I’m in cold Ohio. I hear cold affects performance. You in cold California or warm California?
I’m in temperate NC, North Carolina. We get winter weather but it’s infrequent enough not to be a chore, just an unplanned snow day holiday a few times each winter, everything shuts down.
Cold does affect efficiency. Running the climate control for heat or A/C reduces electric-only range. That’s why the plug-in C-Max was interesting, it can be warmed or cooled while still plugged in. That’s going to add to the cost on the electric bill, but at about a third of the cost of doing so with a gasoline engine even at today’s gas prices.
Yes it does. The Leaf has a seat heater and steering wheel heater that runs on a secondary battery so you can feel somewhat comfortable without running the heat in the car and getting your range.
I try not to use the heater in the winter. You can also run it in “ECO mode” which helps your range too.