evnow said:
If you are working with extreme margin of Leaf ... that 14 miles may still be too close for comfort. You'll still have a lot of range anxiety - esp. in adverse conditions.
Personally I'd not switch to an EV with less than 150 miles EPA range (or nearly double of what Leaf has). That would give reliable 100 miles in adverse conditions.
update : I should add that those who fall exactly between 84 and 98 as the "needed range" is a vanishingly small group.
And if you are comparing a 3 bar loser leaf to a comparably degraded Soul EV?
If the leaf is 50 or 60 miles range and the degraded Soul EV is ?
It's not just the maximum range as a new vehicle that matters, every bit of range added on the front end is the possibility that the car is still viable after degradation.
You could argue that we don't know the degradation rate for the Soul EV but I'd argue that the degradation of the 2011 leaf battery pack is the worst on record and thus the mark to beat. I'll give the Soul EV the benefit of the doubt for now.