Considering a 2018 or a 2019 Leaf, but I'm concerned about my 96 mile round trip up and down a mountain.

[Deleted member 38333]

Hello all,

I may be buying a beautiful blue 2019 TL or a lesser attractive (lol) grey 2018TL. Both are reasonable, well within my budget, but I am concerned about the range to and from work. I sanely 48 mile from Hesperia Ca (the high desert) to Big Bear Lake, CA 4 days a week. I do not plan to do anything but commute with the car and little else. I have a 2019 Subaru Forester Limited that handles the snow up there with no issues, so between the two vehicles I am well covered. My drive is about 70 to 75% flat desert and 25 to 30% mountain roads on the climb to work. Of course the first part going home is all down hill and regenerating (I'm a former Prius owner).

The biggest challenge would be the availability of charging services if the 40K battery can't do the round trip. This is a very rural setting, that is struggling to get beyond the 1900's and into the 2000's I am sorry to say. Not to mention parking where I work is difficult and we find ourselves parking in a dirt lot most of the time far away from any power for even a 110 charge, so I need to depend on what the car can do and I came to the experts.

What do you think and thanks in advance!

 

[cornbinder89]

I'd say it is pushing what is doable. It depends on your comfort zone. Not having power where you work would be a deal killer for me.

 

[Deleted member 38333]

I'd say it is pushing what is doable. It depends on your comfort zone. Not having power where you work would be a deal killer for me.

I could probably move it 110 power later in the day, but not when I get to work. Our parking lot stays pretty packed up in the morning. I am trying to get some EV locations designated close enough to 110, which is a big ask for these folks because they think stone tablets are current tech. Who needs those things that plug in and light up that require you to learn to type!! God forbid. And I don't see 2 of 3 hours on a 110 charge making much of a difference.

 

[Deleted member 38333]

Hello all,

I may be buying a beautiful blue 2019 TL or a lesser attractive (lol) grey 2018TL. Both are reasonable, well within my budget, but I am concerned about the range to and from work. I sanely drive 48 miles from Hesperia Ca (the high desert) to Big Bear Lake, Ca 4 days a week. I do not plan to do anything but commute with the car and little else. I have a 2019 Subaru Forester Limited that handles the snow up there with no issues, so between the two vehicles I am well covered. My drive is about 70 to 75% flat desert and 25 to 30% mountain roads on the climb to work. Of course the first part going home is all down hill and regenerating (I'm a former Prius owner).

The biggest challenge would be the availability of charging services if the 40K battery can't do the round trip. This is a very rural setting, that is struggling to get beyond the 1900's and into the 2000's I am sorry to say. Not to mention parking where I work is difficult and we find ourselves parking in a dirt lot most of the time far away from any power for even a 110 charge, so I need to depend on what the car can do and I came to the experts.

What do you think and thanks in advance!

 

[Deleted member 38333]

Thanks for the reply!

I could probably move it 110 power later in the day, but not when I get to work. Our parking lot stays pretty packed up in the morning. I am trying to get some EV locations designated close enough to 110, which is a big ask for these folks because they think stone tablets are current tech. Who needs those things that plug in and light up that require you to learn to type!! God forbid. And I don't see 2 of 3 hours on a 110 charge making much of a difference.

 

[Steve52]

Cold temps lessen the range of Leafs and most other EVs, so winters are most likely going to be a problem. My Leaf gets about 4% / hr on 120 V, three hours would get you back ~12% of battery capacity depending on the health of the batteries. How many bars does the Battery Health Meter show on the dash, 12 bars show a simple state of battery health? Do you know about Leaf Spy Pro, it's a diagnostic tool for looking at the Leaf's battery health? In addition, assuming either Leaf is able to do the drive in the winter, the battery will degrade over time, time frame unknown. Going to an EV with longer range, including the 62 kWh version of the Leaf would be a better bet for your usage.

 

[thew]

Hello all,

I may be buying a beautiful blue 2019 TL or a lesser attractive (lol) grey 2018TL. Both are reasonable, well within my budget, but I am concerned about the range to and from work. I sanely 48 mile from Hesperia Ca (the high desert) to Big Bear Lake, CA 4 days a week. I do not plan to do anything but commute with the car and little else. I have a 2019 Subaru Forester Limited that handles the snow up there with no issues, so between the two vehicles I am well covered. My drive is about 70 to 75% flat desert and 25 to 30% mountain roads on the climb to work. Of course the first part going home is all down hill and regenerating (I'm a former Prius owner).

The biggest challenge would be the availability of charging services if the 40K battery can't do the round trip. This is a very rural setting, that is struggling to get beyond the 1900's and into the 2000's I am sorry to say. Not to mention parking where I work is difficult and we find ourselves parking in a dirt lot most of the time far away from any power for even a 110 charge, so I need to depend on what the car can do and I came to the experts.

What do you think and thanks in advance!

I have always lived atop a very tall Mountain. Keep in mind Regen is your Friend. When I leave i have about 35 miles range on my 2011 LEAF with only 7 bars. When I get home i have about 7 miles Range left on the GOM. By the time i drive down my 2000 foot above sea level hill to town i am at 50 mile range on the GOM. ( I gain that much from a 10 mile one way trip down hill) Point is the Hill is your friend.( Most times ). You will get back most of what you loose when you Regen going down hill.. So its kinda of a Neutral effect.

 

[BobLerwill]

You are much better off than if it was the other way around. If you live on top of a mountain and charge up to 100% at home, you will have no regenerative braking as you go down the mountain at the start of the journey.

 

[RYoungberg]

Hello all,

I may be buying a beautiful blue 2019 TL or a lesser attractive (lol) grey 2018TL. Both are reasonable, well within my budget, but I am concerned about the range to and from work. I sanely 48 mile from Hesperia Ca (the high desert) to Big Bear Lake, CA 4 days a week. I do not plan to do anything but commute with the car and little else. I have a 2019 Subaru Forester Limited that handles the snow up there with no issues, so between the two vehicles I am well covered. My drive is about 70 to 75% flat desert and 25 to 30% mountain roads on the climb to work. Of course the first part going home is all down hill and regenerating (I'm a former Prius owner).

The biggest challenge would be the availability of charging services if the 40K battery can't do the round trip. This is a very rural setting, that is struggling to get beyond the 1900's and into the 2000's I am sorry to say. Not to mention parking where I work is difficult and we find ourselves parking in a dirt lot most of the time far away from any power for even a 110 charge, so I need to depend on what the car can do and I came to the experts.

What do you think and thanks in advance!

I do not recommend it. See if you can find a LEAF Plus with a 200+ mile range.
I have a similar profile trip to my son's house, 80 miles (160 miles round trip) with my 2019 LEAF Plus 62kWh battery, with the last 20 miles in the mountains.
Even when starting with a range of 225 miles on the battery, I don't make. The first 60 miles is 75 - 80 mph Interstate driving which significantly reduces the range.
I have 30,000 miles on the battery, usually get almost 4.0 miles per kWh around town, but less than 2.0 mpkWh on the Interstate when the temperature is around zero.
Almost got stranded at 5 below zero with my 2 little granddaughters!!!
Sorry to say but we now drive the SUV ICE to my son's house.

 

[EVPowers]

Do not do it.
If it was a plus model it would be doable. But a 40kwh would be close, and over time, as it degraded it would only get closer.

 

[Deleted member 38333]

Both batteries are a 10 out of 12.

My trip to work is 75% level ground on a 2 lane rural road for about 30 miles. 60 to 65 MPH tops. I then do a climb from 3500' elevation to 6500' for the final 25% of the trip. It is a gradual climb that lasts no more than 10 miles. And of course the return trip starts with the decent from 6500' back down to 3500' regenerating and then the final 30 miles straight and level. If a 150 mile range can't do this, I'm not sure why I should even consider an intermediate range EV.

I may need to consider something else.

 

[Steve52]

Both batteries are a 10 out of 12.

My trip to work is 75% level ground on a 2 lane rural road for about 30 miles. 60 to 65 MPH tops. I then do a climb from 3500' elevation to 6500' for the final 25% of the trip. It is a gradual climb that lasts no more than 10 miles. And of course the return trip starts with the decent from 6500' back down to 3500' regenerating and then the final 30 miles straight and level. If a 150 mile range can't do this, I'm not sure why I should even consider an intermediate range EV.

I may need to consider something else.

With 10 of 12 bar batteries, neither of these vehicles has 150 miles range, when they were new and in mild weather, 150 miles was near the max range. Now they are 5 or 6 years old with degraded batteries. I believe what you stated is what most of have said; "I'm not sure why I should even consider an intermediate range EV". For a brand new Leaf, you could probably do this commute for some years depending the severity of your winter weather.

 

[deathplaybanjo]

the bigger problem is the LEAF's passive battery cooling; discharge it too fast and the car will go into limp (low power) mode. You'll have to drive slow to avoid tripping the auto-shutoff heat sensor. i have a periodic 50 mile trip ending in a 1120' climb that i have to drive up slow.

 

[rgs]

I'd be comfortable with a Plus for the commute, not a base model. We drove our 2020 SV+ from Portland to my sister's house in Redmond several times which is 143 miles. The trip is over Mt. Hood from our house, which is about about 20 feet elevation to 3,891 feet on the mountain then down to 3,077 feet in Redmond. The trip used about 80% of a charge. The return trip used about 65% of a charge. We charged to 100% overnight plugged into my sister's dryer outlet. This was with a car that showed 12 bars. Easy trip in the Plus. A base 2020 would have required a charge on the way.