Hi everyone, I would like an EV as a short-haul commuter. I live in Halifax, which has a temperature range between -25C (-13 Fahrenheit) to 30C (86 Fahrenheit). I am interested in the Nissan Leaf (mostly because of price) and have found a 2015 with 41km and a 2016 with similar km at a slightly higher price. With a full charge the 2016 looks like it has a shorter range. I am wondering if the 2015 or 2016 is best for my climate (mostly worried about winter since hot days are not especially common). Thanks in advance
If you haven't done so yet, I would go to the nissan leaf forum and ask there too. They also have a used car buying guide that may be very useful. https://mynissanleaf.com/
A couple of things here. The suggested range from the GOM will depend on how you were using the car prior to a full charge. If I charge to full after a day or two's highway use I will see a range calc of around 270km. After tooling around town for a day with a light right foot it often shows around 295. Secondly you must be fully aware of the extreme cold range loss. My worst winter range is about 60% of my best summer range. The early Leafs were rated for 124km combined so you can expect a winter range of around 75km if the batteries are still strong. With winter tires the Leaf handles the cold and snow very well. You might want to get a Weather Tech floor liner as it's hard to get enough heat out of a Leaf to dry out the floor mats which will then freeze into a solid mass. It helps to park in a sunny area with the windows cracked a bit. The sun will still heat the interior up and the cracked windows allow the vapour which would otherwise condense and freeze all over the windows to escape.
My wife has a 2016 Leaf (30kW battery) and has been driving, initially, from Bedford to her work at YHZ and in the past year from Cole Harbour. She has never had a problem with the car. EV's are great in the winter (always start and good driving in the snow), despite the reduced range and slower charging. Hopefully you will be able to charge at home. Although not terrible, the Halifax region does have areas lacking in public charging stations. Generally you will find you won't need to wait to use a charging station. We've used the car to travel around Nova Scotia and up to PEI. Fortunately, a couple of years ago Flo installed a network of fast chargers around the province. Our recent trip to Cape Breton has us keen on trading up to a Leaf Plus to cut down on the need to visit every fast charger on the way (it was four from Baddeck to Cole Harbour!). I wonder whether the 24kW battery of the 2015 Leaf would be sufficient to get between some of the charging stations.
I owned a 2013 24kWh and a 2016 30kWh, both Leaf SL models and were great cars (mechanically), normal degradation is about 3%/year in cool climates so if purchasing used be sure to have Leaf Spy and a working dongle. 2015 was probably their best year (gen1). I had a cell imbalance of 100+ mv on my 2016 and didn't throw a code - need 250 mv differential for that. Battery pack does get quite hot on long runs ~120 degrees F. Try to get one with the heat pump to increase range. Short story- Leaf Spy is your friend: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Turbo3.Leaf_Spy_Pro&hl=en_CA&gl=US
