rcm4453 said:
Hi I'm from Wayzata and considering a 2016 SV Leaf myself. The bigger 30kwh battery will help a lot with cold Minnesota winters which is why I don't want a 2015 model. I know you haven't had it that long but can you tell me roughly how many miles you are getting per charge so far?
Longest drive we did yet was from Uptown Minneapolis out to Cottage Grove, driving a bit around there and heading back. Mostly freeway miles which really sucks up the battery. We had the heater on probably half the whole trip and pulled into the garage with 15 mi left on the display. Total distance was probably 55-60 miles. I think this likely represents the worst-case drive for the car (cold weather, freeway, etc.).
Surprisingly (to me), a 15 hour charge with 110v EVSE got it back up to about 90% charged. The charge estimates to 100% were almost double that. Part of that is because that last 10% takes a lot longer but I wonder too if the cold weather helps charging speed since the battery doesn't get as warm.
The next day we drove into downtown Minneapolis and back, a total of about 3 miles for us. It barely knocked off a mile from the range estimate. It was a nice demonstration of how the battery performs much better on slower local roads with regenerative braking.
All that said, this is the perfect car for us. It gets us around the region just fine and we can use the old Yaris for longer trips when needed.