The issue of no Cool Air in "ON" Mode until 12 volt battery depletes

[DaveinOlyWA]

Thanks for the advice. I will try leaving it in Drive rather than "ON" I was under the impression that in Drive mode other systems are engaged that use alot more energy than if your in ON.

Regarding the 12 volt battery.. . I'm pretty sure the main battery kicks in well before the 12 volt is down to a level that will negatively impact it. "Depleted" was not a good choice of words... I think its more like as soon as the 12 volt can benefit from being charged, the system probably kicks in. I doubt the Leaf would be designed to wait until the 12 volt is at a point that could degrade its overall lifespan to then kick in the main recharge system.

I will try leaving it in Drive though and see how it effects the range. Right now in "ON" it seems to use about 7% per hour.

there are other systems on butthe downside is nowhere near the risk of replacing your 12 volt battery annually

 

[knightmb]

Yes, you can drive off without the keys if the car is left in "ready" mode. I did it right after we got the car and my wife left it on while we switched cars (she had the key in her purse), and I drove it several miles with no key in the car. There was a warning on the dash that there was no key sensed in the car. This was in a 2013.

Yeah, I see what happened in my situation. My wife had the car on but not in drive mode. I was trying to switch to R, D, etc. and it would only go into neutral. Everything appeared to be on, but it was in that "in-between" mode where everything is on except the main battery pack. I am actually glad I checked it again just now after you mentioned this because we were both under the impression that the key was absolutely required to drive it, but now I know it is only required to start it in "drive" mode first. It also shows my wife still has a thing or two to learn about the Leaf, LOL, thanks for setting me straight on this. Hopefully this didn't go too far off the subject.

 

[BrockWI]

Still off topic (sort of) but I have found on our 13 if the car is in drive and the key "leaves" the car (in my wife's purse) the car will stay in drive but once you put it in neutral or park, your stuck until the car finds the key again. I assume they did this in case someone threw the key out the window while driving? But if your in neutral or park and the key leaves, that's where the car will will stay.

 

[GerryAZ]

Still off topic (sort of) but I have found on our 13 if the car is in drive and the key "leaves" the car (in my wife's purse) the car will stay in drive but once you put it in neutral or park, your stuck until the car finds the key again. I assume they did this in case someone threw the key out the window while driving? But if your in neutral or park and the key leaves, that's where the car will will stay.

I just tried my 2015 and it works the way I remember the 2011 worked. If the car is in READY mode (fully ready to drive), I can put my foot on the brake and shift from PARK to DRIVE, REVERSE, or B mode (and back and forth between any of them) while I still have the KEY NOT DETECTED message on the dash. If the car is in ON instead of READY mode, I think it just shifts to NEUTRAL.

Gerry

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Still off topic (sort of) but I have found on our 13 if the car is in drive and the key "leaves" the car (in my wife's purse) the car will stay in drive but once you put it in neutral or park, your stuck until the car finds the key again. I assume they did this in case someone threw the key out the window while driving? But if your in neutral or park and the key leaves, that's where the car will will stay.

not correct. After its "started" its like any keyless system, the car will drive as normal until shutoff.

This should make sense since starting the car when your FOBs battery is dead requires you to hold FOB up to start button. This would be "somewhat" inconvenient if you had to do this every time you shifted.