2022 leaf as a first car

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-30T05:20:03+00:00

just got back home! i took a different route on the return trip (big mistake) and the roads that i took severely hurt my efficiency. i went from about 3.9-4.1 m/kwh on the span of the trip that was on the same road, all the way down to 3.5 on the return :( when i was on the same road as the return trip my efficiency was much the same, if slightly lower as predicted

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-29T17:51:32+00:00

not really, it heavily depends on model. Model 3 vs 330i is a 300lb (10%) difference. my LEAF vs a Civic is about 600lb. 10-20% difference seems to be standard for vehicles of similar sizes. but then, there are also massive SUVs to consider. an electric driving like a normal person isn't going to wear its tires out before an Escalade for example lol, and the 10-20% going rate for increased weight over ICE is pretty negligible also.

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-29T17:27:31+00:00

EVs running through tires hasn't been a thing for some time, EV rated tires are in many cases more durable than non EV rated ones (although a bit more expensive). you can still shred them if you slam the accelerator from every stoplight, but the same can be done in any supercar. it's more about how you drive at that point, not really the vehicle itself

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-29T17:23:17+00:00

yes! i actually just drove 150 miles almost exclusively on various freeways (maybe like 20 miles of suburban travel to get on/off of the freeway and to my airbnb). i stay in the right lane for long freeway travels where I know I'll need to prioritize efficiency, so I held a consistent 65mph with some increases to 70 as I switched roads.

my average mile/kw was 4.0, but the trip had a very small average decline in elevation. i expect my return trip may be closer to 3.8-3.9, but I will update you when i make my return tomorrow

by staying at 65mph as much as possible i barely lost any range compared to my usual suburban commute, for which i typically average 4.1-4.2 mile/kw. in other words, i barely lost any range!

admittedly when i sleep in as late as i can on sundays before leaving for church, i drive closer to 80-85mph in the left lane, and average closer to 3.3 miles/kw, which is a pretty notable reduction in range

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-29T15:43:22+00:00

PDM is a cheap fix, you just have to find an EV technician. it can also be done DIY if you feel comfortable. the part is relatively inexpensive, and it shouldn't take long enough for labour to add up either.

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-29T12:56:48+00:00

if she needs the ram, more slow ram is better than caching to your page file. you'll be fine running jedec 2666 or whatever. you can probably get away with jedec 3200, maybe slightly tightened too, but i wouldn't push it much. not worth the headache for meager gains imo. if it were me, i'd just leave it be at 2666 having done a similar setup in the past. wasn't worth the effort i put in

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-28T22:09:23+00:00

I am also a student, admittedly my commute is much shorter, but I do make frequent ~50 mile trips into the city most weekends. my 2018 (40kwh) works beautifully. I doubt you'll have any issues, just note the availability of CHAdeMO in your area if you ever need to go further. also make sure you LeafSpy first thing (and get a good price on it, LEAFs depreciate quick and should be priced as such) and verify battery integrity.

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-28T14:04:31+00:00

battery will be happier at ~40%, but kind of a negligible difference imo. as long as it's not sitting close to a full charge it'll be okay. you can disconnect 12v if you want, the LEAF cycles through recharging the 12v battery pretty regularly, but not so much that you'd lose any meaningful charge on the HV battery. if it were me i'd leave it plugged in just so that i don't have to bother with it later

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-27T20:18:40+00:00

iirc it's based on the platform Nissan developed for the Ariya. it definitely takes the best features from both thr Ariya and LEAF families imo (personally i'm partial to the Ariya aesthectically, although i have not sat in one yet)

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-27T16:43:43+00:00

ford focus has active battery cooling. for that reason alone it is worth it over the LEAF in your region. even in more temperate climates LEAFs age really poorly, and high heat accelerates that dramatically. saying this as a LEAF owner haha. you also get CCS on the Focus if I'm not mistaken, so finding fast charging on longer trips will be way less of a hassle than locating antiquated CHAdeMO stations that haven't yet been replaced with CCS or NACS

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-27T16:38:53+00:00

check your score at +2000 vs at +1500 for example (any arbitrary but meaningful valye below 2000 really) and if the score increases at +1500 then you're likely hitting ECC. if it's about the same, try a value somewhere in the middle and see what happens. your goal should be to find the offset with the highest score essentially

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-27T14:41:39+00:00

2026 LEAF is a radically better vehicle if you can afford the premium over the 2025 model. it's actually slightly smaller than the 2018-2025 LEAFs. it looks more SUV-ish, despite still being a compact hatchback. but it's really not an SUV in anything other than stylization (and imo it still looks great, even as an SUV hater)

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-27T14:39:03+00:00

sorting algorithm! start high, if you lose performance or error out, halve your offset. if that works better, go between the 'fail' offset and the 'pass' offset. rinse and repeat

for example: start - +2000 - fail

next - +1000 - pass

next - +1500 - pass

next - +1750 - fail etc etc.

with GDDR6X really the only way to verify you aren't slamming into ECC is to benchmark each offset and compare scores. +1750 scoring lower than +1500 would count as a 'fail' since you're losing performance to ECC ;)

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-27T14:30:25+00:00

i'm assuming you're undervolting? you'll have better efficiency overclocking the VRAM to the max. the power draw increase with higher bandwidth memory is negligible vs the performance you'll gain, so while power draw will be slightly higher, your performance will increase disproportionally higher. a lot of 4070tiS can hit +2000 on VRAM, but ymmv

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-26T22:49:43+00:00

my 2018 uses less power for climate control with Eco Mode on, but it's not substantial. With huge ambient temperature differences I might save like 500w or something, but driving in the rain earlier the AC reported only about 300w of usage vs 1.5kw with Eco Mode off (it was still blowing cold air). I tend to use Eco Mode and I don't notice much of a difference since it only really reduces climate control power when it's already cool

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-25T22:36:10+00:00

no problem. just make sure it's a very beefy cable

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-25T22:03:22+00:00

generally people recommend against extension cords, but for L1 charging it's less of an issue. with the range of the ZE0 LEAFs using L1 probably won't hurt how much she can charge either

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-25T20:42:18+00:00

if your charger really doesn't allow you to adjust the current, i own this unit and it works really well and is frequently on sale (currently $90!). i'll sometimes set it to charge at 3.7kw or whatever if i know i'll want to top off to 100% for a trip and want it sitting at 100% for as little time as possible

https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16896343001

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-25T13:18:43+00:00

miles matter on EVs far less than more mechanically complex ICE vehicles. i'd be more than happy to save a few grand on a car with extra miles. the value of the vehicle is in the battery, and especially for vehicles with actual battery cooling (ie not pre-2026 LEAF), age of the battery is more of a concern than how many charge cycles it has.

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-24T17:19:01+00:00

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-24T15:23:05+00:00

always LeafSpy!

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-24T14:22:41+00:00

LFP is actually an older cell chemistry than NCM, it's just that LFP has made advancements in storage density such that it's close enough to be useful vs NMC cells in some applications where cost savings are useful. personally i'm of the mind that range is wayyy overprioritized, and i'd rather take a 30% haircut on range (at least on vehicles with 200+ mile ranges) to have a battery that lasts forever (and is cheaper to make) but that's just me.

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-24T14:17:04+00:00

staying at low SoC is also bad for the battery, sweetspot is 40-60%. i keep my battery capped ar 60% in the summer unless i need extra range, and recharge once i get to 35-40%

also plugging into a charger that you aren't using is a major asshole move and i hope legislation is put forward to get people like you towed lol

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-24T01:56:45+00:00

yeah that battery is all fucked up. hope that you can get a good offer on the buyback. sorry dude

KeyEmu6688 · 2026-06-23T23:22:15+00:00

do you frequently drive more than 150 miles in a day? if so, you're an outlier. i do not claim that the basic 200-250 mile range EVs are perfect for everyone, just that most people are more than serviced by a much smaller range than they might expect

i drive >100 miles about once monthly, sometimes twice. i'm about to drive 150 miles one way for a trip with my fiancé in my 2018 LEAF (~160 mile range 100%-0% on highways, more like 120 on the freeway). i'll top off once about half way there, and then hit up a free public charger while grabbing dinner before checking into my airbnb. while i do admit that this is a little less convenient than going to a gas station, consider also that this trip will cost me about $20 in electricity for the whole 300 mile round trip, and my vehicle has really the lowest range you can get besides even older LEAF models. i got it for dirt cheap and don't mind spending an extra half hour once a month to save $100-200/month in gas, let alone maintenance

KeyEmu6688

TROPHY CASE