HomerCooper said:
Hello I'm from Minnesota,US. Looking at getting a used leaf. I'm apox 40mins west of the cites.
My daily commute is 4 miles. I avg 50 mile a week.
A quick charger is apox 5 miles away powered by solar. $12/hr.
2013 or newer.
Questions
How well does this car handle winter. Snow/ice etc?
What models should i look for?
SV id assume as id like the lvl 3 port.
Whats a good price?
Can basic work like tires and brakes be done at a std shop. As the nearest leaf dealer is in the cities 40 miles away.
With your distances, any Leaf would work. Even with a S model(no heat pump) in the worst bitter cold sub zero temps, I never saw less than ~35-40 miles range. Other than that winter range is generally 60 miles winter and 70+ summer.
$12/hr sounds crazy high, even for a QC, plugging in at home should cost less than $1, but it's your choice. Many of the public L2s around here are free, it's best to get a Leaf with the faster 6.6kw charger to double your charging speed on such charges. With the 6.6kw charger it takes just a little over 3hrs to full charge, about double wiith the 3.3kw charger.
The Leaf handles quite well in snow ice, better than our other cars. That said it's not a SUV or Pickup and your somewhat limited by the normalish height(for a sedan) so don't expect to be able to drive through 6-12" of snow. Handling on ice is "OK" with the factory Ecopia tires, MUCH better with snow/ice tires but expect a range drop up to 10% as they aren't as efficient as the OEM tires.
As Leftie said, the SV or SL have the more efficient heat pump. In your case it sounds like range is of very little concern so I wouldn't overlook the S(I have one) but if you do I'd strongly suggest one with the "charger" package which gives you the double speed L2 as well as QC port you asked about. I use preheat with my S along with steering wheel and seat heat, so I don't end up using my heater all that much. The heat pump is nice for coolish days or foggy days though, but if range is of little concern again the S might be OK. Oh if CC is a must, stick with the SV or above, no cruise on a older S.
Prices really vary but $10k for a 12 bar SV isn't terrible, just make sure it's got a QC if thats important. I'd think you could get a 12 bar S w/QC for a grand or more less. Not a lot of "great" deals currently on Leafs in MSP, in fact prices seem to have risen several thousand dollars since winter.