Gone over to the "dark side"

CB89, How does the car drive in the snow? Keep us posted on the cold temp with the miles. Getting the same weather up here.
I saw a vid on EVs don't work well in MN. Good luck hope it works out.

I don't know about that, The Twin Cities is where mine came from, and believe it spent its 1st 8 years there.
Right now it has 75% worn all season tires on it. The few times I had it out on slushy- snowy roads, it did fine, with near 50%-50% weight distribution, did fine. Better tires would be a good idea if I had to drive in sloppy conditions.
I no longer drive in the worse weather anymore. Just wait it out. Some people can't drive in the snow no matter what they have. I drove my wifes AMC/Renault in the snow, with drifts higher than the hood. Had to hit them at 30 MPH just to power through to the other side.

It is true, that any battery looses power in the cold. If you can just make it in warm weather, you don't have a prayer in cold. So far I have gone to town in 9 deg weather without problems.
The more experience I have with it, the more I find that those that have problems are expecting more than it can reasonably do.
I had done my research before I went down this road. I thought then and have had it reinforced since, that a Leaf anyway, doesn't make a good only car. So far it has made a great 95% car.
The car tips the scale at around 3600lbs so has some inertia to worry about on really slippery conditions, but having it evenly divided between axles seams to make it stable.
The fact that I am considering putting double what a paid for it, into a brand new battery at some point in the future, sums it up fairly concisely.
I would caution anyone considering an electric to look at what is being discussed on enthusiasts websites, about the make/model they are considering, and be very honest with themselves with their expectations on how it will be used. Those who buy on the spur of the moment are often the one who regret it.

I would be hard pressed to make a practical argument for the Leaf, a Prius Hybrid would be about the same cost to operate, Leaf likely a little less costs, but not enough to say the Leaf beats it on economic grounds.
But I am honest with myself. I have no practical argument for having one K-7 let alone 2.
Somethings people have, aren't strictly practical arguments, Most, if they are honest, can't justify on practical grounds all the large pick-up trucks I see.
The Leaf meet the practical standard for how I drive more than most peoples vehicles.
Those that over-sell what a vehicle can do, do more to turn people off than draw in converts. For that reason, I think it will be a while before there is general acceptance.

Hey CB, just out of curiosity, how did you get your Leaf home? Did you drive it or trailer it or maybe got it delivered? You didn't by chance buy it from that dealer in Hopkins that specializes in electrics did you?

I bought it in a private sale in St Paul. Getting home was a consideration. At first I planned to rent a tow dolly. That turned into a fiasco. My brother has a Toyota Sienna van with tow package. but U haul will not rent with that tow vehicle. There were others that claim to rent "RV type" tow dollys by the day, and they would have been the cheapest but I was in a time crunch because I assumed I wouldn't have any problem with U haul. My choices were, rent a truck and either trailer or tow dolly from U haul, either one way or round trip, it didn't change the money much. Option 2 delay until I could find an RV style tow dolly to rent from a private party or option 3 buy a new or used RV style tow dolly. I elected to buy a used tow dolly for many reasons. 1st was it would be about what a U haul would have cost to rent, and I'd have the dolly for future use. I can go "rescue" the Leaf if I needed with my K-7 or if local with my Toyota. Lastly, if you own one, you'll always find uses for it and if you don't your "friends" and family will!
Leaf tows great, and I will likely upgrade the dolly with electric brakes, making the dolly more comfortable to tow heavier vehicles. The Leaf is about 3600 lbs, below the 4000lb total tow weight the dolly is rated for.

Hey Corn Binder89

How has you electric bill changed since you started using your new LEAF?

Gasoline is over $3.00 a gallon still...just wondering out loud.

Thanks for posting your journey.

MikeC

My electric has gone up may be $35-40 a month, but of course it depends on how much you drive. I used to burn though a tank of gas every two weeks or so, at around $50 a tank. A better indication is to take your total electric bill and divide by Kwh used. for a price /Kwh. My EVSE (wall charger unit) will tell me how many Kwh's that charging session used. I can see exactly what the car is using and what it cost. I bought in November, and that is just the start of the serious heating season, so just looking at the overall bill it can be hard to tell what is responsible for how much use.
Knowing that my current "winter rate" for electrical is around $0.145 per Kwh all in, a 25 mile round trip to town cost less that half what the 2000 Camry 4 banger did in gas. Usually around 7 kwh for the trip. Wind, slush, cold and how much you use the cabin heater can effect how much it costs. The same thing can effect a gasoline car, but the effect on the mileage is less.
Electric rates around the country vary widely, and some areas you can get a big break by using off peak times to charge your vehicle. I think all made have a charge timer, so you can plug in when you get home and it will not charge until the set time.

I think I said it before, but I'll say again:
If you are considering an electric, do your research! log the miles you think you would use in a day, before coming home to charge, and multiply by at least 1.5 if not 2x and then look for something that can do that. Electrics lose a fair bit of battery capacity in the extreme cold, and all batteries degrade over time. Buying something that can do twice what you think you might need will allow for some degradation without causing a major problem.
I chose one of the cheapest EV's to buy used. The Nissan Leaf, and mine had 90K on it. There are a lot to choose from in the more expensive market. The Bolt is still a "entry level" vehicle but offers more range. Many other makes are getting into the game, but they were too new for me to afford, so I didn't look seriously at them.
All electrics take some "getting used to" and some more than others. Tesla takes a "gagitty" mindset to deal with some of its quirky stuff. I have heard from others the Leaf is as close to an ICE vehicle in "feel" than any other. Still there are things to learn.
As with most things I try, I do my best to get in cheaply and see if I like it. That way I know what I have to loose and can afford to loose that if it doesn't work out. So far it has worked out.
Like anything, if it doesn't meet your expectations, it will be a disappointment. You must do your research to find if a make or model will fit your expectations, not just what is printed in the sales manual but real world on the road, test.
Most people will want to charge at home, paying to charge often see rates of $0.55 Kwh or more. If your use is moderate, you can charge slowly off 120 volts. An over night charge will give you enough for a short commute. If you want faster charging, it will require an "level 2" (as it is known in the EV world) charger that plugs into or is hard wired to 240 volts. That can be expensive if you have to pay an electrician to do it and that is if your present house can support it.
It is not all gloom and doom. Many Level 2 can be set to whatever the circuit can provide. Mine has settings from 10 amp (240 volt) to 32 amp (240 volt). An electric drier often takes a 30 amp circuit and can either be used by switching to the EVSE (wall charger) at night and the drier during the day. Most get tired of that switching quickly and wire in a dedicated plug for EV charging. A note: the NEC (national electric code) requires de-rating to 80% of a circuit if the load is considered continuous. So a 30 amp branch circuit can take a 24 amp charger. For me, I put a 50 amp circuit in my garage and have another for the welder in my barn. I can provide the max the onboard charger can take (27.5 amps of 240) on either of these circuits but most often have my Level 2 set for 24 amps. I figure a slightly slower charge is easier on the battery. Still I only charge for 2hrs a night.
A newer Tesla or Rivian might have a 40 or 48 amp onboard charger and require a 50 or 60 amp branch circuit to supply it, but can be charged slower on a smaller circuit.
Unlike gas or diesel, most prefer to "top up" there electric car every night or every few nights based on how big a battery and how much they drive. The power used doesn't change for miles driven, but unless you "max out" the range every day, you will not be going from near zero to full, so will not need a high charge rate. Like I said 2hr/night at a lower than max works fine for me.

I've been trying to do some diagnoses on the Leaf sites with people having problems. I can say that some of the stuff is just like a regular ICE powered car, the powertrain work is going to take a whole lot of new skills to be able to work on.
That sad most I can figure out using logic to rule stuff in or out as the problem.
I know I will not be doing any of the High Voltage DC repairs, on mine or anybody elses. The amount of $$$ to kit up to work on HV safely is considerable.
Keeps me reading and out of trouble.

Haven't posted in a while. I followed so advice on the Leaf board and ran my battery really low and re-charged. I guess the idea is equalize the cells and have the battery control module "re-learn" the battery capacity to how it is now.
Not great advice, after the recharge I had some trouble codes and it would sometime go into "turtle" a low power state that severely limits the power available to the drive motor. Kind of like trying to drive a diesel with a gelled fuel filter.
Ended up having to remove the 12 volt "accessory" battery to clear all the codes. Doesn't look like I did any permanent damage. A reminder that those who talk like they know it all, often don't.
With the gas prices moving steadily higher, I'm glad to have my day to day needs handled by the electric. Just to even things out however, I took my K-7 to town today to replace the empty bottles for my torches. Misting rain and the single speed wiper did just fine.
I am fitting a Class 4 receiver hitch to the rear of my '42 and it needs some cutting and fitting. The present ball mount on the rear is way too high for anything except a farm wagon. When I get done it will have a 16,000lb hitch and I can use different ball mounts for the needs of the trailer I am towing.
I need to make a 6 volt positive ground to 12 volt negative ground converter for the trailer lights. Many of the things I might tow have LED's and they don't like reverse polarity. Back when I had regular bulbs, I just swapped them out for 6 volt ones.
I learned that electric trailer brake magnets are designed for around 8 volts, so they can be towed and operated by a 6 volt vehicle as well as 12 volt one. I will pick up a "vintage" brake controller for the truck. The K's brakes are more than enough, but some states require brakes and even if the don't it can keep the load from pushing the rig into jackknife.
I also am working on a air compressor mount that will allow moving air braked trailers as well.

I am fitting a Class 4 receiver hitch to the rear of my '42 and it needs some cutting and fitting. The present ball mount on the rear is way too high for anything except a farm wagon. When I get done it will have a 16,000lb hitch and I can use different ball mounts for the needs of the trailer I am towing.
I need to make a 6 volt positive ground to 12 volt negative ground converter for the trailer lights. Many of the things I might tow have LED's and they don't like reverse polarity. Back when I had regular bulbs, I just swapped them out for 6 volt ones.
I learned that electric trailer brake magnets are designed for around 8 volts, so they can be towed and operated by a 6 volt vehicle as well as 12 volt one. I will pick up a "vintage" brake controller for the truck. The K's brakes are more than enough, but some states require brakes and even if the don't it can keep the load from pushing the rig into jackknife.
I also am working on a air compressor mount that will allow moving air braked trailers as well.

Busy guy!