Linearity of GOM and SOC

I usually drive to town (30 miles away), do errands while charging, and drive home. I want to evaluate whether I could do this without charging up.

Today, I had 72 miles of range on the GOM when I started home, and 32 miles of range when I arrived. Other things being equal, if I had 52 miles of range when I left for home, would I be likely to have 12 miles of range remaining when I got home?

Thanks.

More technical/experienced people should chime in shortly. But I recall reading somewhere here that the GOM in particular is not linear and that as the battery gets low, it deliberately gives a shorter range to prompt you to seek charging. The SOC or even better, the LeafSpy, supposedly provides more accuracy.

Note: Often all other things aren't equal. When I used the leaf for my commute, I routinely got better miles per kwh going to work than back due to a change in elevation - something I never noticed when I was driving my ICEV. Such a difference in efficiency can play a big impact on the GOM's range readings as the car seems to constantly update the expected range based on the most recent driving pattern.

Before the storm of "GOM is worthless" posts, I would say that the only way to answer your hypothetical question about what happens when you start off with a lower estimated starting range is to do it empirically.

<gets on soapbox>I think some of these concerns are caused by the granularity of displays now. I do remember highly inaccurate gas gauges where the needle got stuck or bounced up and down. There was no way we could look at them and say, "49 miles and we have to find a gas station!" Digital information coupled with lack of charging infrastructure and tiny electric range in a big country makes for concern which didn't exist in the gasoline past.
<steps off soapbox>

PianoAl said:

I usually drive to town (30 miles away), do errands while charging, and drive home. I want to evaluate whether I could do this without charging up.

Today, I had 72 miles of range on the GOM when I started home, and 32 miles of range when I arrived. Other things being equal, if I had 52 miles of range when I left for home, would I be likely to have 12 miles of range remaining when I got home?

Thanks.

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The GOM is not linear with the SOC. The GOM display is usually overly optimistic, but can be quite pessimistic, depending on your most recent driving habits. The more important number to watch is the SOC. If your SOC is 50% or below when you reach town, then you definitely need to charge before heading home. If the SOC is 60% or higher, then you should be able to get home without charging, depending on road and weather conditions and how you drive. Other factors can come into play that affect the need to charge, such as an elevation rise or high speed highway driving on the return trip.

I basically never use/look at the GOM anymore, instead I use the SOC%. As said above if I get to my destination(1/2 way point) and I've used less than 50% of whatever the battery was at the beginning, I figure I'm good(I believe the SOC is quite linear). Actually I'd prefer a extra 5-10% in case of emergencies but you get the drift. As said the GOM can be overly optimistic when you first start out and overly pessimistic towards the end, making for much unneeded anxiety, IMO no the GOM is not linear at all, hence the G in GOM :lol:

of course you would as long as the bold is true... good luck with that.

things to think about; maintaining static conditions is a toughy. you might want to brush up on your meterological skills.

you can always boost your range by simply driving more economically. remember the posted speed limit is the maximum, not the minimum.

in a few years or less, you will have to charge. Keep in mind; not charging now only increases the possibility that that charger might not be there due to underuse... how likely is that? dk, but it is a factor to consider. A well used charger is more likely to remain. its simple logistics. Now, in some areas, you would be simply reducing the queue for others to charge by not charging and this is what I would elect. But then again, I have LEAF Spy so the GOM is something I don't pay that much attention to

DaveinOlyWA said:

remember the posted speed limit is the maximum, not the minimum.

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While technically true, it can be rather dangerous in some places to go below that if there are people behind you. Pretty much anywhere in California, you are at risk of serious road rage doing that. And sadly, it doesn't matter if there is another lane they can use to pass - they still get pissy about it.

IMO, safety trumps efficiency when making driving decisions.

DarthPuppy said:

DaveinOlyWA said:

remember the posted speed limit is the maximum, not the minimum.

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While technically true, it can be rather dangerous in some places to go below that if there are people behind you. Pretty much anywhere in California, you are at risk of serious road rage doing that. And sadly, it doesn't matter if there is another lane they can use to pass - they still get pissy about it.

IMO, safety trumps efficiency when making driving decisions.

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It is never unsafe to drive below the speed limit. This is a fallacy. Safety issues are caused by people tailgating or others who choose to ignore the speed limit.

Road Rage is nothing more than another facet of "entitlement"

"Its ok to break the law because I have a schedule to maintain which is more important"

"Its ok to cut someone off because what I have to do is more important"

"its ok to speed because that is how its done"

all those "reasons" are why road rage exists. Raise a child with the strictly enforced rule of one hour of TV per day after dinner and they are fine. Try implementing that when they are 10 after they have had no restrictions and what do you get?

entitlement rage... nothing different from road rage except that we are born and bred to believe that individual needs and rights supercedes all others which is why we deal with questions of racism, prejudices, reverse discrimination, etc. Here is where most of our money goes. defining what is right. Its not creating "right" its defining right. Well guess what? Its not our job. The Courts take care of that, but nowdays...Every one is a lawyer, including you

if you are not condoning speeding, great! but implying its dangerous to follow the laws is just wrong. Feeling like you might get run over is just crazy. Driving faster to keep up is just stupid

Well said, Dave. Thank you. More enforcement of speed laws would be helpful, too. WAY too many people have NO consequences for speeding and acting like assholes behind the wheel.

One thing not mentioned... elevation. Are you going up or down 1 way vs. the other way?

finman100 said:

Well said, Dave. Thank you. More enforcement of speed laws would be helpful, too. WAY too many people have NO consequences for speeding and acting like assholes behind the wheel.

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Concur - more enforcement is appropriate. Sadly the cat is already out of the bag in places like California. For those in Washington, hopefully you've got it under better control. And yes, society's trend toward no restriction parenting is likely contributing greatly to this debacle.

I have a MY13 SL. Should my GOM still be showing 88 miles range (seems a bit high!) when fully charged, even though I have lost the 1st bar? And does the GOM adjust itself (drop) once it knows a bar is lost?

jdcbomb said:

I have a MY13 SL. Should my GOM still be showing 88 miles range (seems a bit high!) when fully charged, even though I have lost the 1st bar? And does the GOM adjust itself (drop) once it knows a bar is lost?

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It's mostly based on recent driving style.

If you drove down hill or very slow right before charging your car, even with 1 bar loss, could still read 90+ miles on the GOM. Go drive on the freeway for 40 miles @ 70 mph and then charge and it will probably only say 50 miles on the GOM.

The GOM tends to converge with actual, real-world available range as you drive. Thus the reading at the end of a trip (where it does the least good) tends to be the most accurate one. So the GOM reading at the end of a typical trip, added to the actual miles driven on that trip, gives a pretty good idea of actual range for your driving habits, on that route. The easier way, though, as someone recently pointed out here, is to use the range display button on the wheel, and use the inner circle of range estimation.

I almost think that the GOM is related to battery health. My Leaf has 110% health, and with 100% charge, the GOM shows 122 miles of range. I have seen some used Leafs for sale, and the GOM range is lower than the state of charge....

I suspect that the GUESS O RANGE meter calculates by the strength of the battery when a load is place on it??

On my 2016 the GOM is pretty accurate so long as my driving is my typical mixed urban and highway. It seems to be based on a recent rolling average m/kWh multiplied by estimated remaining kWh in the pack.

gshepherd said:

On my 2016 the GOM is pretty accurate so long as my driving is my typical mixed urban and highway. It seems to be based on a recent rolling average m/kWh multiplied by estimated remaining kWh in the pack.

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exactly which by definition means the GOM is providing you a range with the assumption that your driving conditions will not change which in itself is ludicrous.

The best GOM money can buy is the one in your head.

My GOM this morning gave me a 26 mile range while LeafSpyPro was reporting that I have 5kWh left in the battery. LSP was giving a range of 12 mi to VLBW and 17mi to turtle, based upon 4.0mi/kWh (although I'd averaged 4.3 over the 63 miles since I last charged). I've never driven over 6mi/kWh for any real trip, so I don't how the GOM expects me to get 26 miles.

Others have said that GOM is non-linear. True.

However, the state-of-charge bars are mostly linear. There are 12 bars and roughly 6 miles per bar with a new battery. My advice is to rely on those bars.

My estimate of 6 miles per bar is only right for me, the way I drive, with the kinds of trips I take, in my car with my battery today. You need to get the right number for yourself. It may be 5.2 for you, or it may be 7.4. But it is easy to determine. Reset the trip odometer when a bar disappears, continue driving your usual routes, and note the trip odometer when the next bar disappears.

By bar, I mean the state-of-charge bar, not the battery-health bar. Yes, this is very confusing and in my opinion, Nissan should improve on this in the future. In my opinion, battery health should be buried in menus and state of charge should be more prominent and have more resolution.

Yes, LeafSpyPro is the best way to judge range, but you may not have that on the dashboard at all times.

Bob

Gwarsh Mickey, it all depends on how / where you drive. Or mostly.

Traffic, wind, acceleration , braking, speed, and route all affect your energy use and your range.
did you forget to take it out of B mode.. so it's braking every time you let up..and then you have to goose it
to keep the speed up ?

did pokey up ahead tick you off and you zoomed around him.

Just experiment and keep a little note book.. till you get familiar with the use on familiar routes.