Cold Weather Nissan Leaf info! ($930 MSRP, can order now)

[TimeHorse]

Nice work!

I've put in the new pricing scheme on my options page.

But it looks like the 6.6kW charging options won't be available until the 2013 model year in Smyrna.

No word on retrofit.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

we have heated seats in the Prius and although i could live without them, "others" absolutely love them. as far as accessory packages goes. this is rather a good deal. (much better than that $700 QC port!!)

 

[evnow]

But it looks like the 6.6kW charging options won't be available until the 2013 model year in Smyrna.

My guess is Nissan is going to bring in the 6.6kW very quitely - not with any pre-announcements. That way they won't have a lot of people waiting for it before ordering. Just like they did for cold weather pkg.

ps : They may be also waiting for Focus EV price so that they can adjust the 6.6kw charger option price ...

 

[chuck58]

For now all the Leaf vehicles are in the warm climate zones. As the cars move into the Midwest and Northeast the issue of winter days where temperatures often do not get above freezing may be a major issue for the car. Will Nissan be shipping the LEAF with the cold weather package as a standard feature? Hopefully the Leaf is not an April to November car for us in the colder zones.

 

[evnow]

For now all the Leaf vehicles are in the warm climate zones. As the cars move into the Midwest and Northeast the issue of winter days where temperatures often do not get above freezing may be a major issue for the car. Will Nissan be shipping the LEAF with the cold weather package as a standard feature? Hopefully the Leaf is not an April to November car for us in the colder zones.

Depends on your commute needs. If you travel only 50 miles a day (or per charge) you should be able to do that even below zero with heater full on esp. if you can use preheat.

 

[TimeHorse]

But it looks like the 6.6kW charging options won't be available until the 2013 model year in Smyrna.

My guess is Nissan is going to bring in the 6.6kW very quitely - not with any pre-announcements. That way they won't have a lot of people waiting for it before ordering. Just like they did for cold weather pkg.

ps : They may be also waiting for Focus EV price so that they can adjust the 6.6kw charger option price ...

http://www.greencarreports.com/news...an-leaf-to-get-faster-charger-in-a-year-or-so

You might, for instance, hear Nissan America's director of product planning, Mark Perry, casually mention that the Nissan Leaf electric car now permits Level II 240-Volt charging at 3.3 kilowatts--"and we'll raise that in a year or so."

Not as definitive as the press release I read but alas Nissan Chat doesn't send transcripts anymore.

I stand by late 2012, early 2013 with Smyrna-build vehicles, i.e. the 2013 model year edition.

But this should probably be split off into a 6.6kW charging thread.

 

[Pipemajor]

Maybe I missed it in this thread but all of the 2012 Leafs (which have been in production for about a month) will have the cold weather package installed as STANDARD equipment. Likewise the L3 charging option (STANDARD on the 2012).

Only problem is I don't even know if those of us in the non-launch states will be able to get a 2012 model.

 

[SanDust]

Hopefully the Leaf is not an April to November car for us in the colder zones.

Good point. It just depends on the range you're willing to live with. Figure 50 miles with the heated seats and the rest of the cold weather package. But that's charging to 100% not 80%, and that's when the battery is new not with 80% of capacity after five years. Plus most people are not going to be willing to pull into the garage at the end of the day with 2 miles of remaining range. They'll want a buffer. Factor in these numbers and you quickly get to a range most people won't be willing to live with.

The good news is that cold weather will not adversely affect battery capacity. When it warms up you'll be as good as new.

 

[Herm]

The good news is that cold weather will not adversely affect battery capacity. When it warms up you'll be as good as new.

The cold will also preserve battery life, the battery may actually outlast the chassis if they salt the roads

I'm sure even in nasty cold weather the Leaf will have sufficient range for many people, perhaps the majority even.

 

[Pipemajor]

I think the point is to keep the battery chemistry from freezing and stranding the owner. The issue is energizing the car during extremely cold conditions. Once you start pulling current from the battery by driving it, the battery temperature will climb back to where it's efficiency is back to near-normal.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Got my Leaf in jan and the range was shorter then but most days the range is 20-40 miles. I expect that to work for a long time

 

[evnow]

I think the point is to keep the battery chemistry from freezing and stranding the owner. The issue is energizing the car during extremely cold conditions. Once you start pulling current from the battery by driving it, the battery temperature will climb back to where it's efficiency is back to near-normal.

When you are driving Leaf at freeway speeds in Chicago winters, the battery may not get much warm.

Let us say you are pulling 20kW and the battery is 95% efficient. that means only 1.0 kW of heat is being generated. How warm will that keep a 250kg battery with may be 20 sq feet of metal exposed (and designed to conduct away heat) ? I'd think the steady state is reached fairly quickly and may be the battery will be just above freezing on a 10 degree morning.

 

[Volusiano]

Anyone has an experience from Prius or other hybrids?
Do they have some radically different battery that do not freeze?

It's a different battery chemistry for the Prius. I leave my Prius out in the cold for days on end and never had any problems with the traction battery.

The Prius uses Nickel Metal Hydride and not Lithium Ion. However, I don't think they're any more fool hardy in cold weather than the Lithium Ion on the Leaf.

Prius owners don't have an issue with their battery being cold only because they can rely on the ICE to start up first and warm up everything for normal operation. That's why hybrids used in cold weather on short trips don't get as good mileage, because they rely a lot more on the ICE to heat up everything first. If part of the warm up is a significant part of the drive (for short trips), then the gas mileage suffers.

 

[TimeHorse]

Aarrgg! Why did you have to bump this thread. And why is that stupid TimeHorse bumping it again just to gripe about how Cold Weather was introduced in 2011 and still they jacked up the price for us hurry-up-and-wait Phase 2 folks! Man did we get shafted: pay $1,450 - $1,900 more for the same car, only without the disable switch for the vehicle low speed sound and still no 6.6kW charger option and no possibility of upgrade yet with the 2013 the price may come back down so early adapters in AZ, CA, HI, OR, TN, TX, WA get a nice car for a nice price, with a few important features missing, the rest of the early adopters get an overpriced car that still doesn't have those important features and the folks that waited for the 2013 get a nice deal because there will be more options and potentially lower prices.

@$#^ ##$^@#$ Cold Weather Trim #@^% !#$@!# !$%!#$%

[/rant]

 

[TimeHorse]

I believe someone wrote some spam to this thread yesterday so it may be showing up in your list of watched threads as permanently recently updated. However as of this post I think that should be fixed as unless they delete this one the system should see that you've seen the latest post and leave you alone.

Returning to topic I will say that after 1 year of driving the LEAF in D.C. the cold weather trim operates wonderfully. I avoid the heater like the plague and generally stick with heated seats and wheel. So anyone scanning this thread with concerns, rest assured I drive 70 mi a day, 67%-75% highway and always make it home in all weather and in all traffic.

Jeffrey.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

What is your average speed and what is your odometer?

 

[TimeHorse]

What is your average speed and what is your odometer?

Okay, Dave, this isn't a secret but I prefer to only tell folks in the EV community to avoid scaring the less knowledgeable.

In 13 months of driving I've accumumated 21,000+ miles of travel. And although I originally rode the limits of non-reckless at 69 on the Capital Beltway, I decided soon into my electric driving when I risked a speed camera ticket (but didn't get a ticket then) that it wasn't worth it when I could take a little longer and I could get a bit more distance for after-work driving. So I do drive 55. Strictly the speed limit unless I'm hypermiling extreme to get home on minimal bars. Then I'll typically low-ball the limit by 10 mph. That's typically when I have about 80 miles with the EVA/DC meeting detour after work. But 70 mi at mostly 55mph seems doable even when the temperature is around 5 degrees centigrade like this morning (it was 3 centigrade).

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

TY TY !! i love sharing secrets!

the speed limit around here going North (where everything is...) is 60 mph but frequently have a 10-20 mile jam up where its like 15-40 mph. either way, very impressed with your management of your range along with the demands you put on your LEAF.