So, owners what range are you getting ?

[Reddy]

I'm new here so if this is not the right place for this, let me know. I have had my Leaf 6 days now.....Snip....... Thanks for any insights.

Congratulations and welcome! Spend some time to read as much info as you can on the forum. You'll find a wealth of info (hot/cold weather range, charging to 80% vs 100%, battery degradation, etc.). All questions have been answered multiple times and by both "positive" and "negative" responders. Give yourself some time, enjoy driving, testing the limits (always have several backup charging locations and plans). For the best range, slow down, don't use heat/AC, don't jackrabbit start/stop, drive steady and predict/time traffic conditions and lights, etc. You'll get better as time goes on and when temperatures warm up. Edit: And there is more "hidden" mileage at the bottom of the scale (at least 20 miles after the first low battery warning (LBW) and maybe even 10 miles after the next one (VLBW). Don't drive much past VLBW since it probably is harder on the battery. Here are some suggestions: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=5508&hilit=Stoaty
Reddy

 

[thwarren]

Thanks for the tips! So far, driving the LEAF is great fun, but I am reminded of the movie "Apollo 13," where Mattingly is trying all different techniques to conserve power. If I turn on the heated seats but turn down the climate control, can I save a fraction of a kWh? I am sure that with a few weeks under my belt, I will lose the range anxiety as I better understand what the car can do.

I endorse most of Stoaty's suggestions, especially looking ahead to see if you will have to stop and taking your foot off the accelerator early. It is amazing to me how many people will race past you only to hit the brakes in another 200 feet to stop at a light or slow for a curve.

I have also found, to my surprise, that there are more people driving 55-58 mph than you think. I have been going 56-57 mph in the right lane and have found some people going the same speed, even on the Atlanta interstates where the average speed is much faster. And if you are going 10 miles on the highway, you lose about a minute slowing from 64 to 57.

Thanks to all for this forum, with all of its helpful information for new owners!

 

[ztanos]

Thanks for the tips! So far, driving the LEAF is great fun, but I am reminded of the movie "Apollo 13," where Mattingly is trying all different techniques to conserve power. If I turn on the heated seats but turn down the climate control, can I save a fraction of a kWh? I am sure that with a few weeks under my belt, I will lose the range anxiety as I better understand what the car can do.

I endorse most of Stoaty's suggestions, especially looking ahead to see if you will have to stop and taking your foot off the accelerator early. It is amazing to me how many people will race past you only to hit the brakes in another 200 feet to stop at a light or slow for a curve.

I have also found, to my surprise, that there are more people driving 55-58 mph than you think. I have been going 56-57 mph in the right lane and have found some people going the same speed, even on the Atlanta interstates where the average speed is much faster. And if you are going 10 miles on the highway, you lose about a minute slowing from 64 to 57.

Thanks to all for this forum, with all of its helpful information for new owners!

I live in Atlanta, also, and if the speed limit says 55, you will find me in the far right lane, doing 55. I still tend to pass people.

 

[Reddy]

You may enjoy this thread: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=5350

 

[Lizardlady]

after 1 year of ownership I can go 45 miles after 100% charge. I have lost 3 bars of battery life. No where near the 100-80 miles I was sold nor the 5% a year battery loss I was told. I love the car but I can't go far enough on a charge.

 

[cdub]

after 1 year of ownership I can go 45 miles after 100% charge. I have lost 3 bars of battery life. No where near the 100-80 miles I was sold nor the 5% a year battery loss I was told. I love the car but I can't go far enough on a charge.

Bizarre. I'm in SoCal. Almost 2 years of ownership. Almost 20k miles. Still have the full 12 bars. Still have the range that it had when I first bought the car. Or if it's reduced - not noticeably so.

"Your mileage may vary!"

 

[cwerdna]

after 1 year of ownership I can go 45 miles after 100% charge. I have lost 3 bars of battery life. No where near the 100-80 miles I was sold nor the 5% a year battery loss I was told. I love the car but I can't go far enough on a charge.

If you want help, I think folks here are going to need more info such as asked at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=246334#p246334" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; along with speeds, heater (and/or defrost) use, how you are determining "45 miles", etc. Hopefully other Leafers can chime in w/relevant questions which hopefully will get answered.

In Tony's Phoenix range test (http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=10040" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false, the worst vehicle, which had lost 4 capacity bars achieved 59.3 miles until turtle (procedure at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=225481" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false at 62 mph (64 mph indicates on the speedometer).

http://blogs.insideline.com/roadtests/2011/05/2011-nissan-leaf-driving-it-to-the-bitter-end.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; shows the sequence of events and mentions the # of miles in their test at which they got LBW, VLBW, turtle then totally dead.

 

[Lizardlady]

45 miles with 24 freeway, going 60-65 mph (speed on our highways is 65 mph so I am the slow one putting along trying to save battery). I live in a very flat area of the desert. the outside temp is 65 degrees, there is no heat or ac on. I am not a lead foot on the city streets. I have learned how to drive very effeciantly to get max distance from my battery. I only use Eco mode. I may be able to go further like 55 miles but once I am on the last bar flashing I want to be close to home and would prefer not to find out how far I can go before becoming stuck as I usually don't have time in my schedule to work with running out of juice. I know I can go to and from the airport at a full charge (46.4 mile round trip) and arrive 3 miles outside my neighborhood flashing low battery charge now. I now have actually added in more city roads making my trip longer but avoiding the freeway so I can go alittle bit further. Certain times this isn't very practical.

 

[cwerdna]

^^^
Much better. From questions Tony asked of folks...

1. Miles/kWh from the dash after a full charge? Please reset meter for each full charge. This economy information will include your heater use, and energy used to go through standing water or snow.
...
3. Fuel bars used/remaining? Low Battery Warning (LBW) @ 17.4% of the battery or Very Low Battery (VLB) @ 8.6% are the best indicators, however.

 

[vrwl]

Thanks for the tips! So far, driving the LEAF is great fun, but I am reminded of the movie "Apollo 13," where Mattingly is trying all different techniques to conserve power. If I turn on the heated seats but turn down the climate control, can I save a fraction of a kWh? I am sure that with a few weeks under my belt, I will lose the range anxiety as I better understand what the car can do.

I endorse most of Stoaty's suggestions, especially looking ahead to see if you will have to stop and taking your foot off the accelerator early. It is amazing to me how many people will race past you only to hit the brakes in another 200 feet to stop at a light or slow for a curve.

I have also found, to my surprise, that there are more people driving 55-58 mph than you think. I have been going 56-57 mph in the right lane and have found some people going the same speed, even on the Atlanta interstates where the average speed is much faster. And if you are going 10 miles on the highway, you lose about a minute slowing from 64 to 57.

Thanks to all for this forum, with all of its helpful information for new owners!

My favorite thing to do is find big delivery trucks to drive behind. They almost always drive slow, so if I get behind one, people can get mad at the truck for going slow, but not me. I don't want to give EV's a bad name, let them blame the trucks!

 

[kennyboy]

Here's my display after the drive to work this morning.

I've had my LEAF for almost 1 1/2 years. 21,000+ miles.

After driving 25 miles to work this morning (starting with 100% charge), the GOM still showed an estimated 82 miles remaining.

So if I keep driving like that, that's an estimated 107 mile range.

I don't really think I could get a total of 107 miles, probably more like something between 80-90, but those numbers are as good as the day I bought my LEAF.

I'm in Johnson City, TN. My LEAF stays in the garage where it charges to 80% when I arrive home at night. I usually start charging again in the morning, when I wake up, and let it charge to 100% while I get ready for work. The time spent sitting at 100% is usually less than an hour. I was lucky this morning because the temp here was around 57 and I didn't need any climate control.

I love this car.

 

[DaveCox]

I haven't had my Leaf very long, but so far I just love it. I really haven't had to test its range much so far.

The other day I had to take a trip that was 23 miles, one way, or 46 miles round trip. I was traveling about 60 mph highway, with some slower speeds at each end, Eco mode, and the AC off. I thought I should be fine, as I figured I should be able to do 70 miles easy, even at highway speeds. To my surprise though, I was down to about one bar by the time I made it home, and I was started to worry a bit. Needles to say I was a bit disappointed that my range wasn't better than that, considering Nissan says it will do about 70 to 100 miles per charge. The Guess-O-Meter even starts off at 103 most of the time. I have to wonder if this is normal, as this really isn't going to be enough range for me. I guess I'll have to try the trip again at slower speeds. And what happens if I turn the AC on. I can generally live without heat, but I'm going to need some AC this summer.

I would love to hear everyone's thoughts.

Dave

 

[TomT]

The GOM is mostly worthless until you get down to the very low end of the battery. So is Nissan's 100 mile claim. Best to ignore them.

 

[DaveCox]

Thanks. I should've known.

Live and learn I guess!

 

[EdmondLeaf]

Dave,
Check this range chart, I assume your car is relatively new so you should be able to drive close to what Tony Williams determined
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/35284720/postfiles/leafcharts/LEAFrangeChartVersion7G100.pdf

 

[mkjayakumar]

Dave, the important question is what was the energy economy when you made that 46 mile trip ?

Try and keep it above 4.5 miles/kWh if possible to get a 70+ miles of mixed highway/back road driving

 

[DaveCox]

Hi Edmond.
I do have the range chart. According to that, I should be able to get 82 miles at 100%. I feel like I'm getting much less, though I do need to evaluate it more closely. Thanks for that though. Good information.

Hi mk,
Good to know. I know that I've been averaging around 3.6 miles/kWh. I'll watch that and see if I can get it closer to 4.5.

All good tips, and I really appreciate the good information.

Dave

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Hi Edmond.
I do have the range chart. According to that, I should be able to get 82 miles at 100%. I feel like I'm getting much less, though I do need to evaluate it more closely. Thanks for that though. Good information.

Hi mk,
Good to know. I know that I've been averaging around 3.6 miles/kWh. I'll watch that and see if I can get it closer to 4.5.

All good tips, and I really appreciate the good information.

Dave

i stretch my range limits a few times a week. most recent trip was Sunday drove 75.1 miles, averaged 4.2 miles/kwh and parked it at 18 GID which means i had another 3 miles or so before turtle.

if going by the GOM, (based on range estimate at LBW) i would have parked it 4 miles from home. best I can say is treat it like a neighbor you dont like. always be polite, but dont read too much into anything they have to say

 

[MrIanB]

Chili turned a year old last month. I average 4.5-5.0 m/kw on carwings. Work from home and my range is between 70-80 miles in flat land, rarely use a/c, speeds 35-45 mostly, 9,100 miles. I charge to 100% very time but, that is 2-3 times per week. Chili has been a good girl and never left me stranded. Need to test my 3 longest in town trips to see if I can still make them safely. No quick chargers in Cedar Park(TX), so I only charge at home w my EVSE upgraded cable. I am single and don't have a need or miss my ice 370z that I traded for Chili.

I have over $1,600 in my savings account from gas savings. I put $75 every paycheck in that account to represent gas expenses in the past.

Ian B

 

[wlegro]

Hi all. I named our new 2012 Leaf SL "Leafy." Original and creative, yeah? We can't figure out our mileage, but we're still in the noobie phase - got it Jan. 31, 2013. The miles the dash shows remaining is often (we're not always keeping track yet) far less than it should be after a trip. For example, my wife has an 18-mile roundtrip to work through LA city traffic. The flatlands are rolling terrain, and we live on a small hill. She always drives in Eco mode. Yesterday when she left the gauge showed 78 miles (when she got to the bottom of the hill, it showed 80. OK, I get that - regenerative braking). But when she got home, the gauge showed only 38. IOW, she traveled 18 miles but the gauge subtracted 40 miles.

From what I've read here, that gauge is undependable, and there are so many variables - she has to go up the small hill she went down in the morning, and she came home at night with the lights and radio on - but still...subtracting twice as many miles as you traveled? And the lights and radio are supposed to be powered by the 12-volt (though it's charged by the main battery. We don't charge above 80%, following Nissan's recommendations, and so far we've never let it fall below 28 miles remaining.

If the gauge is accurate, then isn't the car using twice as much energy as it should for the trip? And if it's inaccurate, does that mean that we actually have 60 miles left rather than the 38 showing (78 startup - 18 trip = 60)? But if that's so, why is it taking hours of trickle charging to get back to 80?

I'm positive all this has been addressed ad nauseam here, but after some searching I gave up for lack of time and patience and just decided to ask again, since there are always noobies coming on here anyway looking for answers. We love this car, so quiet and rides LA's Lagos-level streets like a Lexus, and we feel so virtuous. Our other car is a 2010 Prius, and I especially like passing by Priuses and feeling superior. (Yes, I'm immature...)