Electric Vehicle (Nissan Leaf experience/impressions)

[WyrTwister]

Originally Posted by pinballlooking

A few years ago I was not sure who had the best battery management Leaf or Volt.

Leaf simple air cooled or Volts water cooled and heated battery packs.
In warm climates Chevy’s Volts water cooled and heated battery packs win hands down.

It would be interesting to see a study in moderate climates because water cooled is more expensive and complicated.

Look for a Leaf that lived in Washington or Oregon . Maybe even northern California ?

God bless
Wyr

[WyrTwister]

Originally Posted by randen

Wyrtwister

Thats what I'm getting at. Level 2 chargers are not up-to the task. To be a truly useful vehicle a faster more powerful charge is what we need to be more what a gas car had presented. Tesla has it with their supercharge 15 mins gets you there and back. The installations of public charge stations with a level 2 (J1772) are already obsolete.

The battery tech with the Volt and Leaf can handle the riggers of high power charging but the infrastructure isn't there and is so last century.!!

Imagine a fast charge for a Nissan Leaf 24 kph battery with a Tesla like supercharge would be only minutes. LIKE or quicker than getting gasoline!!!

And there is another rub. The Nissan Leaf cannot accept the Tesla supercharge. Elon Musk has stated he would allow other manufactures to utilize Tesla charge structure if they would help invest in the deployment of the systems. And why are they sitting on their hands??? Pony up, make the cars more useful. Leafs are nice cars. Imagine being able to take long trips with them??

Randen

I am not saying you are wrong . But there are no CHAdeMO DCFC stations with in driving distance of our 2012 Leaf .

I can complain about it , but it is what it is .

Besides , w/o an active thermal management system for the Leaf battery , I am not sure if the Leaf battery is happy with DCFC ?

God bless
Wyr

[Roostre]

Originally Posted by WyrTwister

I would have seriously considered a Volt , instead of the Leaf , but a used Volt was more scarce / expensive & had more miles on the clock .

God bless
Wyr

Congrats on your foray into the EV world! I also work in an electrical occupation (power gen and distribution) and I am curious if your background in herding electrons made you more curious than the average consumer about EVs?

Our '13 Volt has been ours for 1 year now. We also have a 2012 Leaf for about 9 months. The reason the Volt is holding its value so much better is due to its extra versatility. You give up nothing with the Volt, but the Leaf can be limiting at times.

The SO and I both have charging stations available at our employers. She drives the Leaf most days and her commute is 33 miles each way. Still showing 11 bars, but she is a lead foot. We also installed new Ecopia 422s a few months ago. It seems like they took a long time to break in, but the economy numbers are starting to stay well above 4 miles per kwh now. (Not bad considering she drives 72-75mph almost the entire distance).

[WyrTwister]

I would say my electrical background had something to do with my interest in EV's .

I would have to agree , the Volt probably holds its value better because it is not an in town only car .

How many miles did it take for your Ecopia tires to regain there Low Rolling Resistance ?

God bless
Wyr

[Roostre]

Originally Posted by WyrTwister

How many miles did it take for your Ecopia tires to regain there Low Rolling Resistance ?

God bless
Wyr

I'm going to say between 1200-1500 miles before they were fully back to LRR.

[stevehull]

The time/mileage to develop low rolling resistance is fascinating. Any ideas on what the tire physical properties are that allow this?

You would think that a tire would initially be most "stiff" and therefore have the least rolling resistance.

Obviously that is not correct . . . .


Steve

[Roostre]

Not sure, but I've read that LRR tires are actually best just before they are completely worn out.

Hypothesis included that the height of the rubber allows more tread flex, which uses/wastes more energy.

Not an expert, but it sounds reasonable to me.

[WyrTwister]

Seems like I have read they use " harder " rubber on LRR tires , compared to " conventional " tires .

I have also read that they absorb less energy when they are almost worn out .

God bless
Wyr

[WyrTwister]

Our Leaf dropped from 10 bars to 9 bars last week .

We will see what we will see .

God bless
Wyr

[ksstathead]

Originally Posted by WyrTwister

Our Leaf dropped from 10 bars to 9 bars last week .

We will see what we will see .

God bless
Wyr

Assume you are in a hot climate?
It was really nice having all 12 cap bars, but I knew from seeing a lot of 6 temp bar time in summers that it wouldn't last, and we are now at 11.