If the road and traffic allows it, you could drive a little slower to reduce the battery load to bring the temp down a little.

I concur with the last two posts, our Gen1 24KW (80% SoH) went Tuakau to Whangerei and back again the week before Christmas with 4 QC's and never touched the Red. We started with 100% charge and QC'd to 60% at the first stop, took a half hour dinner break at the second, and back to 80% for each of the others...

Trick is to drive with less than 3 'Dots' use as far as possible (NOT just slow down to 80kms, but watch the Dots/bars as best possible) as this puts less stress on the battery. Also took a 'leaf' out of Steve's book (@linuxlover) and charged an extra stop so's to charge less at each stop....

I see Cockram Nissan in Christchurch now offering LEAFs 

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Welcome to the largest Nissan dealership in the South Island, with a range of new, demo and used Nissans, plus a quality range of used cars from other franchises

As these are actually used imports from Japan I wonder what other support Nissan NZ will offer for other imported Nissans and are they maybe looking to sell the New 40Kw some time soon at other Nissan dealerships ?

wellygary:

 

afe66: I wonder if Nissan will still call the 60kW version with bigger engine v2?

 

Can't think why not, the 60Kwh will simply be an option you will be able to choose...

 

leaflearner:

 

For a rookie planning an out-of-town North Island road trip, is anyone here able to advise, please, which of electrolease.nz or PlugShare is the best help in finding your way to fast-charging stations not previously visited? Both would appear to offer supplementary help to what's on ChargeNet. I'd also like to know how often I'm likely to find a fast charger broken, in prolonged use or, maybe worst of all, its space occupied or blocked by a parked ICE vehicle. I hope my enquiry won't produce a spate of "horror stories" ! 

 

Plugshare +1 

Everything is on it very soon after it goes live - either put there by the operator of the charger or an EV driver. I've added and edited more than a few sites myself. 

dirtbag:

 

Hi all, just looking for a bit of feedback.

 

We have finally taken delivery of a 30kwh Leaf a couple of weeks back and my wife is looking to use it on Friday for a trip from Auckland to Taupo and back.  Given that the battery temperature increases with every rapid charge and we are in the summer months how may rapid charges can the battery sustain i.e. Drive-charge-Drive-charge before the temperature increases to a point where charging or driving of the vehicle becomes limited and we have to stop to let it cool?

 

Each charge of 50% (so....30% to 80%) will add about 8C to the battery. Longer charges add more heat. 

If you're starting at 27C (likely right now), then you'll probably go up a couple to 29C or 30C just driving at 100kph for an hour. 

I can get from Greenlane to Cambridge (via 1B) and arrive on about 10% to 15%. I go to Cambridge because it's closer to both Tauranga and Rotorua than Hamilton is. You can go a little slower on the 1B usually....just to widen the margin and reduce the heat gain. If a hoon in a big ute (the new "BMW" - driven by an idiot -  these days)  wants to tailgate.....just pull over let them annoy someone else. 

Note: Tailgaters tend to clump up behind people who want to do the speed limit and don't see any reason to get out of the way. If you let the clump pass, the slower driver is still ahead of you moderating everyone else....and you now have open road. If traffic is heavier this doesn't work as well, but it works often enough I do it a lot. Then, forst time you hit any kind of intersection the guy who passed you and got 2km ahead (barely gained a minute).....may well be at the intersection just in front you waiting his turn to turn. Do it often enough and realise how dumb that sort of driving is: burning extra fuel and risking passing.....and not gaining anything at all most of the time. EVs have been a REAL eye-opener there. Most speeding is about hormones.....as there is little actual practical value in it and must wasted fuel and concentration. 

Anyway.... 

You'd want to charge to 90% in Cambridge, so the battery will be in the low 40s. 

It takes about 67% to get to Rotorua from Cambridge. You can top up to 85% in Rotorua and easily get to Taupo, but the battery will be then in the high 40s.....

Cambridge to Taupo is significantly uphill. That reduces the range....same as in a petrol car, but the LEAF has a smaller "tank". You *could* try Cambridge to Taupo direct, but if you do it at 100kph (and Cambridge only lets you charge to 95% max), you may not make it or it could be so close your wife won't drive the car again. I did it on a cold windy wet day and arrived on 2%......about 400watts (3km?) from turtle mode (I use LeafSpy to see what's going on). Rotorua adds time and one more charge.....but arrival is certain and easy. 

Going the other way, Taupo to Cambridge is absolutely do-able in a 30kw as it's downhill. I arrived on 20% after doing 100kph most of the way. 

If you were going to go beyond Taupo, then the battery will be pretty hot after a fast charge in Taupo...and you'd have to seriously look at a cooling break or a quiet road to go much slower on. 

The winter is different. I have done Auckland to Wellington and got hot...but not too hot. In the summer at 30C ambient.....nah.....ain't happening. 

Linuxluver:

 

Each charge of 50% (so....30% to 80%) will add about 8C to the battery. Longer charges add more heat.

 

This is actually yet another advantage of 60kWh (or more) - you don't need to stop to charge so often, or if you do stop as often you are adding a lesser percentage of charge each time.  In fact, some newer battery chemistries that they are working on will end up with less heating per percent as well as better thermal management.

With my 24kWh Leaf, I'm not seeing any heat issues on a daily basis.  My commute is only 70km for the round trip and I, therefore, don't need to fast charge at all.  Even with the 28deg days, my battery temp is showing near the middle of the temperature range, well below the red.  Since many people buy the 24kWh Leaf for commuting rather than for long trips I think that most owners will not have to worry about the battery temperature most of the time.  Future cars with bigger battery capacities will have less to worry about too.

Currently, if I wanted to do a long trip in my Leaf, I think I would want to have plenty of time and be free to relax while my battery cools.  I've read too many accounts of batteries degrading super fast due to heat problems.

Linuxluver:

 

If you were going to go beyond Taupo, then the battery will be pretty hot after a fast charge in Taupo...and you'd have to seriously look at a cooling break or a quiet road to go much slower on. 

The winter is different. I have done Auckland to Wellington and got hot...but not too hot. In the summer at 30C ambient.....nah.....ain't happening. 

I've now seen several Leaf owners reporting in forums that their batteries are getting really hot after long drives and several fast charges. I realise the weather is unusually hot at the moment, but I wonder whether Leaf owners should even be attempting long drives on hot days, such as Auckland to Wellington, in 1 day?

And what happens to your Leaf if you keep driving once the battery gets into the red? Does it automatically slow down or even shut down completely?

Also, does the use of air conditioning have much effect on the temperature of the Leaf's battery?

Would the BMW i3, which has a battery cooling system, be able to handle long distances and several fast charges much better than the Leaf? In other words, is the i3's cooling system really effective on 30-degree days?

Here's another new model 40kWh Nissan Leaf for sale for $65,990. The advertisement mentions that this Leaf has a:

- 40KwH battery - up to 378km driving range compared to 150km on 24kWh predecessor

Wow, 378km, how would you have to drive the car to get that many kilometres out of it? I thought that around 250km would be a better expectation?

Anyway, the price is pretty steep, but no doubt it's worth it to an EV enthusiast?

Looks nice in red 40KW LEAF 

agree, a stated 378km range in real world is probably closer to 250-275km when you only charge to 80% coupled with the topography of new Zealand.

I wouldn't drive much more than 200-250km in a single stretch before taking a break in my ICE car.

Its going to be a great year for pure electric cars, you can really feel the momentum has stepped up gear, with lots of manufactures coming out with new and updated models. 

Imagine these 2018 cars will come down in price quite quickly, as you can get 2016 Gen2 Leaf with 10,000km for $25k 

numberonekiwi:

 

Looks nice in red 40KW LEAF 

 

At NZ$50 Grand it should be.  Just have to win Lotto. 

langi27:
Its going to be a great year for pure electric cars, you can really feel the momentum has stepped up gear