Did the weather do this?

[DesertDenizen]

1400 miles on my blue beauty. I averaged 5.1 miles per kwh here in Tucson where it has been in the 90s every day. Cool rainy front moved in and it has been in the 50s and my identical daily drive dropped me to 4.0 miles per kwh. A 21% drop, did the temp difference do this?

 

[davewill]

1400 miles on my blue beauty. I averaged 5.1 miles per kwh here in Tucson where it has been in the 90s every day. Cool rainy front moved in and it has been in the 50s and my identical daily drive dropped me to 4.0 miles per kwh. A 21% drop, did the temp difference do this?

Did you leave your thermostat set in the 70s or 80s? If so, then the heater has undoubtedly been kicking in.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

yes

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/blog.php?u=291&b=107" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[cdub]

This happened to me yesterday during a rainy day in LA.

My commute to work usually uses up 2 bars. When I got into my car for the drive home I realized it used 5 or 6. After a while of scratching my head I realized that my AC was on and it was set to 70.

The heater had kicked in.

And sure enough this morning was cold again and I looked at the energy info and the heater was kicking in using up a ton of power.

I did notice though I could leave CC on and just hit the temp down all the way to 60 and the energy usage went down almost all the way but left the fan still on.

 

[LEAFfan]

1400 miles on my blue beauty. I averaged 5.1 miles per kwh here in Tucson where it has been in the 90s every day. Cool rainy front moved in and it has been in the 50s and my identical daily drive dropped me to 4.0 miles per kwh. A 21% drop, did the temp difference do this?

It's definitely not the cooler weather. Watch your energy screen and see if your heater is coming on like Dave said. If it isn't, then my guess is the wind. Strong winds are worse on your m/kW h than a few hills. Winds lowered mine from 6.0+ to only 5.0 on a 30 mile drive.

 

[DesertDenizen]

Thanks for the discussion! The implication is that running the heater uses much more power than running the a/c. Is this so? Because I was certainly running the a/c before this latest change in stats. And the wind has not been a factor here.

 

[edatoakrun]

1400 miles on my blue beauty. I averaged 5.1 miles per kwh here in Tucson where it has been in the 90s every day. Cool rainy front moved in and it has been in the 50s and my identical daily drive dropped me to 4.0 miles per kwh. A 21% drop, did the temp difference do this?

Did you use the Heater?

I noticed that my 50-something mile drive took an extra bar (10) yesterday. It was the first time I'd used the heater since I got my LEAF in May. The battery temp showed only 4 bars on start-up, for the first time also. It had been in the 40's the night before.

I use Carwings for M/kWh, so I won't have that report for a few days. I wonder if the "electricity Consumption" CW report might also tend to indicate a bit lower total battery capacity. Anyone with a SOC got a sub-freezing read yet?

I generally set the timer to 80%, then hit the Charge button about a half hour before leaving home, so I start out with 11 bars, but I may join the 100% club this winter.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

whatever.

anyway, yes the heater uses as much as 4X power

 

[Herm]

Cold will increase your power drain. Air itself is denser, tire drag will go way up compared to when they are hot, and the drag from the oil in the differential will probably be higher as well. After a few miles everything should warm up.

Can the heater be disabled?.. pull a fuse somewhere?.. its driven by the high voltage battery so dont get electrocuted.. you people are missing the simplicity of the old manual control AC systems.

 

[TomT]

Yep, by disconnecting a connector. You could also install a switch to allow you to remotely enable and disable it. Take a look at the service manual and it will be obvious how... Be aware that you are in an area of high voltage, however, so if you don't know what you are doing, stay away for your safety.

Can the heater be disabled?

 

[padamson1]

OK,

I don't get my LEAF for a couple more weeks, but it seems silly to me that the only way to disable the heater is to disconnect it. My LEAF will have the CWP which I specifically waited for to order so I could use seat heaters (~25W) instead of the woefully inefficient hot air heat.

There must be a way to have ventilation without using the heater short of disconnecting the dang thing! Can't one just turn the temperature down?

 

[LEAFfan]

Cold will increase your power drain.

Not the 'cold' in AZ. I live here too and I have yet to see that much of a difference when it is a little cooler. If there was no wind (we had major wind up here that day), then it has to be his heater.

 

[LEAFfan]

OK, I don't get my LEAF for a couple more weeks, but it seems silly to me that the only way to disable the heater is to disconnect it. My LEAF will have the CWP which I specifically waited for to order so I could use seat heaters (~25W) instead of the woefully inefficient hot air heat.
There must be a way to have ventilation without using the heater short of disconnecting the dang thing! Can't one just turn the temperature down?

Yes, you just turn it down lower than the ambient and watch your energy screen, then adjust your fan speed manually. It doesn't need to be disconnected.

 

[sproqitman]

Yep, by disconnecting a connector. You could also install a switch to allow you to remotely enable and disable it. Take a look at the service manual and it will be obvious how... Be aware that you are in an area of high voltage, however, so if you don't know what you are doing, stay away for your safety.

Can the heater be disabled?

Whoa! Just turn off the climate control. It's the big button in the middle of the center console. And yes, the heater uses a lot more energy than the A/C. The monthly average temp up here in Seattle dropped over 10 degrees and we've taken a 10% hit in range.

 

[TomT]

Nope, even turning it all the way down to 60 (the minimum it will go to) will not necessarily disable the heater all the time. Turning off the CC will, of course, but then you can't use the fan.

Yes, you just turn it down lower than the ambient and watch your energy screen, then adjust your fan speed manually. It doesn't need to be disconnected.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I cannot believe how this is going. if u dont want to
run the heat do not turn it on

 

[garygid]

The heater can take 5.0 kW (but could use less) and the A/C rarely takes more than 0.5 kW (but could use more).

The control problem:
It is difficult (or impossible, without modifications?) to get the fan ON, and keep the heater OFF, especially in ambient temperatures below about 60 degrees.

Perhaps in the 2012 LEAF they have fixed this.

 

[LEAFfan]

Nope, even turning it all the way down to 60 (the minimum it will go to) will not necessarily disable the heater all the time. Turning off the CC will, of course, but then you can't use the fan.

Yes, you just turn it down lower than the ambient and watch your energy screen, then adjust your fan speed manually. It doesn't need to be disconnected.

The key words are 'lower than the ambient'. We haven't had temps here lower than 60 yet, so it works every time. Obviously, if the ambient is lower than 60, the heater is going to turn on if the HVAC is on.

 

[Herm]

Yep, by disconnecting a connector. You could also install a switch to allow you to remotely enable and disable it. Take a look at the service manual and it will be obvious how... Be aware that you are in an area of high voltage, however, so if you don't know what you are doing, stay away for your safety.

its about 12 amps so probably a better idea to install a relay.. or find the existing relay and put the switch there... or at least put an indicator light so you can see when the heater comes on.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I would open a window a crack if a breeze is
Needed