I'm a leaf on the wind!!!

I'm so excited. Purchased a 2015 Nissan Leaf SV last night. This is my first brand new car, I upgraded from a 2001 Toyota Camry so it feels like quite a leap.

The building where I work (3.7 miles from my home) has a charging station that the tenants can use for free so I plan on charging it while I am at work (FREEEEEEE and so convenient). At this point we are not considering purchasing a charging station for our home. I guess this could change if we find we drive that much on the weekends or what have you.

My only "concern" is how to properly plan my 3 or 4 times per year drive to my parents' house. This is about 77 miles one way. I am thinking there is an outlet mall about halfway there that I can stop at and charge while I browse for a bit, just to make sure I have enough charge to get all the way there. Then charge it at a Nissan dealership or other free charging station close to my parent's house. It is quite cold here so I don't know if I can drive the full distance without turning on climate control.

Anyways... happy to be here! Looking forward to new adventures!

Not sure where you are located, but 77 miles should be easily accomplishable at 55 on the highway, unless its below 0C. (assuming minimal heat/ac usage)

If you're going to be at your parents for more than 10 hours or more in good weather and can use the 110v you should be able to do round trip if you drive well.

There's a balance to driving slow and doing it in one trip and driving faster and charging. If you find there's a reliable 240v or QC somewhere where you'd want to stop for a rest then maybe that's better. If you'd rather do 77 miles in one go but take 1.5hrs to do it you shouldn't have to stop.

Check http://www.plugshare.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and plan the route. The guide for charging that comes built into the leaf is useless. Never ever use it unless it's an emergency and you don't have a cell phone with data. Even then don't be surprised if you find out the charger isn't there anymore or you passed several on the way that the car didn't list.

With a short drive like that 3.7 miles make sure you're not topping up at work every day. The constant use of the car at a high state of charge (SOC) isn't good. You'd be arriving everyday with over 80% then charging. You may find you only need a Monday and Friday charge.

Have you checked the reliability and use of the charger unit? Any others using it already?

If your workplace evse has been reliable it probably won't go down, but when it does it could take weeks to get fixed.

Congrats on your new Leaf!

Regarding your 77mile 1-way trip; it should be doable.

Depending on how much time you want to spend at your destination you may only need your L1 charger. I make a similar distance trip several times a year - my parents house. I usually arrive early evening, plug in, spend the night, and the car is ready in the morning. On days I dont want to spend the night, I either charge along the route or have someone 'meet me' at a L2 charger in the area and I leave my car there as I visit.

Thank you for the PlugShare information, very helpful! There is an outlet mall at the halfway point I could easily spend some time at if I need/want to. I would probably prefer to drive faster, get there sooner, than be economical the whole way. I'll see... I might be going this Saturday.

As far as the work goes... I was planning on only charging it twice a week (however... since this is the first full day I will have it, perhaps real life and plans will be different) Good to know on the topping it off, I will make sure NOT to do that.

I am an "arrive to work early" kind of gal and I have never seen a car plugged in when I arrive. There was only one time during the day where I saw two cars plugged in (charging station has one cord and outlet for one more). They have had it since 2011 and haven't had any problems with it, so far.

Inara220 said:

Thank you for the PlugShare information, very helpful! There is an outlet mall at the halfway point I could easily spend some time at if I need/want to. I would probably prefer to drive faster, get there sooner, than be economical the whole way. I'll see... I might be going this Saturday.

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Remember, slower can be faster.

For example, if 55mph gets you to your 77 mile destination non-stop it will be far quicker than driving 70 mph and stopping for a charge. An average of 55mph will take 84 minutes. 70 mph average would take 18 minutes less, but you'd likely need to spend much more than 18 minutes off of your course to gather a charge. Of course this is moot if you really did want to stop at the mall anyway.

Enjoy your trip!

Nubo said:

Remember, slower can be faster.

For example, if 55mph gets you to your 77 mile destination non-stop it will be far quicker than driving 70 mph and stopping for a charge. An average of 55mph will take 84 minutes. 70 mph average would take 18 minutes less, but you'd likely need to spend much more than 18 minutes off of your course to gather a charge. Of course this is moot if you really did want to stop at the mall anyway.

Enjoy your trip!

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True... but I totally NEED to buy some new jeans. And I wouldn't normally drive all the way to that outlet mall. But perhaps on the way home...

I could also just take the bus, but parents want to see the new car.

Lemme guess. Your car is named "Serenity" and along with new jeans, you need to pick up a brown coat?

aarond12 said:

Lemme guess. Your car is named "Serenity" and along with new jeans, you need to pick up a brown coat?

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LOL!!!!

I actually named my car Serenity in the Nissan CarWings App. The salesguy knew the reference

Maybe not a brown coat... but I could use a new pair of brown boots

Glad to know that people get the reference!
My last Leaf's name was "Wash", but it got crushed by a falling tree earlier this year, in a manner not unlike how Wash died on the show. Oops. I bought a new 2015 Leaf , and decided to name her "Zoë" for her badass resilience My license plate is "ONDWIND"

ybitz said:

Glad to know that people get the reference!
My last Leaf's name was "Wash", but it got crushed by a falling tree earlier this year, in a manner not unlike how Wash died on the show. Oops. I bought a new 2015 Leaf , and decided to name her "Zoë" for her badass resilience My license plate is "ONDWIND"

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Hmmmm... yeah you might have tempted fate a little bit there with "Wash"

Love the plate

Now that I have a NEW car (this is my first new car ever...)... I might have to get vanity plates next year.

Congrats on the new Leaf, Inara 220. With your apparent driving needs, it should be just the kind of car you need.

^^^ apparent, or apparel? ;-)

I don't mean to be an alarmist, but I'm going to have to disagree with everyone else here.

1) Even in the most ideal conditions, a 77 mile trip is pushing the LEAF's limits. You wouldn't be able to drive 70MPH, but you could probably make it at 55MPH.
2) If you have to use the heater, you likely won't make the trip without having to drive even slower.
3) Even if you don't use climate control, a cold battery cannot store as much energy as a warm battery. Even a brand new battery, if cold-soaked at 20F, will lose more than 10% of its capacity.
And the final nail in the coffin:
4) Just because you can make a 77 mile trip now (even under the worst conditions), doesn't mean you can make that trip next year, or two years from now. Battery degradation is a very real thing with the LEAF- and it's not just for people in hot climates. I live in Michigan and have already lost 17% of my capacity (probably more since I haven't checked since October- see my signature). In the winter, my capacity is down another ~15%. Add the heater, and I'm down even more. The result is a car that absolutely cannot make a 77 mile trip without a very long recharge half way there- unless I drive 20MPH the whole way, and even then, it's questionable.

I think your best bet will be to stop at a place where you can get a L2 or CHAdeMO charge.

Also, you are spending the night at your parents, right? Expect a 20-hour charge at 120V if you deplete the battery. It could be longer if it's cold.

kubel said:

...1) Even in the most ideal conditions, a 77 mile trip is pushing the LEAF's limits. You wouldn't be able to drive 70MPH, but you could probably make it at 55MPH. ..

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+10 on what kubel explained well.
The LEAF is not a 77 mile trip vehicle.
Only a few very zealous do that kind of trip.

As a 43 month owner of a 2011 with 23,000 miles and about 18% capacity loss, my broad rule of thumb is the LEAF is a 40 to 60 mile range vehicle, but in cold weather is 30 to 35 mile range if you like heat.

Anything beyond that needs a charging plan.

Thank you.

Yes the weather has definitely made it near impossible to run the car with no climate control. I'm a pretty hardy gal but there are limits.

I'm planning on spending the night (so I can plug in overnight). I'm also planning on stopping at that outlet mall both ways, I like to knit so I can always just find a place to sit down, have some coffee, and knit for a few hours if needed.

Inara220 said:

Thank you.

Yes the weather has definitely made it near impossible to run the car with no climate control. I'm a pretty hardy gal but there are limits.

I'm planning on spending the night (so I can plug in overnight). I'm also planning on stopping at that outlet mall both ways, I like to knit so I can always just find a place to sit down, have some coffee, and knit for a few hours if needed.

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Then maybe you do need a new brown coat, a sheepskin pilot jacket has been my heater saving answer but it hasn't arrived yet