bongo2 said:
Thanks for the perspective Brian. Up in Syracuse you have cold snowy days, right? If my day range was always 80miles I wouldn't think twice about limiting myself to overnight charging. But, I'm in MN and I fear that cold snowy days will mean a 30-40 mile range that will require me to top off during the day. Is that your experience?
You're in Minneapolis, right? Looking at a map, wouldn't it be "down" in Syracuse relative to you?
Being downwind of all five Great Lakes, Syracuse gets lot of lake-effect snow. The most snow, in fact, for any city in the US over 100k people. It sometimes gets bitter cold (sub zero), but usually hovers in the teens-to-twenties in the winter.
The Leaf handles really well in the snow. It is heavy, and that weight is very evenly distributed to all four tires. It has a high ground clearance, yet a low center of gravity. Put some good snow tires on the thing, and you'll be set.
My car not only has a 24kWh battery, but also the horribly inefficient liquid-based resistance heater. That heater is a killer on range. It easily cuts my range in half.
The worst efficiency I have gotten is about 1.5miles/kWh. That was an extreme case, though, and required a multitude of factors. 1) Extreme cold (about -20F). 2) Heating rear-seat occupants with the main heater (which means blowing warm air with the fan relatively high). 3) Multiple SHORT trips (short enough that the heater was still pulling 5+kW the whole time, and then the car cooled off before the next trip). 4) Some highway driving. 5) Non-LRR tires (I had bought cheap replacements when the originals wore out at 20k miles).
This is not a commuting scenario - it is a family errands scenario.
Given the ~20kWh usable in the car, I had a 30 mile range in this extreme situation. I consider 30 miles to be my no-jokes, go-anywhere range. At least with a 12-bar battery. Maybe 25 miles now that I have 11 bars showing. Again, noting my non-LRR tires. I don't recommend buying cheap tires, and won't do so again.
Most winter days are nowhere near that bad. I would say that I am comfortable with 40 miles in pretty much any conditions, provided that I don't have to heat rear passengers.