Life without Carwings on 2013 Leaf S

[Harperhendee]

I notice that Carwings doesn't come with the 2013 Leaf S doesn't include carwings. What are the implications for charging? Does this mean:

* No remote charging
* No time based charging
* No pre-heating

I'm fine living without navigation and even EVSE locations, because my phone will do a better job and gets automatically upgraded besides. But I wonder how much of a pain it would be to live without carwings. I'd love to hear feedback from current owners.

--Harper

 

[mwalsh]

Timer based charging and heating should still work, surely? I don't think either of those has anything to do with CarWings.

 

[braineo]

I guess you have to provide your own wifi to connect to the car, don't you?

 

[OrientExpress]

The S trim will still allow timer based charging and climate control activation, but all telematics functions will not be available.

 

[rumpole]

I've actually never used the remote charging feature of Carwings, so its loss wouldn't bother me. Loosing preheating/precooling might be a bit more inconvenient, but I always forget to preheat/precool the car before get to it in its parking garage, anyway. And, we don't have TOU rates where I live, so I'm not using the charge timer.

The most useful feature of Carwings that I actually do use routinely is the mapping. I've never used after-market GPS devices, so I don't know how well they would compare.

My conclusion is that Carwings is useful if it's there, but life will go on if it's not.

 

[RonDawg]

The nav system and its integrated Charging Stations feature is convenient, but if you have a smart phone with the right apps it will do the same thing.

I do like the ability with Carwings to check on the car's charging status remotely. While it's not a huge issue for me to do so, It can be worth it to not have to go outside in the cold, or a couple blocks away to the nearest charging station, to find out if your Leaf has enough juice to get you to your next destination.

 

[Shaka]

I plug our LEAF in at night at home (L2 at home) and charge there with an end-timer. (that sounds like it would still work on the S-trim car). However, we use Carwings a decent amount for the cold weather here. Pre-heating the car even when not plugged in is a nice feature, although it obviously hurts range. Being able to set a specific start-time for the pre-heat using the software is nice, as is pre-heating the car when you're about to leave the home/store/etc. I also use it sometimes to be able to show just how lazy I am and get my battery life status without having to go to the car in the garage.

For a $199 lease special, I can see where living without these features make sense. But for the price difference of probably less than $50 per month, the SV-trim features to me still more than make up the price difference... but again, to each their own...

 

[planet4ever]

Do note that in general CarWings is not free. You get a free subscription for your first three years but, according to both the Owners Manual and the Navigation manual:

CARWINGS™ subscription services will automatically terminate at the end of the initial free term if you do not wish to renew your subscription agreement at the prices then in effect.

I would not be surprised if you also have to pay connection fees for the cell phone that CarWings uses.

Ray

 

[SimonMTL]

The S trim will still allow timer based charging and climate control activation, but all telematics functions will not be available.

Can anyone confirm this, as the S trim is now on the roads???

 

[EJensen]

The S trim will still allow timer based charging and climate control activation, but all telematics functions will not be available.

Can anyone confirm this, as the S trim is now on the roads???

Confirmed. Using the multi-function display and controls in my S, I can set the car to start charging at a particular time, and I have done so. I believe there is also a provision in the menu for time-based climate control, but I haven't bothered with it.

 

[smkettner]

So then is Nissan not tracking those without CW? Can the nag screen go away?

 

[SimonMTL]

Yes, I can confirm, timed charging for the S is in the manual page Charging-24 and the Climate-controlled timer is 4-12.

https://owners.nissanusa.com/content/techpub/ManualsAndGuides/NissanLEAF/2013/2013-NissanLEAF-owner-manual.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[planet4ever]

Yes, I can confirm, timed charging for the S is in the manual page Charging-24 and the Climate-controlled timer is 4-12.

Yes, but contrary to what EJensen stated a few posts back, it seems you can't set start times. Both setups allow for only a single timer, which is marked as "to xx:xx". In other words, you can only set an end timer. Apparently the timers do work like the ones on the SV and SL if you skip the start timer on those systems.

Ray

 

[amarloestodo]

Yes, I can confirm, timed charging for the S is in the manual page Charging-24 and the Climate-controlled timer is 4-12.

Yes, but contrary to what EJensen stated a few posts back, it seems you can't set start times. Both setups allow for only a single timer, which is marked as "to xx:xx". In other words, you can only set an end timer. Apparently the timers do work like the ones on the SV and SL if you skip the start timer on those systems.

Ray

just got my car today, s model, and i was wondering about that same thing. it looks like i can only set the end times. so for example, i leave the house monday through friday at 8 15 am. if i want to pre heat the car i set it "to 8:15" and then the climate control will automatically turn on at some point, say at 8:00 am or when ever the car determines is should begin? and what if i forget to/dont need to plug it in, will the preheat still turn on or is that only if it is plugged in? and lastly, i do not need preheat on the weekends. is there any way to choose my days? thanks so very much for sharing your knowledge!

 

[TLeaf]

Only 9 more months to go and I'll get to find out what life is like w/o Carwings first hand.. Not sure what Nissan is going to start charging for it come next January, but I don't think I'd be willing to pay more than $15/year for those few times per year that I pre-heat the car.

I'll be interested to follow this thread to see if anything else might be lost when Carwings goes away..

 

[stjohnh]

We have both 2013 S and SV, wife got the SV because she wanted the light upholstery. We have used the gps and carwings functions a few times, but find the apps on our phones better (Waze for gps and Plugshare for charge station locations). Haven't tried the remote climate and charge functions, but in the San Francisco area don't seem very helpful. I might feel different if I lived where it gets very cold or hot. The two things I do miss on her SV are the quickcharge port and cruise control.

 

[Stanton]

The two things I do miss on her SV are the quickcharge port and cruise control.

I didn't realize the "S" doesn't have cruise control: that's the best way I know to even out energy use on the highway. As for CarWings, I depend on that "charge stopped" message every morning to let me know everything's OK, and the "not plugged in" email has actually saved my a** a couple of times.