We jumped into this!

[GrantD]

So we got a great deal on our leaf. It's a used 2013 SL with only 24k miles and we got it for well below blue book. That said I kinda rushed into it without fully thinking about all the "work" it would be dealing with the range issues of this car.

My wife is going to have to really adapt to this. Apparently our car had on the setting where it only charges to 80% and today my wife did a lot of running around. She calls me while on the freeway and is screaming at me that there is only 6% charge left and she's 20 miles from home. I pulled up the plug share app and luckily she was close to a place to charge. So she pulls over and charges at level 2 for about an hour and is only up to 22% and heads home. She pulls into the driveway with everything shutting down, not even 1% according to the display! She kinda doesn't get it yet.

We have another car that can be used for the days when a lot of driving needs to be done, but I am kind of looking forward to trying to use this as much as possible and have fun with it. My wife still needs a little educating. We were expecting 100 miles on a charge to be what we could expect, but after reading on this forum I am thinking 80 is more realistic. Maybe not even that since we are usually carting the kids around, charging our phones, listening to the radio etc. I have read a few threads here and am learning a lot, look forward to reading on this forum a lot over the coming weeks.

 

[cwerdna]

Yes, Plugshare is a must use/have. If the drivers have smartphones, you MUST install the app. And, it's helpful to use their site to do some planning first.

We were expecting 100 miles on a charge to be what we could expect, but after reading on this forum I am thinking 80 is more realistic.

Who/what led you to believe the former?

Remember, the EPA rated range of the '13 Leaf is only 75 miles and 84 on '14+ Leafs on a NEW battery, not one that has degraded an unknown non-zero amount:
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=33558&id=34918.
http://www.autoblog.com/2013/02/21/2013-nissan-leaf-revealed-gets-75-mile-range-actually-84-in-n/
http://insideevs.com/2014-nissan-leaf-mostly-unchanged-as-range-technically-moves-up-to-84-miles/

Please see range chart at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=101293 for a NEW battery. If you're going to ride around near the bottom or cut it so close, you'd be best getting an OBD2 dongle and Leaf Spy. See below. Get free Leaf Spy Lite to test your phone and dongle first before paying for the paid versions of the app.

http://www.electricvehiclewiki.com/?title=Leaf_Battery_Application
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=14284
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=14285

As the battery further degrades, you range will decline. And, you will have worse range in winter, esp. if your area gets very cold and has snow.

The KBB value for Leafs is probably crap as Leaf resale value is unfortunately lousy. I almost bought the a '13 Leaf SV w/premium package and 12K miles for $10.5K (mentioned at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=429492#p429492). Hopefully that dealer can get one more to my liking for the same price (likely will have more miles on it though).

Welcome, BTW.

 

[LeftieBiker]

You don't have to worry about the radio or 12 volt accessory outlet reducing range significantly. What eats range is:

* Accelerating hard. Eco mode helps moderate this by changing the way the accelerator pedal responds, with full power still being available if you mash the pedal.

* Speeds above 55-60MPH. The car may *look* really aerodynamic, but it has several features (like the huge wheel wells) that make the drag pretty terrible at freeway speeds. Driving below 60MPH adds miles.

* Heater use, especially in frigid weather. Your car has the hybrid heatpump/resistance heating system, so mildly cold temps won't kill range much, but once it falls into the teens Fahrenheit, range will plummet into the forties in miles.

* Maximum A/C use in hot weather. You can keep the car cool in Eco mode with only a few miles' range lost, but if you try to refrigerate the car, or always use D mode and a lower (below 72 or so) temp setting, range will suffer, albeit not as badly as in Winter.

 

[cwerdna]

BTW, OP, can you update your location info via your user name in the upper right > User Control Panel > Profile tab? http://www.mynissanleaf.com/ucp.php?i=164 may work too.

That way, we don't need to ask in future posts/threads or do sleuthing to deduce it.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

Welcome! The Leaf definitely takes some getting used to. At first, my wife refused to drive ours. Once she got used to the idea (and how to read the gauges - ignore the "Guess-o-Meter" range estimation for one thing), she took it away! Now I'm back to driving the hybrid ::shudder::.

 

[RonDawg]

My wife is going to have to really adapt to this...She kinda doesn't get it yet...My wife still needs a little educating.

Grant, hopefully you and your wife discussed purchasing an EV beforehand, and more specifically the change in attitude that driving an EV requires. If you just bought the car and expect her to "get it"...well, you don't need a degree in marriage counseling to see the problems that will result.

If the range works for you, it may be best to make this your commuter car. If/when she wants to make it "her" car, she will let you know.

 

[aarond12]

At first, my wife refused to drive ours.

Mine too. Range anxiety. Once she realized how far our LEAF goes (the GOM consistently shows over 100 miles in out city driving), she wants to drive it all the time.

 

[LeftieBiker]

OTOH, my housemate refused to drive mine when it was new. She eventually agreed to drive it with me in the car as needed, but after 2+ years she has only driven it once alone, and hated that experience. It was a Winter commute, and even though I knew she had enough range, and told her so, and she knows how to read the SOC gauge, she shut the heat off 5 minutes into the 20F drive, and left it off, just because of range anxiety. I have never run out of charge, not once, nor has she. Some people are just not equipped to drive an EV.

 

[GrantD]

Well a week in we are adjusting nicely. We traded in our older 15 yo car that we hardly ever drive. So my wife still has "her" car for the times she had range anxiety. I'm not really sure how we both got the impression that the range expectation would be closer to 100 than 75, but we both had it. It's a pretty big difference when you think about it. I'm pretty happy about the car's range on a 100% charge, but not on an 80% charge. Since we have the other car, these issues will just mean we might drive a little less than initially expected, not too big of a deal. Today I drove it around town running errands for 3 hours, just got home a bit ago and still have 60% charge so no problem there. My wife is now liking the car a lot, but won't take it if she had to get on the freeway for more than 10 miles (pretty smart probably).

I have updated my profile a bit and a friend who is an electrician is going to help me get a better charging situation set up. I'm looking forward to that.

 

[braineo]

Why would you ever charge only to 80% - Since I got mine in 2012 I've charged daily to 100% -- I wouldn't even consider not fully charging. Better find the battery defect early than late and after the warranty is over. So far so good. My 2011's battery is due for replacement by next year and hopefully I will get the extended range battery!!!!

 

[ElectricEddy]

So we got a great deal on our leaf. It's a used 2013 SL with only 24k miles and we got it for well below blue book. That said I kinda rushed into it without fully thinking about all the "work" it would be dealing with the range issues of this car.

My wife is going to have to really adapt to this. Apparently our car had on the setting where it only charges to 80% and today my wife did a lot of running around. She calls me while on the freeway and is screaming at me that there is only 6% charge left and she's 20 miles from home. I pulled up the plug share app and luckily she was close to a place to charge. So she pulls over and charges at level 2 for about an hour and is only up to 22% and heads home. She pulls into the driveway with everything shutting down, not even 1% according to the display! She kinda doesn't get it yet.

We have another car that can be used for the days when a lot of driving needs to be done, but I am kind of looking forward to trying to use this as much as possible and have fun with it. My wife still needs a little educating. We were expecting 100 miles on a charge to be what we could expect, but after reading on this forum I am thinking 80 is more realistic. Maybe not even that since we are usually carting the kids around, charging our phones, listening to the radio etc. I have read a few threads here and am learning a lot, look forward to reading on this forum a lot over the coming weeks.

At least you know the bottom end of the traction battery now, below (---) on the display means use Leaf Spy and drive slow- bee-line for the nearest EVSE! Last 6 digits on s/n on profile would be nice.

 

[ElectricEddy]

So we got a great deal on our leaf. It's a used 2013 SL with only 24k miles and we got it for well below blue book. That said I kinda rushed into it without fully thinking about all the "work" it would be dealing with the range issues of this car.

My wife is going to have to really adapt to this. Apparently our car had on the setting where it only charges to 80% and today my wife did a lot of running around. She calls me while on the freeway and is screaming at me that there is only 6% charge left and she's 20 miles from home. I pulled up the plug share app and luckily she was close to a place to charge. So she pulls over and charges at level 2 for about an hour and is only up to 22% and heads home. She pulls into the driveway with everything shutting down, not even 1% according to the display! She kinda doesn't get it yet.

We have another car that can be used for the days when a lot of driving needs to be done, but I am kind of looking forward to trying to use this as much as possible and have fun with it. My wife still needs a little educating. We were expecting 100 miles on a charge to be what we could expect, but after reading on this forum I am thinking 80 is more realistic. Maybe not even that since we are usually carting the kids around, charging our phones, listening to the radio etc. I have read a few threads here and am learning a lot, look forward to reading on this forum a lot over the coming weeks.

At least you know the bottom end of the traction battery now, below (---) on the display means use Leaf Spy and drive slow- bee-line for the nearest EVSE! Last 6 digits on s/n on profile would be nice.

Sorry-its on there already, can't seem to edit with new format, have to get used to it.

 

[GrantD]

Can you tell me more or post links on where to read about this battery replacement? Do some of these batteries need to be replaced every 5 years or something and how expensive to you anticipate that being?

 

[RonDawg]

I'm on my smartphone so I don't have the links handy, but if you Google "Leaf Battery replacement" you should get links back to this forum with the specific threads.

If your Leaf loses 4 bars before it turns 5 years old or accumulates 60k miles from original in-service date, you are eligible for a replacement battery from Nissan.

If your car is outside that warranty, a new battery is $5500 installed with the old battery turned back in.

 

[cwerdna]

Can you tell me more or post links on where to read about this battery replacement? Do some of these batteries need to be replaced every 5 years or something and how expensive to you anticipate that being?

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=13192 - you have this on your '13.
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=17168

As for "Do some of these batteries need to be replaced every 5 years or something", no. If you're down to 8 capacity bars or lower, then you're eligible for warranty replacement if it's before 5 years/60K miles. If outside that, it's up to you to decide when (if ever) to replace it. The battery will continue to degrade and at some point, the range autonomy of such vehicle might become unusable for your use cases.

 

[GrantD]

Good info to know thanks. Ours still has all the bars showing. Though the highest charge we have gotten to before we needed to use it was 98% the dash was showing all the bars.

 

[GrantD]

Good info to know thanks. Ours still has all the bars showing. Though the highest charge we have gotten to before we needed to use it was 98% the dash was showing all the bars. I'm excited today an electrician friend of mine installed a 6-50 plug for me. I just ordered this:
http://www.clippercreek.com/store/product/hcs-40p-32a-240v-charging-25-cord-nema-6-50-plug/
So I'll be living large when it gets here. That seemed to be the most inexpensive charger at the 7kw level. I was thinking the plug option would be good just to have the option to take it on vacation to plug in places with adapters.

 

[GrantD]

Finally got to 100% charge last night and there are 12 bars and the estimated mileage range says 75. Sounds like my battery is in good shape? I ordered the gadget to connect to my phone to get stats but don't have it yet.

 

[RonDawg]

You can't go by the Distance to Empty meter, aka the "GuessOMeter" or "GOM", as an indicator of battery health. The reason is that the algorithm used to determine that number is based on your most recent miles put on the car.

Wait until your OBDII adapter arrives.