Informative Newbie with some questions

[IraqiInvaderGnr]

I've been reading various topics on this forum for about a month now and finally decided to create an account and see if I could get these questions answered honestly by actual owners.

1. I live in Iowa and work in Omaha, Nebraska. I drive 30 minutes (about 26 miles mostly highway 55mph) one way to work (~52 miles roundtrip) and while from what I have read that should be well within the range of the Leaf what I am concerned with is the winter cold effect on the batteries (less range in winther?)

2. I have decided if I get a leaf (as of now very likely) I would lease it then buy it at the end of the lease to be gauranteed the full $7,500. What are some of your experience with the lease (Good? Bad?)

3. There are days where I work up to 15 hours in one day so it has made me wonder will the batteries lose some charge from sitting for that long?

4. This question maybe more difficult to answer but since I drive around 52 miles roundtrip 5 days a week what is the estimated life of the battery as far as being able to complete that trip on a daily basis (being charged the night before every day) without having to worry about running out of Juice. (This is of course assuming that it's driven efficiently (very little heat or AC, eco mode, etc.))

5. In my particular situation based off of what I have informed you would you recommend a Leaf for me or not?

Added Question
6. There is a lease special going on right now with the leafs that is said to expire April 1st, 2013. How much will the lease go up after April 1st (guesses are fine) SV And SL is what I'm most interested in. I'm not wanting to sign up for a lease until I get to physically see the car and test drive it (can you blame me?) and none of the dealers near me are supposed to get Leafs in stock till Mid-April. Advice?

 

[iamwjh]

Can you charge at work.?
I drive 50+ miles round trip daily with no problem. 99% hwy at 63 mph, avg 3.8 miles per kwh. Lots of hills. Very little heat.
I have an alternate route that is same hills but all side roads, avg 38 mph and 4.5 miles per kwh and its about 4 extra miles.
Some days I charge at work for 3 to 4 hours but dont need to.
I have never had a LBW. Mostly charge to 80% and can end my day with one bar without charging at work.
Of course, if u could charge at work, u would have no problems with the winter driving since u probably want the heater for those cold winters up there.
I leased mine so that I dont really need to worry about the battery degredation potential.
I kept my ICE, and its really nice that I have only been to the gas station 2 times since dec 2012, considering I used to fill up that beast weekly.

Thats my 2 cents .

EDIT
dont lease until you test drive one .

 

[planet4ever]

1. Yes, less range with cold, less with wind, less with rain, less with snow on the road. People who live in colder climates can advise you better.
2. I think most of us who have leases are happy so far, but few of us have converted them into purchases yet, so we can't give much advice on that.
3. No noticeable charge loss in 15 hours! You can leave the battery sitting for months and only lose a few percent.
4. The main factor in battery life seems to be heat, and I remember hot nights in Iowa when I lived there many years ago. Set a timer to finish charging just before you start driving and the battery should be good for quite a few years, though it will gradually lose capacity.
5. I would say go for it, especially if you have another car you can take on stormy winter days. But do lease, so you can get out of it if the battery does go bad on you.

Ray

 

[Randy]

2. I have decided if I get a leaf (as of now very likely) I would lease it then buy it at the end of the lease to be gauranteed the full $7,500. What are some of your experience with the lease (Good? Bad?)

When you initially lease the LEAF, Nissan will work the entire $7,500 federal tax credit that they will receive into the monthly lease payment. So you won't need to buy the car to get that full $7,500, you will have already received it in your lease payment calculation.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

1. with snow, you could see your range as low as 40 miles without using heat but that would be a rare situation but it does happen. it happened to me last Winter in an area that occasionally goes all Winter without any snow at all

2. you are guaranteed the full $7500 when you lease. if a purchase is in your mind, i suggest waiting until the last possible minute. it will cost a bit more in rent fees, but I think you will have changed your mind when you see what is available in 2015 or 2016

3. no

4. if you drive 55 mph, you will be golden most likely even on a 3 year lease. what you want to avoid is heat or 7 Temperature bars. that is when the degradation starts to accelerate. it does not matter if your pack is 100% (which is NOT possible) or 80%. your best bet, try to finish a 100% charge early in the AM during the hot weather now this depends on what time you leave in the morning. if you do leave before the morning chill is burned off, do that. this allows your car to cool a bit more from the charging

5. yes i would definitely recommend it. your commute is well within the LEAFs range

6. i worked in the car business. if a program works, it will be brought back. expiration dates on programs rarely mean anything. another promotion will take its place. only thing that would prevent that is LEAFs flying off the shelves. I think Nissan is well positioned to meet any and all demand so a shortage is very unlikely

 

[RonDawg]

As far as leasing a Leaf, the disadvantages are no different from leasing most other cars: you have to stay within your mileage allotment or pay a penalty at lease end (unless you elect to purchase the car), the car has to be returned in a condition acceptable to the lessor (again unless you end up purchasing it), and that after making all those payments you have no car to show for it.

There are some advantages though that aren't apparent when you lease most other cars: in addition to the immediate $7500 savings, leasing means you won't have to worry about long term battery degradation, and you can upgrade to an EV with superior range and/or other features a lot faster.

 

[thankyouOB]

sugar,
i cant see a reason for you not to get the LEAF.
your drive is within the normal bounds and even in winter you will be fine. just preheat and dress warmly.
buy or lease. i hate leasing, but that is a completely personal decision.
you can always get ALL the federal credit by moving a little money from a traditional IRA or 401k to a ROTH.
there are plenty of posts describing that. I did it and got both car and evse tax credit.

 

[ksnogas2112]

Nissan of Omaha says it has 1 in stock now:

http://www.nissanofomaha.com/index.asp?parNewUsedFlag=1&parEngine=&parTrans=&YearFrom=&parColor=&MilesRange=&Make=Nissan&parBody=&PriceRange=&Model=Leaf&parCertifiedFlag=&parVehTypeID=&cmd=doSearchhtml&p=22&sg=k8i8fkuusn" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Get an extended test drive from the dealer to home and back. I would really check in with your office to see if they will let you plug in during the winter even at 120volt. As cold as it is in the Midwest you may find winters challenging if you need to run the heater. Get some warm socks or battery socks for sure. I haven't had a problem with range this winter but most of my driving is in the city not on the highway. During the summer and fall I was getting 4.9-5.2 miles to kWh. During the coldest winter it was 2.8-3.1 miles to the kWh. Admittedly a lot of that was because I was running the heat and knew I didn't need to worry about the range or had to keep the defroster running to clear the fog from 3 passengers. Given the new heater in the '13's that will help you out.

I didn't see a problem with the snow affecting the range but the roads got cleared so fast I really didn't have the opportunity to really test the affect of snow.

See if you can park in the shade from June-September to keep the solar load off the battery to extend the life.

The other concern would be the wind. You will see some additional range loss in high wind.

10,000 miles and counting and loving every mile.

 

[ERG4ALL]

If you get a 2013 you will be better off regarding heating. The 2013 uses a heat pump instead of resistance heating.

 

[Deleted member 3147]

If you get a 2013 you will be better off regarding heating. The 2013 uses a heat pump instead of resistance heating.

As long as you get a 2013 SV or SL. AFAIK, the 2013 S still has the old resistive-only heater.

 

[IraqiInvaderGnr]

Nissan of Omaha says it has 1 in stock now:

http://www.nissanofomaha.com/index.asp?parNewUsedFlag=1&parEngine=&parTrans=&YearFrom=&parColor=&MilesRange=&Make=Nissan&parBody=&PriceRange=&Model=Leaf&parCertifiedFlag=&parVehTypeID=&cmd=doSearchhtml&p=22&sg=k8i8fkuusn" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Get an extended test drive from the dealer to home and back. I would really check in with your office to see if they will let you plug in during the winter even at 120volt. As cold as it is in the Midwest you may find winters challenging if you need to run the heater. Get some warm socks or battery socks for sure. I haven't had a problem with range this winter but most of my driving is in the city not on the highway. During the summer and fall I was getting 4.9-5.2 miles to kWh. During the coldest winter it was 2.8-3.1 miles to the kWh. Admittedly a lot of that was because I was running the heat and knew I didn't need to worry about the range or had to keep the defroster running to clear the fog from 3 passengers. Given the new heater in the '13's that will help you out.

I didn't see a problem with the snow affecting the range but the roads got cleared so fast I really didn't have the opportunity to really test the affect of snow.

See if you can park in the shade from June-September to keep the solar load off the battery to extend the life.

The other concern would be the wind. You will see some additional range loss in high wind.

10,000 miles and counting and loving every mile.

Thanks for all the feedback everyone! I greatly appreciate it. I'm going to checkinto that dealer as well. I overestimated my daily commute as well. It's less than 50 miles roundtrip. Blue SL is what I'm hoping to get. I have to wait till April to lease it unfortunately though so I hope the lease special is extended. I'm hoping that I get a chance this weekend to at least go by the dealer at look at it....maybe even test drive it. I'm quite excited to say the least....I'm already thinking what vanity plate to get. NO GAS, ELECTRIC, O GAS. I'm unable to plug it jn at work as of now...will be trying to persuade them to allow me to as it could gain some business if they are the first company in omaha to have a ev charging station for employees

 

[ksnogas2112]

For your plate, try 0GASEVR =) good luck

 

[ERG4ALL]

We're leasing our LEAF mainly because we expect increased range in future models that may be available at the end of our lease. If that happens then "obsolete" (i.e. older) models will be worth even less. Thus, if we purchased we would have not only the steep depreciation that occurs with any car, but we'd have the obsolescence factor added to that. So if I purchased the car I would have several hundred dollars hidden cost that in a lease isn't hidden. On the other hand, I have purchased all of my cars other than the LEAF and have held them as long as 20 years. However, my expectation in those instances do not involve a major purchase of a new drive battery. The upkeep in those instances is relatively small and incremental spread out over time.
Just one more viewpoint for what it's worth.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I would go with ACDCPWR

 

[Psyclonus]

I'm in Iowa too, and though we've only had our car about 6 weeks, I can tell you that when the temps are sub-zero, you may have some stress about making it home with that commute, based on our short experience. I think you'll make it, but if you can swing even a wall outlet to plug into at work on the super cold days, it'd make your life a lot less stressful...