Comment Re:Nissan Leaf (Score 1) 466
The problem I have with the Leaf is that my 25 mile commute would be way too much for it in the winter where I often get stuck in 2 hour traffic jams at temps from 32 to 0F, if my employer had a charge station it might be enough to risk it but draining 70+% of the battery just for locomotion during ideal temp days doesn't leave enough safety margin for cold weather performance plus heater usage.
The electric charge in a battery does not magically just vanishes with the cold. The power still is there and it will come back as the batteries heat up from ussage. Batteries release of power is a chemical reaction, and chemical reactions happen much slower when cold. So as you initially start using the batterie the electronics will give you a false reding of how much power there is left in the batteries, but as the batteries warm up from ussage you will see that all the capacity still is there.