2014 Leaf range display INCREASING unusually

[sdmike1]

Hi folks

I see lots of posts about range decreasing prematurely, but our '14 leaf with only 3,500 miles on it just started doing something really strange today. Normally the range display shows about 83 - 85 miles after a full charge, and decreases accordingly while driving. Today something strange happened. It showed 76 miles after a full charge, and after driving 12 miles, it showed a range of 74. An hour later, after returning to the car from the gym, it read 83 miles of range! Well, I suspect that there wasn't some charging fairy coming by and plugging me in, so what's going on? Driving home the range display dropped down to 76, but that was another 12 miles of driving. I'm afraid that the range display is showing way too high for some reason (still showing 76 after driving 25 miles), and it's never done this before.

Is this something the forum members have seen before? Is there a "hard reset" for the car that makes sense? Is this sign of an issue?

Thanks in advance

UPDATE: Charged the car for 90 minutes and the range reading went up to 97. I've never seen it read this high. I then drove 5 miles to drop someone off and it dropped to 86, which still seems high. Maybe the range computer has just gone insane, but if I can't trust the reading it's going to be tough to drive this car further than 30 miles or so without wondering about the range.

 

[Stoaty]

We call the range display (Distance to Empty) the Guess-o-meter. Most of us ignore it. If you want to find out how much energy is left and a whole lot of other cool info, get Leaf Spy (link in my signature, but I don't have any stake in it).

 

[smkettner]

I think this issue was covered by the second or third post after we started getting our cars in 2011.
Normal and nothing new with this poorly designed indicator.
Actually by your description the GOM has gotten better. Used to fluctuate between at least 85 and 120 in the old days.

 

[sdmike1]

Appreciate the response guys. What concerns me is that for the last few months it was pretty darned accurate, and today it's gone all haywire. If it had been untrustworthy since we got it I'd probably just shrug it off, but the fact that this is new caused my concern.

 

[kubel]

The guess-o-meter tries to predict your remaining range based on your previous driving efficiency combined with your current driving efficiency. If you are seeing radically changing numbers every morning, it could mean your driving style or speed or route has changed over the days.

When I loaned my car to my mom (who had a severe case of range anxiety), the next morning I started it up on a full charge and the guess-o-meter was showing 112 miles- and this was in the middle of winter! I knew then that my mom must have been driving 20MPH below the speed limit and was probably white knuckling the whole way with the heater off.

As a general rule, if your guess-o-meter is inaccurate, it's working as designed and you have nothing to worry about. If it's accurate, you probably should take it in for service immediately, because something could be terribly wrong. :lol:

 

[sdmike1]

Lol! Thanks kubel. Maybe yer diving conservatively in "B" mode for the last couple days did that. I Hess we won't panic and just keep an eye on it. Like I said, my main concern is that it changed pretty dramatically overnight. It'd been pretty consistent before then, so maybe it just decided to do a big recalculation

 

[cwerdna]

As has been stated, the GOM is just that.

I've seen GOM values from say low 80s to maybe 95 or so at full charge. Gotta love it when the GOM starts at 80-ish miles and then goes up 8 miles AFTER driving 8 miles. :roll:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=12899" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; has some examples of high GOM values.

 

[gbarry42]

Assuming the GOM isn't any more insane than usual, when it goes up like that, ask yourself...
- Am I in traffic? (Slowing down raises efficiency)
- Am I going down hill a lot? (downhill takes hardly any energy)
- What does the M.P.K. show?

Miles per kilowatt (MPK) is one of the displays on your dash that can be selected (instead of, say, percent SOC). Learn what reading is "normal". When something looks out of place, go to that gauge and see if it also has an unusual number on it. I get around 4.0, but if it's a fast freeway trip, it will go down to 3.5, and if I'm in heavy traffic, I've seen it go past 5.

 

[elmobob]

I have a 2012 and although the 2013s and newer have a more accurate GOM, I experience the same thing to some degree when going from winter cold weather to warm spring - summer weather, my efficiency goes from an average of 3.6 to 4.4 miles per KWh

 

[RegGuheert]

Appreciate the response guys. What concerns me is that for the last few months it was pretty darned accurate, and today it's gone all haywire. If it had been untrustworthy since we got it I'd probably just shrug it off, but the fact that this is new caused my concern.

In addition to what others have suggested, it is possible that your battery cells have become unbalanced. This can affect its ability to predict range remaining. I *think* an unbalanced pack is less common in the 2013 and 2014 LEAFs because of how the charger tapers at the end, but it is certainly possible to get into an unbalanced condition if you do not charge to full often. This type of unbalance is not a problem, per se, but it can reduce your range a bit.

 

[Levenkay]

I have a 2012 and although the 2013s and newer have a more accurate GOM, I experience the same thing to some degree when going from winter cold weather to warm spring - summer weather, my efficiency goes from an average of 3.6 to 4.4 miles per KWh

I see the same sort of warm-weather increase. I'm too lazy to investigate for root cause, but I suspect that a lot of the efficiency increase comes from the tires getting more pliable and (since I'm not out there fussing with them as the temperatures go from the 40s to the 70s) rising in air pressure to boot.

 

[sdmike1]

Thanks again guys. Today the GOM went up to only 90 when fully charged, although earlier in the day it managed to go UP 3 miles after a 10 mile drive. "guess is right". I'm less worried about this than I was before. Thanks for the insights into what's going on.

-Mike

 

[cwerdna]

It's better that you look at the % SoC gauge and maybe use http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=101293" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for reference.

Tony Williams put it together before there was any % SoC indicator (added on '13+ Leafs). All the '11 and '12 Leafs had was the GOM, 12 not-very-granular "fuel bars" and the other dash displays.

Garygid found a value on the CAN bus read ~281 on a full new battery and went down as the battery was depleted, so folks named it gid (some info at http://www.electricvehiclewiki.com/Glossary" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false. It's much more granular than the 12 fuel bars. That's what the gid stuff on that chart is about.