Never buying gas again! New leaf owner

[Silvermaple]

I have had my new Silver Leaf SV for three weeks now and love it. I am having my L2 charger installed for free by Consumers Energy in Michigan this week. The trickle charger is working but they will change my electricity charges based on different hours now which will save even more money when I charge at night.

Any advise on what I need to do in the first month to maximize my Leaf experience. I find it hard to drive it in Eco mode because I like the instant torque. I am sure that will go away in time.

Thanks Mike

2013 Silver SV

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

I have had my new Silver Leaf SV for three weeks now and love it. I am having my L2 charger installed for free by Consumers Energy in Michigan this week. The trickle charger is working but they will change my electricity charges based on different hours now which will save even more money when I charge at night.

Any advise on what I need to do in the first month to maximize my Leaf experience. I find it hard to drive it in Eco mode because I like the instant torque. I am sure that will go away in time.

Thanks Mike

2013 Silver SV

Welcome to the world of leaf owners/leasees and welcome to the community.

Advice? When it's time to replace the other car get a volt. Then you have the bases covered in case violence breaks out in the middle east. Oh wait, too late.

 

[TomT]

The torque available in both modes is actually the same. You just have to press the accelerator further to get to it in Eco.

Any advise on what I need to do in the first month to maximize my Leaf experience. I find it hard to drive it in Eco mode because I like the instant torque. I am sure that will go away in time.

 

[RonDawg]

I try to drive in Eco as much as possible, but when I do need the "turbo boost" :lol: I will shift into D as necessary. I find that easier and more comfortable (especially on long uphill stretches) than pressing harder on the accelerator.

 

[LeftieBiker]

The torque available in both modes is actually the same. You just have to press the accelerator further to get to it in Eco.

Any advise on what I need to do in the first month to maximize my Leaf experience. I find it hard to drive it in Eco mode because I like the instant torque. I am sure that will go away in time.

You actually have to literally floor it in Eco mode to get the same torque, and even that is made more difficult by the substantial extra resistance the accelerator pedal offers in Eco. If you have to drive in Eco most of the time, try to drive it that way nearly *all* of the time. If Eco is optional then enjoy the "Sport" (normal) mode and use Eco when needed.

 

[marcdoss]

Welcome! I too am a new Leaf owner (also a silver 2013 SV)!

I've had mine for 2 weeks, and I'm having fun testing out different driving styles, modes, roads, ranges, etc... Figuring out how long the charges takes... It's all trial and error to see what works...
I have a long way to go as far as figuring it all out, but I'm getting there!! I love mine!

 

[TomT]

Consider it part of your exercise regime... :lol:

You actually have to literally floor it in Eco mode to get the same torque, and even that is made more difficult by the substantial extra resistance the accelerator pedal offers in Eco.

 

[Silvermaple]

Thanks for all the advice. I am too trying to figure out how it all works. I find myself driving more now and we take the Leaf all over where we used to take my wife's ICE. Now we only use her car for going to my in-laws which live 88 miles away. I may try to go that distance in one trip sometime but not yet. I have seen a couple of people post the 100mile club, what is that and what are the criteria?

Thanks
Mike

Grand Rapids, MI
34mile round trip to work
Nurse.

 

[dgpcolorado]

...I have seen a couple of people post the 100mile club, what is that and what are the criteria? ...

To qualify for the 100 mile club you need to take your LEAF 100 miles or more on a single charge. While this can't be done at freeway speeds it is fairly easy with careful driving at slower speeds or in mixed driving involving some slower speeds. Just reset a trip meter to zero before starting out and then photograph it after going 100 miles or more, ending at the same or higher elevation, and post in the 100 Mile Club & 200 km Club & NEW 300 km Club !!!! thread.

Although Nissan advertised the LEAF as having a 100 mile range, in most real life driving it is an unrealistic expectation. Tony Williams created the 100 mile "club" as a commentary on how unrealistic that advertised range really is. Nevertheless, going 100 miles in a LEAF on a single charge is a useful exercise in efficient driving and learning how far the car will go after the Low Battery Warning (LBW) and the Very Low Battery Warning (VLBW). That experience can come in handy someday when getting low on charge.

 

[ebill3]

"Never buying gas again"?

But, you take an ICE to the in-laws.

I have not patronized a gas station since February this year. Love it.

 

[Silvermaple]

Technically my wife is buying the gas for her car so my original post still stands. "I" am never buying gas again.

But thanks for pointing that out

 

[ksnogas2112]

What about your lawn mower... wait, you're in Michigan...what about your gas powered snow blower? =)

Welcome to Team EV. Enjoy the grin.

 

[Silvermaple]

Dont forget about my weed wacker! That still takes gas. I will work on those! I don't know if they make electric snow blowers?

Glad to be part of the EV team!

 

[dgpcolorado]

Dont forget about my weed wacker! That still takes gas. I will work on those! I don't know if they make electric snow blowers?

Glad to be part of the EV team!

It's a bit old fashioned but my snow removal tool doesn't need gas:

And I have 400 feet of driveway to clear; I consider it good exercise and listen to audio books while I work at it.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

The electric snow blowers I've seen are pretty small and weak.

But I use an electric weed wacker and lawn mower and am looking at electric lawn tractors, maybe I could get a plow attachment.

Some of the lawn tractors can be used as solar storage for blackouts.

 

[Klayfish]

Dont forget about my weed wacker! That still takes gas. I will work on those! I don't know if they make electric snow blowers?

Glad to be part of the EV team!

It's a bit old fashioned but my snow removal tool doesn't need gas:

And I have 400 feet of driveway to clear; I consider it good exercise and listen to audio books while I work at it.

You're nuts. My driveway is about 200' long, and anything over 3" I break out the snowblower. Shoveling is definitely exercise. I'm a gym rat, and I've shoveled my driveway when it had 8-10" of snow on it. I was wiped out when I was done...and I try not to lift. I mostly push.

 

[dgpcolorado]

You're nuts. My driveway is about 200' long, and anything over 3" I break out the snowblower. Shoveling is definitely exercise. I'm a gym rat, and I've shoveled my driveway when it had 8-10" of snow on it. I was wiped out when I was done...and I try not to lift. I mostly push.

It is more difficult for me than it seems because my driveway is gravel so I can't push as easily as one can on a paved driveway. Gravel also tends to jam snowblowers, from what my carpool partner tells me (most of the neighbors have their driveways plowed, which causes a lot of damage to gravel driveways). So I shovel. If I have to get out before I have time to shovel the whole driveway my '96 Jeep Cherokee can handle up to ten inches of snow. But it uses gas, so I'd rather take the LEAF...

The lower part of my driveway on Christmas morning last year. The "shovel drifts" along the sides get pretty high by spring.

 

[Foible]

I moved to an electric lawn mower after getting my Leaf. I decided that I didn't want to store any more volatile explosive carcinogens in my home than I absolutely needed. My electric chain saw recently proved to be unexpectedly handy, I used it in the crawl space under the house and I could still breathe!

As for the Leaf, I've been doing all my driving in Eco mode. I floor it when I want power (Like when merging into traffic or racing off the line when I'm first at a signal light.) and I get all the great regenerative braking the rest of the time. I try and see how long I can drive without hitting the brake at all, or only for complete stops.

The Leaf is the sportiest car I've owned. It has a nice low center of gravity and it is very nimble in the 0-45 MPH range where I do almost all of my driving. It seems to suffer a bit of over steer at the limits of handling but nothing uncontrollable. Even though I'm leasing my Leaf I'm considering a set of better tires and perhaps a lighter set of rims just to make playing in traffic a bit safer and more fun.

 

[Klayfish]

The Leaf is the sportiest car I've owned. It has a nice low center of gravity and it is very nimble in the 0-45 MPH range where I do almost all of my driving. It seems to suffer a bit of over steer at the limits of handling but nothing uncontrollable. Even though I'm leasing my Leaf I'm considering a set of better tires and perhaps a lighter set of rims just to make playing in traffic a bit safer and more fun.

Huh? Please tell me you're kidding. If not, I'd hate to know what your other cars were. I love my LEAF, but one adjective I would not use to describe it is sporty. Competent…yes, definitely. But sporty it's not. I haven't pushed mine to it's limits, but I'd bet it'd understeer like a dump truck like most other front drivers. Not putting down the LEAF at all, I'm thrilled with mine. Great car, and its' handling is decent for what it is. But at least to me, it's definitely not sporty. Honestly, I'd suggest saving your money on the rims and tires. In traffic, I don't see how you'd be pushing hard enough to overwhelm the ability of the stock stuff.

 

[swaltner]

I really liked using the Zeon zero-turn mower with a 42" deck I had purchased from Hustler Turf. Note the "had" in that statement. It's an awesome mower, just oversold on the ability to mow my lawn. I really did enjoy the low noise levels of this electric-powered ZTR mower.

I discussed the size of my property with the dealer ahead of time and he didn't see it as being a problem. The literature for the Zeon says "Runs up to 90 minutes. Mows more than an acre". I needed about 70 minutes of runtime to mow my lawn, but consistently was getting 63 minutes before the mowing deck shut down. My property is a 1.4 acre lot, but with the house, airplane hangar, and trees, probably right at one acre of grass to mow. If you are mowing a lot that is smaller than mine, this would be a great mower. I traded it in and got a 48" gas powered mower from Hustler Turf as a replacement. It gets the job done in just under 60 minutes. Now, my "only" trips to the gas station (now done in the Leaf of course) are to feed that beast.

For large lawns (or commercial operations), there are ZTR mowers like those from http://www.meangreenproducts.com. These have Li-Ion batteries that supposedly last 2-4 hours on a charge.