Still confused by ON/LOCK and Park modes

After driving for a day, I'm still no closer to understanding the Park function in the Leaf, and the difference between the ON and LOCK states of the power switch.

The manual is clear about putting the car in Park (park button) before turning Off, otherwise you can't enter "LOCK" mode.

Here are the two "after drive" methods I've tried:

1) Apply foot brake
2) Turn car OFF by pushing power button.
3) Get out of car.

1) Apply foot brake
2) Push the Park button on the selector knob
3) Turn car OFF (LOCK?) by pushing power button
4) Get out of car

Both had an identical 'feel' of the car rolling back briefly onto some kind of transmission pawl or stop. It doesn't seem the Park mode has any influence. In both cases, the Off, closed, and armed appeared the same, so I question whether there is a difference between LOCK and OFF states at all.

Anyone want to weigh in? I'm still perplexed by what is required, what is optional, and what is pointless. At this point, I'd say Park is pointless.

Foot brake, parking brake, OFF, sounds like the way to go.

GroundLoop said:

Anyone want to weigh in? I'm still perplexed by what is required, what is optional, and what is pointless. At this point, I'd say Park is pointless.

Foot brake, parking brake, OFF, sounds like the way to go.

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From what I've felt, I would go foot brake; parking brake; PARK; and then off. I've had the car roll against that pawl (uphill driveway) and I don't like the way it feels.

The park button is probably only needed if you want to park the car and leave it [and the accessories] on with your feet off the pedals [so you can sit and listen to the radio or whatever]... turning the car off probably always puts it in park automatically.

...and yes you should always set your parking brake on hills.

It is good to get in the habit as mwalsh says of foot brake; parking brake; PARK; and then off. One night I set the parking brake and then forgot the "Off" and the next morning saw that the car had been "On" all night. I didn't get as much charge as I thought I would. If you're sitting waiting for your wife to come out of a store, I go through the above ritual and then push the "On" button twice. This allows me to listen to the radio and to adjust the windows without having the car "On". When she gets in the car I push the "On" button once to go back to LOCK and then repeat the start procedure to get it running again.

Strongly suggest getting in the habit of setting the Parking Brake
(a momentary "Up" on the switch-lever just in front of the center Arm Rest).

garygid said:

Strongly suggest getting in the habit of setting the Parking Brake
(a momentary "Up" on the switch-lever just in front of the center Arm Rest).

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It's funny how I've had that habit in all the other cars I've owned, but for some reason the electronic parking brake in the Leaf just annoys me and I haven't been using it unless necessary (such as parking on a hill). Don't really know why, it just bugs me.

I rarely park on a slope, so I got into the sloppy habit of ignoring the parking brake after I stopped driving stick shifts. But if I do park on a slope, it "feels" odd to me, and that's enough to trigger the old parking brake and turn the wheels instinct. At least that's the way it's been with my previous vehicles over the past ten years; I haven't parked my new LEAF on a slope yet, but I expect I will react the same way.

As kballs suggested, I have already used the park button a few times:
- waiting at a fast food drive-up window while I pulled out my wallet and change, and got my food
- two blocks from home, wife remembered something she needed. I left the car on and pressed park while she dashed in to get it.
- a block from home (another time) I figured out that a warning triangle and a picture on the dash I was seeing meant the hatch wasn't closed properly. I pulled over to the curb, pushed the park button and left my wife listening to the radio while I checked. Sure enough, it was a "half latched hatch lift". [Try saying that three times quickly!]

Ray

blorg said:

It's funny how I've had that habit in all the other cars I've owned, but for some reason the electronic parking brake in the Leaf just annoys me and I haven't been using it unless necessary (such as parking on a hill). Don't really know why, it just bugs me.

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Remember, a big difference between the LEAF's parking brake and an ICE's is the LEAF's will automatically release when you go forward or reverse. It isn't necessary to push down on the lever to release it.

Funny, I never thought of switching off the car without putting the car in Park first. Old habits ...

evnow said:

Funny, I never thought of switching off the car without putting the car in Park first. Old habits ...

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The Prius will also auto-park when you power off, so I've gotten used to that and don't even think twice about it. I guess that's just one of the advantages between an actual transmission and a CVT (or no transmission).

blorg said:

It's funny how I've had that habit in all the other cars I've owned, but for some reason the electronic parking brake in the Leaf just annoys me and I haven't been using it unless necessary (such as parking on a hill). Don't really know why, it just bugs me.

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Yup. I suspect it's something to do with having to wait for a light/confirmation.
On my other cars, even automatics, I just yank the handle upward and go. It's mechanically complete when I let go.

Really, the Leaf just just Do It all by itself. Car turning off? Engage parking brake. It already does the other half.

One thing I didn't check -- does the parking brake release itself if you put it in Reverse? Or is it forward Drive only?

GroundLoop said:

One thing I didn't check -- does the parking brake release itself if you put it in Reverse? Or is it forward Drive only?

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Guess you missed my post. It's both.

LEAFfan said:

GroundLoop said:

One thing I didn't check -- does the parking brake release itself if you put it in Reverse? Or is it forward Drive only?

Click to expand...

Guess you missed my post. It's both.

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Yes, it's both, but I guess that's the part that throws me off. Because it's not a big lever or a foot pedal, I always forget that it's on, and then start to go, feel the tug, go to turn it off (with my hand) and it's already releasing... It just kind of short circuits my brain, I guess.

I think another aspect to it (for me) is that with a pedal/lever I can "feel" how hard the brake is engaging. Just pushing a rocker-switch doesn't feel like I'm actually engaging a parking brake.

I guess I'm just crossing over to the "I'm an old fart and new-fangled things are troubling" time in my life...

I suppose that the center button "P" switch may be a cost cutting measure, but if it is not, I would find it more intuitive to have a floor mounted automatic shift lever with the "P" at the top then "N", "R", "D" and "ECO". It has taken me awhile to get forward and reverse down pat.

You're just not old enough. I remember when shift patterns used to look like this:



I haven't been able to find second or high gears on the LEAF, yet, but I'm still looking .

Ray

Audi has the same electronic brake.

it is not just an EV thing.

Ray, I'm so old I remember when it was three speeds on the column. In fact I converted a 1968 Rambler to a three speed floor shift because the column shifters often got hung up and you couldn't shift quickly with them.

ERG4ALL said:

Ray, I'm so old I remember when it was three speeds on the column.

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I must be older because my first car was a '62 Ford Falcon that had 3 speeds and reverse on the column.

Actually, the first car I owned was a 4-speed stick shift -- a LONG stick going all the way to the floor. Yes, it was a '61 VW bug. But back in the '50s I was driving a couple of my Dad's cars with column shifts.

However, we're getting way off topic here. Sorry I brought it up; my point was only that the LEAF shift pattern is reminiscent of a common 3-speed H pattern, except that the right side of the H is missing.

Ray

ERG4ALL said:

It is good to get in the habit as mwalsh says of foot brake; parking brake; PARK; and then off.

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The owner's manual says to, with the foot brake depressed, "P-then-parking-brake" (page EV-18). It also recommends "parking brake-then-P" when parking on hills (page 5-20).

GroundLoop said:

One thing I didn't check -- does the parking brake release itself if you put it in Reverse? Or is it forward Drive only?

Click to expand...

LEAFfan said:

Guess you missed my post. It's both.

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Also note that this will happen only if the driver's seat belt is fastened. If the driver's seat belt is not fastened, the parking will not auto-release and you will get the "parking brake on" warning chime.