, plus the odd trip into the city or to dinner/groceries. I'm married and plan on having kids within the next year or so, and that would mean that the leaf could potentially become the family car since my other car is only a 2 seater.

Ok, so now that you know a bit about me and what I'll be using this car for, I have a question regarding the charging.

Do you all believe that it's worth the extra 2k dollars to get the quick charge by upgrading to an SL or SV? What are the differences in all the charging options with the different leafs (a 2016 is out of my price range, I'm hoping to spend less than 12k). Which leafs have which options?
What am I missing that you want to tell a soon to be leaf owner?

Thanks so much for the help, and let me know if you need any more information to help answer my questions :)
 
TargetJ941 said:
Hey all,

Forgive me if I use any incorrect terminology here (e.g. charger) as I am not a leaf owner yet but hope to be in the next week.

I was all but sold on the 2013 Leaf S. It seemed like a great balance between price and mileage for most. I then realized though that the Leaf S doesn't have the quick charge feature though, which I believe could be a game changer in the coming months.

A bit about me...

Currently I have a 2001 Honda Insight (2 seater hybrid) and I live in Chicago. I'm getting transferred to Fort Worth TX and because of the lack of public transportation, I will need a second car. The leaf will mainly be used for my 5 mile commute 4 days a week, plus the odd trip into the city or to dinner/groceries. I'm married and plan on having kids within the next year or so, and that would mean that the leaf could potentially become the family car since my other car is only a 2 seater.

Ok, so now that you know a bit about me and what I'll be using this car for, I have a question regarding the charging.

Do you all believe that it's worth the extra 2k dollars to get the quick charge by upgrading to an SL or SV? What are the differences in all the charging options with the different leafs (a 2016 is out of my price range, I'm hoping to spend less than 12k). Which leafs have which options?
What am I missing that you want to tell a soon to be leaf owner?

Thanks so much for the help, and let me know if you need any more information to help answer my questions :)
You already have a vehicle for long distance driving, so actually you are set for that part. If you need the QC feature to extend long driving distances, then you would need to hunt for the QC version. A 2013 S with no QC just means it uses the 3.3Kw built in charger, so expect about 6 to 8 hour recharge times if you have a L2 station installed at your home. Using the L1 power brick that it comes with (uses the 120v outlet), expect recharge times of 8 to 12 hours (depending on how much you deplete the battery during the day).

Now, the basics aside, I think if you owned a SV or SL before and then went back to the S, you would miss a lot of features. For one, the SV/SL has the heat pump (saves power for heating during winter) along with a lot more features like NAV system, upgraded built in charger (6.6Kw vs 3.3Kw), nicer car features, cruise control, etc. So if you can swing the extra $2k for the SV/SL you will actually enjoy the Leaf even more.

As far as a family car, I've been using my 2013 SV as a family car non-stop and it is great. Child seats install easily (hook system is great), fold down seats, Mp3/Bluetooth audio player, awesome AC during the summer, even better Heat during the winter with heated seats front/back, it is a great family vehicle for trips and with no more maintenance (other than tires and windshield wiper fluid), it saves so much time. My kids are so use to riding in the Leaf they think our ICE is something form the stone age when forced to ride in it. :D
 
True that all the features would be nice, though personally I don't think I would pay the money for them since I wouldn't even quite know what I was missing.

I guess I'm thinking long term. My thoughts are that it's going to start to be easy enough to go over 100 miles using public chargers. Once I get a kid, our long distance vehicle wouldn't be able to handle all of us. With the QC, I'd be able to plan adequately and hopefully avoid having to get another car like a Honda Fit or something.

$2,000 is hard to swallow though when you're planning on paying cash and were counting on $9,500 ;)
 
TargetJ941 said:
Forgive me if I use any incorrect terminology here (e.g. charger) as I am not a leaf owner yet but hope to be in the next week.

I was all but sold on the 2013 Leaf S. It seemed like a great balance between price and mileage for most. I then realized though that the Leaf S doesn't have the quick charge feature though, which I believe could be a game changer in the coming months.

...
Do you all believe that it's worth the extra 2k dollars to get the quick charge by upgrading to an SL or SV? What are the differences in all the charging options with the different leafs (a 2016 is out of my price range, I'm hoping to spend less than 12k). Which leafs have which options?
What am I missing that you want to tell a soon to be leaf owner?
knightmb is correct. '13+ Leaf S CAN have the Quick Charge inlet (CHAdeMO inlet) as part of the charge package (which also adds the 6.x kW OBC).

Moving up to a '13 to '15 SV will NOT give you the CHAdeMO inlet. You need to have the QC + LED headlight package for that. The '13 SL WILL come w/the CHAdeMO inlet though. '13 SV and SL will get you the 6.x kW on-board charger though.

You can see the trim levels and options/packages at the specs tab of http://nissannews.com/en-US/nissan/usa/presskits/us-2013-nissan-leaf-press-kit.

SL w/premium would be a fully loaded Leaf.

6.x kW OBC will speed up charging on L2 EVSEs that are above 16 amps. Most public L2 EVSEs tend to be 30 amp.

As for "Do you all believe that it's worth the extra 2k dollars to get the quick charge". For me, no. I had leased a Leaf '13 SV w/premium AND QC + LED packages for years. When it went back at end of lease, I bought a used '13 SV w/premium only because QC + LED would've been another $1K to $1.5K, which I didn't consider worth it.

I've griped about why at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=445110#p445110 and the posts I linked to there.

I have a pointing to my used buying saga and price at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=432095#p432095.

Used Leaf prices had gone up after I bought, for some reason. I recently checked w/the used car dealer I bought from as to price, as a coworker is possibly interested. He said that at auction (this is the SF Bay Area), '13 S w/no packages is $6500 to $7000 at auction and '13 SV w/o packages is ~$7500. But you need to add auction fees (mine was $325). His markup is $1K on top of that. However, every market is different. And, if you go to a Nissan dealer, their markups (above auction) are usually huge.
 
If I understand correctly, the original poster wants a Leaf for short trip use now, with possible long trips later on. That means that the Leaf S with 3.3kw charger would be fine now, and inadequate later on. A Leaf SV with QC but no Premium Package would probably serve the family much better over time, especially in the Chicago area...
 
Just look for a S with the charger package, it's what I have and really like it. In my area anyway basically all the S models had the charger package, the dealer I bought mine from said they only ordered S models with that option although they could have ordered in without if I insisted. I really like my S model and don't miss anything, some of my family members do miss cruise control though.
As others have said with your short commute you probably don't need the charger package but if you really want it, that model should be available if you look.
 
I don't think any Leaf is right for you.

It seems you keep your cars a long time - 2001 insight

Leaf battery will be toast in a few years due to the heat in TX and lack of an active thermal management system.

Suggest a volt or focus electric.
 
I have a 2015 S with the 6.6 charger and quick charge port. I liked getting the cheapest electric car possible, with all of the important stuff the high trim cars have. I can live with using a bit more electricity for the heater.

Also I got lucky getting some brand new alloy wheels and tire from a junk yard from a wrecked new Leaf.

The way I figured it, I saved enough to pay for the next battery...
 
Thanks for all the replies. I ended up gettin a '12 SL with only 14k miles. Now I just need to figure out which charging stations are compatible while planning trips...
 
TargetJ941 said:
Thanks for all the replies. I ended up gettin a '12 SL with only 14k miles. Now I just need to figure out which charging stations are compatible while planning trips...

For 208/240 volt charging (L2), almost all non-Tesla public charging stations will be compatible with the J1772 connector that your car (and any non-Tesla plug-in of the recent era) uses. I say "almost" because there are a few legacy charging stations out there from the GM EV-1 era which uses paddle chargers or AVCON connectors. But those are extremely rare, even more rare than a CCS quick charge station :lol:

Speaking of quick charge, your car is only compatible with CHAdeMO quick charge stations. Besides Tesla, CHAdeMO is by far the most prevalent quick charge connector in the US, though increasingly public charging vendors are putting in dual CHAdeMO/CCS quick charge stations.

PlugShare is your friend. It will tell you not only where these stations are located, but what kind of connector, what network it belongs to, and whether there is a charge or not.
 
TargetJ941 said:
Thanks for all the replies. I ended up gettin a '12 SL with only 14k miles. Now I just need to figure out which charging stations are compatible while planning trips...

You have it right about planning trips. Today a guy in a pickup rolled his window down to ask me in a parking lot about range. I told him my best was 86 miles. He told me that must make me nervous all the time. I said you plan your trips like a flight plan and then you know how it will go.
Best of luck with LEAF and move and family!
 
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