ubun2Junky
Member
I'm new to the forum and although I've been doing a lot of reading from past posts, I was hoping perhaps some of you can clarify some things for me. I recently moved to Norther Utah and I'm interested in purchasing a Leaf to help my 30 mile round trip commute everyday. I currently have an 05 BMW X3 that I love driving. However at 19 MPG I'm having to fill up once a week approximately costing me $160 per month in fuel. For about 10 of those miles I'll be driving 75mph, the rest of the time between 25 - 45 mph. I live at the base of a mountain and getting home requires a steep drive for about 2 miles up the mountain. I do plan on keeping my BMW since it's AWD and will help in snowy weather.
With this in mind, I was wondering:
I sincerely appreciate your input. Cheers.
With this in mind, I was wondering:
- I recently found a '15 S with 30K miles for $9000. The owner states that the vehicle has 24 kWh battery along with a normal charge port and a super charging port. From my reading I was under the impression that the S trim version only came with 3.6kWh internal charger, while the SV and SL came with 6.6kWh charger? Isn't the 3.6kWh a normal charger while the 6.6kWh the 'super charger'? What would he be referring to?
- Will I need to get a special 220V adapter installed in my home in order to charge the vehicle? I have about 3 110V outlets in my garage, but no 220V.
- I have heard that weather affects the battery. Average weather where I live ranges from 90F in the summer to 20F in the winter. I'm concerned about battery degradation and how it will eventually affect the life of the vehicle? Some have mentioned something about a 'lizard battery'. How can you tell if a vehicle has this type of battery?
- How does this vehicle fair in snowy conditions? I was counting on using my X3 on heavy snowy days, but was curious if the leaf would have to be a summer only car or if did decent in the winter also?
- I'm looking at purchasing a used Leaf from a private seller. I've read many advise to use the LeafSpy app along with BlueTooth ODBII adapter to check condition of the battery. I personally don't understand what I'm looking at when it comes to the LeafSpy app since I'm not very knowledgable with some of the terms yet and what they mean (SOH, GID, SOC, DTE, etc) are there any recommended resources out there that I can use to learn how to use the app effectively?
- I have kids that are in their early teens and eventually I'd like to hand down the vehicle to them in about 3 to 4 years so they can commute to and and from school. With eventual battery degradation could I still expect to get decent milage after 4 years? What things can a new owner do in order to prolong the life of the battery?
- Is there a specific trim or year model that is recommended over another one? Are there certain features in a particular trim that are must haves and should strongly consider before purchasing something like the base model? I vaguely recall reading about one trim having a separate cooling or heating system.
- What are the rules about charging your vehicle? Should you plug in your car every night regardless of how much charge is still left or should you wait till it gets to a particular level and then charge?
I sincerely appreciate your input. Cheers.