Goodtohave
Well-known member
So here in Montreal the weather is colder and the snow tires are on...
The cold itself is not a problem for the batteries holding charge so far, I charge at level 2 and preheat.
I find getting into a warm car with 90% on my Dash Display is fine (I get a about 94% if I don't preheat with the timer).
The snow tires make the biggest difference. Going from the hockey puck ecopias to Toyo snows I think kills the range by 20-25%. Then the range reduces even more with the heater.
I used to get 120-140 KM per charge in mixed city highway.
Yesterday at -9 Celsius and 5 short trips I managed 70KM, hit 1 bar with 19% remaining.
It will be a challenging winter but I love the car and will make it work.
On the plus side short trips in cold weather uses a ton of gas in my other car...and I love the preheating in the leaf. Beats using a remote starter. In the evenings and on the weekend when I do short trips and have lots of battery to spare I preheat and then just leave the car on when I park it for 10 minutes to run in and out of shops et and it is a pleasure to always have a toasty warm car.
I pumped the Toyo's to 38 psi but they are soft snow tires, they have to be for traction. You can feel the resistance when you drive.
As for the heater I use it minimally after a good preheat and will be wrapping all the heater hoses and prestone reservoir. I bought a small vent thermometer and it gives off 135-140 degree F heat at idle and down to 110 on the move, shows how much is lost to the wind.
I have already done over 11000 km in 6 months , I will make it work this winter one way or another.
Just a shame we only have one Level 3 in Montreal, it just opened and is nowhere near where I live or drive.
Wish me luck!
The 2013 heater would be nice but I got a great deal on the 2012 and there are no 2013's around here, my dealer has 4 signed contracts and managed to get only one.
The cold itself is not a problem for the batteries holding charge so far, I charge at level 2 and preheat.
I find getting into a warm car with 90% on my Dash Display is fine (I get a about 94% if I don't preheat with the timer).
The snow tires make the biggest difference. Going from the hockey puck ecopias to Toyo snows I think kills the range by 20-25%. Then the range reduces even more with the heater.
I used to get 120-140 KM per charge in mixed city highway.
Yesterday at -9 Celsius and 5 short trips I managed 70KM, hit 1 bar with 19% remaining.
It will be a challenging winter but I love the car and will make it work.
On the plus side short trips in cold weather uses a ton of gas in my other car...and I love the preheating in the leaf. Beats using a remote starter. In the evenings and on the weekend when I do short trips and have lots of battery to spare I preheat and then just leave the car on when I park it for 10 minutes to run in and out of shops et and it is a pleasure to always have a toasty warm car.
I pumped the Toyo's to 38 psi but they are soft snow tires, they have to be for traction. You can feel the resistance when you drive.
As for the heater I use it minimally after a good preheat and will be wrapping all the heater hoses and prestone reservoir. I bought a small vent thermometer and it gives off 135-140 degree F heat at idle and down to 110 on the move, shows how much is lost to the wind.
I have already done over 11000 km in 6 months , I will make it work this winter one way or another.
Just a shame we only have one Level 3 in Montreal, it just opened and is nowhere near where I live or drive.
Wish me luck!
The 2013 heater would be nice but I got a great deal on the 2012 and there are no 2013's around here, my dealer has 4 signed contracts and managed to get only one.