Ok. So doing some research I see that the batteries have a 300W warmer for temperatures around 0°F/-15°C and colder.
Canadian Leaf Word Press Insulating on a car is nothing new for me. I sprayed foam insulation all over the transmission on my Golf. But the question is what would be a good material to insulate a Leaf. Something that can be removed for the summer and yet doesn't soak up and hold a bunch of road salt against the bottom of the Leaf.
As far as charging at work I only told half the story. When I'm at the main part of work for 8 hours I CAN plug in. It's when I have short trips and have to leave the vehicle for around 3 hours at a place I can't plug in at that I was referring to, which I actually don't do every day. So during the brunt of winter I can keep it plugged in most of the time, even at work.
Compared to an ICE, an ICE can't run it's own block heater. So on those trips I come back and the engine is cold and hard to start. (At least on my 31 year old Golf diesel with about 500,000 miles on it.) Also any length of time that I park at a store or any other place, in 0°F/-15°C and colder weather it doesn't take long for an engine to lose all of its heat. And I've tried blankets and blocking off the radiator and such and still, the engine gets cold quick. I've even thought of throwing in a bunch of batteries and running block heater through an inverter (making it more like a Leaf.)
And like I've said, even with the block heater an ICE engine only heats up warm enough to start easy, not warm enough to warm the body. (Although the 1,500W heaters get it closer. But then I'm burning fuel AND using 1,500W at night.) In my Golf and several other small ICE vehicles that I've driven I've gotten the engine temps up to operating temperatures by idling (don't tell the cops!) But as I putt around town in 0°F/-15°C or colder, the gauge can and will slowly fall with the use of the heaters until cool air begins to flow! (That's around town. On any highway above 25mph the heaters keep up.) It seems the larger and more inefficient the vehicle is, the better it heats. There are vehicle I've driven with preheaters. Those DO put out the heat! But at $3,000, and me having the urge to get a nice looking vehicle, the Leaf seems like the most economical and practical (and fun) choice to begin with. At least if I keep telling myself that or must be true.