2018 Leaf as a Toad

John & Angela wrote:

Your operating costs (gas and maintenance) will be about a fifth of what they are for a gasser

Also do the math for your utility cost. Electricity in the Portland Metro area is about 6.5 cents pwe kw/hr making EVs very attractive. But parts of Puget Sound are double that. We did the comparison when my brother was shopping, and an electric Focus only would have saved $0.05 per day compared to the 1.0 EcoBoost Focus, and that didn't even factor in extra use of the heater in the winter!

I just took my Hyundai Elantra in for the 48,000 kilometer service (30,000 miles). It cost $700.00. Factor that in and an electric vehicle looks wonderful.

The Province I live in has only one Leaf dealership, and registrations for electric vehicles are a measly 53 for 2017. Talk about backwards looking.

carringb wrote:

John & Angela wrote:

Your operating costs (gas and maintenance) will be about a fifth of what they are for a gasser

Also do the math for your utility cost. Electricity in the Portland Metro area is about 6.5 cents pwe kw/hr making EVs very attractive. But parts of Puget Sound are double that. We did the comparison when my brother was shopping, and an electric Focus only would have saved $0.05 per day compared to the 1.0 EcoBoost Focus, and that didn't even factor in extra use of the heater in the winter!

pianotuna wrote:
I just took my Hyundai Elantra in for the 48,000 kilometer service (30,000 miles). It cost $700.00. Factor that in and an electric vehicle looks wonderful.

That's more of a vehicle-specific expense, rather than because it's gas powered. The 30,000 mile service in the EcoBoost 1.0 is only $60. It's really just a regular oil change (indicator usually goes 12,000+ miles each interval), plus air and cabin-air filter changes. First major service is 100,000, and the 3 spark plugs are very accessible.

EVs still have cabin air filter service requirements, and most still have en "engine" air filter for the BMS. And BMS coolant has service requirements as well. Pretty trivial expenses IMO but they certainly are not "zero maintenance" vehicles.

carringb wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
I just took my Hyundai Elantra in for the 48,000 kilometer service (30,000 miles). It cost $700.00. Factor that in and an electric vehicle looks wonderful.

That's more of a vehicle-specific expense, rather than because it's gas powered. The 30,000 mile service in the EcoBoost 1.0 is only $60. It's really just a regular oil change (indicator usually goes 12,000+ miles each interval), plus air and cabin-air filter changes. First major service is 100,000, and the 3 spark plugs are very accessible.

EVs still have cabin air filter service requirements, and most still have en "engine" air filter for the BMS. And BMS coolant has service requirements as well. Pretty trivial expenses IMO but they certainly are not "zero maintenance" vehicles.

That is true. But we find our operating expenses are about a fifth of the cost of our old Jeep Grand Cherokee. Mostly because of fuel costs and oil changes. You will get varying returns depending on your power rate and gas prices etc. They are obviously not right for everybody but work well for us. That ecoboost sounds pretty good though.

I guess everyone's camping style is different so your toad choice would be different also. When I bought the MH 15 years ago I thought the Toyota Prius would make a good tow car because of the battery power it had for dry camping. When I found it could not be flat towed I got a 2002 Toyota Corolla 5 speed manual instead. I tend to camp in a NP or NFS CG and explore in a 300 mile radius around the area. I usually put more miles on the tow car than I put on the MH. So a Leaf with a 100 distance would not work for me. Also if you look at weight the Corolla is about 900 lbs lighter which is significant. I have 150k miles on it and another 90 k towing. Replaced spark plugs, fluids, brakes, tires and struts normal maintenance. If you don't mind towing with a dolly, drive less than 100 miles to explore around the area and stay at GC with electric each night the Leaf may work for you because when your not camping it could be your daily driver. Hoping one day they will come up with a practical EV that I can camp with.

Gjac wrote:
I guess everyone's camping style is different so your toad choice would be different also. When I bought the MH 15 years ago I thought the Toyota Prius would make a good tow car because of the battery power it had for dry camping. When I found it could not be flat towed I got a 2002 Toyota Corolla 5 speed manual instead. I tend to camp in a NP or NFS CG and explore in a 300 mile radius around the area. I usually put more miles on the tow car than I put on the MH. So a Leaf with a 100 distance would not work for me. Also if you look at weight the Corolla is about 900 lbs lighter which is significant. I have 150k miles on it and another 90 k towing. Replaced spark plugs, fluids, brakes, tires and struts normal maintenance. If you don't mind towing with a dolly, drive less than 100 miles to explore around the area and stay at GC with electric each night the Leaf may work for you because when your not camping it could be your daily driver. Hoping one day they will come up with a practical EV that I can camp with.

Good morning GJAC. Just a heads up, the new LEaf has a 150 mile range for this year. (2018) But I hear ya. With that kind of a travelling radius from your base camp you are better with a gasser, Our Grand cherokee served us well for that. We had a little diesel smart car that worked as well but for the back country our Grand Cherokee was great. We don't travel that far from the coach as we leave our chihuahua in the coach during the day so electric actually works quite well for us. The bolt has a range of about 220 miles and could be dollied as well. The Tesla model 3 is rear wheel (or all wheel depending on configuration) so that won't work on a dolly. Later in 2018 the Leaf will have a 220 mile range version and will be dollyable.

Happy trails.

John & Angela wrote:

Gjac wrote:
I guess everyone's camping style is different so your toad choice would be different also. When I bought the MH 15 years ago I thought the Toyota Prius would make a good tow car because of the battery power it had for dry camping. When I found it could not be flat towed I got a 2002 Toyota Corolla 5 speed manual instead. I tend to camp in a NP or NFS CG and explore in a 300 mile radius around the area. I usually put more miles on the tow car than I put on the MH. So a Leaf with a 100 distance would not work for me. Also if you look at weight the Corolla is about 900 lbs lighter which is significant. I have 150k miles on it and another 90 k towing. Replaced spark plugs, fluids, brakes, tires and struts normal maintenance. If you don't mind towing with a dolly, drive less than 100 miles to explore around the area and stay at GC with electric each night the Leaf may work for you because when your not camping it could be your daily driver. Hoping one day they will come up with a practical EV that I can camp with.

Good morning GJAC. Just a heads up, the new LEaf has a 150 mile range for this year. (2018) But I hear ya. With that kind of a travelling radius from your base camp you are better with a gasser, Our Grand cherokee served us well for that. We had a little diesel smart car that worked as well but for the back country our Grand Cherokee was great. We don't travel that far from the coach as we leave our chihuahua in the coach during the day so electric actually works quite well for us. The bolt has a range of about 220 miles and could be dollied as well. The Tesla model 3 is rear wheel (or all wheel depending on configuration) so that won't work on a dolly. Later in 2018 the Leaf will have a 220 mile range version and will be dollyable.

Happy trails.

. John, do you know what limits these from being flat towed? I’m surprised Remco or somebody hasn’t figured away around the limitations.

Gjac wrote:

John & Angela wrote:

Gjac wrote:
I guess everyone's camping style is different so your toad choice would be different also. When I bought the MH 15 years ago I thought the Toyota Prius would make a good tow car because of the battery power it had for dry camping. When I found it could not be flat towed I got a 2002 Toyota Corolla 5 speed manual instead. I tend to camp in a NP or NFS CG and explore in a 300 mile radius around the area. I usually put more miles on the tow car than I put on the MH. So a Leaf with a 100 distance would not work for me. Also if you look at weight the Corolla is about 900 lbs lighter which is significant. I have 150k miles on it and another 90 k towing. Replaced spark plugs, fluids, brakes, tires and struts normal maintenance. If you don't mind towing with a dolly, drive less than 100 miles to explore around the area and stay at GC with electric each night the Leaf may work for you because when your not camping it could be your daily driver. Hoping one day they will come up with a practical EV that I can camp with.

Good morning GJAC. Just a heads up, the new LEaf has a 150 mile range for this year. (2018) But I hear ya. With that kind of a travelling radius from your base camp you are better with a gasser, Our Grand cherokee served us well for that. We had a little diesel smart car that worked as well but for the back country our Grand Cherokee was great. We don't travel that far from the coach as we leave our chihuahua in the coach during the day so electric actually works quite well for us. The bolt has a range of about 220 miles and could be dollied as well. The Tesla model 3 is rear wheel (or all wheel depending on configuration) so that won't work on a dolly. Later in 2018 the Leaf will have a 220 mile range version and will be dollyable.

Happy trails.

. John, do you know what limits these from being flat towed? I’m surprised Remco or somebody hasn’t figured away around the limitations.

I don’t know the technical reasons. I keep hearing that it is because of the regeneration and how it is difficult to disable. Frankly this is above my pay grade but I’ll add this. When either of our EV’s is above of 90 percent of charge (maybe a little higher) the regeneration is disabled anyway so there must be a mechanism that disables it. What we need is some rich dude to take an old 2011 Leaf and tow it four down for a couple hundred miles and see what blows up.

The other thing is, both have a neutral position on the selector. (There is no transmisión so can’t call it that). I wonder if it can just be selected to neutral and towed with the car turned on. You wouldn’t get any regen but you could tow it four down.

Just sayin. :)

Any takers? :)

John.

I haven't heard much discussion about hybrids as a toad but they seem to be a better option if you are going to use a dolly anyways. Has anyone bought or look at a Kia Niro plug in hybrid?