NissanLeafCamper
Well-known member
Hi Guys,
Just camped with someone (Yes that means 2 people) inside the Nissan leaf. I ended up first charging it to 100% then driving it down to 96% and parked for the night. Removed the head rests on the rear seats then folded the rear seats over. Then slid the passenger seat all the way forward, removed the head rest and leaned the seat all the way back. it formed a bridge between the front and rear seats. Then placed a large camping bag, with clothes inside, on the passenger seat to even the level for a bed. I brought 2 long foam beds of six feet in length and spaced one for myself on the passenger side then the other behind the driver side. Of course, the driver side seat was slid forward but not leaned back. The person I was with did not need the extra length. I'm 5'11" and I had more than enough space to spare and stretch even enough width to stretch comfortably with someone else sleeping inside. To be sure I had stuff in the 'storage well' at the back of the leaf behind the seats. This made a flat like bench, at equal level with the folded rear seats, for the beds to lay upon. Once that was all set we both went to lay down and rest. Windows rolled all the way up for maximum noise reduction. I brought with me a CO Alarm and mounted it on that one hand rail? above the passenger seat. It fit quite nicely and the retractable rail held it in place.
To sleep I turned on the fan to 2 lines of power; no recycling of air. That was more than enough air for 2 people and the car did not feel stuffy at all. Turned the light all the way down on the dash and went to sleep. From 96% battery and the fan running at 2 power lines the next day I woke up with 92% battery.. That is pretty darn good. I say it takes about 4% battery or less to run the fan over night on the leaf. Slept I think from 10pm to close to 8am. Though it could have been 11pm or around there. This is from a recent 1 bar loser 2013 leaf so it might just drain less battery for a brand new leaf; maybe 3%?
I woke up from time to time just to check on the battery and the CO Alarm. The display of the alarm always showed 0 when I woke up. Once I woke up the next day I went into the memory and the maximum level on the alarm was 42. Slept with my head facing the air vent and air flowing down my head. Fresh air all night is all I inhaled.
Looking online on safe levels of CO it does look like the level of CO posed a problem, so I am thinking for next time I should sleep with the rear windows cracked just a slight bit. Thoughts? The CO alarm I used was Kidde KN-COPP-B-LPM Battery-Operated Carbon Monoxide Alarm with Digital Display from Amazon.
35 ppm (0.0035%) Headache and dizziness within six to eight hours of constant exposure
100 ppm (0.01%) Slight headache in two to three hours
So, I think, a definite problem. I am also thinking I should get another alarm for the back of the leaf since there are no air vents there. Between both units I could try to find a medium on just about how much CO ends up being gathered inside. I think definitely cracking both rear windows oopen just a bit will be good. I did not wake up with a headache though.
Next goal is to turn the A/C all night and see just how much battery that will drain in about 8hrs or more.
It was actually pretty comfy for 2 people. I think for one person with both seats down and a large bed to fill i all up would actually be pretty nice. I can see myself camping inside the leaf for weeks on end with out any problem; for as long as you have battery .
Just camped with someone (Yes that means 2 people) inside the Nissan leaf. I ended up first charging it to 100% then driving it down to 96% and parked for the night. Removed the head rests on the rear seats then folded the rear seats over. Then slid the passenger seat all the way forward, removed the head rest and leaned the seat all the way back. it formed a bridge between the front and rear seats. Then placed a large camping bag, with clothes inside, on the passenger seat to even the level for a bed. I brought 2 long foam beds of six feet in length and spaced one for myself on the passenger side then the other behind the driver side. Of course, the driver side seat was slid forward but not leaned back. The person I was with did not need the extra length. I'm 5'11" and I had more than enough space to spare and stretch even enough width to stretch comfortably with someone else sleeping inside. To be sure I had stuff in the 'storage well' at the back of the leaf behind the seats. This made a flat like bench, at equal level with the folded rear seats, for the beds to lay upon. Once that was all set we both went to lay down and rest. Windows rolled all the way up for maximum noise reduction. I brought with me a CO Alarm and mounted it on that one hand rail? above the passenger seat. It fit quite nicely and the retractable rail held it in place.
To sleep I turned on the fan to 2 lines of power; no recycling of air. That was more than enough air for 2 people and the car did not feel stuffy at all. Turned the light all the way down on the dash and went to sleep. From 96% battery and the fan running at 2 power lines the next day I woke up with 92% battery.. That is pretty darn good. I say it takes about 4% battery or less to run the fan over night on the leaf. Slept I think from 10pm to close to 8am. Though it could have been 11pm or around there. This is from a recent 1 bar loser 2013 leaf so it might just drain less battery for a brand new leaf; maybe 3%?
I woke up from time to time just to check on the battery and the CO Alarm. The display of the alarm always showed 0 when I woke up. Once I woke up the next day I went into the memory and the maximum level on the alarm was 42. Slept with my head facing the air vent and air flowing down my head. Fresh air all night is all I inhaled.
Looking online on safe levels of CO it does look like the level of CO posed a problem, so I am thinking for next time I should sleep with the rear windows cracked just a slight bit. Thoughts? The CO alarm I used was Kidde KN-COPP-B-LPM Battery-Operated Carbon Monoxide Alarm with Digital Display from Amazon.
35 ppm (0.0035%) Headache and dizziness within six to eight hours of constant exposure
100 ppm (0.01%) Slight headache in two to three hours
So, I think, a definite problem. I am also thinking I should get another alarm for the back of the leaf since there are no air vents there. Between both units I could try to find a medium on just about how much CO ends up being gathered inside. I think definitely cracking both rear windows oopen just a bit will be good. I did not wake up with a headache though.
Next goal is to turn the A/C all night and see just how much battery that will drain in about 8hrs or more.
It was actually pretty comfy for 2 people. I think for one person with both seats down and a large bed to fill i all up would actually be pretty nice. I can see myself camping inside the leaf for weeks on end with out any problem; for as long as you have battery .