Is there something wrong with my bars!?

[windsorsean]

I have a 2012 Leaf and am right now at the first stop of what is supposed to be a 100 mile (160km) trip.

My problem is that after 56km at 8.6 km/kWh efficiency it is only showing 7 bars remaining (started at 12, 100% charge). Using the range chart it should comfortably be within 8 bars.

What I don't get is when I drove a similar distance at 6.2 km/kWh it also showed 7 bars remaining. What's the deal, can I trust the bars? Can I drive another 100km at the same efficiency?

Here is a photo after 51km at 6.2 km/kWh:

And here is today, showing the same bars:

 

[windsorsean]

I should mention I reset the economy gauge at the start of both trips, and they both started at 100% charge (12 bars).

 

[smkettner]

I would chalk it to normal fluctuation and granularity. Will vary a bit and hard to know if the individual bar is 90% or 10% and ready to drop out.

 

[davewill]

Did you turn the car off and back on after you stopped? The car calculates the bars differently when counting down, counting up, and starting up. It uses hysteresis to keep bars from going off and back on easily. One side effect is that you can be showing 8 bars, turn the car off and back on, and immediately be showing 7 bars.

The bars also tend to not be perfectly linear. You really have to use them in a very general manner.

 

[windsorsean]

Did you turn the car off and back on after you stopped? The car calculates the bars differently when counting down, counting up, and starting up. It uses hysteresis to keep bars from going off and back on easily. One side effect is that you can be showing 8 bars, turn the car off and back on, and immediately be showing 7 bars.

I did, and after turning it back on it went down to 6 bars. I am only 1/3 of the way in to my trip so unless it is really off I could be in trouble. Unless I turn around I have nowhere to charge!

I have a few hours before continuing my trip so just need to decide whether or not to proceed.

 

[adric22]

I think the OP is splitting hairs. Keep in mind the SOC bars are also an estimate, much like the GOM. There is no way for the car to really know exactly how much power is left in the battery. I always expect them to be off by 5% to 10% of reality. And yes, as already mentioned they are calculated differently on power-on.

 

[Reddy]

Notice the temp bars: Better efficiency at 6 bars, worse at 5 bars. This could be entirely a temperature issue. It's hard to get the car up to 6 temp bars up here in the north country.

 

[davewill]

I did, and after turning it back on it went down to 6 bars. I am only 1/3 of the way in to my trip so unless it is really off I could be in trouble. Unless I turn around I have nowhere to charge!

I have a few hours before continuing my trip so just need to decide whether or not to proceed.

I'd say, no, you aren't going to make it unless you can slow down significantly. Were you running the heater, or is it really cold (nope, you've got the temp displayed)? Otherwise it's hard to see why you're so far down.

Anyway, you should never plan a trip like this without having a backup location to charge at. Even if it's a friend's house on 120v. Are you sure you can't plug in, even at 120v, somewhere?

 

[windsorsean]

I'd say, no, you aren't going to make it unless you can slow down significantly. Were you running the heater, or is it really cold (nope, you've got the temp displayed)? Otherwise it's hard to see why you're so far down.

Anyway, you should never plan a trip like this without having a backup location to charge at. Even if it's a friend's house on 120v. Are you sure you can't plug in, even at 120v, somewhere?

Yeah I don't get it, I was driving 60 km/h or less with few stops and no traffic and climate control off (temp was 18C/64F). Yesterday I did the same route at 90-100 km/h and had the exact same number of bars when I arrived. Today I had 8.6 km/kWh and yesterday it was 6.4 km/kWh. Makes no sense to me!

I have an emergency stop location at an RV park but the route is all rural and I don't know anyone in the area.

I think I will give up on this trip and plan for a day to test the car in a safe location where I am close to charging. I'll drive around in circles if I have to.

 

[windsorsean]

So I decided to go for it after all and I made it. 152 km (94 miles) was the final distance with a LBW and 8 km on the GOM.

So I have no clue why there was only 6 bars left after 56 km but it was obviously way off.

And yes I know I was so close to 100 miles but after being spooked by the battery reading I was just happy to get there. I'll try for 100 miles another time.

Thanks for the comments!

 

[pcarlson79]

And here is today, showing the same bars:

I live in Australia and would LOVE to see Km/kwh but my ONLY option is kwh/km. Was this the default on your LEAF? If not how can I change it?

 

[smkettner]

I want it to read 100 MILES (and mean it) when the battery is down one-third.

 

[DaveEV]

So I decided to go for it after all and I made it. 152 km (94 miles) was the final distance with a LBW and 8 km on the GOM.

How far past LBW did you go? Remember that at LBW you typically have about 3 kWh remaining. I find that the bars tend to go more quickly at the top of the charge than the bottom of the charge for me. And never mind there's that hidden bar at the bottom that remains after LBW.

 

[RegGuheert]

So I decided to go for it after all and I made it. 152 km (94 miles) was the final distance with a LBW and 8 km on the GOM.

Congratulations!

So I have no clue why there was only 6 bars left after 56 km but it was obviously way off.

I will offer that some of the variation I see with our LEAF has to do with the twelfth bar. While other bars tend to give a similar amount of range from one trip to another (assuming similar conditions and driving), I find that the top bar can vary between about 5 and 11 miles. My guess is this bar is most affected by battery balance and how much charge gets into the pack. If we charge at 120V It seems we get better cell balancing and more charge into the pack. Likewise, if we use the remote climate control, that also seems to help some.

 

[windsorsean]

I live in Australia and would LOVE to see Km/kwh but my ONLY option is kwh/km. Was this the default on your LEAF? If not how can I change it?

Yep is was the default in Canada, I did not need to change anything and I have not seen anywhere to change it.

How far past LBW did you go? Remember that at LBW you typically have about 3 kWh remaining. I find that the bars tend to go more quickly at the top of the charge than the bottom of the charge for me. And never mind there's that hidden bar at the bottom that remains after LBW.

I got the LBW with about 16km left in my trip. I expected to see VLBW before arriving but I never did.

 

[planet4ever]

So I have no clue why there was only 6 bars left after 56 km but it was obviously way off.

One thing to remember is that on 2012 LEAFs the battery is about 50% full (or a bit more) when the display drops to five bars. This is also true for nearly all 2011s(*), but not for 2013's.

Ray

(*) mwalsh may still have a 2011 with "old bars". That applied only to the ones built before March 2011, and the number of bars displayed by most of those was changed by a service bulletin.

 

[TomT]

On what do you base this?

One thing to remember is that on 2012 LEAFs the battery is about 50% full (or a bit more) when the display drops to five bars. This is also true for nearly all 2011s(*), but not for 2013's.

 

[DaveEV]

One thing to remember is that on 2012 LEAFs the battery is about 50% full (or a bit more) when the display drops to five bars. This is also true for nearly all 2011s(*), but not for 2013's.

On what do you base this?

SOC% reading from ELM327 devices along with GID readings.