Advice on QC package

Thank you for all the valuable information on this forum. I am looking for user opinions on upgrading to the QC package on an Sv. There are just a handful of QC stations in the south Eastern Pa region. Most of my driving in the leaf would be local and work is less than 10 miles away so the car will serve my normal needs. However, we head to the mountains often in the Summer. We have a second car that will get us there but I dream of making the trip in a leaf for a fraction of what it costs us in the other car. The trip is 150 miles but there are no QC options along the way. Allentown would be the area to charge in. Is the QC worth the investment with the hopes the a QC option will come available in the future or should I just save my money?

You planning to own or lease? If the latter, for how long?

I haven't had a chance to look at the CHAdeMO infrastructure in your area (and I gotta hit the sack) but despite having a non-0 # of them in the SF Bay Area, for my uses, I've gone back to the port being almost useless/waste of money.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=15616" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; complained about the Blink DC FCs and L2 EVSEs in the Bay Area in January 2014. I've made some comments at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=341755#p341755" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Unless my spreadsheet's wrong, the last time I used my CHAdeMO port was in May 2014. It really depends on one's use cases and the infrastructure in your area.

If you're going to get a '15 Leaf, since unfortunately, on the SV the two packages are mutually exclusive, if there's little hope of much reliable CHAdeMO infrastrcture, I'd go for the premium package instead. I have both packages (was possible on the '13) and LOVE the Around View Monitor and am enjoying the Bose stereo, even though I'm NO fan of Bose.

QC is a good future proofing.

My situation - no QCs in NC when I bought in 3/13. So I didn't get the option.

Today, there are 2 within 5 miles of my house and one at a mall 15 miles away. There are about 7 in the state last I checked.

My commute is 10 miles or so.

With degradation (not yet significant), the QC option would be good for the unusual situations. Basically if I was running around town and forget something at home, I could stop by the QC for 15 minutes and get a bump.

We have a vacation house 125 miles away. There is a Nissan dealer about midway but last I checked didn't have a QC. Not much of an issue since we would rarely take the Leaf. The speed limit is 70 for a stretch with traffic running 75-80. Between having to cut speed and QC, it would add a lot to the trip and I would have to be by myself.

So do it if you are buying and plan on keeping for awhile. If you are leasing - tough to say.

There were no QCs in Colorado until early in 2014. If you had asked me whether the QC ports on our LEAFs were worth it a year ago I would have said no. Now both cars have quick charged over 30 times. Longer trips have become practical because we can QC on the way back.

And while not a factor if you are leasing, locally I understand that used LEAFs without a QC are much harder to sell.

I went with the QC Pkg on the 'S' simply because I felt as the battery degrades ( and I cannot make my regular commute to work), I can take advantage of the one (so far) QC in our area to make the battery last a bit longer.

There is one dealer in our area with 3 2013's on the lot, none of them have QC ports. Two of those just came in, the 3rd (with only 600 miles on it) has been on the lot for over 3 months so far.

I recommend the QC package. The infrastructure is growing all over the place and unless a new standard (i.e. Tesla's?) takes over I expect we'll be able to use them.

With short commutes you may never "need" it ,but it certainly could help enable you to do things otherwise impossible. Example - I had to drop my daughter off at an event that required about 70 RT. I could have waited there (all day) and come home, or drive to drop off then pick up. At any rate, what I ended up doing is the latter - I drove her there then came back to my local Nissan dealership and arrived with about 4% remaining (cold day btw) and used the QC to bring the car over 80%. Sat there for about 45-50 minutes all said and done (was enjoying the peace time to listen to radio etc). Then went home and plugged in to top it off to 100%. Once it was time to go get her the car was ready at full and I picked her up and got home (warmed up a bit so got home with over 10% remaining). I don't believe I could have done that timing with home charging only. Had this not been an option to QC I could have switched to ICE vehicle or just stayed in her area (in fact several L2 chargers scattered about that I could have used to boost too).

Anyway - I was glad to have been able to use the Leaf for both drop off and pick up and get the time home in between. All in all (including a couple side trips) I put over 150 miles on the car that day which is unusual for us as we generally on drive about 80 at most in a single day.

Greggorylane said:

Thank you for all the valuable information on this forum. I am looking for user opinions on upgrading to the QC package on an Sv. There are just a handful of QC stations in the south Eastern Pa region. Most of my driving in the leaf would be local and work is less than 10 miles away so the car will serve my normal needs. However, we head to the mountains often in the Summer. We have a second car that will get us there but I dream of making the trip in a leaf for a fraction of what it costs us in the other car. The trip is 150 miles but there are no QC options along the way. Allentown would be the area to charge in. Is the QC worth the investment with the hopes the a QC option will come available in the future or should I just save my money?

Click to expand...

QC is a nice option that can help make longer trips feasible but not necessarily cheap. The days of free charging are fading away so expect to pay $5 or more for a quick-charge, for maybe 50 miles of range. So that's 10cents/mile for "fuel"; not very much different than a gasoline car.

To me though, it's not about saving money on a trip but that it enables me to use my "daily driver" for wider uses, all while avoiding gasoline and driving electric. I've used the QC a number of times including a trip from SF to LA and back. Was the option "worth it"? Depends on your perspective.

Iirc, the QC package on the SV includes the LED headlamps, which are a worthwhile option, imo. You'll enjoy better lighting every time you drive at night. Personally, I'd get the package just for that.

For me with a 2011 LEAF QC has made a big difference in the usability.
With capacity degradation range to make the round trip to and from downtown in cold weather is getting marginal.
Fortunately Mountain View Nissan downtown added free QC in December 2013.
Has made trips like the one to Signal Mountain for robotics judging much easier with the LEAF.
Would have been possible with L2, but much easier and faster with QC.

Even though short range electric vehicles like the LEAF are mostly charged at home, having QC in the local area makes a big difference in their functionality.

I would buy QC and hope and pray some get added in your area.

What everyone is overlooking is with the QC package in 2013 and later Leafs the L2 internal charger charges at 27.5A instead of 16A. I may never use a Quick Charger but I use the enhanced L2 charging.

GlennD said:

What everyone is overlooking is with the QC package in 2013 and later Leafs the L2 internal charger charges at 27.5A instead of 16A. I may never use a Quick Charger but I use the enhanced L2 charging.

Click to expand...

The 6.6kW L2 charging? I thought that was standard on SV and SL for 2014/15, and in the charge package (that includes the DCQC) only on the S.

If you want to buy it aspirationally do it.

If you plan on the Leaf being your only car, then definitely get QC, then prepare yourself for a bit of adventure. If you have a second reliable car for longer trips, then don't bother. It will never pay for itself doing just a couple longer trips per year, and the extra headache of planning and waiting at charge stations just is not worth it compared to just driving your other car.

My advice would be to either lease for a couple years or buy used so you more easily have your options open in a couple years when the rumored Leaf 2.0 comes out with likely 2x the range. A 150 mile Leaf with QC makes a lot of sense, the current Leaf with QC only makes sense for a small minority of folks.

For the record, my used 2011 SL has never had a QC in its life. The 2 opportunities for trips with QC would require dealing with the Aerovironment chargers that require calling for non-members (or paying a fixed $20/mo membership). It was just much hassle for what really should just be a credit card swipe, so we instead took the other car and spent the same on gas as we would have for the 3 charging sessions.

Got QC on my new 2015SV and use it way more than I thought I would. Of course two years free charging that Nissan includes now really helps with that. It makes longer trips possible, and sometimes I just charge for 10-15 minutes to get enough to make it home.

GlennD said:

What everyone is overlooking is with the QC package in 2013 and later Leafs the L2 internal charger charges at 27.5A instead of 16A. I may never use a Quick Charger but I use the enhanced L2 charging.

Click to expand...

You are confusing the S model with all the models. Only the S has 3.3kw charging from 2013 on, so only the S charges faster (on L-2) with the QC option. The SV and SL both have the 6.6kw chargers as standard equipment.

If you opt for QC, none will be installed near you.

If you don't opt for it, ten will be installed.

DNAinaGoodWay said:

If you opt for QC, none will be installed near you.

If you don't opt for it, ten will be installed.

Click to expand...

...and they will all be free to use. Bwaahhaaa!

Anecdotally, I'll add that we bought our 2011 with a QC port in March 2012 but there were no QCs anywhere around at the time. Now there are several, some free, some expensive. We have only used them a total of four times now, but they are very handy to have around.

BTW, I have come to believe that the most useful QCs for a LEAF are the ones about 40 miles from home, or perhaps a bit more. That allows you to discharge the battery enough so that the quick charger can be the most effective while extending your range a decent amount. We are fortunate that the two closest QCs are 40 to 50 miles away in two different directions corresponding to where we often need to travel. I used a free QC twice last weekend to make an excursion which would have been either very stressful or would have required long stops at L2 without it. (Thanks to Mom's Organic Market!)

Bottom line: I recommend that you get the package which includes the QC port.