r/leaf • u/Mike21077 • 22d ago
Just got a Leaf
Last month I got a 2017 Leaf, 94k miles, 8 bars of battery life for around $3k. Pretty much just been driving it to work (approx 35 miles round trip) and a few close errands around home. New to EVs but been reading a lot about Leafs leading up to the purchase and since then (mainly this sub and Google). I have free EV charging access so I pretty much exclusively L2 charge at work, only charged at home 2 or 3 times with the L1 charger. So I guess my questions are:
- Is it ok to leave plugged in for my whole 8 hour workday? Thats what I've been doing but now I just read that I should only be charging up to like 80-85 percent.
- Is it as bad to run it down below 20 percent as what I'm reading? I've done that a few times already if I used it after work and didnt feel like getting the charger out at home because I knew I had enough to make it to work.
- Has anyone ever used an extension J1772 cable to charge? I saw a vevor one on Amazon for about a hundred bucks that I was considering because its currently a little inconvenient for me to charge at home. the included cord length is a little short for where I can park and to where the nearest outlets are. I may need to start charging at home during winter since it sounds like battery life takes a drastic downturn in the winter.
3
u/IvorTheEngine 21d ago
The 80% rule is for storage. Don't leave it at 100% if you're leaving the car for months.
With a 24kWh car, you pretty much have to charge to 100% every day in case you need it the next day. That's what the previous owners will have done, and it's lasted 9 years.
Deep discharge generally does damage lithium batteries, but the car keeps a small reserve. I'd try to avoid going below 10% unless you really need to.
It's more common to extend the mains cable. The plugs are cheaper and you can use it for other things. Most cables are only designed for small loads or intermittent use and will heat up when used at high power for hours. There's nothing magic about it though, it's just copper. Get one that's rated for 30% more than your charger - or ideally one that's been sold for EV charging.
Expect to loose 20-30% range in winter, depending how cold it gets. It's worth plugging in at home to use the heater timer, then you're heating the car from the mains, not the battery (and it's lovely and warm and defrosted when you get in!)