2012 vs 2011 kw differences?

[JCBNJB]

I had a 2011 for about 18 months and in general averaged 4.3 kWh -- I traded it and got a 2012, and now after about 6 months with it, I am averaging about 3.7 kWh. I checked the tires and inflated them to the higher end, and I am still at about 3.7 or 3.8. I am generally driving about the same as I was with the 2011 -- home, to work, home and maybe an errand or 2.

Has anyone else noticed a difference in the kWh in a 2012 vs the 2011?

I am wondering whether there is something different in the car, or whether it's me - maybe I am driving a little more aggressively now that I know what the real world range is, and that there are so many charging stations around??

Thanks for any insight!

 

[TonyWilliams]

I owned both a 2011-SL (25,000 miles) and a 2012-SL (11,000 miles). I did not notice any difference.

 

[planet4ever]

I had a 2011 for about 18 months and in general averaged 4.3 kWh -- I traded it and got a 2012, and now after about 6 months with it, I am averaging about 3.7 kWh. I checked the tires and inflated them to the higher end, and I am still at about 3.7 or 3.8. I am generally driving about the same as I was with the 2011 -- home, to work, home and maybe an errand or 2.

Has anyone else noticed a difference in the kWh in a 2012 vs the 2011? I am wondering whether there is something different in the car, or whether it's me - maybe I am driving a little more aggressively now that I know what the real world range is, and that there are so many charging stations around??

It's not the car, it's you -- and the weather. You are apparently comparing two summers and one winter with the 2011 against one winter alone with the 2012. Most of us get significantly lower m/kWh readings in the winter than in the summer, even people like you and me who live in mild climates.

• San Diego, like most of California, gets virtually all of its rain during the winter half of the year. Rainy weather reduces efficiency due to more resistance at the road surface, higher winds, increased drag at freeway speeds, and perhaps poorer traction.
• We sun-lovers are very thin skinned, and think 40°F or even 50°F is cold! Turning on the heater knocks your efficiency for a loop.
• There is a theory going around right now that part of it is just instrumentation. Colder batteries can't hold as much electricity, and the computers involved may end up concluding more kWh are being used than actually are. That would artificially lower m/kWh.

Ray

 

[Stanton]

While Ray's post pointed out most of the practical reasons, I wonder: how/in what condition did you buy the 2012? Was it new? used? did it sit on the dealer's lot? when (during the summer) and for how long?
One of the reasons I liked (buying) one of the initial Leaf's is I knew they were getting to their (new) owners about as quickly as they could (the whole Long Beach issue not withstanding--and I'm really glad mine didn't go through that prolonged fiasco sitting at the dock).

 

[kovalb]

What were the time periods each car was driven in. It sounds like the 2011 was either in the summer or year 'round. The 2012 was driven in the winter. I usually get about 4.5miles/kWh in the summer and 3.5miles/kWh in the winter.

 

[JCBNJB]

All excellent theories, and you are correct... I got the 2011 in May 2011 and drove it through November 2012 = 2 summers and 1 winter. I got the 2012 in Nov 2012 = 1 winter.

Both cars were new and neither car sat around very long on a dealer lot. The May 2011 car was on the "post-tsunami-stuck-in-the-port ship," so sat there for a few weeks; the 2012 was shipped from LA and I picked it up at the dealer within a day or so.

I don't run the heat very often - maybe once a week or so, and even at that, probably for 5 minutes. I do use the heated seats and steering wheel more often, but I assume those aren't the same kind of energy pull as running the heater.

It makes sense that maybe this is a difference because of the cold weather and that is impacting the overall m/kwh for some of the reasons you all have mentioned in your replies. I will keep checking now each month as it starts to get a little warmer and maintain my same driving habits and see if the 2012 gets a little better.

Thanks, as always, for the collective wisdom!

 

[edatoakrun]

="JCBNJB" I had a 2011 for about 18 months and in general averaged 4.3 kWh...

You might find the Xpost below interesting, to see the results I have seen for my LEAF, about the same age as your first LEAF.

Update:

Below are my CW monthly averages since delivery, from the “Regional Rankings” page.

While the month–to-month variations are largely explicable by variations in my driving patterns, the overall energy efficiency increase reported over time is not.

As you can see, my average increase in reported efficiency is probably pretty close to 20% year-over-year. In fact, while I drive to the same destinations as I did in 2011, I have altered my driving patterns significantly, but I’m sure all of you realize what it would take to produce an efficiency increase of this magnitude, which IMO, is far greater than can be explained by the changes in my driving patterns.

I believe this further reinforces my range test results, indicating a significant error in my LEAFs m/kWh reports, under-reporting my LEAF’s energy use by up to 10% over the Summer of 2012 as compared to my LEAFs energy use reports over the Summer of 2011, as reported at:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=9064" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In other words, I think it most likely that up to half of the efficiency increase reported below is actually due to MY LEAF's inaccurate reports of the actual Wh content of each kWh in every report, with the actual Wh content of each "kWh" increasing over time.

I believe this kWh report error is what Nissan has disingenuously referred to as “gauge error”.

Month and Year Grade Rank Energy Economy

*Jun/2011 Gold 695 5.7 miles/kWh
*Jul/2011 Gold 1651 5.3 miles/kWh

*May, June and July 2011 are not comparable, since these are from before I had the CW update done, at the beginning of August, after which all CW m/kWh reports have precisely matched my dash m/kWh reports, over the same interval.

Aug/2011 Bronze 3622 4.2 miles/kWh
Sep/2011 Silver 3457 4.5 miles/kWh
Oct/2011 Silver 3640 4.2 miles/kWh
Nov/2011 Gold 2792 4.2 miles/kWh
Dec/2011 Gold 2827 4.0 miles/kWh
Jan/2012 Gold 2547 4.2 miles/kWh
Feb/2012 Gold 2354 4.4 miles/kWh
Mar/2012 Gold 2975 4.3 miles/kWh
Apr/2012 Gold 3018 4.5 miles/kWh
May/2012 Gold 1978 5.1 miles/kWh


MY LEAFs TCU failed in early August 2012, before I copied June and July results, which Nissan later sent to my in an excel file:

June 2012 5.0 m/kWh
July 2012 5.0 m/kWh

And since then, CW reports have resumed, giving the following results:

Aug/2012 Platinum 1237 5.7 miles/kWh
Sep/2012 Platinum 1527 5.5 miles/kWh
Oct/2012 Platinum 1368 5.3 miles/kWh
Nov/2012 Platinum 1996 4.7 miles/kWh
Dec/2012 Platinum 1314 4.8 miles/kWh
Jan/2013 Platinum 1240 4.8 miles/kWh
Feb/2013 Platinum 875 5.2 miles/kWh
Mar/2013 Platinum 893 5.5 miles/kWh (will edit later with the full month data)

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=3207&p=277527#p277527" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;