Edmunds squeezes 132 miles out of a Leaf on a single charge...

I drove more than 132 miles after the low fuel starts flashing on my Prius in real life stop and go traffic. Nobody gave me props. No magazine wrote about it. I didn't win any medals. To me it's an every tank thing.

A fully charged Leaf would last least 40 miles if you race at every stop light. Since you're a grandparent, I doubt you race everyone at every light. So this means with your driving style and habit, a fully charged Leaf would last at least 80 miles. 80 miles would cover your everyday errands. Now if you don't charge it after running down the battery, then it's your fault for have a dead Leaf on the side of the road with your grand kids. Would you take your Leaf out on a 200 mile trip knowing it has a 100 mile range? If you do, then you're an idiot. You can't blame the car for running out of juice when you know it wont last the duration of the trip. Besides, the Leaf is not meant to be the sole transportation for the family. If I had a leaf and a Prius, I'd drive the Leaf every day and leave the Prius at home for out of town trips. Common sense people, common sense.

 

I may be an idiot but I'm obviously older than you and wiser. Have you ever run out of gas? Even once in your life? C'mon now, be honest? What happened? Were you in a rush? Did you forget to stop at the gas station. Did an emergency pop up as they always do when the little yellow gas pump was on in your display? Did you chance it?
If you did, what was the outcome? You were able to get gas to your car one way or another? Yes you were. AAA shows up or you walk to a gas station and rely on good ole infrastructure for a gallon or two and you're back on your way.

Jump ahead to 2011:

You: "Honey I gotta go to work now, did you remember to charge the Leaf last night when you got home?"
Wife: "No I didn't sweetie, I though you were gonna do it when you put the dogs out."
You: "OK, I'll take the Prius"
Wife: " Like hell you will, I have two kids to take to soccer practice, get groceries and a dentist's appointment, all before 11 AM. Why don't you call your friend Ralph and get a ride with him in his Leaf"
(Phone rings, it's Ralph)
Ralph: "Hey Ceep, wassup! Hey, I'm in a real fix this morning. Went drinking last nite with Fred and Art and forgot to plug in the Leaf. I've only got 30 miles left on the charge and it's a 35 mile ride to work. Can you pick me up? My wife just left for work in the Hummer and I'm SOL.
You: "Well...Ummm..look I've got 36 miles showing. Wanna chance it? It's either that or get fired."
(30 minutes of frantic driving later, a totally discharged Leaf rolls to a stop two miles from work, right in front of a gas station. Ralph flips you off and walks the rest of the way to work.)
You: "I feel like such an IDIOT! What the hell was I thinking when I bought this piece of S***". Hey, is that Skibovia approaching in his Prius? I'll flag him down (frantic waving)
You: "Hey Skil, can I get a ride to work, Leaf's out of amps."
Skil: "Sure CEEP! Hop in. What happened."
You: "Don't even go there. Do you happen to have a long extension cord?"
Skil: "Sure, I'll bring it back after I drop you off and I'll ask the guys in the gas station if you can buy a few amps from one of their outlets. I'm sure they'll have quite a laugh over this. Got your credit card handy?

 

I'm certain that I could own a leaf and also certain that it would require far more planning than I'm used to making. I've run out of gas once in my life. I assume that even if I planned use of the Leaf this would happen more often. Its real-world general range on a full charge is 73 miles per EPA give or take a mile. nissan recommends 80% charges, so .8*73 is 58 miles. If I had a day planned to work and back and swing out somewhere for an errand at lunch I could burn through 50 miles of that, leaving things pretty damn close. If I got caught in heavy traffic (storm or accident) I could easily find myself spending the drive home with all climate control off hoping to heck I make it and still possibly not doing so. The leaf has two problems, one being it cannot be charged quickly for 99% of people who aren't at home and b its range actually sucks (let's stop pretending it doesn't--it may be good for an EV but without gas-backup 60 miles range is really not great--it's about how much the rest of us have when our tank is flashing the "low fuel" indicator. It's like being Kramer on Seinfeld running low on gas, except all the time).

I'd be the one driving it. My wife drives more and 100% of miles are short trips but the first time she was stuck at home for another two hours as it charged would be the last time she allowed me to leave it at home.

Even planned you have to eschew certain behaviors you take for granted now. E.g. drive 15 miles to the mall, oh it doesn't have what I want maybe I'll drive up to another one...well, I hope the car is fully charged because even if it is I'll be close to discomfort zone by the time I get home.

The Volt is comically expensive. There is zero practical EV infrastructure in the US, so until EV cars with good ranges are available at a non-staggering price they will continue more or less just to exist on forums where people talk about them instead of owning them. As evidenced by the obvious trend that the only EV buyers are pretty hard core interested in the technology right now, it will never be a mainstream vehicle at its current price point and/or range.

I would like to own one but its practical use certainly is a stretch for many and for me in many conditions.

 

Sorry I've never ran out of gas in my life. I always make sure I have 2 things when I leave my house, cash in my pocket and fuel in my tank. If you take care of your car, your car's gonna take care of you. Forgetting a charge your car is not an excuse. It's irresponsible. That said, I always remember to charge up my Prius every night. Sometimes when I wake up in the middle of the night for restroom breaks, I go out to the garage to check the charging status. If you can't add a simple 10 second routine to your daily life then you shouldn't get a vehicle that uses 100% domestically produced energy. Go back to gas where you feel safe.

 

This is a law, not a theory: Humans make mistakes.
Also, 100% domestically produced fuel generates 100% domestically produced waste. Good stuff like methane, coal ash and spent uranium fuel rods.
Be careful what you ask for....

 

Because oil refining is sooooo clean and then we get to burn it too!

 

How can you trust the review where they forgot the basic things like keeping the fuel filled up? They lost credibility right there to begin with.

If they want to pick on the Leaf, mention the CO2 from generating electricity.

 

i have laughed more before while reading threads, so this one is not the winner, but definitely a top 10!!

the company i work for has 3 levels of tech support for customers. the first two addresses 94% of the calls. both have IDENTICAL skill levels and training. reason is, that most people tend to not believe what the first tech tells them but will believe the 2nd one even if its the EXACT same thing.

problem on this site is that people look at it as a single source of information and that all posters are equal in their knowledge. utterly ridiculous premise, right?

ya, right

 

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This is a good anecdote, but the fact is that a Prius "out of gas" in fact has as much range as fully charged Leaf anyway. Consistently when the third gen says 0 miles it has 1-2 gallons left (that's what people around here have found, I've read of as high as 125 miles covered after the 0 mile left on range indicator). If you had arrived home and then had to have gone to the hospital right away you would have taken the "out of gas" Prius because your EV was still charging. You could also pull into a gas station and within about two minutes (literally) goingfrom stopped to driving again with one gallon of gas if you had to.

 

no, the real fact of the matter; some people will simply choose to make their conclusions based on self imposed biases that are valid to themselves

 

In fact I dare say we all do this.

And the fact remains that a "0 miles left" Prius when it first hits that does have 50-100 miles of real range left, about equal to a freshly charged Leaf, as I said. Unless the Leaf is charged per Nissan recommendations to 80%, in which case its range isn't even 60.

I would like to own a Leaf, but the idea that its range is nothing more than a mild hindrance and can be painlessly obviated by reasonable planning is just not doing justice to the very real and very serious limitations the car has. Heck, do you think people are buying Volts because of GM quality? No, especially when they are substantially more expensive than a Leaf and can't even seat five. It's because they feel its range will be a problem and the Volt eradicates that. Costs them more, but they will never find themselves at a 711 begging the guy behind the counter if they can plug in to the wall for an hour or two to make it home.

 

ok, so your position is take the Prius when it might run of out gas (we are not allowing your supposition that his wife is a female who is clueless and does not know her own car or how "empty" the car is)

or the RAV which we already knows will make it just fine.

there is no such thing as a perfect solution. we simply have to weigh our needs with what we have the ability to access. you have neither the Leaf or the RAV 4 EV to purchase so i guess you have made the right decision

P.S. i know more than a few that bought the Volt only because the Leaf was not available in their area

 

Are you projecting? Because I never said that, though for the record I did assume his wife is female.

Most people when they are "out of gas" mean that the light is on or they're at/near empty. And obviously she wasn't qualitatively out of gas, unless she pushed the car into the garage.

 

did you need a magnifying glass to split that hair? i guess you can go on killing people

Study blames 2,200 deaths on traffic emissions - USATODAY.com


LOL!!! how is that one for stretch??

 

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You "win". I'm putting a deposit on a Leaf this afternoon.

 

I have come to realize something. Prius drivers are like Mike Myer's dad from SNL.

If its not Prius its CRAP!

There is more eco infighting than there is trolls coming over from suburban speak.