Bye bye, Leaf....Going to take a bath!

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sthbeach

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 20, 2019
Messages
74
Well winter is upon us here in Canada and just like all the leaves have fallen off the trees, it is also time for me to say goodbye to my 2017 Leaf SV.
Purchased in mid August this year (3 months ago) and I'm going to trade it in next week for a 2018 Chevy Bolt!
This Leaf is my wife's and her roundtrip of 135 kms a day is getting uglier as each day gets colder so I have decided to cut my losses now and trade it in. She will get my 2018 Nissan Leaf SL and I will take the Bolt since my roundtrip commute is closer to 160 kms a day.
The funny thing about this situation is that her car and commute is not the big problem, she is getting home with approx 20% on the GOM every day. Now she drives 100-105 kph and has a Leafbox installed. Me on the other hand.......well, even after calming down my heavy pedal ways, I consistently have been driving 110kph or maybe even a little less and my average GOM reading when I get home in current conditions is 8-10% left (LeafSpy shows approx. 18-20%).
When we bought the 2 Leaf's together I was so worried about the range on hers and it turns out I have the bigger problem, go figure!
Anyway, so next week it's trade in time and on top of it all, I have to drive out of province, about 4 hours away, to Montreal just to get a good deal on a Bolt.....Double kick in the nuts.
 
Thats why most people around hear, even though liking EVs tend to be very pessimistic about range and have no problem pointing it out to new members looking into getting an EV. Sure if you slow down, take side roads whenever possible, limit your heat use, etc. you might be able to make it by but many people want to drive how they've driven ICEs before and that doesn't always work with EVs.
Yes I imagine you'll "take a bath" but IMO doing it now is probably better than later, it's probably only going to get worse as time goes on. You'll have to stop back after using your Bolt for a while and post in the Bolt thread, real-world comparisons are always nice, especially from a Leaf owner.
 
Oh, I'm not going anywhere since I still own the 2018 Leaf 40kwh. I am excited to take the Leafbox off the 17' and put it on the 18' though, no reason to give the dealership the $500 Leafbox for no reason. Even though most would disagree, I think it has done wonders for the range in 17' Leaf. It's crazy that the wife's commute and mine are only 20 kms total difference and I drive less than 10 kph faster than her and she ends the day with 20-25% currently and I end the day with 5-10% SOC left. Even when I take 5% extra reserve that mine keeps, it still makes no sense.
 
The Leafbox looks interesting. What's been your experience with it? Does it work? Are you sure it's helping? How do you like the feel of the car when it's driving?
 
danrjones said:
What made you choose the Bolt over the Kia E-Niro or Hyundai Kona?
Does the bolt have a heat pump / hybrid heater?

Just curious.

Price and availability. Where I am, a year old 2018 Chevy Bolt LT with 22,000 kms is $29000 and a new 2019 after rebates and incentives is $43,000.
Plus, I've read all user reviews, watched YouTube videos and went on the Chevy forum and the biggest problem/complaint on the Bolt is uncomfortable front seat and no built in navigation......I can live with that.
 
On the Leafbox.....
Back in September, pre Leafbox and when the weather was good my wife was ending the day with between 16-20%. With Leafbox in this week's weather which is light snow, wet and 3° celsius she ends the days with 20-25%. The drive is 130-135kms, 125 kms on the highway and very hilly.

When I drive it i honestly feel no difference in the drive.

Pre Leafbox, she drove it in B mode and Eco on and now she just leaves it in D and that's all.
It can be installed on 2018/2019 Leaf as I will be taking out of the 17' by next week and putting it in the 18'.
 
The Bolt does not have a heat pump but because the range is more than adequate for my 150km commute, I am good with it. The fact that it has a liquid cooled battery with management makes me very happy though.
 
sthbeach said:
This Leaf is my wife's and her roundtrip of 135 kms a day is getting uglier as each day gets colder so I have decided to cut my losses now and trade it in. She will get my 2018 Nissan Leaf SL and I will take the Bolt since my roundtrip commute is closer to 160 kms a day.
I'm guessing you are heading in opposite directions? If not, maybe it is time to look for a new house instead of a new car.
 
LeftieBiker said:
danrjones said:
What made you choose the Bolt over the Kia E-Niro or Hyundai Kona?
Does the bolt have a heat pump / hybrid heater?

Just curious.


No heat pump in the Bolt.

Now that its trying to get cold in the morning we have started using the heater, and though it drops the range a bit more than the AC, it hasn't been a big hit. I figure that has to be due to the heat pump. And it warms up very quickly too, so its been nice. When I get another EV I certainly would hope to get a heat pump in it. YMMV
 
Titanium48 said:
sthbeach said:
This Leaf is my wife's and her roundtrip of 135 kms a day is getting uglier as each day gets colder so I have decided to cut my losses now and trade it in. She will get my 2018 Nissan Leaf SL and I will take the Bolt since my roundtrip commute is closer to 160 kms a day.
I'm guessing you are heading in opposite directions? If not, maybe it is time to look for a new house instead of a new car.

No actually, we go the same direction on the same highway, I am just 6 exits further than her off the highway.
 
I will be switching the Leafbox into the 18' this weekend and report back on the results.
 
Where I live, it is already below zero so for me the heat pump is a non factor from November to March. For me the only months where the heat pump is utilized for heat is October and April. I will say the cold has hit quick this year so usually November would count too, so 3 months anyway.
 
danrjones said:
LeftieBiker said:
danrjones said:
What made you choose the Bolt over the Kia E-Niro or Hyundai Kona?
Does the bolt have a heat pump / hybrid heater?

Just curious.


No heat pump in the Bolt.

Now that its trying to get cold in the morning we have started using the heater, and though it drops the range a bit more than the AC, it hasn't been a big hit. I figure that has to be due to the heat pump. And it warms up very quickly too, so its been nice. When I get another EV I certainly would hope to get a heat pump in it. YMMV
So far as I know, my Tesla Model 3 LR does not have a heat pump. I think the reasoning was that the money is better spent on more battery and cabin insulation. It is an interesting trade-off. Perhaps when car heat pumps are more efficient at temperatures below 25F the balance will swing back to their favor.
 
LeftieBiker said:
danrjones said:
Does a hear pump performance also depend on humidity?

Not directly AFAIK, but high humidity can cause the evaporator to ice in A/C mode, or the condenser in heat mode, requiring a defrost cycle.

It hasn't been really cold here but we had a few mornings in the mid 20s last week. It appears it uses resistive heating at first as the power load of the climate system went very high, then after about a minute it dropped to a load similiar to that of the AC. I was interpreting that as the heat pump kicking in. For the remainder of the drive, about 10 minutes, it appeares all heat pump. At about 26f.

If that is indeed what is going on, that seems good to me. We do have dry air here as well. Today i think we were 38f and 82f. That tells you a bit about the humidity.
 
SageBrush said:
So far as I know, my Tesla Model 3 LR does not have a heat pump. I think the reasoning was that the money is better spent on more battery and cabin insulation. It is an interesting trade-off. Perhaps when car heat pumps are more efficient at temperatures below 25F the balance will swing back to their favor.

Doesn't the Model 3 exchange motor and battery heat with the cabin via the Superbottle? Even if the cabin is isolated from that system, heat preservation is the one area where Tesla has everyone beat right now. It's a shame the Leaf and similar cars still dump motor heat to the radiators rather than warm up the cabin and battery or vice versa.
 
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