A Facebook friend cracked that after the snowstorm and exceptionally cold weather before Christmas that our purchase of the LEAF had apparently singlehandedly reversed global warming and that maybe we should go back to gasoline.
It certainly has been winter to remember so far. December 17th brought a morning commute temperature of -1 followed by a evening commute snowstorm. Now in the grip of The Polar Vortex our morning low this past Saturday was -7 (that's the actual temperature, not wind chill and fahrenheit not celsius).
Today the highest temp I saw on my morning and afternoon commutes was 12.
Did the LEAF hold up?
- Cold weather range? Check.
- Cold weather comfort? Check.
- Driving on unplowed roads? Check.
- Handling post snowstorm crater-sized potholes?...As well as can be expected...
First the cold. I have to admit to having a bit of trepidation on leaving home the morning of the 17th for the 50 mile round trip commute. It was really cold. I did suit up in my skiing base layer, flying nun hat and heavy wool hiking socks. I was also fairly judicious with the cabin heater on the way in, only turning it on when my feet got a bit chilly or the windows started to fog up. My excessive clothing, seat and steering wheel heaters kept the rest of me quite comfortable.
I arrived at work with 46 miles of range left. That's 46 miles of climate controlled miles. With climate control off it registered 61 miles left. Note the shot of the Energy Usage screen below. That's showing 15 miles of range just for climate control. There were times during the commute that it was as high as 18 miles. Did I mention it was a bit chilly?
With a snow storm approaching I left the office a little early and had a pretty normal backroad commute home traffic wise. Given that I had all that range left I decided there was no need to skimp on climate control on the way home and so I left it on pretty much the whole time and arrived home with 16 miles of range (17 without climate control). Plenty of cushion.
What I forgot to do once I got home however was head out and fill up the gas can for the snow blower. I didn't remember that until late in the afternoon after my wife got home and the snow had really started to pick up (but the plows hadn't). I could have taken The Van but hey, what better opportunity to drive the LEAF on two or three inches of unplowed snow was I going to get? So off I went. To a gas station. In an electric car. Again.
And the LEAF performed great. We live pretty close to the top of a hill so I never worry about getting to anywhere in the snow it's getting back that's the problem. But back I made it without any hitches. It performed at least as well as The Van and way better than the Maxima ever could.
With that bit of winter excitement under my belt I figured I would drive it today, where the high temperature registered by the LEAF was a balmy 12, without worrying about range and climate control and kept it on the whole commute, both ways. And yet again, arrived home with a comfortable 16 miles of range left. And now that we have the 240V charger I didn't have to worry about getting back enough range before the evening child chauffeuring.
Bottom line? I think the LEAF can handle whatever a New England winter can throw at it.
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...
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