Does cruise control really only come on the SV and SL trims?

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pmc

Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2017
Messages
24
Location
Central Wisconsin
Greetings all, been lurking here a while, shopping for a used Leaf. So much helpful information here!

I'm looking around for an April 2013 or later, preferably with Quick Charge option. I'm finding a lot of S trims available with Quick Charge, but then discovered from another thread that the S trim didn't have cruise control, at least not until after 2015, is that correct?

So please correct me if I'm wrong, but if we want a Leaf that has cruise control, in a 2013 / 2014, I need to buy an SV or SL.

I guess an SV would be helpful for the heat pump anyway (we are in Central Wisconsin). I just find it odd that cruise isn't standard on all trims. ;)

Commute will be around 17 miles one way, 75% highway / freeway, L1 charge is available at the destination (work). Quick charge isn't 100% necessary, but think it would be nice to have "just in case."

--Paul
 
Yep; if you feel the need for cruise control on an older model, you will have to step up to the SL/SV.

Your commute sounds perfect for the vehicle!
 
Cruise control is now/once again standard on all Leafs for 2017, and I think for 2016. But for a 2013/2014 yes you will need to step up to at least an SV for cruise control.

The S was not introduced until 2013. It was Nissan's answer to cheaper EV rivals like the iMiEV and Spark EV, so it was de-contented to lower the price. It didn't get the heat pump and B mode, improvements over the earlier cars that otherwise were included for 2013. In addition to the cruise control, Nissan also deleted the nav screen, alloy wheels, and CarWings on the S.
 
Yep on what Ron said.

Cruise control became standard on ’15 S trim. It was unavailable on ’13 and ’14 S.

http://nissannews.com/en-US/nissan/usa/presskits/us-2014-nissan-leaf-press-kit
http://nissannews.com/en-US/nissan/usa/presskits/us-2015-nissan-leaf-press-kit

It was always standard on SV and SL trim, regardless of model year.

Also, look at Specs tab of both URLs.
 
Living in Wisconsin you wouldn't want an S. Your commute is long enough that it would be nice to have the extra Winter range of an SV available in mild Winter weather. (The heat pump doesn't significantly increase range over the S in temps below about 14F.)
 
Thanks everyone, all very helpful replies.

So based on our winter weather location, the heat pump is a greater reason to select the SV over an S, rather than cruise control. (I was originally thinking cruise would be handy for my lead-foot daughter :roll: ..Commute is very flat.. the greatest incline is the on-ramp to the freeway) Good to know.

Other threads are telling me that Quick Charge probably isn't necessary for us either... we don't have any quick chargers around here anyway, and we'd have to L2 charge on the way just to reach a QC in Madison anyway. (Thank you for that info, PlugShare!) L1 charge at work should help, esp. in winter.

The search continues... thanks again!
 
An SV with at least 11 full bars left should be able to make that commute without recharging at work, although it might get close in frigid weather. If you find one with 12 solid bars (SOH 90% or higher) it will be no problem, once you learn to moderate heat and speed when it's very cold.
 
2016 and onwards, the S model has cruise control standard. Prior to that, the S model did not have cruise control on it. Hope, that helps..
 
pmc said:
Other threads are telling me that Quick Charge probably isn't necessary for us either... we don't have any quick chargers around here anyway, and we'd have to L2 charge on the way just to reach a QC in Madison anyway. (Thank you for that info, PlugShare!) L1 charge at work should help, esp. in winter.

Even if you don't have a single QC station within 100 miles of your location, on the S it's useful because it also includes the faster 6.6 kW on-board charger, rather than the 3.8 kW unit that is standard. It won't make a difference on 120 volt charging, and has limited usefulness if using 240 volt at home, but where it makes a huge difference is if you need to use supplemental L2 to make it to your destination. It shortens the necessary charging time significantly.

The 2013+ SV and SL come with the faster charger as standard, though on the SV the QC port is also optional.
 
RonDawg said:
Even if you don't have a single QC station within 100 miles of your location, on the S it's useful because it also includes the faster 6.6 kW on-board charger, rather than the 3.8 kW unit that is standard. It won't make a difference on 120 volt charging, and has limited usefulness if using 240 volt at home, but where it makes a huge difference is if you need to use supplemental L2 to make it to your destination. It shortens the necessary charging time significantly.
I agree. I would go with the QC/6.6kw package for resale value and for the 6.6kw charger. Can be handy when charging L2 at home if you are doing a quicker turn around, and it is certainly appreciated when doing L2 charging on the road.
 
I can tell you, as the owner of a 2011 LEAF, that getting the 6.6kw charger is huge. It cuts your L2 charging time in half, thus cutting the wasted energy the LEAF needs on standby which decreases the efficiency of recharging. It also doubles the amount of energy you can get from the L2 station, whether it is a free station or else a per minute cost station.

The other day I helped a guy in a new LEAF. He was down to 19%, and needed to get to Tampa, about 35 miles. I told him about another L2 five miles from where we were, and he said he was going there.

As he left, I thought he'd be needing at least a couple of hours sitting there, as the lady I helped in the Fiat EV had to do with her 3.3kw charger. She didn't even wait at that charger for the full two hours, so I saw she had to stop at another L2 along the way to charge more. But then I remembered, he has the new 6.6kw charger, which saves him just on this one incident over an hour of waiting.

Also, as has been pointed out, the L3 port is a huge benefit for resale. When I was looking for a LEAF back in 2012, there was one without the L3 charger, for the $1500 or so less than the one I got, but I passed. That ended up to be a prudent choice, as there has been almost 70 times using the QC, and several times I couldn't have done even a 120 mile round trip without it.

Long ago I looked at lawnmowers, I told the guy I had about 1/4 acre to mow. He showed me two mowers, one $200 push, one $300 self-propelled. I of course wanted the $200 push, but he kept saying no, don't do that. He was so adamant, I finally relented and got the $300 self-propelled one. And every time I was out in 90°+ weather, I was thanking that guy. Now I'm that guy, saying get the L3 and 6.6kw charger, you will be thankful.
 
^^^ totally agree! I guess if I had to rate it, I'd say faster L2 is my favorite feature, it's nice pulling into a free L2 EVSE, shopping for an hour and gaining 30% charge :cool: with my slower '12 I'd only gain ~ 15% charge, and that difference could be huge!
I don't use the QC much but the few times I have, it made the difference between waiting at the charge station 10-30 minutes and several hours(truthfully I'd probably not have made the trip if I didn't have the QC).
Now maybe for people that have a set schedule or driving routine, back and forth to work and very little else, the slower L2 and no L3 might not be that big a deal, but for the more adventurous of us it really comes in handy and even though I see tons of S Leafs w/o the QC package for cheap, I'm really trying to talk my brother into getting at least the quicker L2 for his used Leaf.
 
I did an extended test drive of a 2013 S model and found that it was way to easy to speed because of the silent drive train. I decided that the S was out of the question because of that. It was only after buying my 2015 SV that I found out that cruise became standard on 2015 and beyond S models. I am happy with my Leaf the only thing that would be nice is QC for the occasional long distance trip but I still will not get a BEV without cruise control.
 
Thanks everyone. Learning a lot here!!

I've inquired on a few Leafs (Leaves?) nearby in the past couple of days and they are selling before I can even look at them. BEVs in demand! :D
 
BillHolz said:
I did an extended test drive of a 2013 S model and found that it was way to easy to speed because of the silent drive train. I decided that the S was out of the question because of that. It was only after buying my 2015 SV that I found out that cruise became standard on 2015 and beyond S models. I am happy with my Leaf the only thing that would be nice is QC for the occasional long distance trip but I still will not get a BEV without cruise control.
Very true although I'm more of a follow the pack kind of driver so other than more side streets I kind of go with the flow. Of course if I really need the range I'll chug along in the slow lane doing the speed limit or even a below(but not during rush hour). I've really never been that fond of CC as I feel it tends to speed up a hill, even to the point of basically flooring the car. Personally I like to slightly speed up before a hill and then let off the gas as I approach the crest. I've always wanted a CC that I could program this style of driving but all want to keep a constant speed. The old throttles were the closest to this but were quite dangerous as they didn't automatically disengage and went way too fast downhill.
Other people I know use CC almost exclusively and would be lost without it, or at least have lots of speeding tickets to show for the lack of it ;)
 
jjeff said:
BillHolz said:
I did an extended test drive of a 2013 S model and found that it was way to easy to speed because of the silent drive train. I decided that the S was out of the question because of that. It was only after buying my 2015 SV that I found out that cruise became standard on 2015 and beyond S models. I am happy with my Leaf the only thing that would be nice is QC for the occasional long distance trip but I still will not get a BEV without cruise control.
Very true although I'm more of a follow the pack kind of driver so other than more side streets I kind of go with the flow. Of course if I really need the range I'll chug along in the slow lane doing the speed limit or even a below(but not during rush hour). I've really never been that fond of CC as I feel it tends to speed up a hill, even to the point of basically flooring the car. Personally I like to slightly speed up before a hill and then let off the gas as I approach the crest. I've always wanted a CC that I could program this style of driving but all want to keep a constant speed. The old throttles were the closest to this but were quite dangerous as they didn't automatically disengage and went way too fast downhill.
Other people I know use CC almost exclusively and would be lost without it, or at least have lots of speeding tickets to show for the lack of it ;)
I've found CC to be very helpful at times, not-so-great other times.

Since I have long distances between charging stations I have to drive slow, sometimes well under the speed limit with my flashers on, in order to make it to the next charging station. Because of this I tend to speed up if I'm not using CC. But if I need to go a steady 40mph, then CC works great until I hit the mountains.

Getting near the bottom or top of a hill I turn off CC and do what's best for that situation, usually shifting into neutral to slow down at the top and then speed up going down, or speeding up at the bottom and then slowing down going up (in an up-down-up scenario). Then if I have a long descent I turn on the CC and leave it in B mode. The only problem with that is that the CC gives a short burst of acceleration. But after that it helps maintain a steady speed going down the mountain.
 
Greetings all, just an update. I was able to find a 2013 SV with the 6.6kw (but not Quick Charge) within driving distance (ahem) so I bought it over the weekend.

Cruise control was helpful on certain stretches of the trip home, and charged five times, two of which were 6.6kw stations, which was helpful.

The journey home is a story in itself, which I will share sometime, after I catch up on my sleep. :lol:
 
pmc said:
Greetings all, just an update. I was able to find a 2013 SV with the 6.6kw (but not Quick Charge) within driving distance (ahem) so I bought it over the weekend.

Cruise control was helpful on certain stretches of the trip home, and charged five times, two of which were 6.6kw stations, which was helpful.

The journey home is a story in itself, which I will share sometime, after I catch up on my sleep. :lol:
Nice, yes I also see quite a few SVs around here but none have the QC option. Personally if I had to chose I'd take the faster regular charger over QC but the couple times I've used my QC it was quite handy.
 
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