Nissan Leaf, not made for New Hampshire
If you live in New Hampshire or any northern state, you may not want to own a Nissan Leaf. The Leaf electric car does have major short comings that could leave you stranded on the side of the road.
The Leaf has an estimated driving range of 70 to 100 miles under ideal driving conditions. For many of us, this range would work just fine. Imagine..no gas to buy just drive home and plug it in and you’re ready to go the next morning!
The Great White North has a way of bringing out the best in us, but how can a car with a 70 mile range become a 20 miler in the winter? Not a great roadside thing in February during a cold snap; wind chills that make 17 degrees feel like a heat wave after the wind stops.
The cause for this mileage short fall?
Cold Weather Kills Batteries
Simply put, winter equals cold. Cold equals a deadened chemical reaction. A battery provides/supplies power by a chemical reaction, and like any chemical reaction, as temperature drops so does the chemical reaction.
A battery’s rating (available energy) is determined/measured at 70 degrees. As temperature drops so does the available energy. At 32 degrees a battery has lost approximately 35% of its available energy. At 10 degrees a battery has lost well over 50% of its available energy.
Cold Toes
But wait! What if you need to remove ice from the windshield, keep your toes warm or run the wipers? What about lights? This all demands energy.
The cold of a New Hampshire’s winter will quickly suck the energy out of any battery including the battery in a Nissan Leaf.
Toe Warmer
The Nissan Leaf does come with a toe warmer or cooler feature. While plugged into a 220 volt charger, the Leaf can be programmed to pre-heat or pre-cool depending where you live. It helps to extend the range, by how much is unknown, at 10 degrees.
Nissan Leaf range extender
If you want to buy a Nissan Leaf and drive it in the winter the solution is simple. Install a trailer hitch, swing by Lowes, buy a small trailer and a portable generator, make sure it is a 220 volt generator. There you go, with a push of the start button and the correct cord, you can plug in your Nissan Leaf and let it charge up while you shop. I bet with a little creativity you could wire the generator directly into the Nissan Leaf .
Lowes has all of your solutions
Oh one more thought, while you’re at Lowes pick-up 1/2 dozen gas cans. You can put them in the trailer to really extend the range of the Nissan Leaf. I can see the headlines now, “Nissan Leaf goes 1000 miles between pee breaks”… Not with my wife.
Humm, now to get a patent on a range extender for a Nissan Leaf and leak add-on?
Other Interesting Facts
EPA testing has found that under ideal conditions (68 degrees) and a steady speed of 38 MPH the Leaf
could go over 100 miles on a charge.
Heavy stop and go driving brings the range down to 47 miles.
Cold weather, steady driving at 38MPH, heater on, 62 miles with pre-heat, does not allow for full use of accessories, night driving or re-heat after cold soak.
Cold soak?
Going out to dinner in Concord or Portsmouth during the winter? Key to returning? The most down hill runs, regeneration really counts for battery life.
Oh my! The battery is dead, how to get home? That’s easy!
Get The AAA Bunny!
The solution to a dead battery is a ride home from AAA. Just call 1-800-AAA-help and in 45 minutes or less you’ll be riding home in the comfort of a mobile hydrocarbon power tow vehicle, with heat.
In Closing
Today technology is bringing great innovations to the automobile. The Nissan Leaf is more of a three season car for New Hampshire. I’m not sure I could justify the carbon footprint of a three season car and having another for the 4th season. Hybrids being made by Toyota, Honda, GM & Ford offer the best all around ride for the 4 seasons of New Hampshire. Myself, I’ve been a proponent of fuel cells, since they first rode into space on the Apollo missions. The countries of Greenland & Iceland are working on some great hydro & geothermal hydrogen production technology. I believe the same can be done with solar. We are on the way, a little late, (no, no, a lot late) but we are going the right direction.
That’s Jim’s Opinion Today..What’s yours?
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The current Nissan LEAF is simply not built for NH. That is why it is one of the reasons it is not sold in the northeast yet. The 2012 model adds an insulated and heated battery pack, heated front and rear seats, heated steering wheel and mirrors, and front and rear AC. With the heating improvements and insulation on the battery pack you will probably not have a problem in the colder climates.
Hello,
I imagine by your comments that you have never driven an electric car. I drove a BMW MINI E for a year and 23000 miles. I live in New Jersey and the winter that i had the MINI E, we got a few 20 inch plus days of snow. I did actually have a trailer hitch on my electric MINI E. It didnt tow a generator, but i did tow two jetskis to the shore(60 miles one way), and an atv with a plow in the winter. I actually used the MINI E with the trailered ATV in 20 inches of snow to plow out my parents who live about 30 miles from me. So If the Leaf im waiting for is half as good as the MINI E, it will have no problem cruising around in the freezing cold towing my plow and ATV setup. And by the way, Front wheel drive electric cars are awesome in the snow. If you like, id be glad to send you some pics of electric cars driving around new england in snowstorms.
Ken
Ken, Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Life has been pretty hectic at the Northwood Garage, but finally we are fully staffed once again. This means I have time for the website.
Okay, you state that your Mini E can plow through 20 inches of snow. I have not seen a Mini E in our area, so I decided to do a little research on the matter. I measured the front air dam clearance on a customer’s Mini. This Mini was equipped with 16” tires…the air dam clearance was less than 6 inches! It was actually closer to 5”. Checking around on the web I found that most Mini owners have the same complaint:, low ground clearance. A dirt driveway can be a challenge for a Mini. But… 20” of snow?
I’ve been plowing snow for over 35 years. My current plow truck is a ¾ ton Chevy Silverado Crew Cab, with oversized tires, powered by a Duramax diesel pumping torque to an Alison transmission. On the front is a 9 foot Fisher Plow,. Trust me when I say this baby pushes snow. But, if I were to come out of my garage and drive into 20” of fresh fallen snow without my plow I would be paying close attention. Why? My front bumper is only 20” off the ground, the plastic shield/air dam is only 16” off the ground; frame clearance from the ground is 11”. The transfer case and transmission shields have only 9” of ground clearance. Even with this baby, snow will pile up under the vehicle and lighten the tires; AKA stuck. Nose to nose my front bumper would clean the Mini emblem off the hood of most any Mini.
The next time it snows….come on up, we’ll drive some unplowed roads, I’ve got to see the Mini E in action in the snow. I’ll be sure to have a tow strap in my truck just in case I get stuck..;))
Mini’s are the package with great, gas mileage, handling and performance. Just plain fun to drive!
In closing, I would take a Mini hands down over a Nissan Leaf any day!
Hi Jim,
I’m sure you don’t own a Nissan LEAF, or maybe you’ve never even seen one.
“The Great White North has a way of bringing out the best in us, but how can a car with a 70 mile range become a 20 miler in the winter?”
I need to assume that you just make the numbers up to suit your article. I personally drive a 2011 Nissan LEAF SL. It’s designed for winter in Canada. The battery pack is heated. I can tell you that it gets colder here than in New Hamshire. New Hampshire is quite a bit further south than Ottawa.
We never come close to running out of energy even on the coldest days. We even took our car out of town and returned at night (-28C = -18.4F). The return trip was a little over 100km (60miles). We used the heated seats, heated steering wheel, etc. By the way, wind chill has no meaning for a car, it’s for people. If the wind chill is -30 and the temperature is -10, the car measures the temperature at -10. It does NOT feel like -30 to the car.
The car does have less range when it’s colder, but it’s easy to adjust for that.
You have another problem that LEAF owners don’t. You rely on NON-renewable fossil fuels. Due to peak oil, fuel prices have only one direction to go long term (ever higher). At some point, fuel either won’t be available or it will be extremely expensive. How far will your truck go without any gas? I guess you could push it.
Just wanted to add my 2cents. I own a Saab 2001 9-5 Wagon with studded snow tires and I live in Bradford N.H. Having the weight of the engine over the driving wheels has made a significant difference in terms of Traction, whether dry pavement or snow and ice conditions.One would have to concede that driving a pick- up truck with all the weight over the front wheels, whether gravel roads (spinning and sliding the rear tires), dry pavement (again spinning the rear tires) or in snow (sliding and spinning the rear tires) with added plow weight and additional rear bed weight, things get better, and lets add in the 4 wheel drive which is used 3 or 4 months a ye Usear. oh . there goes the gas mileage ! Solution: use the leaf for 75% of your three season driving and use the pick-up for the other 25% of your winter driving. Get away from the Pick-UP truck mentality, and use less fuel and let the state of N.H. breathe easier! Thanks, That was easy!
Well, I’m in Vermont, not New Hampshire, but I just got through my first winter in my 2012 Leaf just fine. My commute is just under 20 miles, and I often add 5 or so more to run errands. Just to be safe, I never left the garage with less than a full change, but I never returned with less than half charge (except that one day I had to make two round trips because I forgot some important papers, and even then I still had one-third charge left at the end of the day). Even on the sub-zero days, it only lost one extra bar (of 12 on the charge meter). Interestingly, cool humid days (like we get in fall and “spring”) use a little more power than very cold days, I think because the windshield defrost function is more of an energy hog than the heater. I would estimate my range on an typical 20-deg winter day to exceed 70 miles.
In fairness, we never intended to use the Leaf for longer trips, say to Burlington or Manchester, given that there is very little evse infrastracture yet. Our other car, a Prius, is just fine for that. Nor do we live where we would need 4WD or do we need the capacity to haul around the Little League team or work equipment. If those are your needs, or if your typical “driving day” exceeds 60-70 miles, the Leaf is probably not for you. It probably isn’t for you if you live in a rural area and it’s your only car, at least not until more charging infrastructure becomes available.
However, if you analyze your own driving habits, as I did, and find that it fits your profile, it could be a great option to consider, and surprisingly economical. Just to put some perspective on it, at the time I got my Leaf, the dealership was advertising an identical lease deal on a Sentra. Just because I like numbers, I decided to keep a running tab of my costs versus the hypothetical costs of that Sentra, over the same number of miles–right now it’s running just under $100 per month in savings (mostly for fuel costs), but that will likely increase as gas prices climb and as maintenance costs come into play for the Sentra. (Without an internal combustion engine, the Leaf needs almost no maintenance until its tires and brakes begin to wear.) Yes, I can hear you chuckling “but what about when the battery wears out,” but with an 8-year, 100K warranty, this will not be a problem during the 3-year comparison period.
So, laugh at my funny-looking little car all you like–I’m enjoying the ride and laughing all the way to the bank! Oh, and doing my best to leave a cleaner planet to my children.
Jim,
Hope all is well. I am currently driving a 2001 Durango that I love, but have had for eight years. Prior to that I had a Dodge Ram. Yes, I have enjoyed my dodge products. Although my first ride a 1976 Chevy Malibu still holds a special place in my heart. I wish they still made the old school style rides – bench seats especially. Anyways, I will be looking for a new ride in the next year. I’m tempted to go back to another Ram, but gas prices and my job as a reporter mean high miles for travel to events I’m covering and lots of money spent to fill up to get to work that scare me. Is there a hybrid pickup out there worth looking into? If not, is there a hybrid sedan with room for a bigger guy between 250 and 350 pounds that is out there? I want comfort but I’m really focused on reliability and great gas mileage. I just wish a pickup offered that. I appreciate any help you can offer.
Thanks,
George
Since this thread is about alternative cars I am surprised no one has talked about the range extended Chevy Volt. I have had mine for two years and live it. Our gasoline bill has dropped by $200 a month and electric bill went up $40 a month. Glad I am sending less of my money to people in the Middle East that hate us. We certainly see a difference on battery range between winter and summer. 30 vs 56 miles per charge (best vs worse)..
We own a Nissan LEAF and live outside Phoenix, AZ and from what we have noticed is it doesn’t like the cold, in the winter when the temperature gets down in the thirties it just doesn’t like it, the heat doesn’t seem to bother it.. My wife drives it about 40 miles a day round trip to work. I have a 10 kW solar system on the roof so charging it is essentially free
and all around we love the little car. It does 95% of our driving needs and I wish we had owned it before I retired from the bank, I would have saved a ton of money on gas. If your daily usage is less than 70 miles total I would highly recommend
the LEAF. But we don’t have to contend withe those four letter words SNOW, COLD and IICE!!!
As for the fellow who plowed 20 inches with a Mini….I can believe it, It depend on the snow. In the dim dark distant past
I had a 64 and 66 Simca that would plow light fluffy snow probably that deep or deeper. Wet packing snow after it has set a day or two, no way.
Have had my leased 2012 Leaf since Oct 2012; now has 52000 miles.
The newer models have a more economical heater however.
My NH to MA commute is 36 one way. I can recharge at 110v at work which helps.
So in the winter I may not use only the steering wheel and seat heaters.
Also now in 2015 there are more stations at dealers,libraries,and shopping malls.
I did run a trip to work then a.shop in Essex and returned home with two stops.at local malls
To use the.DC CHADEMO chargers. Added 1 hour to the total trip.