[REVISED] - POLL - DRIVE vs ECO - CITY vs HIGHWAY - RE-VOTE!

[Shaka]

UPDATE -- While trying to add more options I found out it ERASED prior results. PLEASE RE-VOTE !!!

READ THIS NOTE BEFORE YOU VOTE:
Choose the option that fits MOST of your driving. For example, 90% or more of my driving is around town, on city streets, in ECO mode. Once in a while I may go a few freeway exists and in DRIVE mode. But since 90% of my driving is CITY/ECO, that is the option I chose. Please pick the option that describes the MAJORITY of your driving! (so if you do mixed driving but most of the time in ECO mode, choose "mixed - mostly in eco" for your option!

----(my original post below)----
We've had our Leaf for a few weeks now and my wife/I drive 99% of the time in ECO mode. Most of our driving is non-freeway too, but on the rare occasion we've hit the expressway we've found standard DRIVE mode works better. Which got me wondering -- who uses which and why? I've broken the choices down to also include driving style ... because heck, I'm curious.

For me, I sort of wish ECO mode was default and DRIVE was the 2nd option, since I use ECO more. Do you guys wish we could choose, or that switching between modes was somehow easier? (as I think it may be in 2013 models)

Talk amongst yourselves...

 

[mwalsh]

When my car was first new I would NEVER drive in ECO. HATED it! Now I've lost a little range, I drive in ECO almost exclusively, as a way to compensate for the loss.

 

[essaunders]

I mostly drive in ECO because I think the throttle mapping makes more sense. Recently, in the cold, I've had to switch to DRIVE to get more heat (I have a short commute so I don't worry about range).

 

[TomT]

I drive primarily in Eco because I like that it is closer to being one pedal acceleration/regen...

 

[TonyWilliams]

I tend to drive the Rav4 in "B" mode (the 2013 LEAF has this), since it doesn't affect the heating or cooling of the cabin, or change the accelerator mapping. It just adds regen. But, it won't work with the cruise control engaged.

On the LEAF, I only used it going downhill or approaching a stop light. You will get exactly the same economy and range with the car in ECO or D, assuming no cabin heat or cooling, at a steady speed down the highway.

For around town, for somebody new to EV's, ECO will probably provide some needed restraint on the go pedal.

 

[kentuckyleaf]

I use mostly drive, it seems easier to coast. We got really into coasting (rollercoaster style) in the Prius, so now it's same route, same driving style. We really don't use cabin heat often, we have the heated seats. If we do need heat, I want to get warm quickly and range isn't an issue. If we are pushing range, we use eco, but I really don't see much of a range difference in eco than in drive using our normal "Prius" friendly driving style.

 

[thankyouOB]

i am good with ECO.
I like that it sucks back some power if i slow down. I also like the intrinsic lower-gear box in the mapping.
I use D as a downshift to get some oomph for on-ramps, passing, quick maneuvers, lane changes in tight spots -- and to beat out the very occasional ICE-fan who needs him to eat some EV dust.

 

[RegGuheert]

For me, I sort of wish ECO mode was default and DRIVE was the 2nd option, since I use ECO more.

According to the results of the poll, most of us use ECO. So that means the shifter knobs on most LEAFs are wearing out twice as fast as they need to be.

I say either make ECO the default OR give an option in the setup to allow the default to be selected.

 

[aqn]

The subject says "D vs ECO - which do you use most?" but the poll's questions all include types of surface? Also, the options need to have "100% in D" and "100% in ECO".

I drive 100% in D these days. I go by the kW draw on the "Energy Info" display, trying to keep it between 10-20 kW while not getting run over. I don't care about D or ECO, drive fast or drive slow, regen a lot or not, etc. The only thing I care about is keeping the speed as high as I need to while keeping the energy draw as low as possible.

 

[Shaka]

According to the results of the poll, most of us use ECO. So that means the shifter knobs on most LEAFs are wearing out twice as fast as they need to be. I say either make ECO the default OR give an option in the setup to allow the default to be selected.

I had suspected that would be the case-- and part of why I had posted this in the first place. Perhaps if Nissan actually reads these forums they would consider that. Frankly I think that it should actually be more of a "sport" button on the dash, like the Fisker Karma. The car, IMO, should default to ECO mode. And like the Karma, there could be a "B mode" button and a "Sport mode" button somewhere either on the steering wheel or near the shift knob itself. Not saying Drive mode is bad, just saying that most people seem to prefer Eco anyhow...

 

[Shaka]

The subject says "D vs ECO - which do you use most?" but the poll's questions all include types of surface? Also, the options need to have "100% in D" and "100% in ECO".

Since I would guess that NOBODY drives 100% in either mode (for some reason or another you're likely to use D or ECO at some point even if you 99% use the other), I tried to word the poll such that you placed a vote for what you use "MOST" of the time. And same goes for the types of roads -- even if you drive mostly on the freeway for let's say work commute, you're still going to drive some surface streets to get from home-to-freeway and from freeway-to-office ... right? But that still means most of your driving may be freeway.

Goal was to limit the options to be specific enough to give everyone a good slot to vote without being too many options. I also wanted to map out the number of people using D because they use the expressway-- I had made a presumption that most of the D-mode drivers would also be ones who spend most of their time on the expressway, where having the instant torque for passing-power is more desired.

Anyhow.. hope this makes sense and hope my poll options were good enough.. this is far from being a controlled result that's going to make the nighty news hahaha... just an informal poll..

 

[Deleted member 5796]

I prefer ECO because it feels more like the off throttle engine loading of a manual transmission car. I also like that it limits the heater power use. If I am not preheating, I sometimes start out in D to get the car warmed up faster. Now that winter has kicked in I have set the preheat timer so it is toasty when I start. I like that I can still get full acceleration in ECO by WOT.

 

[LEAFfan]

The subject says "D vs ECO - which do you use most?" but the poll's questions all include types of surface? Also, the options need to have "100% in D" and "100% in ECO".

Since I would guess that NOBODY drives 100% in either mode (for some reason or another you're likely to use D or ECO at some point even if you 99% use the other), I tried to word the poll such that you placed a vote for what you use "MOST" of the time. And same goes for the types of roads -- even if you drive mostly on the freeway for let's say work commute, you're still going to drive some surface streets to get from home-to-freeway and from freeway-to-office ... right? But that still means most of your driving may be freeway.
O
Goal was to limit the options to be specific enough to give everyone a good slot to vote without being too many options. I also wanted to map out the number of people using D because they use the expressway-- I had made a presumption that most of the D-mode drivers would also be ones who spend most of their time on the expressway, where having the instant torque for passing-power is more desired.

Anyhow.. hope this makes sense and hope my poll options were good enough.. this is far from being a controlled result that's going to make the nighty news hahaha... just an informal poll..

We've had this discussion many times before, and to re-emphasize there is absolutely no difference in torque or acceleration between D and ECO. It's just a matter of how far you push the pedal.

 

[Shaka]

We've had this discussion many times before, and to re-emphasize there is absolutely no difference in torque or acceleration between D and ECO. It's just a matter of how far you push the pedal.

That makes sense, but if they are both the same at 100% ... and I get that at 25% input, ECO gives you less than 25% (whereas DRIVE mode gives you what you ask for).... then there still has to be some limit, or some point where they match.

To put it another way --- at 95% throttle input in DRIVE mode, I would assume you are going to get 95% of maximum power to the electric drive. However, what about 95% in ECO mode? Are you getting 92%? 90%? Or are you still limited to a ceiling of say 75% or less?

For lack of any good images, I found this which will help me explain:

Green line= DRIVE mode
Blue line = ECO mode

I'm new to these forums still technically so I don't propose to say I know more than you or anyone else... but my question would be this: even if ECO mode requires more input in the throttle, the case must be that as you get closer to 100% WOT (Wide open throttle), you must inherently then also get closer to "true" input... meaning the closer to 100% throttle in ECO, the closer the two lines probably actually are (excuse the lines above, that was just a google image search and not a great example of what I wanted to show)... --- is my assumption correct?

 

[Shaka]

Also found this page:
http://www.roperld.com/science/NissanLeaf.htm#ECO" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But that still doesn't really answer my question.... we've all seen/read that WOT/100% is the same in EVO vs DRIVE ... but my question would be, what are the relative motor outputs from 1% to 99% in ECO vs DRIVE... that would be nice to know.... can't seem to find a thread on here that has any data ....

Regardless, this thread does show interesting feedback thus far as to who uses which modes and where they do most of their driving....

 

[EdmondLeaf]

My CW average for 7.5KM was 6mkWh and I mostly used D, ECO for regen only, does not matter where I was driving

 

[Nubo]

I use Eco the majority of the time. The throttle mapping makes more sense to me and I find it easier to maintain a set speed. I find that it increases the amount of time I can spend "one-pedal driving", which is very convenient in traffic. Before I got the car I used to argue for regen being strictly on the brake pedal. Experience has changed my mind.

I do use D on occasion, such as to avoid unnecessary regen when using cruise control on the open highway unless the hills are large enough to where I'd want Eco-mode to help keep speed excursions in check. Also once in while I'll use D mode to allow the interior to warm up more quickly.

I'd really like user-adjustable regen but the lawyers responsible for the "press OK" button would probably blanch at the thought. :lol:

 

[x10guy]

I use Drive most of the time. For the 1st month I owned the Leaf I tried following all the advice about getting the best range and it drove me nuts. I hated driving this way. So now, unless I need the range I just drive normal... and D is closest to normal.

 

[walterbays]

The poll doesn't include relevant answers for me.

I drive a mix of surface streets and freeways. On streets I almost always use ECO to be able to get more regen by backing off the accelerator pedal without having to brake. On freeways I almost always use D so that slight variations in speed necessitated by surrounding traffic will not incur regen drag.

 

[TonyWilliams]

And like the Karma, there could be a "B mode" button and a "Sport mode" button somewhere either on the steering wheel or near the shift knob itself. Not saying Drive mode is bad, just saying that most people seem to prefer Eco anyhow...

I think the Fisker is a poor example of an electric car (but certainly beautiful), but the Rav4 does use the "B mode" and "Sport" button concept.

What's different is that there is no dumbing down of the accelerator pedal like ECO mode does on the LEAF; Sport mode just adds 50 more ft/lbs of torque (and with traction control off, will smoke the tires quite nicely).

I would ask for continuing as is with D and B that the 2013 LEAF has, but with a change to make multiple levels of B... each time you pull it back it increases regen X amount.

Then keep ECO mode on the steering wheel (2013 LEAF) and program it so that if you turn it on, it stays on ECO after the car is turned off.

But, PLEASE don't dumb the car down for everybody !!!!! NO PERMANENT ECO MODE !!!!