55 mile commute with a 2015?

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LoveMeOrLeafMe

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Joined
Dec 11, 2017
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Hey folks - we are shopping for a car in the $10,000 - $12,000 range that can get us through a commute that is about 53 miles. We have a used EV dealer with a ton of 2015 Leafs with 12 battery bars. They seem confident that we could pull this off with no highway driving, use of pre-heating the car and/or using seat heaters, and assuming with install a Level 2 charger at home. We hadn't been thinking at all about EVs until we saw the prices on the used ones, and now we are kind of excited. We wanted to check with sources beyond the dealer for other opinions. Do-able or crazy? We live in Portland, OR.

Thanks,
 
Just to be clear: this is 55 miles total? Not each way? If so you should be ok for 3-5 years. Make sure the Leaf is an SV or SL, not an S, because the first two have a range-extending heatpump that is perfect for your climate, while the S uses lots of power even for defogging.
 
You're welcome. The SV without Premium Package (Bose stereo and great 4 camera parking system) is often priced near the cost of an S with Charge Package (Quick Charge port and LED lights). Just make sure that if you need QC, the car you buy has it. You can tell by looking at the charging port compartment: the QC is a second, larger port to the left of the standard L-2 port.
 
You should be good for several years with a 2015 SV or SL that has spent its time in your cool climate. You will need Level 2 charging at home to get a full charge each night. I made my 52-mile round trip (26 miles each way with about 20 of those in the carpool lane on the freeway) running the air conditioner when my 2011 was down to 8 capacity bars bars before Nissan replaced the battery. I just recently lost the second capacity bar on my 2015 and have no trouble with my commute after almost 3 years and over 51,000 miles in Phoenix.
 
Since you're in Portland, Oregon, I assume you are talking about Platt Auto Group. If so, I can say I believe they will do you right. They will show you the LeafSpy numbers for each car if you ask. I bought my 2013 there, and the process was quite painless.

I've been charging at L1 since May, but with your commute, and assuming that you can only charge at home, you'll need an L2 EVSE.

I'm in Vancouver, WA, let me know if I can help.
 
You live in the perfect climate for a LEAF, so, with a little luck, you should have the best possible battery life over the long term. I would say go for it, but take advantage of the info in these forums to educate yourself before you buy. It's well worth the effort...
 
I commute 50 miles roundtrip every weekday in my 41,000m 2013 SL (charged to 100%). I get home with about 30-40% battery remaining, but I am a very economical driver (nothing over 60mph, regen braking, coasting, etc). I'm sure I'm about to lose a bar, but I have no range anxiety about my drive whatsoever. The worst I've ever done was make it home with about 23% battery remaining when I was being aggressive about my drive.

You need to be aware of situations though that could change your daily commute, like if a road closure forced you to reroute.
 
I did a 54 mile RT commute for a year in my 2015SV. I bought it because it can do that trip with enough to spare for a few errands. Find one you think you want and take it out on an extended test drive for a day, do your round trip and see what it has left.
 
I just drove a 75-mile round-trip yesterday in my 2015 (delivered in Oct 2014). Almost all freeway driving with no traffic. No drama, no extreme measures. Admittedly it was near perfect weather but I can't imagine NOT being able to complete 55 mi in anything this area's climate has to offer. YMMV, of course. I still have 12 bars; not sure of GIDs since my ODB2 adapter went on the fritz and I haven't bothered to replace it.
 
LeftieBiker said:
Make sure the Leaf is an SV or SL, not an S, because the first two have a range-extending heatpump that is perfect for your climate, while the S uses lots of power even for defogging.

I thought all models 2013 and later had heat pumps. You're saying my 2014 S doesn't have a heat pump? :(
 
See page 17 for trim details:

https://www.nissanusa.com/content/dam/nissan/request-brochure/en/2014/pdf/2014-nissan-leaf-en.pdf
 
erco said:
LeftieBiker said:
Make sure the Leaf is an SV or SL, not an S, because the first two have a range-extending heatpump that is perfect for your climate, while the S uses lots of power even for defogging.

I thought all models 2013 and later had heat pumps. You're saying my 2014 S doesn't have a heat pump? :(

Correct. The S is a Base model that has a lower MSRP because it doesn't have several of the important features found in the other two models. The 2013+ S does, however, have a 'direct to air' heater that is much better than the 2011-2012 'liquid to air' heater. It heats much faster, and even has a fancy "OFF" switch! ;-)
 
Thanks for the info. No heat pump is not the end of the world since I live in sunny SoCal. On my typically short drives on cold mornings, I get my fix of hedonism using the seat & steering wheel heaters, which I notice before the cabin heat warms up anyway.

Edit: In fact, always wondered why the Leaf had seat & steering wheel heaters, seems completely wasteful in an electric car. I may have answered my own question above. Because they use less power than cabin heat, so they may be enough.

A clever way for Nissan to make saving power seem luxurious.
 
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