We first had a Gen 1 (2011) Leaf for a year loved the light interior and limousine like handling but after a year I had a longer commute and the resistive heating killed the range in winter. So part ex for a Gen 2 (2014) 24kWh Acenta the ride was firmer but the heating hardly effects the range in comparison it also has 6.6kW charging which was another great improvement in the car’s usability.
It was joined by a 22kWh Zoe (2015) which was a nice car but the Zoe battery chemistry is more effected by temperatures than the Leaf giving it more range than the Leaf in summer but less than a winter Leaf. My wife was getting nervous but along came our Zoe Q90i (2017) which is presently our long range BEV (150 miles average range) and she has no worries. As a package the Zoe is a very capable car and surprisingly large/versatile but not as polished as the Leaf. The heater is a lot noisier on the outside of the car and under heavy heating you get a gentle vibration inside the car just like an ICE. As is well documented the Zoe can be fussy where it charges but I have only had a few instances. To get the best out of the Q90 charging the battery needs to be low and warm but it does have thermal management which operates at even very low temperatures so it does a very basic pre warm I guess.
Now the interesting long drive charging infrastructure well in the Leaf you are spoiled every service area has 1, 2 or 3 Chademo reliably working but AC is only marginally better than CCS for availability but more reliable than CCS but I am obviously talking Ecotricity. AC does have the down side of PHEV being plugged in on Rapids but obviously a slow safety net for CCS BEV charging. We have done several 300 miles trips with ease but like any shorter wheel base car’s it is marginally less comfortable but I am splitting hairs as we always arrived fresher than when in an ICE.
Our Leaf is about to be replaced with an E Niro and with a range of about 250 miles with 70kW charging it is going to be the next big leap forward. I did toy with the idea of the model 3 but we needed a hatchback for our dog.
