Is the Leaf a valid option for weekly 300 mile round trips.

I am considering buying a Nissan Leaf to combat gas prices as I will be driving between Seattle and Vancouver (150 miles each way) every weekend for the foreseeable future (child visitation). Given the quoted range of 80 miles and quick chargers that exist at the halfway point (75 miles) and destination, this purchase "seems" valid. I was just curious if real world conditions will prove frustrating if I make this purchase.

Thanks!

Depends on if you're ok with adding 3 hours on to the commute even under the best conditions. If you're talking about running the car to that close to 0, you won't see QC take less than 45 minutes to an hour. That's if QC is consistently available where you are. They are often broken or ICE'd or in use. If you get that 70 miles out from home with no QC option, you're now looking at hours of L2 charging to get anywhere.

Just look at your route and figure out multiple options. It's possible, I've been doing something similar lately, but I'll admit it's tiring and really has begun to drag out the trip enough that I'm going to be switching over to my ICE for those journeys until our QC infrastructure is improved.

For a regular trip, I might say yes once they come out with a 36kwh (or greater) LEAF. And that's only with the quickcharge midway of the 150 leg.



For a one-off trip, sure, take your time and have fun.

Consider a Prius PHEV. Not much EV range but you can get 60 MPG with it over that distance.

About the only way I'd consider it is if you had multiple DCQC stations - say at about each 50 miles. This way you could not only make it now a bit faster (once you are up to 80% the charge will slow dramatically), but down the road (ha) once battery starts to degrade you will still make it.

Consider these scenarios (assuming 60mph average for easy math):

1 Stop: Start full, drive 75 miles and arrive at LBW to charge. Get to 80% in 30 minutes, then up to 95% in another hour (?). Drive remaining 75 miles and arrive at LBW (do you have a charger there?) - total time: 150min drive + 90 charge = 240 minutes (4hrs)

2 Stops: Start full, drive 50 miles to charge, arrive at about 40%, get up to 80% in about 20 minutes, drive next 50 miles in 50 minutes, arrive at about 10% - charge to 80% in about 30 minutes, drive last 50 miles and arrive at LBW - total time: 150min drive, 50 minutes charge = 200 minutes (3hr 20 min).

0 Stops, ICE: Drive 150 miles, arrive and be there: total time = 2.5 hrs.

I think that trip is a good ICE trip - get a range extended PHEV if you want to get there and back in decent time and be somewhat electric. If this is visitation, that extra hour each way could add up to valuable time....

No: not what a Leaf was intended to do.

That would be two QCs each way for me, especially if it is raining or cold. If the QC you want is not available, then you would be waiting longer, no thanks. I would not do it with a LEAF. It would get old really fast. I drive 75 miles to/from (150 total) Portland sometimes on the weekends, and that is with a QC at 27 miles in.

spendlesslivebetter said:

I am considering buying a Nissan Leaf to combat gas prices as I will be driving between Seattle and Vancouver (150 miles each way) every weekend for the foreseeable future (child visitation). Given the quoted range of 80 miles and quick chargers that exist at the halfway point (75 miles) and destination, this purchase "seems" valid. I was just curious if real world conditions will prove frustrating if I make this purchase.

Thanks!

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75 miles of range at highway speeds is pushing the limits of the Leaf, you do know that the chademo will only charge you to about 80% so unless you can find QCs are 50 to 60 miles apart I think your plans are unfeasible. you could consider a tesla, volt/elr, or an I3 with a REX

I have made the trip once (Battleground rather than Vancouver). Some things to consider:
1. As said before quick charge is setup for 80%, while 100% can be done, it is no longer
a quick charge, so no 80 miles.
2. speed limit south of Olympia is 70mph, if you go 70 you get like 3.3 miles per Kwh, so
again no 80 miles.
3. You would be using the AV chargers for quick charge, and while these are placed well
including in back corners where they are unlikely to be ICE'd, if you are using the one in
Castle Rock as you midpoint, there is the problem that if it goes down there are no other
chargers in the area, so your plan B would be very ugly, A small town, so only 1 hotel, or a tow to
Vancouver. This I view as the big risk item. The time I did the trip, I had a back up of another
car going to the same place.
4. The current charge for AV is $20 a month, which is fine if you use all AV, though in Vancouver
you may have to switch to another provider.

Yeah, you can do it. You'd get yourself an Aerovironment card for $20 a month and stop in Burlington, Bellingham, and ideally some place right across the border, though you don't totally need to to get to Vancouver proper. You don't want to do more than 50-60 miles per leg, since that will require you charging past 80%, which is where charging starts to slow down. So at least 2 stops for 150 miles are needed.

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People will tell you not to do it, but you totally can; you just need to know what you're in for. There's a possibility that a quick charger is down and you need to sit for an hour while you charge at L2. Or it's in use and you need to wait. Even worse would be if you couldn't find anything that was working and needed to get a tow. That said, Aerovironment chargers are _not_ like the chargers in the rest of the country. In my experience, they are _almost_ always operational. I've never been burned and I use them a lot. And if one is down, it's not likely you're the first to find out about it: it'll show as down on Plugshare and you can use a gas car instead that time. I just went from Portland to Astoria (with the whole family) and it was great. And I met another couple in their Leaf who was heading to Astoria from Bend! They said it was a great trip; no problems.

So, it's more of an adventure, but I'll still take it over every other form of transportation other than driving a gasser. The train/bus takes forever, and gets delayed. Flying costs a fortune and is still longer than driving a Leaf with security and all that mess.

You'll save about $25 per trip vs a Prius. The Aerovironment membership is $20, so that means you save $80 a month, not counting any local driving you do. Probably not worth it unless you're like me and just love the adventure or it all.

Also, only do it if you're alone in the car. Get stranded for a hour is really not bad if you're alone and not on a strict schedule. Pretty relaxing to hang in the car and read a good book. It's not being stuck in traffic. But, if your son or daughter is with you, that hour will be miserable! Even the 20-minute charging stops will turn into a pain in the ass. Stopping a moving car will wake up a sleeping child. Not fun!

I just realized that half of us in here think you're going to Canada and the other half think Vancouver, WA. Pretty tricky to figure out, since both are 150 miles from Seattle!

I would have to say pass. Even the RAV4-EV would come up a bit short.
Only reliable EV is Tesla for this distance.

Don't risk issues with visitation....

spendlesslivebetter said:

I am considering buying a Nissan Leaf to combat gas prices as I will be driving between Seattle and Vancouver (150 miles each way) every weekend for the foreseeable future (child visitation). Given the quoted range of 80 miles and quick chargers that exist at the halfway point (75 miles) and destination, this purchase "seems" valid. I was just curious if real world conditions will prove frustrating if I make this purchase.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Do you want to combat the gas prices on that drive or in your daily use? If you drive a lot for other uses what about a volt? If 38miles gets your daily driving done without any gas then on the 300 mile round trips you're at 224 miles on gas, or 6 gal with a charge at both ends. If you're willing to stop and charge along the way on level 2 once for 4hrs each way you can get it down to 4 gal.

A prius on gas the whole way will be about 6 gal. Prius is regular and volt is premium. So to make them cost the same you only have to stop to charge the volt long enough to cover that difference. That's probably the time you'd stop for a bathroom break and food anyways.

The volt will let you do it on electricity only if the chargers are close enough and if you are willing to spend the whole day travelling, it will also let you say "F" it I'm late and I'm going 70mph the whole way.

I race go carts with a guy with a volt, he says in good weather he can easily do 55 miles. To do 55 miles that's the same type of driving you would NEED to do in the leaf just to make it.

The new volt will be shown in January. If they meet 60 miles electric and 50mpg on gas that will mean 3.6gal with a full charge at each end or 1.2gal with 1 charge stop each way. It will also mean not buying used and paying full interest rates and full purchase price so there's little savings.

You are in for a bitter disappointment if you attempt it on a regular basis with the Leaf.

TomT said:

You are in for a bitter disappointment if you attempt it on a regular basis with the Leaf.

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+1

I would recommend getting an EV with an EPA range of at least 175 miles for such a trip. There is a Tesla here now like that and there may be more options in a few years.

Thanks for all the quick replies. I'll be going to Vancouver, BC, Canada. It seems pretty clear to me that the Leaf in not the answer (or the new e-golf). Especially since many weekends, I'll be driving my son down to spend the weekend in Seattle. I'm waiting for the new Tesla Model 3, and was hoping the Leaf or e-golf could be a 36 month lease stopgap solution. I'm going to start researching Hybrids and TDIs now...

Thanks again!

spendlesslivebetter said:

Thanks for all the quick replies. I'll be going to Vancouver, BC, Canada. It seems pretty clear to me that the Leaf in not the answer (or the new e-golf). Especially since many weekends, I'll be driving my son down to spend the weekend in Seattle. I'm waiting for the new Tesla Model 3, and was hoping the Leaf or e-golf could be a 36 month lease stopgap solution. I'm going to start researching Hybrids and TDIs now...

Thanks again!

Click to expand...

you'll be waiting a long time for a model 3, consider getting a volt in the interim

apvbguy said:

spendlesslivebetter said:

Thanks for all the quick replies. I'll be going to Vancouver, BC, Canada. It seems pretty clear to me that the Leaf in not the answer (or the new e-golf). Especially since many weekends, I'll be driving my son down to spend the weekend in Seattle. I'm waiting for the new Tesla Model 3, and was hoping the Leaf or e-golf could be a 36 month lease stopgap solution. I'm going to start researching Hybrids and TDIs now...

Thanks again!

Click to expand...

you'll be waiting a long time for a model 3, consider getting a volt in the interim

Click to expand...

Better yet, a Prius. The Volt will use more gas than a Prius driving 150 miles. And it'll be premium.

spendlesslivebetter said:

Thanks for all the quick replies. I'll be going to Vancouver, BC, Canada. It seems pretty clear to me that the Leaf in not the answer (or the new e-golf). Especially since many weekends, I'll be driving my son down to spend the weekend in Seattle. I'm waiting for the new Tesla Model 3, and was hoping the Leaf or e-golf could be a 36 month lease stopgap solution. I'm going to start researching Hybrids and TDIs now...

Thanks again!

Click to expand...

Since you'll be crossing the border a lot remember a TDI, like any ICE car will have 0% efficeincy waiting in line. Even most stop start systems won't allow you to run climate control and radio for that long.

I would also say that you are more likely to be able to get a high millage used model S for Model iii money before the model iii comes out.

How old is your Son?