Volt owner with a few questions.

Hi, I have a Volt and love the car. My wife doesn't like driving it however (she thinks it's too big, bad visibility and we made mistake of no backup camera). Anyway, we are considering another electric to add to our fleet (2008 Prius, 2014 Subaru Impreza). We like the ride, room, versatility, fit and finish of the Leaf.

I am confused on the different ports on the Leaf. I have a 220 volt L2 charger at my home for the Volt (charges in 4 hours). How long will it take on the Leaf for a full charge? Also, there seems to be a 6 megawatt charger or something people are talking about. Will that work with my L2? How long for that charge?

The Chmod charge port. That seems to be for a commercial-only charger. That gives an 80% charge in 30 min. So all charges that use that port will do the super fast charge?

When people talk of the charge bars missing, it's the bars on the Guess-o-meter, yes? So there seems to be 12 bars when new. What would a Leaf's general range be on 10 bars? I found a few used SVs with 10 bars.

With the Volt, I have driven about 35k miles and don't see much degradation of battery. I still get 40 miles and can get 50 driving around town. Almost the same as new three years ago. What's the life of the Leaf's battery realistically? What are Leaf owners getting on batteries with 60, 70, 100k miles?

Finally, it seems many have suggested only charging to 80% and not draining down below 20% to protect the battery. That takes 40% off the range, as I understand. So now I will have a car with only 40 miles of range? If that's the only way to prolong the battery, I'll probably wait for the next gen Leaf to come out.

Thanks for all your help. This is a great forum.

voltiar said:

I am confused on the different ports on the Leaf. I have a 220 volt L2 charger at my home for the Volt (charges in 4 hours). How long will it take on the Leaf for a full charge? Also, there seems to be a 6 megawatt charger or something people are talking about. Will that work with my L2? How long for that charge?</span>

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To answer how long it will take to charge the leaf, you'll need to know how many amps the EVSE is. (The pedants will like to point out that what you have isn't a charger; the charger is onboard the car. What is mounted at your house is just an EVSE, which is a fancy way of saying it's an intelligent power source.) The base model leaf has a 3.3kW charger onboard, which will charge in about 7 hours from empty to 100% (20 kWh usable / 3.3 kW = 6 hours + time to balance cell voltage). That is your maximum time to charge, and that draws a little under 15 amps. The 6.6kW charger will charge in about 4 hours (20 kWh / 6.6 kW = 3 hours + time to balance cell voltage). That requires a L2 charger that can supply 30 amps.

Either way, it will work with your existing EVSE, it's just a matter of how long it takes to charge.

The Chmod charge port. That seems to be for a commercial-only charger. That gives an 80% charge in 30 min. So all charges that use that port will do the super fast charge?

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The CHAdeMO port is only for DC quick charge. Not all chargers (these really are chargers, not just an EVSE) are created equal and some will supply more power than others, but nominally it can go from low battery to 80% in a half hour. Beyond 80% that it can take longer because it can't charge as quickly, so it's not typically intended for charging a car more than that. But you are correct that anything which provides the CHAdeMO connector will do the quick charge.

When people talk of the charge bars missing, it's the bars on the Guess-o-meter, yes? So there seems to be 12 bars when new. What would a Leaf's general range be on 10 bars? I found a few used SVs with 10 bars.

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There's 2 sets of bars on the right of the dash, under the GoM. The large ones indicate the current charge level, and the little ones indicate the battery health. No matter the health, the large ones will always go up to 12. With 10 bars, the battery is degraded anywhere from 21% to 28%, which means a loss of 4.2 to 5.6 kWh, reducing the range to 53-58 miles freeway (Assuming 3.7 miles/kWh, which is typical freeway driving) or 66-72 miles street driving (Assuming 4.6 miles/kWh).

With the Volt, I have driven about 35k miles and don't see much degradation of battery. I still get 40 miles and can get 50 driving around town. Almost the same as new three years ago. What's the life of the Leaf's battery realistically? What are Leaf owners getting on batteries with 60, 70, 100k miles?

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Being a relatively new leaf owner, I can't really speak to that. I'm only at 1500 miles in a month.

Finally, it seems many have suggested only charging to 80% and not draining down below 20% to protect the battery. That takes 40% off the range, as I understand. So now I will have a car with only 40 miles of range? If that's the only way to prolong the battery, I'll probably wait for the next gen Leaf to come out.

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Recent evidence is charging habits have little effect on battery life, while age and temperature are the biggest killers.

In S. CA you should expect continued degradation of the battery. Unless you can handle a 30 mi range in a few years, I wouldn't buy a used 2011/2012 Leaf. They are great deals, but with only 60-70% battery (soon to be 50%). Some have lost 4 bars and had batteries replaced under warranty (read thread on that). Anyway, a 10 bar Leaf should have an easy 40-50 mi range depending on driving speed, temps, rain, snow, etc. But don't forget, most people don't empty the battery in a Leaf like you can in a Volt. Hence, a 2011 Leaf has approximately the same electric range as a 2011 Volt. If you need range, then lease new. If you're willing to switch to gas for longer ranges, then a used Leaf is a great deal.