Range anxiety - bailed on 55 mile trip

[garsh]

I just tried to make a 55-mile trip in this blizzard with my almost-4-year-old Leaf. No can do. Not enough battery capacity left (10 bars). I gave up.

This is disappointing. The car went great in the snow (I have Yokohama snow tires mounted). I kept my speed under 40 mph on the Turnpike. But I ended up bailing and headed for a known charging spot a bit out of the way. It just sucks that I own a car that I can't trust to go 55 miles.

I think I would have made it if the roads hadn't been snow-covered. I turn the heat completely off. I usually keep the cruise set to 55 mph. But, it wasn't to be.

If the Model 3 offers autopilot, then I'm ordering one ASAP.

 

[minispeed]

I'd be shocked if they don't offer it. I'd give a 99.9% guarantee that every model iii will have all the equipment for autopilot. With the way they plan on having the cars learn from each other there is a benefit to their systems if the cars have it. They already said they lose a bit of money on every non autopilot model s but it's worth it for the data they can collect.

Since they offer you the ability to unlock it later and pre owned users might unlock it it's not like it's an automatic write off either. A lot of the tech used for it is also used in other safety systems and they have been pretty pushy that building safe cars is one of their priorities. Plus the tech will get cheaper through volume the same way they plan on having the battery getting cheaper.

I also think that they are going to tie auto pilot with auto connecting cables as a way to manage supercharger wait times.

 

[Stanton]

It's all about resistance: wind and friction. Just driving on snow (or even water) is a bit hit on efficiency, but when you add in high winds, driving 55 mph can be the equivalent of 75 mph (which not even I do since it's such a huge range hit).

 

[garsh]

There wasn't much in the way of wind during this trip. But yes, having to drive on top of snow makes a big difference.

On the plus side, the little Leaf was plowing through 12+ inches of snow on side streets to get out to the plowed roads at the start of the journey. I then passed a Mini Cooper that wanted to make a right-hand turn, but stopped (& eventually thought better of it) when they saw that the side street hadn't been plowed at all.

 

[minispeed]

My mini cooper s was one of the best winter cars I had ever driven until it gets too deep and heavy/wet. Deep and light snow though, no problem in 12+ inches.

 

[greengate]

Sorry for your experience and glad to hear that, especially with a young child in the car, it didn't have a frost bite ending.

Thanks for posting this..many, including myself, have a tendency to take risks and push boundaries.

This is a reminder that when circumstances change, everything has different limits, even the awesome Leaf!!

(Now I will go and rest after writing this reply. :lol: )

 

[smkettner]

This is why I will probably never buy another Nissan.
Too many 100 mile promises and bad chemistry to boot.
The original '11 & '12 LEAF should have had the 30 kWh battery and heat tolerant chemistry from the get go.

 

[garsh]

Sorry for your experience and glad to hear that, especially with a young child in the car

Sorry. I said "my almost-4-year-old Leaf", not a 4yo in my Leaf.

I was alone.

 

[redLEAF]

I just tried to make a 55-mile trip in this blizzard with my almost-4-year-old Leaf. No can do. Not enough battery capacity left (10 bars). I gave up.

This is disappointing. The car went great in the snow (I have Yokohama snow tires mounted). I kept my speed under 40 mph on the Turnpike. But I ended up bailing and headed for a known charging spot a bit out of the way. It just sucks that I own a car that I can't trust to go 55 miles.

I think I would have made it if the roads hadn't been snow-covered. I turn the heat completely off. I usually keep the cruise set to 55 mph. But, it wasn't to be.

If the Model 3 offers autopilot, then I'm ordering one ASAP.

Out here in the Midwest (for a change); we missed the east coast snow storm; early AM temps in the mid 20's and appears to be mid-40's by next weekend so our 4-year old LEAF is doing fine on my 30 mile R/T suburban commute --- not too long ago though we had consistent low daily temps in the single digits so I took my plan B car; an ICE AWD mid-size SUV. It's actually been fairly rare that I charge it to only 80% on the coldest expected days (one day it showed 2 temp bars where the daily high was about 20 F; it doesn't like sitting outside and if the temp goes too low, it will use your range to keep the battery from freezing) but as I've already lost the first bar on capacity at 36K miles that's expected. I do feel fortunate that I have an alternative; should it be that way? I'm sure some have strong opinions on both side -- I'll be more curious in a few more years when I don't have enough range for even a 'mild' winter but we'll see ... thanks for sharing!

 

[EVDRIVER]

I'd be shocked if they don't offer it. I'd give a 99.9% guarantee that every model iii will have all the equipment for autopilot. With the way they plan on having the cars learn from each other there is a benefit to their systems if the cars have it. They already said they lose a bit of money on every non autopilot model s but it's worth it for the data they can collect.

Since they offer you the ability to unlock it later and pre owned users might unlock it it's not like it's an automatic write off either. A lot of the tech used for it is also used in other safety systems and they have been pretty pushy that building safe cars is one of their priorities. Plus the tech will get cheaper through volume the same way they plan on having the battery getting cheaper.

I also think that they are going to tie auto pilot with auto connecting cables as a way to manage supercharger wait times.

I would be shocked if one did. They are not included on an S and certainly they will not include it when they need to cut costs. This will be an option package for sure. I'll take a pizza bet on that any day of the week.

 

[EVDRIVER]

I

If the Model 3 offers autopilot, then I'm ordering one ASAP.

They will, this is how they intend to make money on the car, there will be nothing but options to bring the price way up, likely close to a base model S.

 

[garsh]

They will, this is how they intend to make money on the car, there will be nothing but options to bring the price way up, likely close to a base model S.

I've been thinking that too. When the time comes, I'll have to compare a new Model 3 against a CPO Model S (w. autopilot) if they're close in price.