Purchasing a leaf tonight. help me verify my decision.

First. Thanks for the reply.

I was going to sign the paper work for a nissan leaf this evening. My main choice for the leaf wasn't the environment. It was because it's cheaper than many other options and it's pretty cool. My current SUV cost 3k per year in gas @12,000 miles/year. (15mpg) This basically takes care of the yearly payment for the LEAF.

The LEASE will be 36 months and the monthly payment will be 250. This is for the middle model with gps, bigger wheels, bluetooth etc.

Does everyone like their leaf?
I've heard they are discontinuing the leaf after this year.

Does anyone have any secondary chargers that charge quicker than 12 hours?

Anything I need to know when leasing this? Does everyone like this? Thanks a bunch.

How many miles do you drive to work? 50 miles round trip is ideal so you can add some errands in your day on top of the commute. Range is really the only consideration you might be over guessing.

You need to add your location in the user control panel so that we can give you a good answer. Simply put, some in very hot climates have not been happy with their LEAFs.

The LEAF is NOT being discontinued. Nissan just this year opened a new plant in Tennessee to produce them.

Any 240v EVSE (the charger is in your car, the thing with the plug on the wall is an Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) will charge the car faster than 12 hours. With the 3.3kW charger and a minimum 16a 240v EVSE, you can get 7 hour (absolute max, daily charges will generally be much less) charges. With the new, optional, 6kW charger and a 30a 240v EVSE, that comes down to 4 hours max.

brett701 said:

Does everyone like their leaf?
I've heard they are discontinuing the leaf after this year.

Does anyone have any secondary chargers that charge quicker than 12 hours?

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I still like mine after almost two years.

Discontinuing? NO. Where did you hear that BS?

I use an upgraded portable, Schnieder, and Leviton 160. Any of these charge in 6 hours or less. Usually 2 or 3 depending on how far I went.

Your daily miles and ability to charge at a destination is most important.

smkettner said:

brett701 said:

Does everyone like their leaf?
I've heard they are discontinuing the leaf after this year.

Does anyone have any secondary chargers that charge quicker than 12 hours?

Click to expand...

I still like mine after almost two years.

Discontinuing? NO. Where did you hear that BS?

I use an upgraded portable, Schnieder, and Leviton 160. Any of these charge in 6 hours or less. Usually 2 or 3 depending on how far I went.

Your daily miles and ability to charge at a destination is most important.

Click to expand...

I don't know what type of charger i would get. What is the recommended charger and costs. I don't want to buy a stock nissan one today and get the wrong item and then have to upgrade. Thanks!

smkettner said:

brett701 said:

Does everyone like their leaf?
I've heard they are discontinuing the leaf after this year.

Does anyone have any secondary chargers that charge quicker than 12 hours?

Click to expand...

I still like mine after almost two years.

Discontinuing? NO. Where did you hear that BS?

I use an upgraded portable, Schnieder, and Leviton 160. Any of these charge in 6 hours or less. Usually 2 or 3 depending on how far I went.

Your daily miles and ability to charge at a destination is most important.

Click to expand...

I heard that they were going to go to an electric/gas version bc/ they are losing to the competition. I don't know exactly where i heard this. I will let you know when i find out.

Elephanthead said:

How many miles do you drive to work? 50 miles round trip is ideal so you can add some errands in your day on top of the commute. Range is really the only consideration you might be over guessing.

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I go 16 to work and 16 back.

RegGuheert said:

You need to add your location in the user control panel so that we can give you a good answer. Simply put, some in very hot climates have not been happy with their LEAFs.

Click to expand...

Done. Thanks!

brett701 said:

I heard that they were going to go to an electric/gas version bc/ they are losing to the competition.

Click to expand...

More LEAFs have been sold than any other BEV or PHEV in history. How is that losing? They are a little behind the Volt in the US, but frankly both need to sell more to really succeed. LEAF is a purpose-built EV and likely LEAF technology will appear in future EVs. Nissan has lots of gasoline cars being hybridized right now. I cannot see them changing the LEAF to something other than a BEV, ever.

brett701 said:

I go 16 to work and 16 back.

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That is right in the middle of what I consider to be the ideal range for the LEAF. St. Louis should be fine. I'd say go for it and definitely get the SV or SL to get the heat pump option. Enjoy!

RegGuheert said:

brett701 said:

I go 16 to work and 16 back.

Click to expand...

That is right in the middle of what I consider to be the ideal range for the LEAF. St. Louis should be fine. I'd say go for it and definitely get the SV or SL to get the heat pump option. Enjoy!

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Which charger do you recommend? Should i buy the charger from the nissan dealer or should i buy one someone else when i purchase the car.

brett701 said:

Which charger do you recommend? Should i buy the charger from the nissan dealer or should i buy one someone else when i purchase the car.

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http://www.evseupgrade.com - Put a 240V outlet in your garage and have your portable EVSE that comes with the LEAF upgraded to plug in there. You won't regret it!

I have nothing good to say about the EVSE that Nissan pushes. I nearly didn't purchase a LEAF because of them. According to the salesman at the dealership, I'm not the only one they jerked around.

BTW: No hurry on the EVSE. You can charge off 120V for a while since you only have a 32-mile commute.

brett701 said:

RegGuheert said:

brett701 said:

I go 16 to work and 16 back.

Click to expand...

That is right in the middle of what I consider to be the ideal range for the LEAF. St. Louis should be fine. I'd say go for it and definitely get the SV or SL to get the heat pump option. Enjoy!

Click to expand...

Which charger do you recommend? Should i buy the charger from the nissan dealer or should i buy one someone else when i purchase the car.

Click to expand...

All Leafs come with a 120V trickle charger. I have been using the trickle charger for over a month with about at 15 mile round trip commute with no problems.

I did send mine in to be upgrade by EVSEUpgrade to be able to charge on 240V 16A (was using my friends in the mean time). Still need to get 240V out to my garage.

For your commute the trickle charger would work fine, but I have found that it would be nice to juice up a little more on weekends if I have lots of driving around with the heat on.

As far as dedicated 240 units my buddy has the EVLink by Schneider Electric and likes it.

I drove close to 50 miles per day for the first five months on the included 120v L1 portable.
So no panic. You have time to shop around.

Are you buying an S with 3.3kW charger or the optional 6kW charger?

smkettner said:

I drove close to 50 miles per day for the first five months on the included 120v L1 portable.
So no panic. You have time to shop around.

Are you buying an S with 3.3kW charger or the optional 6kW charger?

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I am intending on buying the middle version (SV) that has: NAVIGATION, BLUETOOTH,THE UPGRADED WHEELS. I am not certain about the chargers? I have not been informed on them as of yet. Thanks!

You'll probably get tired of trickle (slow) charging and want to either upgrade the EVSE that comes with the car or purchase an EVSE for your home. I would not use Nissan's recommended installer (Aerovironment), as they are outrageously over-priced. They wanted $1200 just to add a circuit to my service, run a wire and terminate it in a box (no EVSE install). That was their "discount price" if I bought the EVSE from them (run away screaming fast from that deal). My own electrician did it for less than $350, plus installed the unit for $45. Buy an EVSE at a big box store (Home Depot, etc.) and have it installed yourself. I found mine on ebay for $749 (you'll find a range of pricing for the units).

I love my 2012 LEAF SL and have been EV driving since last June. Stop by our LEAF in Kansas City thread (for Metro KC area owners) or the St Louis, MO thread. Good luck with your purchase!

brett701 said:

I am intending on buying the middle version (SV) that has: NAVIGATION, BLUETOOTH,THE UPGRADED WHEELS. I am not certain about the chargers? I have not been informed on them as of yet. Thanks!

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There is an option to get a 6 kW charger along with a quick-charge port (50 kW). Not sure of the price. If you can swing this, I recommend it. You do not need a 6kW charger for home use normally since you charge at night, but a faster L2 charger comes in handy if you need to charge away from home. The quick chargers aren't many places, yet, but they should show up over time.

The new EVSEupgrade for the 2013 lets you charge at a wide range of power levels. Here is the post that explains it. Basically, you can charge at any current level between 6A and 20A (between 1.44kW and 4.8kW from the wall). Charging efficiency goes up as you increase charging speed. Here are some examples of charging speedups you can achieve over 120V (L1):

120V/12A: 1.12kW = 1X
240V/12A: 2.56kW = 2.28X
240V/16A: 3.3kW = 2.94X (Limited by 3.3kW charger, not EVSE.)
240V/16A: 3.52kW = 3.14X (For a 2013 LEAF with 6kW charger.)
240V/20A: 4.48kW = 4.0X (For a 2013 LEAF with 6kW charger.)

For other EVSE charging rates which can be purchased for your home:
240V/24A: 5.44kW = 4.86X (For a 2013 LEAF with 6kW charger.)
240V/32A: 6.0kW = 5.36X (For a 2013 LEAF with 6 kW charger. Limited by charger, not EVSE.)

I believe the 2013 SV has the 6kW charger.

Next you would need to decide if you want to pull 40 amp 240v to the install location or if 20 amps would be better. You may need to consult your electrician to review your electric panel and installation logistics. If you have an unused 240v electric dryer outlet in the garage then you could use this circuit to attach the charging equipment (30 amps).

Yes the larger ciruit will charge faster but IMO you will rarely need it. But if the install is easy go for it.

Again, you will be fine for a few weeks or months while you decide.

I live in Leavenworth Kansas. I went the evseupgrade.com route for my EVSE. Never installed a wall unit. I love it. I got an adapter so I can charge level 2 at campsites.

I LOVE MY LEAF!

Get the heat pump heater. We need it out here.