New owner

Hello, new 2015 Leaf S owner in WV. I like unique and/or fuel efficient vehicles and have been wanting an EV for a while now. I owned a smart fortwo for about 6 years and had a blast with it. My old commute just didn't permit non-Tesla EV ownership with the range I needed allowing for a reasonable buffer for HVAC operation, detours, and extra driving for misc errands while in town.

However, I just moved and turned my minimum 75 mile a day commute into a minimum 4 mile a day commute, so non-Tesla EV ownership became a possibility and I just couldn't pass up the current incentives on a new Leaf. I'm enjoying the car and am just planning on using L1 charging for the foreseeable future given my short driving needs and livable recharge time. I also have a Kia Soul for longer trips and/or backup.

I'll be perusing this board for more info, but I do have one quick newbie question: Does the L1 adapter included with the car have any parasitic losses when plugged into the wall, but not actively charging the car? Any disadvantage to just leaving it plugged in all the time? I just renovated the place we moved into and it has 20 Amp wiring, breakers, and new outlets, so I'm fairly confident in the electrical supply. I'm actually plugging the Leaf into a GFCI protected outlet in the garage which is also new.

The parasitic losses are very low, just a few watts, so its best to just leave it plugged in all the time. That will also put less wear-and-tear on the outlet, so there is less chance of a bad connection which could cause overheating.

Welcome! Since you have some cool winters in West Virginia, you might want to consider getting a 240V EVSE of some sort. (Clipper Creek EVSEs seem to be popular here.) Pre-heating your car with the 120V EVSE is futile at best.

aarond12 said:

Welcome! Since you have some cool winters in West Virginia, you might want to consider getting a 240V EVSE of some sort. (Clipper Creek EVSEs seem to be popular here.) Pre-heating your car with the 120V EVSE is futile at best.

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Thanks for the info. The car will be garaged all the time except when out, so preheating overnight isn't really a necessity (no colder than the Kia would be at cold start in the morning). It should never be below freezing in the garage (lower level of a townhouse) especially in downtown Charleston (not the eastern mountains). To get into the 30s inside the garage should take some very cold nights which are uncommon in this area. I will check out the Clipper Creek products, though.

Welcome! I also have a 2015 S leaf in red. I bought it last December, and have almost 13,000 miles on it. When I first got my Leaf, I plugged it into my KILLAWATT meter. At rest, the 110 volt charger only uses 2-3 watts. While charging, it uses about 1100 watts, about the electricity of a microwave or an a/c unit. When you recover from the initial expenses of adding a new car, I strongly recommend getting a 240 volt line added to your garage and installing a 240 volt charger. It will transform the utility of the car for you. I have a Schneider Electric EVLINK charger and love it. It charges (no kidding) 35% PER HOUR. With the 110 volt, you are limited to driving a total of about 60 miles daily, because charging only adds about 5 miles (5%) of range per hour (and it takes all evening and overnight to charge). With the 240 volt charger, I can drive 60-70 miles to work and all of my errands, plug it in at 4pm when I get home, eat dinner, and the go out for the whole night with another 100% charge. Plug it in at night, and have 100% in the morning.. PM me if you ever have questions about your "S" model....

First recharge update....

It took 16 hours on 120V from 11% battery remaining after a week of driving. My Kill A Watt meter said it took 21.4 kWh to recharge and I covered 92.4 miles on that charge. The cost per kWh including taxes, fees, etc. is 12.9 cents/kWh based on a recent power bill, so that worked out to be a cost of $2.76 or a bit less than 3 cents/mile. To compare in the same city driving at current gas prices, my Kia Soul's 26MPG at $2.05/gal works out to nearly 8 cents/mile. Of course, this was optimal conditions for the Leaf: mild weather so no need for AC/heat, very little highway, ECO mode, etc. So, I know that's a best case type of scenario. I'm sure I'll find out what the worst case scenario is soon enough.

Generally, would it be better for the battery to recharge sooner than letting it rundown to less than 20% battery?

Generally, would it be better for the battery to recharge sooner than letting it rundown to less than 20% battery?

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Yes. I suggest you recharge at no less than 25-30% in Winter, and no less than 20-25% in Summer.

Another low mileage driver here (8 mi RT). I charge every night for an hour or two, sometimes three in the winter. There's really no benefit draining the battery. Also, most people try NOT to keep the battery at 100% for a substantial amount of time (>5 hrs). However, for us low mileage drivers, calendar degradation will far exceed battery cycling degradation. Just drive it as much as you can. Keep the battery between 20-80% if you can, but don't worry about it.

In frigid weather you want to allow for pack heater drain as well. It isn't usually a lot, but in subzero weather it can really add up over days.