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>putting the air on for a few minutes will cost about 1-2 miles per minute until the cabin cools down. .... >Having a battery-powered air conditioner beats a

>putting the air on for a few minutes will cost about 1-2 miles per minute until the cabin cools down. .... >Having a battery-powered air conditioner beats a gas-powered one hands down. 1-2 miles per min loss? Often I find it takes about 5+ min to cool my car down on a hot day, in a city like London you don't really want to wind the windows down either. If I'm going to try and be environmentally friendly, and healthy, you know what, I'll cycle that 11 mile each way commute of yours (hell my current one is ~30miles a day). I can't help but feel this is an attempt to justify a technology which simply isn't ready yet. The range of the leaf isn't enough to compete with a car, I wouldn't feel comfortable doing a 30mile each way commute unless I could guarantee a charging place at the other end. Now the model S on the other hand, that's a different story.

koblenski 13y ago
Well, that's 1-2 miles per minute if you don't run the A/C continuously. If you were to keep the cabin at a climate controlled temperature, the Leaf normally estimates ~10% reduction in range. I'm not sure how true that is because I've never needed to do it. A couple 1-minute blasts is plenty to get me home comfortably. I do agree that the Leaf could benefit from more range, of course. Although it should be able to handle your commute in the summer without an extra charge. In the winter it would be a stretch, especially with the heater running. The Tesla is an awesome car, if you can afford it.
ssmoot 13y ago
I've had a Leaf since (I think?) April in Dallas, TX. So there's been very little time I _haven't_ run the car with the A/C on. I could be proven wrong, but it doesn't feel anywhere near that bad. Also, it has to work a lot harder in 100F+ heat. It's a really good system, but it's also a relatively small cabin. Compared to my previous Jeep Grand Cherokee or Volvos it's performance isn't really noteworthy. It's definitely not worse, but I'd be hard pressed to claim it's substantially better either. My commute to the office is 5 miles each way. So the Leaf is about perfect for me. I still take the 20+ mile trip (each way) downtown, or up to the suburbs to visit friends on weekends without any worries. Another guy at the office who also has a Leaf has a 30 mile commute (each way), and he's also on the trickle charger. A few close calls early on, but he seemed to adjust to it pretty quick. BTW, 60 miles round trip is pretty extraordinary for a commute. Even in the sprawling sub-sub-suburbs of TX. I'd guess that the Leaf would work fine for more people than not on a commuting basis. But that's just my gut. The only frustrating thing I've run into is the high cost of DC Quick Charger subscriptions (none of the ones deployed around here are pay-by-the-minute, you have to be a member). I didn't drop a $200/month gas bill just to pay $80/month for a Quick Charger membership I'd only use once a month at best. It might be worth it if there were any quick-chargers between Dallas and Houston so I could visit family in Galveston, but there's absolutely nothing, and even if the state gets around to putting Level2 chargers in at rest-stops, who's going to want to stop twice for 4 hours each at rest-stops along the way? That'd turn a 5 hour trip into 14. So we take my wife's SUV instead. As a two-car family with a short commute the Leaf really isn't much of a compromise at all. I'm about to buy a Level2 charger for home, but it's not really necessary. It's more about once-in-a-blue-moon convenience of a very busy weekend and getting to leave the SUV in the driveway. Plus the 30a chargers are (I gather) a lot more efficient than the trickle charger.
taway2012 13y ago
> ... can't help but feel this is an attempt to justify a technology which simply isn't ready yet Statistically speaking, such long commutes are unusual. However comments like this create the impression that an electric car with ~80 miles range is a toy. I think 80 mile range is plenty for a commuter car. Only 15% of commuters have one-way commutes longer than 30 miles, according to http://www.statisticbrain.com/commute-statistics/ http://www.statisticbrain.com/commute-statistics/. Just my two cents.
pkulak 13y ago
> If I'm going to try and be environmentally friendly, and healthy, you know what, I'll cycle that 11 mile each way commute of yours (hell my current one is ~30miles a day). Oh, get over yourself. Some people like cars. I commute to work every day on a bike too, and you know what, my family _also_ owns a car. How am I going to get my 6-month-old to his doctor's appointment with a bike? That would need a bus or a cab. No thank you. Bike's aren't appropriate for everything, but this car will take care of everything you need it to as long as you don't leave the city with it. I don't really like leaving the city. But for the rare time I'd need to, I'm sure renting a Lexus with the gas savings would be acceptable.

koblenski 13y ago

Well, that's 1-2 miles per minute if you don't run the A/C continuously. If you were to keep the cabin at a climate controlled temperature, the Leaf normally estimates ~10% reduction in range. I'm not sure how true that is because I've never needed to do it. A couple 1-minute blasts is plenty to get me home comfortably. I do agree that the Leaf could benefit from more range, of course. Although it should be able to handle your commute in the summer without an extra charge. In the winter it would be a stretch, especially with the heater running. The Tesla is an awesome car, if you can afford it.

ssmoot 13y ago

I've had a Leaf since (I think?) April in Dallas, TX. So there's been very little time I _haven't_ run the car with the A/C on. I could be proven wrong, but it doesn't feel anywhere near that bad. Also, it has to work a lot harder in 100F+ heat. It's a really good system, but it's also a relatively small cabin. Compared to my previous Jeep Grand Cherokee or Volvos it's performance isn't really noteworthy. It's definitely not worse, but I'd be hard pressed to claim it's substantially better either. My commute to the office is 5 miles each way. So the Leaf is about perfect for me. I still take the 20+ mile trip (each way) downtown, or up to the suburbs to visit friends on weekends without any worries. Another guy at the office who also has a Leaf has a 30 mile commute (each way), and he's also on the trickle charger. A few close calls early on, but he seemed to adjust to it pretty quick. BTW, 60 miles round trip is pretty extraordinary for a commute. Even in the sprawling sub-sub-suburbs of TX. I'd guess that the Leaf would work fine for more people than not on a commuting basis. But that's just my gut. The only frustrating thing I've run into is the high cost of DC Quick Charger subscriptions (none of the ones deployed around here are pay-by-the-minute, you have to be a member). I didn't drop a $200/month gas bill just to pay $80/month for a Quick Charger membership I'd only use once a month at best. It might be worth it if there were any quick-chargers between Dallas and Houston so I could visit family in Galveston, but there's absolutely nothing, and even if the state gets around to putting Level2 chargers in at rest-stops, who's going to want to stop twice for 4 hours each at rest-stops along the way? That'd turn a 5 hour trip into 14. So we take my wife's SUV instead. As a two-car family with a short commute the Leaf really isn't much of a compromise at all. I'm about to buy a Level2 charger for home, but it's not really necessary. It's more about once-in-a-blue-moon convenience of a very busy weekend and getting to leave the SUV in the driveway. Plus the 30a chargers are (I gather) a lot more efficient than the trickle charger.

taway2012 13y ago

> ... can't help but feel this is an attempt to justify a technology which simply isn't ready yet Statistically speaking, such long commutes are unusual. However comments like this create the impression that an electric car with ~80 miles range is a toy. I think 80 mile range is plenty for a commuter car. Only 15% of commuters have one-way commutes longer than 30 miles, according to http://www.statisticbrain.com/commute-statistics/ http://www.statisticbrain.com/commute-statistics/. Just my two cents.

pkulak 13y ago

> If I'm going to try and be environmentally friendly, and healthy, you know what, I'll cycle that 11 mile each way commute of yours (hell my current one is ~30miles a day). Oh, get over yourself. Some people like cars. I commute to work every day on a bike too, and you know what, my family _also_ owns a car. How am I going to get my 6-month-old to his doctor's appointment with a bike? That would need a bus or a cab. No thank you. Bike's aren't appropriate for everything, but this car will take care of everything you need it to as long as you don't leave the city with it. I don't really like leaving the city. But for the rare time I'd need to, I'm sure renting a Lexus with the gas savings would be acceptable.