So, owners what range are you getting ?

[ERG4ALL]

Gascant wroteay 2 of commuting--when I checked the owners portal this morning it said I had 100% charge but only 61 miles of range. I fretted all through breakfast and my shower, only to find that I actually had 97 miles range when I started (or booted up) the LEAF.

Did you just get off the freeway when you parked the LEAF the night before? My experience has been that the computer will use what it last saw. If you came home just off the freeway, it could read very low because it doesn't know that you were also going to use surface streets. Once you start out it recomputes based on the immediate driving style. I too have noticed that as soon as I put the car in Park that the range decreases by a few miles. I'm not sure why that happens, maybe it thinks you're going to idle for awhile and the engine fans/pumps still keep running until you turn the car off so it decreases the range.

 

[smkettner]

Would other Leaf owners please post to this thread with your range experiences? I think this would be a valuable thread for people that may be considering the purchase of a Leaf.

I just got mine yesterday and I see no reason with conservative driving that the Leaf will not go 100 miles.
There is nothing deceptive about the range. Nissan's description is perfectly valid.
If someone does not get the full range then it is an issue with the driving style not the car.

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

Would other Leaf owners please post to this thread with your range experiences? I think this would be a valuable thread for people that may be considering the purchase of a Leaf.

I just got mine yesterday and I see no reason with conservative driving that the Leaf will not go 100 miles.
There is nothing deceptive about the range. Nissan's description is perfectly valid.
If someone does not get the full range then it is an issue with the driving style not the car.

I share the reflex to defend EV and the Leaf, however, realistic expectations are the key to happy customers, IMHO. I think you can expect to get up to 100 miles max, on occasion, if you push it, but no car company guarantees the range, whether MPG or MPK, of their vehicles. I think you risk making people feel somehow inadequate with their driving style and or creating frustrating false expectations by being too optimistic until we see what these cars do once they are broken in.

A lot of factors effect range beyond driving style and with gas cars, there are enough stations everywhere that range is just not the focus even though there is dramatic difference in range between cars of even the same make and model. the route of one's commute, headwind vs tailwind, rain, temperature, the number of hills, overall elevation gain, how broken in the drive train is and eventually how worn the drive train is will all effect range.

So far, I've been able to get about 70 miles on the highway before the range drops to where the low battery alerts start chiming in, then again, I've only got 400 miles on the car. On a gas car you really should put 15,000 miles on it before you see what the actual mileage will be. I'm not sure what the break in period for a Leaf is, at what point it will be at it's peak performance. Consumer Reports puts the Leaf's range at 70 to 80 miles under typical use, the EPA's range estimate is 73 miles... I'm coming in at this range driving about as conservatively as I can with no accessories on. Personally, I think these are more realistic expectations even with conservative driving but I presume the mileage will get better once there is less friction after break in.

this care is awesome for what it's designed to do and it has limits and so far is doing what I expected it to do in the real world; I did my best to get into it with my eyes wide open.

George

 

[ERG4ALL]

I have over 2,300 miles on ours now. My "seat-of-the-pants" reaction is that the miles/kWh did seem to get better as it got broken in. When I started I was getting 3.5 mi/kWH and now I'm around 4.5. However, that could just be because I use the energy read-outs extensively and I'm sure that improving my driving skills has something to do with it.

 

[gascant]

Gascant wroteay 2 of commuting--when I checked the owners portal this morning it said I had 100% charge but only 61 miles of range. I fretted all through breakfast and my shower, only to find that I actually had 97 miles range when I started (or booted up) the LEAF.

Did you just get off the freeway when you parked the LEAF the night before? My experience has been that the computer will use what it last saw. If you came home just off the freeway, it could read very low because it doesn't know that you were also going to use surface streets. Once you start out it recomputes based on the immediate driving style. I too have noticed that as soon as I put the car in Park that the range decreases by a few miles. I'm not sure why that happens, maybe it thinks you're going to idle for awhile and the engine fans/pumps still keep running until you turn the car off so it decreases the range.

I did about 4 miles on surface streets before pulling into the garage. It did the same thing 2 days in a row, telling me on day 3 that I had only 56 miles of range at 100% charge. I ignore it now--when I get in the car, I show 97-105 miles depending on whether I select D or ECO.

Today's commute--nice weather both directions (sunny and 65 coming home) and even with doing 3 miles at lunch on a demo, I arrived home with 27 miles range and 3 SOC bars left.

 

[gbarry42]

I too have noticed that as soon as I put the car in Park that the range decreases by a few miles. I'm not sure why that happens

It took me a few days to figure this one out. When you go to Park, it goes back to using "D" as a reference. You can verify this by shifting to D, looking at the number, and then shifting to ECO. Watch the number as you shift to P, and you'll see it revert to the "D" number.

 

[SparkyEV]

San Diego is a great market for EV's and has fairly moderate terrain. We do a mix a freeway driving and surface streets but a round trip has nearly identical elevation changes up and down. We do a lot of coasting to take advantage of the regen.

Well, I wouldn't call San Diego 'moderate terrain,' and I lived there for several years. If you ranked the 30 largest metro areas in the US by elevation changes, I'll bet SD would rank high on the list. Climbing those hills is a big range killer, and you only get a fraction of it back with regen.

 

[uwskier20]

I've had the car nearly a week now, and have been able to complete my daily roundtrip commute of 50 miles with no problems or worries. About 40 miles of it is freeway driving with a (600ft gain/loss). My driving habits have not changed, sticking to 65ish with climate control on. I get home with 4-5 SOC bars remaining.

My big test came this weekend with a drive down to the in-laws in Kent (80 mile roundtrip). With four hours of trickle charging there, and driving in ECO mode with just the fan on (no heat/air cond.), it worked great. The 100' reel of extension cord (for emergencies such as visits to the in-laws) fits perfectly in the cargo organizer.

So far, very impressed here. Been averaging about 3.9 mi/kwh, according to the dash. Not too shabby. That comes to around 2-3 cents per mile at our electrical rates.

 

[gascant]

Gascant wroteay 2 of commuting--when I checked the owners portal this morning it said I had 100% charge but only 61 miles of range. I fretted all through breakfast and my shower, only to find that I actually had 97 miles range when I started (or booted up) the LEAF.

Did you just get off the freeway when you parked the LEAF the night before? My experience has been that the computer will use what it last saw. If you came home just off the freeway, it could read very low because it doesn't know that you were also going to use surface streets. Once you start out it recomputes based on the immediate driving style. I too have noticed that as soon as I put the car in Park that the range decreases by a few miles. I'm not sure why that happens, maybe it thinks you're going to idle for awhile and the engine fans/pumps still keep running until you turn the car off so it decreases the range.

Started today at 123 miles range but it dropped like a rock right from the get-go. Anyway, I think the reason why range drops when you go to park is that you've been driving in ECO mode for quite a distance. When you go to Park, it's probably assuming that you're going to start out in D instead of ECO. I did this today--had 63 miles left when I arrived at work, but that dropped to 58 in Park. Then, when I started the drive home in ECO, it went back up to 63.

 

[gbarry42]

You're looking at two different problems, there. The business about Park is real; but that other one has to do with the fact that the Carwings range reading doesn't get updated until you go out and turn the car on. This morning I had 100% charge...and 3 (count 'em, three) miles of range available. Now, that deserves a smiley :lol: Where do they get this stuff? There's a clue there, but I don't know what it is.

 

[gascant]

You're looking at two different problems, there. The business about Park is real; but that other one has to do with the fact that the Carwings range reading doesn't get updated until you go out and turn the car on. This morning I had 100% charge...and 3 (count 'em, three) miles of range available. Now, that deserves a smiley :lol: Where do they get this stuff? There's a clue there, but I don't know what it is.

It's Carwings that's clueless, not you
But I'll have to go some way to top your 3 mile range with 100% charge.

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

I've noticed with carwings on my phone that I get totally wacky readings once the charge is complete. this is remedied by clicking back and forth a time or two between trickly and normal charging, which seems to immediately update the reading... seems like a simple bug to me, probably get fixed in an update.

g

 

[TonyWilliams]

But I'll have to go some way to top your 3 mile range with 100% charge.

Here ya go!!

 

[gascant]

But I'll have to go some way to top your 3 mile range with 100% charge.

Here ya go!!

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
OK, I give up!
Today was my best commute yet--61 miles RT from 100% charge, arrived home with 32 miles and 4 SOC bars left. Still keeping freeway speed to 60 mph and driving in ECO mode.

 

[leafme]

I've had the car nearly a week now, and have been able to complete my daily round trip commute of 50 miles with no problems or worries. About 40 miles of it is freeway driving with a (600ft gain/loss). My driving habits have not changed, sticking to 65ish with climate control on. I get home with 4-5 SOC bars remaining.

My big test came this weekend with a drive down to the in-laws in Kent (80 mile roundtrip). With four hours of trickle charging there, and driving in ECO mode with just the fan on (no heat/air cond.), it worked great. The 100' reel of extension cord (for emergencies such as visits to the in-laws) fits perfectly in the cargo organizer.

So far, very impressed here. Been averaging about 3.9 mi/kwh, according to the dash. Not too shabby. That comes to around 2-3 cents per mile at our electrical rates.

The LEAF dash numbers are not indicative of the price we pay for the miles we travel. We all need to divide the odometer change by the meter kwh change to find the distance we get per energy unit "converted" (some might say "used"). That, times the energy rate truly reflects our cost for how far we traveled. I often see 3.4 to 3.6 mi/kwh in the dash display but for what's passing through my utility EVSE meter and the miles I've actually driven, my number is 2.9 to 3.0 mi/kwh. This is after 4,000+ miles (4.75 months) of driving experience. The dash value ignores (in my case) the energy dissipated by the Blink and probably some other small amount that gets "eaten up" somewhere along the way that the car does not take into account. Now the Blink is not Nissan's fault of course as Nissan has no control of how much juice the EVSE "eats" (in the case of any EVSE that is not the one supplied with the vehicle) so the dash is a bit closer to reality but still a tad bit high (but not by that much).

I drive 68-69 mph avg with 80% freeway miles about 6 days a week with the climate control and the music on most of the time in San Diego, California. With an 80% charge I can get 58 miles, with 100% charge I can get 70... maybe a tad more but I (almost) never go below 2 bars (have not yet had the software upgrade). Works fine for my typical 35 mi daily work commute. I would absolutely buy this car again in a minute if I had to do it all over again knowing what I know now.

Malcolm

 

[anandkris]

Very very strange. First of all, I see no correlation on what Carwings reports as range and what the car actually tells me as range. I thought Carwings reported normal mode of drive and in eco mode obviously it is more. Not the case! Car usually reports 2-5miles extra.

I take the same commute route everyday (I owned Leaf only for 3 weeks now). It is, Start at Stevens Creek, short stretch into Hwy 85, take 280 S, take lawrence and exit at 101. The overall commute is ~11miles. I get ~6miles/KWh on the onward commute (9:30AM). I come back ~5-5:30PM. I take exactly the same route in reverse. I get only 4.7miles/KWh. Why is that? The driving pattern and the traffic is all the same. Only difference is while starting in the morning, it is cool (55F) and SOC is 100%. While coming back, it is warm-->hot (72F-75F) and SOC is 95+%. For example, if I start with a range of 101miles in the morning, upon reaching work it still shows as 101miles, most of miles are regened. But when I come back with a start range of 101 miles, it drops to 77miles when I reach home. 24 miles!

One more thing I noticed is when the mileage is above 5.5miles/KWh, the car regens and break evens.

Anyone else has similar experience?

 

[thankyouOB]

I agree with those who say range on the displays is sort of phony.

Over a commute, when you get regen, it puts back power, but it also causes an immediate recalc of how much range you will get and the overall number exaggerates the value of the regen.
that can be seen when you are regening on a city street then get on the freeway and the range drops -- not only cause you burned the regen but because you changed the divisor in the calculation.

i go about 55 miles rdtrp to work, 90% freeway, but some of that is in 20-40 mph jams. i do not cruise above 63 mph though i do do bursts of higher speeds. i use radio, and the ac when on freeway.
i charge to 80% and routinely get home with 20 miles left and two bars.
so i use 8 bars for about 7 miles a bar. I figure I can go 100 miles without a problem, if there is a charger at the other end.

in the wet, it is a whole different story.

 

[ERG4ALL]

Anandkris wrote:

I get ~6miles/KWh on the onward commute (9:30AM). I come back ~5-5:30PM. I take exactly the same route in reverse. I get only 4.7miles/KWh. Why is that?

I had an experience that may be a factor. We were going to another town about 20+ miles away and hadn't had time to top off our LEAF. We were going to meet some out-ot-town friends at their motel and go out to dinner. As we were going, our miles/kWh were not good and it looked like we wouldn't have enough juice to get back home, so we called the friends and asked them to meet us at the restaurant to cut down on the miles we had to drive. We had dinner and then drove all the way home at a high miles/kWh and pulled into the garage with 19 miles left. The difference was that the trip out was at a very gradual uphill trip and the downhill on the way back. The elevation change was so slight that I didn't even notice it, but the LEAF surely did.

 

[planet4ever]

Very very strange. First of all, I see no correlation on what Carwings reports as range and what the car actually tells me as range. I thought Carwings reported normal mode of drive and in eco mode obviously it is more. Not the case! Car usually reports 2-5miles extra.

<snip>

Anyone else has similar experience?

I thought the general consensus on this board was that the numbers reported by CARWINGS were totally bonkers. Surely there has to be a bug, if not more than one, in their calculations. One theory is that they are double counting regeneration.

Ray

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Very very strange. First of all, I see no correlation on what Carwings reports as range and what the car actually tells me as range. I thought Carwings reported normal mode of drive and in eco mode obviously it is more. Not the case! Car usually reports 2-5miles extra.

I take the same commute route everyday (I owned Leaf only for 3 weeks now). It is, Start at Stevens Creek, short stretch into Hwy 85, take 280 S, take lawrence and exit at 101. The overall commute is ~11miles. I get ~6miles/KWh on the onward commute (9:30AM). I come back ~5-5:30PM. I take exactly the same route in reverse. I get only 4.7miles/KWh. Why is that? The driving pattern and the traffic is all the same. Only difference is while starting in the morning, it is cool (55F) and SOC is 100%. While coming back, it is warm-->hot (72F-75F) and SOC is 95+%. For example, if I start with a range of 101miles in the morning, upon reaching work it still shows as 101miles, most of miles are regened. But when I come back with a start range of 101 miles, it drops to 77miles when I reach home. 24 miles!

One more thing I noticed is when the mileage is above 5.5miles/KWh, the car regens and break evens.

Anyone else has similar experience?

your experience is normal. changes in direction means changes in elevation, changes in prevailing wind directions, etc. all of which affects your efficiency. if you can, try reversing the route times and directions. see if that makes a difference. i doubt it will. one direction is slightly uphill and probably upwind as well.