Nice evworld owners report on Nissan Leaf

[MitchJi]

Hi,

Saving $100 per month for gas was a little more than I would have thought. Also good points on the charger.

http://www.evworld.com/article.cfm?storyid=2070

Ten Things I Thought I Loved & Hated About the LEAF

Len Beck discovers pros and cons of driving Nissan's electric car.

By Len Beck

Open Access Article Originally Published: August 06, 2012

I started this report planning to list the top ten things I like about the Leaf and the top ten reasons to dislike the Leaf. As I began listing topics, I quickly learned that I had many more ‘likes’ than ten and far fewer ‘dislikes’....

What I like most about the Leaf is its efficiency. It is rated at about 100 miles per gallon equivalent. I have been averaging 3.7 miles per kilowatt hour (kWh), which, calculated at the local residential electric rate in Delaware, equates to about 4 cents per mile for fuel cost. With a 24 kWh battery capacity, and a range of about 70 highway miles (averaging 55 MPH at 95 degrees), it is impressive. DOE calculates that a gallon of gasoline contains the energy equivalent of 36.3 kWh. So, the Leaf drives these 70 miles on the equivalent of about 2/3 of a gallon of gas! People often ask me about how much my electric bill increased due to recharging the Leaf. I advise that my electric bill went up about $35 per month, but my VISA bill (gasoline purchases) decreased $135 per month...

...On the topic of recharging, I will note that Nissan required a pre-inspection at my home to evaluate the installation of a level II charger (240 volt). This inspection carried a fee of $100. The result was a quote of $3,000 for the cost of the charger and installation in my attached garage. Since the Leaf came equipped with a level I charger (120 volt) for use in opportunity or emergency charging, I decided to decline the level II charger and installation and opt to start out only using the 120 volt outlet in my garage. Besides the cost, there were other reasons why I declined the level II charger: 1) It did not offer the latest technology available, called inductive charging (a non-plug-in system that requires the car to park over a pad on the garage floor for recharging), 2) the recharge system did not allow the car to power the home in the event of a power outage, and 3) The charger did not perform vehicle-to-grid technology. I did not want to spend $3,000 now and then spend that much again to replace the charger in a matter of months when these important technologies become available...

...If you are considering buying a Leaf, take into account the value of the level II charger with these factors in mind. In most instances, I return home from work at 5 PM and plug in for recharge. With the 120 volt charger, it takes about one hour for each five miles driven. So if I drive 50 miles, it will take about 10 hours to recharge. Most times, the car is completely recharged by 7 AM. By recharging with the expensive level II charger, the car will recharge about twice as fast. So your Leaf will be fully charged at midnight. I think most Leaf owners will not be willing to pay $1,500 to $3,000 extra to have the car ready to drive at midnight!...

 

[dnmun]

i have now seen 3 leafs driving the streets here. and i never go out so i know there must be a bunch.

the last one i chased down and she lives just 7 blocks away. her hubby is into urban planning, so i am trying to get him hyped on my neighborhood electric vehicle charging hot spots.

there is no need to waste $2-3k on the level 2 charging spot endorsed by nissan. there is a DIY solution already.

someone has now hacked up an arduino solution that uses the leaf input signal to tell the leaf how much juice is available at the charge spot so the onboard charger can charge at the max rate available.

biggest cost is the J1772 cable and a big hall current sensor, but the hall sensor is not even critical and it can be built without it.

so maybe less than $200/ charge port for DIY solutions.