Looking to buy, please help!

Hello!

I have set my eyes on the leaf since about a week but I am still hesitating on buying it. It would be my first vehicule and I want to be sure to buy something that suits me, but buying an EV is quite important to me and I proactively want to be part of the movement. I have been researching a lot but I would still need to talk to actual persons and ask particular questions so I was very pleased to find this website.

Please note that I will be using $CAN instead of $US, celcius instead of fahrenheit and kilometers instead of miles since I live in Québec, hopefully some people here are familiar with those units. (I also speak french as my mother tongue so my english is very limited!)

-I have been struggling to choose whether I should buy an older car like a 2014 or 2015, or go for the 16. My needs of transportation per weekdays are something like 20-25 kilometers, excluding occasional errants and possible traffic jams. Sometimes I would need to go a little further on weekends, like at my mother's place who lives at 65 kilometers away using highways. Would it be possible to do that much driving with one charge? What about long roadtrips?

-I like fast driving to a resonable extend, does that reduce the range very significantly?

- I live very near Montréal where the weather can go from -30c to 30c, and I know this can affect the battery. How much variation am I to expect? How does the weather affect the range? Is this something that would put you off the idea of buying the Leaf?

-Something I have been seeing as a potential problem is that I currently live in an appartment where I do not have access to a charge (that I would possibly have to buy and have installed which wouldn't be a good investment anyway), would that be a very big nuisance considering there are several public charging points in my area? What are your opinion and experience on the subject?

-I also do not know much about the variations between the different models (S, SV, SL). If you take my current situation into account (Extreme weather changes, relatively small range need), what do you think would be the best choice? I like nice speakers and loud music, is the sound system on lower end models good enough?

Thank you so much to anyone willing to help. See you around!

For anyone helping who like me doesn't know metric:
20-25km weekday RT=12-15.5 miles
65km weekend one way=40 miles
-30c winter temps=-22F

That said no problem with your weekday errands, your mothers could get iffy with a 24kwh Leaf in sub zero temps, I know my 24kwh Leaf is lucky to get 40 miles(65km) at zero F(-18C), -20F(-29C) I'd say maybe a range of low 30s miles(low 50s for KM). Extreme cold KILLS range, even with just moderate heat use, everything is just so stiff and battery capacity is temporarily lowered. A SV/SL post '12 Leaf will have a more efficient heat pump heater but note much cooler than the teens F(single digits below zero C) it won't make any difference, it will use the same power as a basic S model.
Unless you have halfway charging to your mothers I'd not suggest a 24kwh Leaf for winter use(no problem in summer or sprint/fall) a 30kwh Leaf should be doable for all conditions without halfway charging. If you don't have even 120v charging at your apartment I'm not sure I'd really suggest a Leaf, without it you really won't have morning warm up which not only helps extend range but makes driving the Leaf much more comfortable.

jjeff said:

For anyone helping who like me doesn't know metric:
20-25km weekday RT=12-15.5 miles
65km weekend one way=40 miles
-30c winter temps=-22F

That said no problem with your weekday errands, your mothers could get iffy with a 24kwh Leaf in sub zero temps, I know my 24kwh Leaf is lucky to get 40 miles(65km) at zero F(-18C), -20F(-29C) I'd say maybe a range of low 30s miles(low 50s for KM). Extreme cold KILLS range, even with just moderate heat use, everything is just so stiff and battery capacity is temporarily lowered. A SV/SL post '12 Leaf will have a more efficient heat pump heater but note much cooler than the teens F(single digits below zero C) it won't make any difference, it will use the same power as a basic S model.
Unless you have halfway charging to your mothers I'd not suggest a 24kwh Leaf for winter use(no problem in summer or sprint/fall) a 30kwh Leaf should be doable for all conditions without halfway charging. If you don't have even 120v charging at your apartment I'm not sure I'd really suggest a Leaf, without it you really won't have morning warm up which not only helps extend range but makes driving the Leaf much more comfortable.

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I was thinking about buying something a little more recent than a '12, I definitely plan on getting 30kwh version if that helps.

Also for the charging, there is a public charge at a walking distance from my apartment, and I thought maybe I wouldn't need to charge it every day considering my short travelling habits. Also, what is a 120v charging? Is this a conventional electric plug or something related to the Leaf that I don't know about?

I meant that a SV/SL Leaf built after 2012 would have the more efficient(at moderate temps) heat pump heater, sounds like your looking for a newer Leaf so that really won't be an issue. Note in the extreme cold when you really need the range the heat pump won't really help, it would help more in moderate cold temp, where your really not so worried about range. That said I wouldn't rule out a S model, if it's more in your price range.
All Leafs come with a 120v(12a) charging cable(known as a EVSE). If you have access to a 120v dedicated plug(maybe meant for an engine block heater in the winter) that would work just fine for charging your Leaf, albeit at a slower rate than 240v.
If the public charger near your apartment isn't too expensive and they are OK with you plugging in for hours at a time(assuming it's not a QC or fast charger) that would be a good option for you. Just know, walking to your car in -30C temps may not be that pleasant of an experience.
Glad your looking at a 30kwh Leaf, for your weekday trips the 24kwh would be just fine and even your weekend trip in the summer would be fine, just not your weekend trip in the very cold.

The 30kwh Leaf would probably make your summer weekend trips just fine without charging at your moms but not in the real cold, does your moms place have access to a 240v outlet or could you maybe have one installed for a portable EVSE(charger)? You could also have one hardwired there but it would be more of an expense. With a full power L2 EVSE you should be able to charge your 30kwh battery from mostly empty to full in 5?? hours.

Install PlugShare on your phone and have a look at the public charging infrastructure near your apartment and your mother's house.

You are very lucky, as Montreal has excellent EV charging infrastructure. You should find that there are tons of charging options where you live...

For your best value, I would suggest a good condition (battery condition is paramount) 2013 SV.

Having said that, you seem non commital so perhaps you could takeover someone else's lease? I found one that you might be interested in:

http://www.byebyelease.ca/Buy/ViewCar.php?leasenumber=8642

The commitment is until January 2018 on that car, so less than a year of remaining payments. By then, the next generation Leaf would be available and other longer range, used EVs too (i.e. used Bolt), giving you more choices...

Wow thank you both for your answers! I appreciate.

I'm still looking for further and in-depth opinions about my questions above! Thanks!

Matt0427 said:

I was thinking about buying something a little more recent than a '12, I definitely plan on getting 30kwh version if that helps.

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FYI, the only Leafs with the 30 kWh battery are 2016 and newer.

Matt0427 said:

-Something I have been seeing as a potential problem is that I currently live in an appartment where I do not have access to a charge (that I would possibly have to buy and have installed which wouldn't be a good investment anyway)

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Big problem. You will not be happy

Don't agree, based on the limited daily kilometres driven, the OP won't be charging every day. In Montreal, the OP very likely has several L2 or L3 charging options within walking distance. Less than ideal on very cold days, but still doable.

Quebec is the national leader with respect to the number of EVs in use, so the OP will have lots of company...

I like fast driving to a resonable extent, does that reduce the range very significantly?

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Yup, just like with a gas car aggressive driving will result in fewer kilometers per unit of energy.

I live very near Montréal where the weather can go from -30c to 30c, and I know this can affect the battery. How much variation am I to expect? How does the weather affect the range? Is this something that would put you off the idea of buying the Leaf?

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You said you drive 20 to 25 kilometers daily, so you should be fine. During winter, you'll need to charge every other day though.

With respect to charging, if you don't have access to even a 120V outlet in your apartment parkade, then you'll need to rely 100% on public chargers. Fortunately, you can easily explore your local options before buying, to decide for yourself if you're willing to walk between those and your apartment, in any weather conditions, several times a week.

With respect to the choice of model, educate yourself on the model differences (search on these forums), but personally I would get an SV or SL with QC as you'll be using public charging exclusively and so the faster the better.

Mentioned the app earlier, but there's also a web based version of PlugShare:

https://www.plugshare.com

Search for Montreal, filter out the residential charging stations, and you should then see all the public L2 and L3 charging options in your neighbourhood

alozzy said:

With respect to the choice of model, educate yourself on the model differences (search on these forums), but personally I would get an SV or SL with QC as you'll be using public charging exclusively and so the faster the better.

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Good point, I mentioned the S model earlier and if you went with that I'd really only do it if it came with the Charger Package, without it the S model will take 2x as long to charge on L2 and won't even have the option of QC.

alozzy said:

With respect to the choice of model, educate yourself on the model differences (search on these forums), but personally I would get an SV or SL with QC as you'll be using public charging exclusively and so the faster the better.

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Though QC is not standard on the S models, it is readily available. My local dealer does not even bother to order the S without QC. The significant difference for the OP between the SV/SL and the S is the heat pump heating/cooling system.

There are lots of differences and several posts on these forums with links to detailed feature comparisons. The OP just needs to read up on those and decide for himself

Though QC is not standard on the S models, it is readily available.

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Just to clarify this: QC is a factory-only option, and can't be added by a dealer. You can order it easily, but can't add it to a car that doesn't have it without an insane amount of work.

Because of no home charging and the distance to your mom's house, I recommend the Chevy volt as your interim solution for a couple of years. The volt's battery is great and it's electric range is enough for your needs.

born2pdl said:

Because of no home charging and the distance to your mom's house, I recommend the Chevy volt as your interim solution for a couple of years. The volt's battery is great and it's electric range is enough for your needs.

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They are also offering very good lease deals on the Volt, especially the 2016.