47 Mile New Jersey Winter Drive?

I’m considering a 2011-2013 SL/SV and would like your thoughts on which year. My main goal is lowest overall cost (purchase price and future depreciation) for the life of the vehicle. If I could do this in a 2011 or 2012 that would be ideal since they are so cheap.

Below is the drive that must be done once a week year round.

High Bridge, NJ (316’ elevation) to Montclair, NJ (306’ elevation) total distance 47 miles.
5.5 miles @ 35mph
41 miles @ 70mph
This drive will be done at 6:30am with preconditioning. Vehicle will charge on a Juice Bar L2 EVSE in an open air garage for 4.5 hour, and then drive home at noon. My wife will be driving solo and I’m not going to ask her to drive with the heat off.

1) Is this doable in the winter?
2) How about on 9, 10 or 11 bars?
3) Am I going to damage the battery in the summer with this drive-charge-drive-cycle?
4) Anything else I should consider?



Thanks for your insights!

Are you fullly charging at both ends? If not, NO WAY.

Flyct said:

Are you fullly charging at both ends? If not, NO WAY.

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Departure from home would be at 100%. Could I get back up to 100% in 4.5 hours on 6.6? How about 3.3?

paulsalem said:

Flyct said:

Are you fullly charging at both ends? If not, NO WAY.

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Departure from home would be at 100%. Could I get back up to 100% in 4.5 hours on 6.6? How about 3.3?

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The problem is the 47 miles to start with.
A five year old 2011 24 kWh car that has lost three or four capacity bars is a 30 to 35 mile range vehicle in below 30F weather if you like heat.

For the range you want best to get 2016 SV or SL with 30 kWh pack.
And even that when five years old may be a bit marginal.

You didn't say how many amps your L2 EVSE was, it makes quite a bit of difference. Not with a '11 or '12 but with a '13 and on with the 6.6 kw changer it would make all the difference.
As others have said, summer wouldn't probably be a problem at all but winter would. It would also be best to get a non S model as they have the higher kw usage heater for moderate temp use. I have a S in a cold climate and it really uses the power but not running it all the time helps and I get by.
If going for a Leaf I'd strongly suggest a '13 or newer preferably one with none on only one bar missing. True you can get '12s really cheap, especially ones missing 2 or 3 bars but with one of those even with a full charge you'd be lucky to get 40 miles, less with more heat use.

jjeff said:

You didn't say how many amps your L2 EVSE was, it makes quite a bit of difference.

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Thanks jjeff. The Juice Bar website says the model is 30 amps.

paulsalem said:

jjeff said:

You didn't say how many amps your L2 EVSE was, it makes quite a bit of difference.

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Thanks jjeff. The Juice Bar website says the model is 30 amps.

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@19a charging @240v I gain about 25%/hr this drops to 20% @208v commercial power. A 2012 3.6kw charger will only draw ~15a and while I haven't timed it I'd guess @240v you'd gain less than 20%/hr and @208 you might be looking at 15%/hr, both probably too low to gain close to 100% for 4.5hrs.
In your case I'd think you want to look for a '13 or newer with the 6.6kw charger, again preferably not losing more than 1 bar. With 100% charge I see no reason you can't make your 45 mile trip even in the cold, especially when preheating which allows you to skip using heat for a part of your trip. Note preheat is another reason to get the 6.6kw charger, with a 3.6kw charger you won't be adding much(if any) to your battery while preheating, with the 6.6 you can do both quite comfortably.
Do you mean Juicebox? I haven't heard of a Juicebar, I have a Juicebox and it's a very nice EVSE. I believe the cheapest Juicebox is 40a but with our Leaf the max you can charge at is 27.5a.

jjeff said:

Do you mean Juicebox? I haven't heard of a Juicebar, I have a Juicebox and it's a very nice EVSE. I believe the cheapest Juicebox is 40a but with our Leaf the max you can charge at is 27.5a.

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This is the charger I'd likely be using to recharge before the return journey.

paulsalem said:

jjeff said:

Do you mean Juicebox? I haven't heard of a Juicebar, I have a Juicebox and it's a very nice EVSE. I believe the cheapest Juicebox is 40a but with our Leaf the max you can charge at is 27.5a.

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This is the charger I'd likely be using to recharge before the return journey.

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Interesting, never heard of Juicebar. Note being in a commercial area my hunch is it will be 208v which again is ~15% slower than what you might have at home(240v). Still much better then what you'd get with a '11 or '12 with the 3.6kw charger. Note it looks like you might be having to pay for that day charge? If so and it's by the hour it's even more reason to the the maximum charge rate you can with the upgraded charger(part in the car).

If you can find a 2013 SV or SL, made after March of 2013, with 12 capacity bars and a State Of Health of at least 95%, then your scenario of charging at home and then charging for ~4 hours at work should work ok. At least for a couple of years...

LeftieBiker said:

If you can find a 2013 SV or SL, made after March of 2013, with 12 capacity bars and a State Of Health of at least 95%, then your scenario of charging at home and then charging for ~4 hours at work should work ok. At least for a couple of years...

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+1

You need the heat pump and the 6 kW onboard charger to make this feasible. The 3.3 kW onboard charger will charge as fast at 208 volts as at 240V using a 30-ampere EVSE because it will draw more current to reach its full input power rating. The 6 kW onboard charger is only slightly slower at 208V than 240V on a 30-ampere EVSE because it will draw the full 30 amperes (instead of 25 to 28 depending upon the actual voltage on the 240V circuit). The 4.5 hours of charging will be enough to reach full charge if you have a 6 kW onboard charger. A 3.3 kW onboard charger would only get the battery to somewhere between 50% and 75% SOC so the return trip would be marginal in warm weather and not possible with heat/defrost use in adverse weather conditions.

This charging/use pattern should not significantly increase the rate of battery deterioration in your climate.

Gerry