First Leaf, First EV 2025 SV Plus , in snowy Vermont

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Joined
Dec 27, 2024
Messages
14
Hello! Total Newbie here, looking for some pointers. Heck, Im even new to Forums, so no need to answer here but just to give me topics that have already been answered in other threads here and Ill try and find them.
I am a Green Mtn Power customer, and this past summer, I leased a Leaf for one Month, for 99 dollars plus fees through a company associated with GMP. I have a 4x4 Silverado, 2018, and about 2 yrs ago put a deposit on the Silverado EV when they were promising a 40K usd "Work Truck" version. we all know how that worked out!
Last winter, just in the nick of time, my Silverado transmission went, costing me 5400, so i started entertaining the idea of a commuter car to take the pressure off the 2018 Chevy, and the environment too.
Fast forward to a week or two ago, end of year advertisments etc, Vermont has a 2200 rebate plus free Level two charger, and the local dealership had an extra 7400 for a total of 9600, so i pulled the trigger based on the low pmts, and the fact that I couldnt find locally a base Equinox w the 315 mile range.
So far Im happy, but a bit apprehensive after reading some of the post here about chademo being phased out over the next three years of my Lease.
Realistically, Ill only be doing under 50 mile round trips, two to three times a week, and maybe one 100 mile round trip once a week, all with access to 110 v charging at my son's house in Killington, VT but access, in theory, to chargers at Killington and Okemo mtns, which I used yesterday for the first time, which got me to 80 percent in the 4 hrs i was able to charge.
Now the questions:
  1. Would I be better off avoiding the faster chargers altogether and just stay on 110v at my and my son's house for that 50 mi RT, instead of topping off at one off the Level Two or Fast Chargers?
  2. My other son lives 151 miles away in Hamilton Mass, and is 2 miles from a Blink Charger in Patton Park (where Gen Patton lived at one pt) I do have the Silverado to make that trip, but was looking forward to "trying" the Leaf just to see how doable it was realistically w 215 mile range, w traffic, hills, weather etc) kind of like a planning challenge for me. is it doable?
  3. What Snow or more aggressive all seasons tires have people had success with on Gen 2 Leafs?
Thanks in advance, and Happy New Year!
 
It will not make the 215 mile trip, even if it has the 60 kwh battery. Hills, etc will draw too much to give you the range.
If 120 volts will give you enough, do it. But a 240 v setup would be a nice thing to have.
Disconnect the black connector on the neg cable on the 12v battery, this will keep it much better charged. Car wont go anywhere without a healthy 12v.
DC--DC fast charging is better avoided but if you need to, then do it. Many posts on battery temp for this subject.
Nokian snow tires are very good on ev's. Pump them up close to the max.
 
  1. Would I be better off avoiding the faster chargers altogether and just stay on 110v at my and my son's house for that 50 mi RT, instead of topping off at one off the Level Two or Fast Chargers?
Congratulations on your new Leaf! :)

Maybe I'm misunderstanding this question. I think of a 50 mile RT as being 25 there and 25 back, but your apprehension leads me to wonder if this trip is 50 miles there and 50 more back. Even is it's 50 miles away (100 mile total), if you have an SV Plus, you shouldn't need to charge at all during the trip. The car can get you there and back without breaking a sweat.

I don't fully grasp your situation, but if it's possible, consider getting a 240V outlet installed at your home (or have a charging station hard-wired in) so you can use L2 charging. It makes longer day-trips a lot easier to deal with when you know you only need a few hours to charge back up when you get back home, and you can stop thinking that you need to be charging every spare moment of the day that the car isn't moving. Unless you commonly go a couple of days without driving, relying on L1 charging seems incompatible for a Plus.
 
Appreciate the responses! Sorry I wasnt more clear on the Round Trips. One Trip is 40 miles one way, 80 miles total, I think i can easily do this, but was wondering if It's worth topping off w a faster charge since I am near Killington Mtn and there are 40 or 80 charger there (may not be compatible w all of them of course) after reading a few posts here, im beginning to think avoiding them may be better and just charge at home and while at my sons house, on 110v for now, with Level 2 soon at home.
-The longer trip is 153 miles, id prob wait til spring or summer to try that one, anyway, just for "fun"
Last question, Is the Level 2 "kinder" to the battery and worth it, and not cause degradation like the Fast Chargers would? thanks...
 
The Trip would be 150 miles depending on which way i go, id likely wait until spring or summer anyway, and also prob stay overnight once I got there and use either the 120 volts in his house or make a trip to the local fast charger. Sorry if I didnt make it clear, and thanks for the answers esp on the tires. Now im off to read the other posts!
It will not make the 215 mile trip, even if it has the 60 kwh battery. Hills, etc will draw too much to give you the range.
If 120 volts will give you enough, do it. But a 240 v setup would be a nice thing to have.
Disconnect the black connector on the neg cable on the 12v battery, this will keep it much better charged. Car wont go anywhere without a healthy 12v.
DC--DC fast charging is better avoided but if you need to, then do it. Many posts on battery temp for this subject.
Nokian snow tires are very good on ev's. Pump them up close to the max.
 
The Trip would be 150 miles depending on which way i go, id likely wait until spring or summer anyway, and also prob stay overnight once I got there and use either the 120 volts in his house or make a trip to the local fast charger. Sorry if I didnt make it clear, and thanks for the answers esp on the tires. Now im off to read the other posts!
I've made a 140 mile trip plus 20 mile on the return to get to a DCFC many times. I've needed the heat but I'm diligent about keeping the climate use graph to showing 3 bars which is usually coming and going because the car is up to temp. This has been with 37F or warmer days and the heat at 64. With a coat on and seat heat I only need that for my legs and feet. I'll keep recirc on unless the windows start to fog. I've gotten to that DCFC with 6-15%. If I get under 10-12% I turn the heat off and slow down some (66 to 63).
 
Hello! Total Newbie here, looking for some pointers. Heck, Im even new to Forums, so no need to answer here but just to give me topics that have already been answered in other threads here and Ill try and find them.
I am a Green Mtn Power customer, and this past summer, I leased a Leaf for one Month, for 99 dollars plus fees through a company associated with GMP. I have a 4x4 Silverado, 2018, and about 2 yrs ago put a deposit on the Silverado EV when they were promising a 40K usd "Work Truck" version. we all know how that worked out!
Last winter, just in the nick of time, my Silverado transmission went, costing me 5400, so i started entertaining the idea of a commuter car to take the pressure off the 2018 Chevy, and the environment too.
Fast forward to a week or two ago, end of year advertisments etc, Vermont has a 2200 rebate plus free Level two charger, and the local dealership had an extra 7400 for a total of 9600, so i pulled the trigger based on the low pmts, and the fact that I couldnt find locally a base Equinox w the 315 mile range.
So far Im happy, but a bit apprehensive after reading some of the post here about chademo being phased out over the next three years of my Lease.
Realistically, Ill only be doing under 50 mile round trips, two to three times a week, and maybe one 100 mile round trip once a week, all with access to 110 v charging at my son's house in Killington, VT but access, in theory, to chargers at Killington and Okemo mtns, which I used yesterday for the first time, which got me to 80 percent in the 4 hrs i was able to charge.
Now the questions:
  1. Would I be better off avoiding the faster chargers altogether and just stay on 110v at my and my son's house for that 50 mi RT, instead of topping off at one off the Level Two or Fast Chargers?
  2. My other son lives 151 miles away in Hamilton Mass, and is 2 miles from a Blink Charger in Patton Park (where Gen Patton lived at one pt) I do have the Silverado to make that trip, but was looking forward to "trying" the Leaf just to see how doable it was realistically w 215 mile range, w traffic, hills, weather etc) kind of like a planning challenge for me. is it doable?
  3. What Snow or more aggressive all seasons tires have people had success with on Gen 2 Leafs?
Thanks in advance, and Happy New Year!

I have the 2020 SL Plus. I am retired so I don't have to worry about commuting, and I have only ever used the 110-volt trickle charging. If you can install Level 2 without much expense, then I guess it might be a nice-to-have thing, but if it's any kind of serious expense I wouldn't bother. You get 5 miles of range for every hour of trickle charging, so you can easily add 60 miles of range overnight. And remember that is on top of whatever residual charge you already have. For around-town driving that's going to be plenty. For those longer trips, you can top off and you shouldn't have any problems.
 
My 2019 SV Plus does 210 mile trips regularly. I always fully charge at home, because I don’t want long stops on the trip. For longer trips, I top off as needed at a CHadeMO charger along the way, bringing it up to around 80% since charging slows above that point. In Colorado, my Leaf gets even better range in mountains than it does on the plains. What it loses on uphill it gets back on downhill. The actual difference is that in the mountains I’m generally driving 55 mph or lower, while on the plains the speed limit is 75, and that’s a big hit to efficiency. At 55,000 miles I’ve had no measurable battery degradation. I’ve got all-weather tires, and that did lower my range by about 12 miles on a full battery over the original low-resistance tires.
 
The Trip would be 150 miles depending on which way i go, id likely wait until spring or summer anyway, and also prob stay overnight once I got there and use either the 120 volts in his house or make a trip to the local fast charger. Sorry if I didnt make it clear, and thanks for the answers esp on the tires. Now im off to read the other posts!
Depending on the battery temp, I would plan a 150 mile trip with charger availability along the way, e.g., are there Level 2 chargers at approximately 100 miles where you could hang out for awhile at lunch? Otherwise, if CHADeMO is available just quickly adding 30-40 % would give you a nice margin. Regarding Level 1 charging you'll gain 2-5 miles per hour according to Nissan. Lets say 3.5 miles per hour and a trip of 150 miles, would require around 43 hours to charge back to full. I would recommend you find a Level 2 charger near your son and leave it there for several hours before you return home.
 
  1. Would I be better off avoiding the faster chargers altogether and just stay on 110v at my and my son's house for that 50 mi RT, instead of topping off at one off the Level Two or Fast Chargers?
Thanks in advance, and Happy New Year!
If this is a lease, unless you're planning on buying-out and keeping the car at the end of the lease, I wouldn't worry a lick about the battery.

I've owned 3 Leafs, 2 2022 SV's and 1 2023, S all 40kWh. The first one came with 1 year free charging at EVgo, so that was all I ever used with that car and I noticed no battery degradation according to LeafSpy, with using CHAdeMO compared to L1 charging that's being used on the other 2 cars, (the first 2022 Leaf was totaled in an accident when I was hit from the rear, the 2023 was sold to a friend who only uses L1 charging like I do).

I converted the 240v dryer receptacle at both of my homes for L2 charging in case I ever need it but have never had occasion to use at this time. I did the work myself and cost less than $40 in parts.

Bottom line, I'd do whatever necessary as far as charging to be comfortable, and not have any range-anxiety, to make the trips you describe with your new Leaf. Sounds like you got a helluva deal on it.

I'm not familiar with any good snow tires, living in San Diego, but I always keep my OEM tires inflated to 45psi.

Happy New Year to all.
 
Yes. Don't avoid fast charging when you legitimately need it, but when all else is equal, go for L2 over fast charge whenever you can, for best battery life
Depending on the battery temp, I would plan a 150 mile trip with charger availability along the way, e.g., are there Level 2 chargers at approximately 100 miles where you could hang out for awhile at lunch? Otherwise, if CHADeMO is available just quickly adding 30-40 % would give you a nice margin. Regarding Level 1 charging you'll gain 2-5 miles per hour according to Nissan. Lets say 3.5 miles per hour and a trip of 150 miles, would require around 43 hours to charge back to full. I would recommend you find a Level 2 charger near your son and leave it there for several hours before you return home.
Thank you for these tips! I appreciate it. Ill take a look around on the charging apps and plot it out. Still Learning the ropes. Overnight last night, temps in the 20s I used the Level 1 Charging for the first time and got to 204 miles of range and 94 percent, which kind of surprised me, pleasantly!
 
My 2019 SV Plus does 210 mile trips regularly. I always fully charge at home, because I don’t want long stops on the trip. For longer trips, I top off as needed at a CHadeMO charger along the way, bringing it up to around 80% since charging slows above that point. In Colorado, my Leaf gets even better range in mountains than it does on the plains. What it loses on uphill it gets back on downhill. The actual difference is that in the mountains I’m generally driving 55 mph or lower, while on the plains the speed limit is 75, and that’s a big hit to efficiency. At 55,000 miles I’ve had no measurable battery degradation. I’ve got all-weather tires, and that did lower my range by about 12 miles on a full battery over the original low-resistance tires.
That's reassuring! The good news is that the trip to my son's is toward the coast, so the mountains drop away after 50 miles through VT and NH. Thanks for the info.
 
I have the 2020 SL Plus. I am retired so I don't have to worry about commuting, and I have only ever used the 110-volt trickle charging. If you can install Level 2 without much expense, then I guess it might be a nice-to-have thing, but if it's any kind of serious expense I wouldn't bother. You get 5 miles of range for every hour of trickle charging, so you can easily add 60 miles of range overnight. And remember that is on top of whatever residual charge you already have. For around-town driving that's going to be plenty. For those longer trips, you can top off and you shouldn't have any problems.
Thanks for the response! Here in VT we get a free charger from Green Mountain Power, and a 30 percent rebate on installation, I think. my wife and I work from home so our only long trips are on the weekends. I think I can get away 110 v for most of my trips, but my truck replacement will likely be a electric too, so the Level 2 will come in handy in a few years too.
 
If the charging station or cable (the actual charger is built into the car) can be set for 24 amps or less, then you can use an existing dryer outlet for L-2 charging. If it's rated at 30 amps or higher, though, you'll need new wiring and an additional breaker. This can be done fairly cheaply - especially if the electrician thinks it's for something like a 240 volt garage heater, not an EV. Make sure that they install a 240 volt outlet, though, and not a hardwired junction box, if you can't do wiring yourself. Get a 40 or 50amp circuit, with a 50amp outlet. You'd want to have the outlet labeled "40A" if that's the amperage, though, as the 50A outlet is used for both.
 
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Thanks for the response! Here in VT we get a free charger from Green Mountain Power, and a 30 percent rebate on installation, I think. my wife and I work from home so our only long trips are on the weekends. I think I can get away 110 v for most of my trips, but my truck replacement will likely be a electric too, so the Level 2 will come in handy in a few years too.
If you are looking to the future, I would wire for no less that a 50 amp (40 amp usable) for EV charging. The Leaf will never draw more than 27.5 amps on a 240 volt supply, but newer EV's are constantly raising the bar on charger amps.
Once you go much over that, hard wire is best to keep the connections to a minimum, and lessen the chance of a loose connection causing heat damage and/or fire.
4 wires of 6 ga can be pulled through 3/4" conduit and are good for a 50 amp branch, over that you'll be looking at 1" conduit.
cost is going to be in the wire and conduit, it is harder to run bigger.
That said, I rarely use L2 charging as the EVSE I have will set a code when run on the cars timer, will not if manually stopped by the trigger on the plug. 120 volt replaces all my needed capacity from 10 pm to 6 am. If I had a better L2 EVSE, I would likely use it more.
Even if GMP provided EVSE is less amps, I would run the heavier cable to it. You can put a lower breaker on heavy cable, but not the other way around. So 6 ga cable could be used on a 30, 40 or 50 amp breaker.
If you need to upgrade the EVSE in the future, it would be a breaker change only to upgrade to the full capacity of the cables.
 
I agree that all else being equal, if the costs are essentially the same, might as well plan for the future and install the 50A circuit. But I wouldn't do it if it cost a lot more than a 30A circuit, for whatever reason.

I have friends with Teslas who "NEEDED" a 50A circuit, so they could charge once per week at home. In other words, even with a BIG battery, you could use a 30A circuit and still only charge twice per week. 30A is still pretty future-proof for years to come.
 
Yes, it is common for those to think they need the ability to charge from 0 to 100 every night, and anything less will not work!
That said I do find it nice to be able to use the full capacity of the OBC from time to time.
A very few times we may have to take two trips in a day, and being able to dump in 7-9Kwh between trips is nice.
Because of the aforementioned problem with the L2 EVSE (aftermarket) that came with the car, I use L1 OEM for most of my charging needs.
I am seriously considering Grizzl's mini-40 because it would allow setting the charge by Kwh, not just time. If I had that as an option, I would start charge after midnight at full charger capacity and only put in what I used, most often between 7-8 Kwh. That would allow not charging to 100% without having to make the calculation for the timer and the current to get the same.
The added costs are going to be the cable, price goes up with size. Labor is going to more or less a constant, and a big part of the bill.
For that reason I would spring for the heavier cable, as the cost would be considerable if you had to pull out and re-wire all over again.
When I ran power to my detached garage, I ran cable for the full 125 amp of the service to the house. I could have run a 60 amp branch to the garage, but because of how the power was run, I only needed 30' of cable to the sub panel in the garage, and the difference in price between copper 8 ga and aluminum URD at 1/0-1/0-1/0-2 wasn't enough to make the price worth the compromise, plus I'd have to put a 60 amp main breaker in the sub-panel which brought the cost closer together still. Since my well pump is 25' from the garage panel the well pump was moved to that as well. I have a 125 rated sub-panel in the garage, and room to add future circuits if needed.
Thinking down the road is better than regretting going the cheapest route and have to change later.
 
Yes, it is common for those to think they need the ability to charge from 0 to 100 every night, and anything less will not work!
That said I do find it nice to be able to use the full capacity of the OBC from time to time.
A very few times we may have to take two trips in a day, and being able to dump in 7-9Kwh between trips is nice.
Because of the aforementioned problem with the L2 EVSE (aftermarket) that came with the car, I use L1 OEM for most of my charging needs.
I am seriously considering Grizzl's mini-40 because it would allow setting the charge by Kwh, not just time. If I had that as an option, I would start charge after midnight at full charger capacity and only put in what I used, most often between 7-8 Kwh. That would allow not charging to 100% without having to make the calculation for the timer and the current to get the same.
The added costs are going to be the cable, price goes up with size. Labor is going to more or less a constant, and a big part of the bill.
For that reason I would spring for the heavier cable, as the cost would be considerable if you had to pull out and re-wire all over again.
When I ran power to my detached garage, I ran cable for the full 125 amp of the service to the house. I could have run a 60 amp branch to the garage, but because of how the power was run, I only needed 30' of cable to the sub panel in the garage, and the difference in price between copper 8 ga and aluminum URD at 1/0-1/0-1/0-2 wasn't enough to make the price worth the compromise, plus I'd have to put a 60 amp main breaker in the sub-panel which brought the cost closer together still. Since my well pump is 25' from the garage panel the well pump was moved to that as well. I have a 125 rated sub-panel in the garage, and room to add future circuits if needed.
Thinking down the road is better than regretting going the cheapest route and have to change later.
Thanks for the tips! As a guy who spent all his life in finance, much of what you say is like a foreign language,but i do have a best friend who is an Electrical Engineer (he flies satellites for a living) and owns a Mach E Mustang, so i get him to translate and dumb down things to layman's terms. I appreciate your input!
 
If you are looking to the future, I would wire for no less that a 50 amp (40 amp usable) for EV charging. The Leaf will never draw more than 27.5 amps on a 240 volt supply, but newer EV's are constantly raising the bar on charger amps.
Once you go much over that, hard wire is best to keep the connections to a minimum, and lessen the chance of a loose connection causing heat damage and/or fire.
4 wires of 6 ga can be pulled through 3/4" conduit and are good for a 50 amp branch, over that you'll be looking at 1" conduit.
cost is going to be in the wire and conduit, it is harder to run bigger.
That said, I rarely use L2 charging as the EVSE I have will set a code when run on the cars timer, will not if manually stopped by the trigger on the plug. 120 volt replaces all my needed capacity from 10 pm to 6 am. If I had a better L2 EVSE, I would likely use it more.
Even if GMP provided EVSE is less amps, I would run the heavier cable to it. You can put a lower breaker on heavy cable, but not the other way around. So 6 ga cable could be used on a 30, 40 or 50 amp breaker.
If you need to upgrade the EVSE in the future, it would be a breaker change only to upgrade to the full capacity of the cables.
 
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