2015 S in Minnesota

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ahlb0012

New member
Joined
Jul 12, 2015
Messages
1
Hi All,

I'm a newbie in the market for a used Leaf. Thanks for all of the great information on the forum!

I'm considering a few different 2015 S models with quick charge that have less than 10,000 miles. My question is whether I'll regret not purchasing an SV or SL at some point in the future, which isn't in the budget right now. If not a base S model, I don't think I could afford an SV or SL newer that 2012 or 2013.

I live in Minnesota, where we see both very hot and cold weather. For that reason, the idea of the hybrid heat pump is appealing for winter driving. That being said, this car would be my family's second and used almost exclusively for my daily commute of just 20 miles roundtrip, so I'm not real concerned about range. My garage is uninsulated and unheated, so it can be both very cold (0 degrees) or very hot (100 degrees). The "lizard battery" of 2015 may take care of the heat issue? My employer also plans to add Level 2 charging stations in the near future.

I don't care about the navigation or premium stereo. I'm most concerned about battery life and value. Given my modest needs, does the S fit the bill? I'm excited to join the ranks of Leaf owners and want to make sure it's a positive experience.

Thanks in advance!
 
An S would do you, but you should consider leasing new, even if you want to buy, heck, especially if you want to buy, as the current generation of low range cars are very likely to continue to get deep discount buy out offers from NMAC at lease end
 
Make sure a used leaf has the portable 120 Volt EVSE in the back, and is not missing.

Glad to see these used EVs being recycled at such low prices for the second owners!

Enjoy, and thanks for reducing your oil/gasoline use :)
 
We have a good friend that had an S in MN. She loved it, but had a very steep driveway and the Leaf simply couldn't climb the hill in the winter. When we discussed buying our Leaf, she strongly recommended the SV because of the heating system in the S. We live in S Texas, so heating isn't terribly important, but A/C certainly is!
 
With a 20 mi RT, the "S" would work just fine. Heck, even a used 2011 (with the same heater) like mine would work fine. Just make sure that you have electricity in your garage and pre-heat before leaving. You will need to pre-heat with 240 V L2 and not just the 120 V L1 cord. Otherwise, you will only get 1.2 KW of heat, which isn't much at 0 F.
 
With only 20 miles or range needed, an S will do fine. Where the SV or SL will be superior is if you need to venture farther afield in spring or fall, as the greater efficiency of the heat-pump won't suck your range down as badly as the resistive-only heater in the S will. In Minnesota winter temps, all three trims will be using the resistive heating element, as the heat pump's efficiency advantage drops off to nothing and its heat output is increasingly inadequate below about 15 deg. F, so no difference there.
 
When you preheat, you can basically go your 10 miles without additional heat, or perhaps just the seat heater and always a lap blanket. My attached garage stays slightly warmer than outdoors, and so windows tend to fog up when you preheat. So I found myself cracking windows to avoid the fogging and thus losing much of the preheat. Also, I believe if you are charging at L1 when preheating, it runs the heater at the auto set point for preheat, regardless of how much power it is getting from the wall. So preheating while charging at L1 can lead to departures at less than 100% charge. But, it's not going to make any noticeable difference for your commute. And it is still a good idea since some portion of the power to preheat is coming from the wall.

Come to the national drive electric week event at the Mega Mall. Saturday, September 12, 2015
https://driveelectricweek.org/event.php?eventid=409
 
I would recommend getting the heat pump version. Ive had both versions of the leaf, and the heat pump works much better, and much faster and leaves you with more range. The resistive heater version is a huge pig that takes a while to pump out heat.
 
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