I bought a 2015 SV at the dealer at the end of last November with 720 miles on it. It had never been sold and had been used as a loaner and demo. It had all 12 bars and still did when I traded it on Monday at 3500 miles. When I used Leafspy several weeks ago, the battery had 54 Ahr, and folks here expected that it shouldn't be showing 12 bars.
I put snow tires on it because the Michelin tires were slippery in the occasional snow here on Martha's Vineyard. This winter we were very disappointed in the range - my wife is a Hospice bereavement therapist and though she never leaves the Island her day to day driving amount is unpredictable. She's stoic and mostly drove the car using the seat and steering wheel heaters, and no heat, due to range loss. I decided the Leaf just didn't work for our needs.
Recently I put the summer tires and wheels back on, and aired them up to 38 psi. And the weather finally warmed up. The range was still less than I expected. I drove it Monday up to a dealer where I traded it for a new Hyundai Ioniq PHEV. In 40 miles of driving, 75% highway at 55 mph, no lights on, no heat, no heated seats, etc., I went from completely charged to 39% charge remaining (we quickly learned to completely ignore the Guess-o-meter, but in generai it dropped 1-1/2 miles for every actual mile driven). Doing the math, that works out to about 66 miles of range. This seems pretty bad to me for non-severe weather.
By way of comparison, we have several 2017 Kia Soul EVs here at work with a rated 93 mile range (compared to the Leaf at 84 miles.) I drove the company car today to a jobsite and back, and it was warmer, say low 60Fs, but the Kia's guess-o-meter dropped about 3/4 mile per actual mile driven. I drove my new Ioniq part of the way home the say route I drove the Leaf, and it was getting more than its rated range rather than noticeably less.
So was my Leaf's performance typical? Or did I get some form of a lemon? In hindsight, I know the dealer didn't take care of the car, but even with the drop to 54 Ahr shouldn't the car have a warm weather range better than the mid-60 miles?
Thanks in advance for insights. At some point in the future, when our second car, a 2008 Honda Fit, gives up the ghost, I see us getting another BEV, because our solar PV generates a surplus, we have a $1500 credit with the utility, and I don't think we'll drive it down enough with the Ioniq. But I think that BEV will need to have a winter range of 100 miles while allowing the use of some heat
I put snow tires on it because the Michelin tires were slippery in the occasional snow here on Martha's Vineyard. This winter we were very disappointed in the range - my wife is a Hospice bereavement therapist and though she never leaves the Island her day to day driving amount is unpredictable. She's stoic and mostly drove the car using the seat and steering wheel heaters, and no heat, due to range loss. I decided the Leaf just didn't work for our needs.
Recently I put the summer tires and wheels back on, and aired them up to 38 psi. And the weather finally warmed up. The range was still less than I expected. I drove it Monday up to a dealer where I traded it for a new Hyundai Ioniq PHEV. In 40 miles of driving, 75% highway at 55 mph, no lights on, no heat, no heated seats, etc., I went from completely charged to 39% charge remaining (we quickly learned to completely ignore the Guess-o-meter, but in generai it dropped 1-1/2 miles for every actual mile driven). Doing the math, that works out to about 66 miles of range. This seems pretty bad to me for non-severe weather.
By way of comparison, we have several 2017 Kia Soul EVs here at work with a rated 93 mile range (compared to the Leaf at 84 miles.) I drove the company car today to a jobsite and back, and it was warmer, say low 60Fs, but the Kia's guess-o-meter dropped about 3/4 mile per actual mile driven. I drove my new Ioniq part of the way home the say route I drove the Leaf, and it was getting more than its rated range rather than noticeably less.
So was my Leaf's performance typical? Or did I get some form of a lemon? In hindsight, I know the dealer didn't take care of the car, but even with the drop to 54 Ahr shouldn't the car have a warm weather range better than the mid-60 miles?
Thanks in advance for insights. At some point in the future, when our second car, a 2008 Honda Fit, gives up the ghost, I see us getting another BEV, because our solar PV generates a surplus, we have a $1500 credit with the utility, and I don't think we'll drive it down enough with the Ioniq. But I think that BEV will need to have a winter range of 100 miles while allowing the use of some heat
