Maximizing cold weather range.

[gschettl]

For those pushing their 2012 LEAF range limit in cold weather. Here is the detailed procedure I go through to go 50 miles round trip in minus -10°F temps: Use Maps.google.com to find the shortest route but the longest time if there are similar routes (longest time correlates somewhat to the desired slowest average speed).
Day prior, set charge timer for a 100% charge. Set Climate Control temp to 61°F, chest & feet vent mode, recirculate, fan on high and then OFF button. Aim outboard dashboard vents toward side windows so you get a spot of defrosted area and can see your mirrors. Driver's seat heat on, steering wheel heat on. Set CC timer to pre-heat with your departure time. The pre-heat will cost you ~3 miles of range on a level 2 charger but saves ~6. Pre-heating from a 100% charge doesn't harm the battery since it makes no attempt to get back to 100%. I do my outbound trip using only a pre-heated cabin and blips of defrost.

Departing with a heat soaked cabin from an insulated garage ~ 15°F, (not heated) and 3 bars of battery temperature, shove the kids into the car quickly opening only one door at a time. Deal with seatbelt issues after all are in the car & doors closed. Use defrost button only as needed, like 10 second blips and the key is to remember to turn it back off using the defrost button again, (acts like a toggle switch). If you touch the fan + or - button, it won't toggle to those same setpoints anymore.

Return trip, shove the kids into the car quickly opening only one door at a time & slam door. Use 61°F, floor & chest vent mode & recirculate rather than OFF. If you begin your return trip at 6 SOC bars remaining or less, you may need to drive slower on the way home since you'll divert more energy to cabin heat.

This is all based on a trip where the LEAF says I average 37 mph, (and speed is critical) I do this trip twice a week near Minneapolis with some hills & valleys. Good luck to the brave.

Recently I've been experimenting with some small computer fans to evaporate the fog from the side windows before the air has time to condensate. I'll report back if it proves helpful next winter.

 

[kmp647]

Good techniques and I have used many...... But it just show we are all kinda crazy,
You just shouldn't have to do all this wacky crap to get the kids to school and yourself to work


Nissan please build a leaf or n EV with more range , we do need it for sure.

 

[BrockWI]

Do you block the front grill intake at all?

Does the 12 have heated back seats for the kids? That was one of the things that sold us, picking up the kids from swim practice and being cold the heated back seats help a LOT. In our TDI it never warmed up either and I put a large 12v AGM battery in the back and had those cheap 12v heated seat warmers in the back for the kids and left them on to warm them up.

The other goofy thing I did was kept old 1 gallon bottles and filled them with hot, not scalding water. The kids loved to hold them in their laps and I could throw them in a microwave for a few minutes to warm them up again.

 

[Nubo]

When I've had to do a long trip in the cold, I've made sure to dehumidify the heck out of the car on the preceding several days' worth of drives. That means full defrost mode and high temp. Getting all of the latent moisture out of the car fabrics will help delay the onset of window fogging when you make your long run with minimal AC useage.

 

[gschettl]

I agree, it's crazy and very few people would go through this much effort to travel 50 miles but I still love the car,the challenge, and being environmentally friendlier.

The '12 SV does have heated left & right rear seats, but the middle seat is not heated. I don't use the rear seat heat anyway since all 3 kids are still small enough to require booster seats and I think they work best on contact.

I like the idea of blocking out the grill to reduce drag. Has anyone done this, seen efficieny improvement, and found a good method?

I'm assuming the window fog comes mostly from the breath of the occupants, but maybe I'll pay som more attention to keeping the floor mats dry from the snow that gets dragged in. I've have had some success already by sticking a pair of 1-9/16" fans from Radio Shack to the front window pillar with Loc-tite fun-tac mounting putty. I'm not convinced it'll be effective at -10°F yet though.