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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
by 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.