laurend1985 said:
Hi everyone,
Thanks for your support.
I will not buy a new vehicle until the fall so that leaves me plenty of time to read and check out all my options. I do like the Leaf but I wish the X-terra was a hybrid, that would be my dream truck. I will study and test drive all of the cars and trucks everyone suggested.
Since you have some time, continue your LEAF research here on the forum.
Start with the Wiki:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
I suggest you start a mileage log, or update the one you are required to keep for your business mileage deductions. Include trip #, start/stop odometer, start/stop time, location, time at location, distance to charging station (L1/L2/QC), especially note your time at or near charging stations, including lunch breaks. Also, include temperature/weather/wind if you can. I'll hazard a guess at 20% days <20 mi, 40% <30 mi, 60% <40 mi, 80% <50 mi, 90% <60 mi, 95% <70 mi, 99% <75 mi. I'll also guess 20% day <1 hr break, 60% <2hr, 80%<3hr, 90%<4hr, etc. Guess at the intersection of the mileage and break times. Unfortunately, there's probably an inverse correlation of miles driven with break times because you're driving instead of breaking. You'd need some probabilistic calculations, overkill for sure, to be more certain, but you get the idea. You may be surprised by the result. Here's another newbie's epiphany:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=11318&hilit=portland&start=10#p261574
ksnogas2112 said:
1. You will not get 80 miles on a charge in the winter. Period. No exceptions. If all the driving is city driving you can expect no more than 60 miles during the winter at least that's what I've been getting in KC and that's with the heat off.
Nope, can't be done.
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=7634&p=243033&hilit=cold#p243033
Not that I recommend it for daily driving. This was a 2011 without the cold weather package and heat off.
Also, you need to evaluate your susceptibility to cold (not that I think anyone in Chicago would be).
Are you always bundled up, cold, hot, etc.? Many men & women report wide differences between their use and requirement to use the heater. If you require heat blasting (as I do on my 8 mi RT commute), then no, you will not be able to drive more than 40-50 mi in the depth of winter.
Battery degradation is known to mostly come from high ambient temps, number of charge/discharge cycles (roughly miles driven), and rate of charge/discharge (QC, hard acceleration/braking, high speeds). Chicago will not see degradation like AZ, TX, and FL. I would not expect more than 5-10% degradation for years, unless you are harder on the battery than the average driver. I'm in a similar climate and have not seen more than 5%, although most of my driving is <40 mph in town, and only slow charging. As always, your experience will be different.
Finally, please let us know more about your evaluation and experiences. That's how these forums work. It's a community with two-way communication. We're all interested in reducing gas consumption and increasing EV miles, whether by pure EV (Leaf, RAV4, FFE, Tesla), EREV (Volt), PiP, or hybrid. Everyone's driving situation is different and may require a completely different vehicle. My preference is pure EV, but that only works because I live in a small town and have an older ICE vehicle for longer cross-state trips. I could have easily went with the Volt or PiP and still had all my in-town miles be EV-only. Very few can say this because the PiP has less than 15 mi EV, and then only when driven "carefully".
Reddy