Just bought a 2019 Leaf SL plus

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EVDean

Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2021
Messages
24
Location
Pinehurst, NC
I own an auto repair shop here in North Carolina and I'm well aware of the trend towards EVs coming into the mainstream so I bought one. I want to stay ahead of the other shops in my area by getting acquainted with and EV first hand and I'm also attracted to the low maintenance zero emission aspect of owning an EV. I'm in talks with Chargepoint a regarding installing some charging stations at my business as well.

I bought my car from a Mitsubishi dealer in Raleigh that bought it at auction with only 3700 miles on the clock! Paid $25,600 out the door. Financing with my bank at 3.8% interest. I put $4K down so my payments are a bit over $300 a month.

I've been doing a TON of research and educating myself on al things EV. It's exciting technology and I look forward to sharing my experiences here.
 
Can't argue with that price :) Looking forward to your thoughts on the car from a repair business perspective. In some ways, EVs should be simpler to repair with fewer moving parts. Electronics, another story.
 
A few YouTube channels you might want to follow...

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCc3g-KhOBoicgOrB4KkMeew

https://m.youtube.com/user/James0852

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC_KZxCbxmKqObdMqsNZfZXA
 
Interesting, OP.
Are you going to tinker ?

There is still a lot about EVs that is still mechanical car stuff, albeit with wrinkles.
Beyond that, *diagnostics* is a wide-open field for any car that you can read the Can-bus

Good luck!
 
Thanks. :)

alozzy said:
A few YouTube channels you might want to follow...

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCc3g-KhOBoicgOrB4KkMeew

https://m.youtube.com/user/James0852

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC_KZxCbxmKqObdMqsNZfZXA
 
Drove it home today. Out in the country on the freeway, I couldn't resist passing a Mustang GT that was doing 85. My speed when passing, 100. :eek: This car is fast! :mrgreen:

I backed off and traveled at a safe speed the rest of the way home. :)
 
I am so glad you like it! On fast the acceleration is pretty good and the instant torque feels great but you probably about hit the top speed of the car.

Certainly we need more independent shops like yours to become able to repair EVs, if you succeed you will be a great asset to the community.
 
salyavin said:
I am so glad you like it! On fast the acceleration is pretty good and the instant torque feels great but you probably about hit the top speed of the car.

Certainly we need more independent shops like yours to become able to repair EVs, if you succeed you will be a great asset to the community.

I have a YouTube channel where I post videos on all kinds of DIY topics. There will be a new EV category now where I'll share my experiences.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3v9cVoEt4YqZpGyzewdlrQ
 
First impressions, first day with the leaf. Favorite features: Instant heat because it has a heat pump, instant acceleration with the DC electric motor, excellent infotainment/ nav system with easy to understand interface, steering wheel buttons well placed. I just love it! It's comfy, it's quiet, it moves through traffic effortlessly. It's going to be interesting to see what the routine through the week with charging is going to be. I'm guessing I'll probably plug it in only a couple of times per week to keep the battery cycles happy.

The Grizzle-E charger is showing up this weekend so I'll get that mounted on the side of the garage and have it at the ready for charging. I'll set it at 30 amp output as the onboard charge controller in the leaf is rated at 6.6 KW.
 
EVDean said:
The Grizzle-E charger is showing up this weekend so I'll get that mounted on the side of the garage and have it at the ready for charging. I'll set it at 30 amp output as the onboard charge controller in the leaf is rated at 6.6 KW.
If you are going to share the EVSE with others then set it to 0.8*breaker, or the EVSE max if that is lower. The EVSE will not pull more than the car requests.
 
EVDean said:
The Grizzle-E charger is showing up this weekend so I'll get that mounted on the side of the garage and have it at the ready for charging. I'll set it at 30 amp output as the onboard charge controller in the leaf is rated at 6.6 KW.
By the way, since you are a tech guy I'll harp on language use:

The Grizzl-E is not a charger, it is an EVSE
The on-board AC electronics is not a charge controller, it is a charger (aka rectifier). So it is called an OBC ('on-board charger')

It never occurred to me before you used the term, but calling the EVSE a charge controller makes sense to me since its main function is to arbitrate current.
 
SageBrush said:
EVDean said:
The Grizzle-E charger is showing up this weekend so I'll get that mounted on the side of the garage and have it at the ready for charging. I'll set it at 30 amp output as the onboard charge controller in the leaf is rated at 6.6 KW.
By the way, since you are a tech guy I'll harp on language use:

The Grizzl-E is not a charger, it is an EVSE
The on-board AC electronics is not a charge controller, it is a charger (aka rectifier). So it is called an OBC ('on-board charger')

It never occurred to me before you used the term, but calling the EVSE a charge controller makes sense to me since its main function is to arbitrate current.

Good point. :cool:
 
Discovered another feature this morning. TPMS on this car is pretty cool. Display alerted me that pressures read low on three tires so I hauled the air hose outside and began topping them off. Much to my surprise, as I hit 36 psi the horn went "beep"! That's an excellent feature! My pressure gauge is not very accurate anyway so this is a big help.
 
EVDean said:
Discovered another feature this morning. TPMS on this car is pretty cool. Display alerted me that pressures read low on three tires so I hauled the air hose outside and began topping them off. Much to my surprise, as I hit 36 psi the horn went "beep"! That's an excellent feature! My pressure gauge is not very accurate anyway so this is a big help.

It is handy for getting the tires to the minimum tire pressure. You'll find in the near future, you'll want more tire pressure for increased speed, handling and range :D
 
Yes, a lot of us like to inflate around 42psi and I generally run 44psi so while the beep feature is nice for a bare minimum pressure, it would be much handier if you could set the pressure at which it would beep. Of course, I understand why they did what they did but many Leaf owners find far faster outer edges of tire wear with lower tire pressures, even at 44psi the outer edges wear faster than the center but much better than the 36 I initially ran my Ecopias at and had to replace them at 20k miles :(
 
One could try counting off X number of seconds after the horn sounds, to get a higher pressure. A little 12 volt inflator would probably take another 30 seconds or more to get to 40psi, while a larger AC inflator might need as little as 10.
 
EVDean said:
First impressions, first day with the leaf. Favorite features: Instant heat because it has a heat pump, instant acceleration with the DC electric motor, excellent infotainment/ nav system with easy to understand interface, steering wheel buttons well placed. I just love it! It's comfy, it's quiet, it moves through traffic effortlessly. It's going to be interesting to see what the routine through the week with charging is going to be. I'm guessing I'll probably plug it in only a couple of times per week to keep the battery cycles happy.

The Grizzle-E charger is showing up this weekend so I'll get that mounted on the side of the garage and have it at the ready for charging. I'll set it at 30 amp output as the onboard charge controller in the leaf is rated at 6.6 KW.

Why not just use the charger the car came with? Because you want an outdoor mounting? That is the only reason I can think of. The provided EVSE has the NEMA 14-50 "RV" plug already and will provide peak compatibility.

The only downside is it is not intended for use in sun, wind and rain. I have mine mounted it my garage.
 
LeftieBiker said:
One could try counting off X number of seconds after the horn sounds, to get a higher pressure. A little 12 volt inflator would probably take another 30 seconds or more to get to 40psi, while a larger AC inflator might need as little as 10.

There is a way to cheat (kind of), drive around a little so the tire sensors are active (but not so much as to heat up the tires so they stay cold). Come back to your home and park with the vehicle still on, then either use the dash (Gen 2) to monitor the tire pressure or LeafSpy (Gen 1) to monitor tire pressure while you add more air. :cool:
 
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