Does Zero miles TRULY mean Zero. Are you dead on the road?

[pianoman]

Just picked up our new Nissan LEAF Friday, Feb. 22, 2013, 6pm, and getting it home was SCARY and took 12+ hours.

Does Zero miles TRULY mean Zero. Are you dead on the road? Or is there some buffer?

Dealership was 126 miles from home. Weather was raining and freezing, so to keep windows clear of condensation, needed climate control ON and window wipers.
Thank goodness for ChargePoint.
1) At 41 miles, started getting nervous. Getting to a change station left us with just FOUR miles remaining on dashboard. In a somewhat scary area.
2) Charged for 2 hours at a ChargePoint L2 pedestal. Hobbled to a Nissan dealer, in a safer locale, plugged into L2 charge station and slept in the LEAF for ~5 hours to get 100% charged up. Nearly froze in the process. Apparently, the heater does NOT work while plugged in (even intermittently to warm up the car's interior).
3) Got back on the road, hoping for the best, but wishful thinking. TWO miles remaining on dashboard. Yet again, managed to get to a ChargePoint pedestal in a really bad locale to L2 charge for another ~2.5 hours.
4) Drove into our driveway with ONE mile remaining on dashboard.

In that one experience, we had a lifetime of trip range anxiety.
Does Zero miles TRULY mean Zero. Are you dead on the road? Or is there some buffer?

Thanks for any advice. Don't know if buying the LEAF was one of the smartest things I've done or STUPIDEST.

 

[thankyouOB]

not sure what you mean by zero; did you see the turtle and get the warnings?
that is a long drive,.

heater works when plugged in but it offsets most of the charging.
where do you live?
suppose you could have asked the dealer to deliver it to you.

 

[pianoman]

YES we got the turtle and warnings.

North Carolina -- @thankyouOB -- are you from Louisiana -- our old stomping ground pre-Katrina. Thought we would move from 7 feet below sea-level to 490 feet above sea-level.

Thanks

 

[TomT]

If you got to turtle then, no, there was basically nothing left in the battery that was usable. You were essentially dead with less than a mile left.

YES we got the turtle and warnings.

 

[ebill3]

Boy, you lucked out. If you had the turtle and got to a charge point, Lady Luck was your co-pilot. Might want to buy a lottery ticket. Wonder why you didn't get the LEAF at the dealer you stopped at on the way home.

Smart or stupid? If you recognize the limitations and use it accordingly, I think you'll be pleased.

 

[LEAFfan]

Yep, Turtle will give you 1/2 mile or less depending on your driving and conditions.

 

[thankyouOB]

LA = L.A.

 

[DaveEV]

So - does the '13 LEAF not switch to displaying --- after the very low battery warning (VLBW) like the '11-12 LEAF does?

 

[kovalb]

The turtle warning does not directly have to do with energy remaining in the pack. It is warning that available power is low. This can happen either due to low pack energy or because off very low temperature. Since you mentioned it was freezing, the turtle light may have been due to that.

The low battery warning happens at 4 kWh remaining.
The very low battery warning (Range goes to "---") occurs at 2 kWh remaining.

Assuming you were only getting 3 miles/kWh due to the freezing weather, you should still have been able to go another 6 miles after the indicated range went to "---". However because the turtle light was on it would have been at reduced power.

This applies to 11/12MY with up to date software, and 13MY. The first 11MY cars did not have much reserve below "---".

Good luck with your new LEAF! Personally i would never attempt a journey like you made, at night, in the cold. I avoid trips longer than 70 miles in the summer or 50 miles in the winter to avoid range anxiety. I also run my heater, usually set to 75 or 77 degrees in the winter to stay comfy. The heater can run when plugged-in, but only if initiated through Carwings.

 

[nlagnew]

Many of us in NC are enjoying our Leafs (Leaves). Charging stations are few and far between except in one or two locations. I still (15 months into this adventure) tend to plan on charging at home and avoid trips requiring extra charging -- though there are some dealerships I can get to, and one or two L2 chargers in out-of-my-way locations. This past Friday (when OP's car was delivered) was one of the worst possible days (around here) ever to try to go over 60 miles in a Leaf - let alone 126 miles.

If you stay within what the car is designed for (and ignore that "100 miles of range" thing), you will likely be pleased. The climate in the central part of the state is fairly good for the car (except for our occasional freezing, rainy days). What the car can comfortably do in 58 degrees and sun versus 38 degrees and rain is considerably different. Let the temperature be a more moderate 68-78 and it's even better.

I hope you enjoy the car - I still love my Leaf.

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

you will surely have a much better experience as long as you don't need to do such a long drive on a regular basis! The Leaf is a lot of fun if driven within it's intended design limits. driving such that you need a lot of public charging is just not where the sweet spot is, IMHO.

a few tips:
- the climate control eat energy, less so in the 13 but still likely enough to notice a difference, especially power defrost. try extensive prewarming before leaving, even a half hour + when it's cold and damp. at first the prewarming will use the bulk of the energy, then it will level off, in extreme cold it will actually draw from the batter too if it's needed. you really need to be plugged in for prewarming.
- play with the climate control settings. I will assume one substantial difference with the 2013, that warming the cabin is less energy intensive with the heat pump in moderate temps, I will also assume that power defrost and AC use substantial energy to dehumidify the air. with the 2011 and 2012 setting the mode to foot/defog, leaving power defrost off and turning the climate control on only when you need it really extends the range. you'll have to play around with the climate control and see for yourself what works.
- sounds like the distance to zero works a little differently in the 2013. zero is probably not zero, but you might as well treat it as such. at the very low SOC states, the amount of range you can get before you are stranded varies with hills, temperature and driving style... it's just not worth pushing it. the best thing to do is slow down when you are getting toward the end, or even better, slow down long before you get to that point. driving 45-55 mph will dramatically extend the range. driving 70+ dramatically reduces range.

 

[TonyWilliams]

So - does the '13 LEAF not switch to displaying --- after the very low battery warning (VLBW) like the '11-12 LEAF does?

When the GOM went to "---" to indicate VLB, the SOC% dash meter showed 8%, just like the Gidmeter. At some point that I was not paying attention to, the SOC% display also goes to "---".

 

[TonyWilliams]

... sounds like the distance to zero works a little differently in the 2013.

It works the same. In our test Sunday, it went from 7** miles on the GOM to "---" at VLB, just like all the previous LEAFs.

**NOTE: the actual GOM number shown just before VLB might be any number from about 8 all the way until 3 that I've seen, but I've never seen 2, or 1, or 0.

 

[cracovian]

... sounds like the distance to zero works a little differently in the 2013.

It works the same. In our test Sunday, it went from 7** miles on the GOM to "---" at VLB, just like all the previous LEAFs.

**NOTE: the actual GOM number shown just before VLB might be any number from about 8 all the way until 3 that I've seen, but I've never seen 2, or 1, or 0.

All I noticed were those 6 temp bars... I miss them even though I'm in Georgia - it's been cold here (with added huge amounts of rain) all winter...

 

[DaveEV]

All I noticed were those 6 temp bars... I miss them even though I'm in Georgia - it's been cold here (with added huge amounts of rain) all winter...

You'll notice that they started the day with 5 temp bars, but the drive pushed it into 6 bars. I saw the same thing driving in the same area for similar distance on the same day/area.

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

assuming it goes to (---) at 3 miles, then it works exactly like the Leaf's I've owned. Thanks Tony, once again your excellent analysis is quite illuminating! I now have one more reason to feel good about trading in my owned 2012 for a leased 2012 with no money down and 24 months. got out from under a 22.5K loan on a rapidly depreciating car just before going under water. I sure hope Nissan comes up with a substantial upgrade on pack size/density and TMS... the Leaf's future depends on it, IMHO. Like you, i'm still a fan but after having taken a step back behind the protection of a lease.

... sounds like the distance to zero works a little differently in the 2013.

It works the same. In our test Sunday, it went from 7** miles on the GOM to "---" at VLB, just like all the previous LEAFs.

**NOTE: the actual GOM number shown just before VLB might be any number from about 8 all the way until 3 that I've seen, but I've never seen 2, or 1, or 0.

 

[pianoman]

Original Poster here!

Thanks to EVERYONE for helping me in my new experience learning curve.

Here's a chuckle:
My wife & I now laugh when we hear auto-commercials on television touting 30 to 40 mpg numbers. As a newbie, rough napkin calculation has me hopefully getting 80 miles for about $2.40 in charging costs. Hence 3 cents/mile.

The vehicle this LEAF replaced, was getting 28mpg with gas at ~3.70 -- hence 13.21 cents/mile.

Of course, this is pure "fuel" costs, without all the varied costs also amortized/apportioned into the total figure.

BUT, very impressive nonetheless.