Just leased the 2013 SV

[Berlino]

However, I always like to plan for worst case...if the plug in the garage breaks, etc...and be prepared to have to go 50 miles round trip if needed.

It's prudent to plan for the worst case, but 50 miles shouldn't be a problem. You could always drive a bit slower and turn down the heat if necessary.

The worse case would probably be if you lose 20% of your battery capacity in three years(shouldn't happen with reasonable care in your climate), but by then there may be public charging stations available along your route.

 

[davewill]

Piggy backing onto this thread. My first commute to work with the LEAF today. 25 miles each way. Left home with ROM saying 76 miles, got here with it saying 52, I think I'm at 7 bars. ... I don't want to always charge to 100%, so that I'm taking good care of the battery, but I'd be nervous if 80% charge only left me with 5 miles when I got home...wouldn't be fun driving the last 10 miles with the low battery warning going off.

See how many bars you have when you get home. It's almost impossible to judge based on half of a commute. Unless your route is perfectly flat, one direction or the other will use more battery. As far as the low battery warning...get used to it. When my LBW goes off, I still typically have another 16+ miles of range. Too much to keep in reserve. Get to know the LEAF Range Chart. It will greatly alleviate range anxiety.

That said, if your regular commute takes you much past LBW using 80%, I would say charge to 100%...but it won't unless you are driving the whole thing at 75-80mph

 

[LeftieBiker]

Piggy backing onto this thread. My first commute to work with the LEAF today. 25 miles each way. Left home with ROM saying 76 miles, got here with it saying 52, I think I'm at 7 bars. ... I don't want to always charge to 100%, so that I'm taking good care of the battery, but I'd be nervous if 80% charge only left me with 5 miles when I got home...wouldn't be fun driving the last 10 miles with the low battery warning going off.

See how many bars you have when you get home. It's almost impossible to judge based on half of a commute. Unless your route is perfectly flat, one direction or the other will use more battery. As far as the low battery warning...get used to it. When my LBW goes off, I still typically have another 16+ miles of range. Too much to keep in reserve. Get to know the LEAF Range Chart. It will greatly alleviate range anxiety.

That said, if your regular commute takes you much past LBW using 80%, I would say charge to 100%...but it won't unless you are driving the whole thing at 75-80mph

16 miles isn't "too much to keep in reserve." You have to keep in mind that running the pack down past 90% discharged often is bad for it. That 16 miles should be looked at as nothing but a reserve, and only used when absolutely needed.

 

[planet4ever]

As far as the low battery warning...get used to it. When my LBW goes off, I still typically have another 16+ miles of range. Too much to keep in reserve. Get to know the LEAF Range Chart. It will greatly alleviate range anxiety. That said, if your regular commute takes you much past LBW using 80%, I would say charge to 100%...but it won't unless you are driving the whole thing at 75-80mph

16 miles isn't "too much to keep in reserve." You have to keep in mind that running the pack down past 90% discharged often is bad for it. That 16 miles should be looked at as nothing but a reserve, and only used when absolutely needed.

I agree that running the pack down much below 90% discharged is hard on it, because there is a voltage knee about there. But LBW on my 2013 comes at 82% discharged according to the built in SOC meter. Personally, I also think it's hard on the battery to charge to 100%, and I do that only when needed. I don't have hard facts to back this up, but my guess is that 90% to 10% may be better for the battery than 100% to 20%. That's because 100% charged is pushing the battery hard against the upper limit Nissan has set, while 10% charged is miles away from the lower limit Nissan has set.

As we know, of course, "100%" and "0%" on the SOC meter are not fully charged nor fully discharged. The Lithium Battery Controller won't let us charge or discharge completely. I'm willing to trust that the limits Nissan has set are where they are for good reasons, and that it's better not to hammer against either one of them except when you really need to.

Ray