55 mile commute each way... Is Leaf even an option?

[Gmoney0205]

Hey everyone,

So my new commute will be about 55 miles each way, 110 roundtrip.

My work has charging stations and there is a nissan dealership nearby so it wont be an issue charging at work.

But am I crazy to test this leaf to such limits?

I also have an issue since i will be renting a house the first 6-12 months and I doubt they have the proper electrical hook ups in this how to allow me to charge quickly.

Anyone care to give me some input, talk me off this ledge

Thanks

 

[cwerdna]

You will absolutely need to be able to charge to both 100% full at home AND at work, to make it comfortably unless you want to drive like a turtle. Forget to charge at all at one end? Forget about making it to the other w/o stopping somewhere to charge. That can get old after awhile...

If you only have 120 volt charging at home, depending on how long your car spends at home and how low the car is when you arrive home, you may or may not be able to replenish charge quickly enough due to the slow charging at 120 volts. It will get dicier in the winter (reduced capacity, lower efficiency, temporarily reduced battery capacity).

You planning to buy or lease? How much of the driving is city vs. highway?

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=101293" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; chart may help you... To read the chart, if you average 75 mph, you should have a consumption of 3.0 miles/kWh and thus be able to go 62 miles, on a a charge on new undegraded battery charged to 100% on level ground w/HVAC use. If you go 35 mph, you should have efficiency of 6.3 miles/kWh and thus be able to go 132 miles. And, by go, I mean until turtle (where car reduces power and you can probably only go about .5 miles more).

BTW, http://nissannews.com/en-US/nissan/usa/releases/washington-nissan-leaf-owner-celebrates-100-000-all-electric-miles" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; commutes 130 miles a day in his Leaf. You can view his posts here via http://www.mynissanleaf.com/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=2140" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. But, they drive much slower in Western WA they do in So Cal. (Have lived in LA for ~4.5 years. Have lived in Western WA for over 9 years...)

 

[LeftieBiker]

To put it another way: if your commute is at 45MPH or less, you aren't Crazy. If it's at freeway speeds, you are. A mix of speeds means you are a little Unstable. ;-)

 

[pkulak]

Oh come on now. Let's not pretend that a new Leaf can't even do 55 miles in California. My year old Leaf does 55 miles freeway on an 80% charge just fine.

Yes you will need to charge both at work and at home. If you don't, you're screwed. Why not a Volt? That will get you almost all the way to work with no gas, then almost all the way back home. And with no stress. An i3 REX would work too, if you have that kind of dough.

 

[kubel]

Don't forget to factor in permanent capacity loss for your region. What you can do the first year, you might not be able to do on the second or third year. I would not recommend the LEAF for this reason.

 

[cwerdna]

Oh come on now. Let's not pretend that a new Leaf can't even do 55 miles in California. My year old Leaf does 55 miles freeway on an 80% charge just fine.

People drive much slower in Portland than they do in the LA area. I've driven in Portland a bunch and lived in LA for years. In my recent visits to LA, it's not unusual to be doing 70+ mph in a middle lane (not the fast lanes) in a 55 mph zone and have cars zooming by you on both sides.

 

[Gmoney0205]

Reason i like the Leaf is obviously because price is right. I probably would have to buy.

My commute is mainly freeway but you know how cali traffic can be, in morning i can miss traffic but in afternoon ill probably hit some traffic thus reducing my avg speed.

I figure hopefully a car with better range and affordability shows up within two years, maybe its a newer leaf though i know 2015 isnt the year for an extended range. Then i can either sell this leaf and get new car or i can keep this leaf for shorter commutes and get new car for longer..

There is a chance we may not like the commute and move closer to rancho cucamonga where commute will be 10 miles so i know then it is a no brainer.

But really sounds like biggest issue will be not being able to charge quick at home since I am renting.

Volt is nice but leases arent good and incentives not as nice as leaf.

 

[cwerdna]

^^^
The reason why I asked about lease vs. buy is w/buying is the battery degradation. We don't know how quickly the "lizard" battery in the '15 degrades yet with and w/o heat. We do know the batteries on the '11 and '12 Leaf don't seem to handle the heat too well (http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=9694" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; or the 690 page thread at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=196216#p196216" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false. Even ones in areas that aren't incredibly hot don't seem like they'll hold up as well as Nissan originally claimed (http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=16236" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false.

Since you mention two years, if you keep the car less than 3, you may have to give back part of the CVRP (https://energycenter.org/clean-vehicle-rebate-project" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false. I don't know the details, since I'm not qualified anyway (2 year lease). You need to either buy and keep for at least 3 years or lease for a least 3 years.

 

[garsh]

But really sounds like biggest issue will be not being able to charge quick at home since I am renting.

If this is solely a commuter car, and you have another vehicle for errands, then it shouldn't be a problem. I use L1 charging at home.

 

[ColumbiaRiverGorge]

You could charge on L2 (220v) every night at your rented home with your dryer outlet. It's not ideal, but would work. You could either use a splitter and only charge or dry (one at a time) or plug/unplug cords every night. You can get evseupgrade.com, some adapters, & heavy duty cords to run to your LEAF.

 

[johnrhansen]

When the boss tells me I have to I often drive a 55 mile round trip in my car. I don't charge at work, and I drive 65 the whole way. Starting in the morning at 100 percent, I have never come home with less than 30 percent remaining, even in winter running the defrost. By far the biggest power sucker of them all! Sounds to me you could easily make it. Even if you could only get it to 80 percent in the morning if all you had was level 1.

 

[lion]

Hey everyone,

So my new commute will be about 55 miles each way, 110 roundtrip.

My work has charging stations and there is a nissan dealership nearby so it wont be an issue charging at work.

But am I crazy to test this leaf to such limits?

I also have an issue since i will be renting a house the first 6-12 months and I doubt they have the proper electrical hook ups in this how to allow me to charge quickly.

Anyone care to give me some input, talk me off this ledge

Thanks

55 miles, highway speeds, potential charging at home limitations, all while in a hot climate? This is when I recommend you wait another year, and wait for the next gen LEAF which is rumored to have much better range. Heck, go get a RAV4 EV

Too many variables in your case that might make driving the LEAF not as much fun as it can be. The only thing you have going for you is the large charging network, including QCs if I'm not mistaken (check PlugShare.com for a map of stations).

 

[derkraut]

Don't forget to factor in permanent capacity loss for your region. What you can do the first year, you might not be able to do on the second or third year. I would not recommend the LEAF for this reason.

I disagree. I guess it depends upon your driving habits. My 3-yr old Leaf routinely goes 50 miles (mix of freeway and surface streets) on an 80% charge. Since you have charging at work, you should be good for 2-3 years.

 

[Gmoney0205]

Thanks everyone.

I was also considering buying a cheap used commuter car, so that id drive the leaf three days and tge other car two days.

Temeculs is hot during the day but cools off at night so morning commute will be in 60-70 deg weather and afternoon maybe in 85-90 for 3 months. Rest of year weather isnt too bad.

Rav ev costs way more than leaf i thought.

Waiting for longer range leaf seems like a crapshoot. Rumor was for 2015, now maybe 2016.. No guarantees and by 2017 tesla is supposed to have their more affordable ev.

 

[johnrhansen]

The way I see it, if you can make the trip when the car is new, eventually if the battery degrades to the point when you will no longer be able to make the trip, you still will be awfully close, so if you have to stop to charge on the way home, it will never have to be for that long of a time. As long as there's a spot to stop along the way.....

 

[TimLee]

Don't forget to factor in permanent capacity loss for your region. What you can do the first year, you might not be able to do on the second or third year. I would not recommend the LEAF for this reason.

I disagree. I guess it depends upon your driving habits. My 3-yr old Leaf routinely goes 50 miles (mix of freeway and surface streets) on an 80% charge. Since you have charging at work, you should be good for 2-3 years.

Although these two responses seem to disagree, they make the same point that it depends on the OP.

But I think the situation the OP has outlined is fairly bad idea.

The OP is doing long interstate commute from much hotter inland north to east LA and depending on workplace charging.
This will result in high miles approaching 30,000 per year.
In the third year the vehicle will have lost two capacity bars and be down 21 to 24%.
Trip may be possible at 45 mph and no use of heat and limited use of air, but does the OP want to do that?

A three year old LEAF is nominally a 40 to 60 mile vehicle, but in cold weather with heater use is 30 to 35 miles.
Mine is 37 months old, only 21,000 miles, from somewhat moderate climate.
Yesterday with heavy AC use and starting from 80% charging it was a 30 mile vehicle.
Doing 55 miles one way in it and depending on work place charging every day would not be fun for me.
Bad idea.

 

[Gmoney0205]

Even if i have a second car and only drive leaf three times per week to work?

What about warranty on battery, i thought that if it gets below 9 bars during first 3 yrs they will replace?

 

[myleaf]

Even if i have a second car and only drive leaf three times per week to work?

What about warranty on battery, i thought that if it gets below 9 bars during first 3 yrs they will replace?

I think if you have to modify your travel schedule to make the Leaf work, it may not be a good option for you.

The battery warranty is below 9 bars for the first 5 years and <60,000 miles.

 

[smkettner]

With charging at work this is a slam dunk. You will save a ton of money driving an EV.
Even charging L1 at the rental you will be able to get by until you figure out how to connect L2.

 

[Dmchose]

Car has 3k miles on it. Daily commute is 50 miles. 45 mph for the most part . One 5 mile stretch at 60 mph. 70- 92 deg. F. ( South Carolina ) L1 charging does NIT keep up with needs. If I have a 6 day work week I take jeep in to let Leaf charge for 16 hours. L2 charger will make it a non issue. Electrician scheduled again for after 7/4... Hopefully this year ?
Work location says they will put in a charger some day ...