Looking to buy - will the range work for me?

[breeves002]

PM sent... A dealer called me back today and said he's going to order one as soon as he is able to order 16's...which he said should be in a few weeks - In white or black with leather. He said he will call me as soon as it gets here and if I haven't bought one, its mine.

On that test drive I think I did pretty well learning how it drives. The regen isn't nearly as annoying as I thought it would be. Barely noticed it. I managed 260 wh average over 20 miles I drove it, average speed of 45mph, with 4 people in the car and some time flooring it with AC blasting.

 

[jmueller065]

as soon as he is able to order 16's...which he said should be in a few weeks

Bummer! 2016's starting production without an announcement means they will be nearly identical to 2015's with no changes (like CCS or a larger battery or a better heater).

Booo Ford!

 

[breeves002]

as soon as he is able to order 16's...which he said should be in a few weeks

Bummer! 2016's starting production without an announcement means they will be nearly identical to 2015's with no changes (like CCS or a larger battery or a better heater).

Booo Ford!

Yes I wouldn't mind loosing a tiny bit more cargo space and spending another 1000-2000 for a larger battery...

He did say they had the build sheet for it and yes it was the same, one option. Leather.

 

[hybridbear]

Yes I wouldn't mind loosing a tiny bit more cargo space and spending another 1000-2000 for a larger battery...

The new Leaf that was just announced adds about 20 extra miles of range for about $2000 extra with no reduction in cargo room.

 

[jmueller065]

Yes I wouldn't mind loosing a tiny bit more cargo space and spending another 1000-2000 for a larger battery...

He did say they had the build sheet for it and yes it was the same, one option. Leather.

New 2016 Nissan Leaf doesn't have a larger battery (at least size wise) and they went to 30kWh from 24kWh! Sigh
http://insideevs.com/2016-nissan-leaf-107-miles/

 

[breeves002]

Yes I wouldn't mind loosing a tiny bit more cargo space and spending another 1000-2000 for a larger battery...

He did say they had the build sheet for it and yes it was the same, one option. Leather.

New 2016 Nissan Leaf doesn't have a larger battery (at least size wise) and they went to 30kWh from 24kWh! Sigh
http://insideevs.com/2016-nissan-leaf-107-miles/

I'd probably buy a Leaf if the battery was water cooled.... Silly that it isn't.

Found a few 2015's I'm going to look into leasing. Going to test drive a leaf anyways.

 

[triangles]

The new Leaf that was just announced adds about 20 extra miles of range for about $2000 extra with no reduction in cargo room.

According to this article, converting from British pounds to USD it's a $2500 upgrade. If I were buying today and the Leaf wasn't so ugly, Buying the Leaf with more range would be a no-brainer. Ford will have a hard time selling BEVs if the next gen Leaf sheds some of it's ugliness and they don't make improvements to their BEV.

 

[NightHawk]

He did say they had the build sheet for it and yes it was the same, one option. Leather.

The changes from 2015->2016 models may offer slight differences in exterior color options like Ford did last year?

 

[NightHawk]

New 2016 Nissan Leaf doesn't have a larger battery (at least size wise) and they went to 30kWh from 24kWh! Sigh
http://insideevs.com/2016-nissan-leaf-107-miles/

And that article also includes this info:
" The all-new, next generation Nissan LEAF (with an estimated 170-200 miles of range) is expected to arrive in Q2 of 2017."

Thats what I'm looking for at the end of my current 2014 FFE lease in Oct 2017, the double range models!

 

[campfamily]

The new Leaf that was just announced adds about 20 extra miles of range for about $2000 extra with no reduction in cargo room.

According to this article, converting from British pounds to USD it's a $2500 upgrade. If I were buying today and the Leaf wasn't so ugly, Buying the Leaf with more range would be a no-brainer. Ford will have a hard time selling BEVs if the next gen Leaf sheds some of it's ugliness and they don't make improvements to their BEV.

I think we are becoming too focused on total range. It doesn't matter to me if I get home with 10 miles remaining or 100 miles remaining; the cost to recharge is exactly the same. Since my daily drive is within the current FFE range, I can't see why I would want to pay $2500 more to get an additional 20 miles.

When I tell people that I have an electric car, the first question they ask is "What is the range?" When I tell them 70 to 75 miles, the answer invariably is "That's all? That wouldn't work for me". But, when quizzed, almost all have to concede that, for the vast majority of their driving, 75 miles between charges is sufficient. And, for those rare (and for most of us, it is rare) occasions we need more than that, we have access to a ICE car, either with a second car (I have three "second" cars) or a rental.

Where I think all of the manufacturers are falling short is cost; why do we need $10,000 of government incentives to make these cars competitive with ICE cars? Figure out a way to make the batteries and other non-ICE components as cheap as a conventional car. Improve battery durability, so that advertised range is retained for a longer period of time. That's where the manufacturers are falling short, in my opinion.

My 2 cents worth......

Keith

 

[pjam3]

The range is the biggest problem unless you pretty much don't do much or go anywhere. Great if you live very close to work, not so great if you get 70 miles and have only like 10 left when you get home from work. And since the FFE doesn't offer fast charging, you're pretty much screwed from doing anything else until the next day. I mean if you leave at 7am for work, get home at like 7pm and it takes at least 4 hours to charge, you're not taking kids to sports or plays or ballet or going to anything that far away.

I mean for me, the airport is not even 30 miles away, but due to hills and freeways, I'm lucky I get back home with 2 miles left. And that 2 miles means I have 2 miles before I need to call a tow truck. And I know this because I've tested this theory often.

I wouldn't spend 2K for 20 extra miles that might not even be 20 miles, but if EVs get 150 miles in a couple years, that's well worth it. There would be far more options. 70 miles that are 50 miles sometimes is a problem.

 

[michael]

I'm with pjam on this range is everything.

If you come home with 10 miles left you have no margin. No margin for an errand, for the heater, for cold weather, for battery fade

More importantly, if you have much more battery range than you need, you can run the battery conservatively...not fully charge it every day, not deeply cycle it. There will be much less fade

Nissan is increasing its battery capacity and also it's fade guarantee...the larger battery can go more miles in the same number of charge cycles...of course it lasts longer!

In my opinion, most important is range. Charge time is second and efficiency is third.

 

[eaglelaker]

I do a 66 mi round trip for work. Mostly flat and no freeway. I do a level 2 charge overnite. So far it's working great!

 

[triangles]

eaglelaker, Let us know if you can still do that when temps drop below 50F, 32F.

 

[eaglelaker]

Ok!
Will do! I haven't used the heater yet! Just Air.

 

[breeves002]

Still thinking about buying this used one.

Made an offer, rejected, waiting for him to call me back next week asking me if I'm still interested... We'll see how it goes.

I looked into leasing a new one but honestly for a 36 month lease, payments are too high. I can get the 1 year old 9000 mile one financed for less over an extra year.

Keep in mind I do have 2 other cars if I need to do something while its charging. I figure its 60 miles of not having to pay for gas.. or like less then 1/4 the cost of gas.

 

[breeves002]

Just curious, anyone set the cruise at 80-84? How long will it go at those speeds?

 

[michael]

I can't answer your specific question, but here

http://my.teslamotors.com/forum/forums/range-vs-speed-graph

is the data for Tesla. For the Model S 85, it shows 200 miles at 80 MPH and about 280 miles at 60 MPH. I would expect the FFE to do proportionately even worse at high speed since 80 is approaching the max motor speed and efficiency drops at the same time air resistance is increasing.

FFE speed limiter kicks in around 85.

The car drives great at 80, but the range is substantially impacted.

 

[WattsUp]

I would expect the FFE to do proportionately even worse at high speed since 80 is approaching the max motor speed and efficiency drops at the same time air resistance is increasing.

Well, we have no idea is the FFE speed limitation is due to "max motor speed" or simply some other kind of limitation (max output of the battery, max current flow through some electrical component, max RPMs for the gearbox, etc.).

 

[damania]

Just curious, anyone set the cruise at 80-84? How long will it go at those speeds?

In my experience going over 80mph cut the range in half (YES HALF). So the 76 mile car suddenly became a 40 mile car. It makes sense to drive at 65mph or less since it actually takes longer to charge than the time it saves drives faster. I've made it a habit to never drive above 65mph.


Electric cars need dual axle motors as standard equipment for braking and slightly better mileage efficiency.