Leafing in Florida

[occ]

Why Florida isn't ready for the leaf...

Don't get me wrong, I love the car, but really I don't think Florida has set itself up to be conducive to EV life.

I charged to 80% as usual for a weekday. I drove to work in Eco mode, a 10 mile journey. I live 3 miles from the company property line, and then have 7 miles inside the boundary line. So I've positioned myself for the minimum commute possible.

I took 2 friends to Chick-fil-a for lunch, approximately 7 miles each way. We didn't use Eco mode, and it was warm so the fan was turned on.

By the time I got the car parked it had 54 miles remaining in range. No problem, 10 short miles and I'm home.

I get a phone call, and an appointment i had been waiting for opened up at 6:30. Great, I'll pull open the navigator app and send the route to the car. 18 miles. Hmmm. Freeway miles too. Ok, route to home afterwards, 26 miles. Chriminy.

So, if I'm careful, I'll make it home tonight, but thats assuming ideal outcomes, and so far this state has proven less than ideal, with it's addresses frequently not matching google or gps coordinates. And with no knowledge of my destination, I have no idea if I'll have access to L1 charging or not. And certainly no L2 charging to be found here.

A single change in plans can render the car at. It's range anxiety inducing tolerances around here.

Driveleaf, so I'm curious. You made it home, right? And how many miles left on the range readout after that 44 miles excursion?

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Why Florida isn't ready for the leaf...
...
A single change in plans can render the car at. It's range anxiety inducing tolerances around here.

Oh no, now I'd better hope nobody from Nissan is reading this!

I've been tracking my mileage per day for about 250 days now and I've averaged 39 miles per day. I've had 13 days over 100 miles, and none of them were unplanned. So I still want mine now, regardless of infrastructure concerns.

Anyway, hope you made it home!

i have been tracking mine since i got my first Prius in 2004. once i had an unplanned trip that was more than 100 miles but that was only because we had gone to store only to find they did not have what we were looking for (Ikea) so we decided to take the long way home but only because it was a bright beautiful day and gas was just over $2 a gallon.

all i can say is that, i want it bad enough to make it work. if i need to get out of town, i just take the Prius

 

[driveleaf]

Don't get me wrong, I love the car. It's something I've been looking for since 1990, and I'm not giving it up.

However, EV driving in Florida is not for the faint of heart. It's not like Santa Monica, where you get free metered parking. Or Downey, where there's an L2 charger in the parking lot for you. Or Burbank, where my employer would have offered me a $2 a day benefit for driving a zero emission car. Or anywhere in California where you would get a $5,000 rebate.

No, if you're going to leaf in Florida, you are on your own against confederate flag flying ford f-150 pick up trucks, mind boggling humidity that requires AC and distances that aren't sustainable in any vehicle, let alone an EV.

In return though, I generate some awesome efficiency with almost zero regen on these flat swamplands.

And I had an interesting experience at the DMV, where they first denied licensing it due to misplaced paperwork on their part, and then the clerk told me I was lucky, because she "...was the electric car expert, and had registered the other one." The other one turned out to be a single ev1 from the 1990s.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

No, if you're going to leaf in Florida, you are on your own against confederate flag flying ford f-150 pick up trucks

That's central FL for you!

A single change in plans can render the car at it's range anxiety inducing tolerances around here.

Isn't that a problem anywhere? I talk to people with their own businesses or who travel to see customers on short notice who feel like an EV just wouldn't work for them. It's the unexpected that comes up that is the problem. Even if there were an L3 charger on every corner, when something urgent comes up, spending half an hour at a charger isn't part of the equation.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

man you are a true pioneer!! remember now, you the only "paleface" (EV) amongst the redman!! (pickup trucks, no prejudice intended)

 

[mschurig01]

Driveleaf,

I'm on the reservation list for orders beginning July 25 and no dealer in Florida has a LEAF for a test drive.
Would you be willing to show me your car before I commit to purchasing one?
It seems Nissan would have LEAFS in dealer's hands by now to promote...
I also live in Orlando...
Thanks.

 

[hodad66]

The Leaf tour was in Orlando on the weekend of Feb 4. I drove over
from Melbourne to test drive it.

Nice vehicle. Not happy with the
price increase.

PS... I emailed 3 dealers in the area and they seem to have no clue........

 

[rnkepler]

Driveleaf,

I'm on the reservation list for orders beginning July 25 and no dealer in Florida has a LEAF for a test drive.
Would you be willing to show me your car before I commit to purchasing one?
It seems Nissan would have LEAFS in dealer's hands by now to promote...
I also live in Orlando...
Thanks.

You're not actually committing to purchasing one. You can order the car and once the car is delivered to the dealer, you can test drive it then. If you don't like it for some reason, you can just walk away and get your $99 refunded.