I'm thinking about buying a new Nissan Leaf and I believe that my wife's 49mile round trip commute is doable. It's mainly freeway, but we only drive 60mph or lower on this road anyway. Weather in Ireland is temperate with little extremes ( although we have had some temporary extreme weather over the last couple of years; hello global warming). We are thinking of leasing the car for three years. The only other driving would be local-school run shopping etc, we have an ICE already anyway for my driving and longer family driving. Are we right to join the EV community in this circumstance. I'd be very grateful for any advice.
Hi from Ireland
- Thread starter TBAH
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DNAinaGoodWay
Well-known member
She shouldn't have a problem with that commute. Charging infrastructure is improving if needed. I'd recommend the models with the heat pump, they use less energy.
Welcome to the future.
Welcome to the future.
garygid
Well-known member
Where in Ireland are you located?
See PlugShare.com for the locations of many Chademo (Quick Charge) locations,
the only widely deployed international EV charging standard.
Strangely, I see mostly minimal descriptions, and almost no user comments.
Welcome to EV driving, you should find it a delightful experience.
Please feel invited to visit us.
See PlugShare.com for the locations of many Chademo (Quick Charge) locations,
the only widely deployed international EV charging standard.
Strangely, I see mostly minimal descriptions, and almost no user comments.
Welcome to EV driving, you should find it a delightful experience.
Please feel invited to visit us.
kikngas
Well-known member
There was a much debated post on a board about actual range expectation. The OP cited all recommendations that would reduce degradation on battery, and all worst-case expectations about battery capacity losses and range reductions. So the general consensus was that they were being overly pessimistic, but it went something like this:
84.0 US. tested range comes in at 84 miles (the EU has a different test, and different figure)
67.2 (-20% = -16.8mi) Recommend only charge to 80% for best battery life (lose top 20% of charge)
53.8 (-20% = -13.4mi) Recommend only discharge to 20% for best battery life (lose bottom 20% of charge)
43.0 (-20% = -10.8mi) It might be cold one day, you will have the heat on and your battery will not accept or deliver full charge (lose 20% of capacity)
34.4 (-20% = -8.6mi) Over the course of 8-10 years, the battery capacity to hold a charge will be reduced (lose 20% of capacity)
And so their conclusion was that you could only count on 34.4 miles of range (or some similar number). When I first read the post, I couldn't believe how negative they were being. But then realized I had essentially done the same analysis, and that only because my daily mileage expectation was <30 miles, I went ahead with the purchase of a LEAF. This was in part why I did not buy something with a lower rated range.
But if you look at it, some of these are predictable conditions, or best practices. If it is best practice to only run down to 20% of charge, but I find myself below that once-and-a-while, it's not a huge deal (get it plugged in right away when returning home to avoid staying that low for many hours at a time). If you can use the heated seats rather than heating all of the air in the vehicle, then better range. If you can pre-heat the cabin while plugged in, then better range. If you can drive a bit slower on the day it is cold, then better range. If you go ahead and splurge and charge to 100% on the cold days, then better range. If your car isn't 8 years old yet, then better range. If you can find a L1 charge for an hour or two on the day you need to run errands, then better range.
So my personal need was 30 daily miles. But I don't see how one would end up short if it were 50mi. ...and they charge to 100% on cold days, and they have half a brain one day a year in extreme conditions.
That's my two cents worth. But I'm still eagerly awaiting my 2015-S in a few weeks. So my "experience" is all from press and message boards.
84.0 US. tested range comes in at 84 miles (the EU has a different test, and different figure)
67.2 (-20% = -16.8mi) Recommend only charge to 80% for best battery life (lose top 20% of charge)
53.8 (-20% = -13.4mi) Recommend only discharge to 20% for best battery life (lose bottom 20% of charge)
43.0 (-20% = -10.8mi) It might be cold one day, you will have the heat on and your battery will not accept or deliver full charge (lose 20% of capacity)
34.4 (-20% = -8.6mi) Over the course of 8-10 years, the battery capacity to hold a charge will be reduced (lose 20% of capacity)
And so their conclusion was that you could only count on 34.4 miles of range (or some similar number). When I first read the post, I couldn't believe how negative they were being. But then realized I had essentially done the same analysis, and that only because my daily mileage expectation was <30 miles, I went ahead with the purchase of a LEAF. This was in part why I did not buy something with a lower rated range.
But if you look at it, some of these are predictable conditions, or best practices. If it is best practice to only run down to 20% of charge, but I find myself below that once-and-a-while, it's not a huge deal (get it plugged in right away when returning home to avoid staying that low for many hours at a time). If you can use the heated seats rather than heating all of the air in the vehicle, then better range. If you can pre-heat the cabin while plugged in, then better range. If you can drive a bit slower on the day it is cold, then better range. If you go ahead and splurge and charge to 100% on the cold days, then better range. If your car isn't 8 years old yet, then better range. If you can find a L1 charge for an hour or two on the day you need to run errands, then better range.
So my personal need was 30 daily miles. But I don't see how one would end up short if it were 50mi. ...and they charge to 100% on cold days, and they have half a brain one day a year in extreme conditions.
That's my two cents worth. But I'm still eagerly awaiting my 2015-S in a few weeks. So my "experience" is all from press and message boards.
That's double-counting, because if you were to stick with 20-80% (i.e. using only 60% of your actual range) that's 50 miles. In the event that the battery capacity is lost, then you would no longer be sticking with 20-80%. You would use more of the battery. There would be no point in keeping yourself limited to 20-80% so the battery has a long life at maximum capacity if it already doesn't have a long life! Likewise in winter or longer trip events, using the battery to 100% is good to do every so often. If you stuck with 20-80 and never went to 100 you would cause more damage to the battery than getting to 100% as it needs to balance the cells every week or two at least.kikngas said:
So US 50 miles would be the figure of merit for drop-dead worst case here, which could also be extended by more careful driving than the US cycle supposes.
kikngas
Well-known member
Yes, it took a LOT of double counting to defend such a low range estimate. So my point was just that if you (only on rare occasions) are willing to deviate (only slightly) from the quoted best practices, then you can assure that the 50mi trek will be completed without incident.
Now perhaps that is not the best list of best practices. But it is a list that some might use to try and tell you that you will be stranded.
Does taking it to 100% charge on occasion help equalize the cells?
Yes, definitely. If you are partially charging and discharging a load of cells, their voltages will drift from each other. The capacity of a serial battery is only as good as the cell that hits the lowest safe voltage first. You want all the cells to hit that voltage together, which needs the pack to balance the cells on occasions, which only happens when it is fully charged.kikngas said:
o00scorpion00o
Well-known member
TBAH said:
Our weather may not have too much extremes temperature wise but what we do have is an insane amount of continuous wind and pretty damn strong winds at times too that can last weeks at a time. This will have the greatest impact to Irish EV owners.
Winter temperatures can be low enough to have a noticeable impact on range, combined with lots of wind and rain, I always advise people, you need a backup plan if you find yourself running short.
What works well on a brand new battery may not after 2-3 years.
Where are you and what will your route be ?
We do have a pretty good charging infrastructure and I would advise you get the 32 amp charger as it will charge in about half the time from a non fast charge point if you find a fast charger offline you'll be grateful for the more powerful charger in the leaf.
