So, owners what range are you getting ?

[evnow]

Now that some of you have had the Leaf for some days, what is your estimate of the Range ?

Suggested format :

Starting SOC : 100% or 80%
Range (till battery low) :
Range (till turtle) :
Efficiency : miles/Kwh (from the dash, not carwings)
Driving : describe hwy/city/mixed/speeds here
Climate : Temperatures, use of climate control

Feel free to give multiple ranges under different conditions.

[leafme]

Now that some of you have had the Leaf for some days, what is your estimate of the Range ?

Malcolm's LEAF - Day 21.

Starting SOC : 100% or 80%
--- I've tried 80% but it's too marginal for me. With 34 miles daily plus unexpected 20 mi lunch trips with the climate control always on (I refuse to change my habits on this one since "fumes breathing" is not in my interest on the 85% freeway driving I do) 80% is not gonna work for me. Freeway travel for me is 67-68 mph. I've asked Nissan to provide a 90% charge capability for us marginal 80% 'ers. Hopefully it can be done at the dealer as a firmware push at some point.

Range (till battery low) :
--- 56 to 70 miles since my freeway driving as I indicated is 67-68 mph (go slower and MOST of the time you have to pay way too much attention the the cars practically sitting on your bumper). Waste of emotional energy for me.

Range (till turtle) :
--- Never been there but the one close call I had got to "---" (less than 6 miles) and I tried a few miles around the block near my house and gave up.

Driving : describe hwy/city/mixed/speeds here
--- Indicated above. Noted that with packed 20 mph freeway travel ya get GREAT range (duh, of course).

Climate : Temperatures, use of climate control
--- Always on. A/C works great, heater poor. According to my conversation with A Nissan VP today the heater should draw 3-4kw. I'll have to check for a few more days before I formally complain. In my 17 mile ride home at night in San Diego at 57 deg it takes more than 12 of the 17 miles of my trip to begin to warm up. Not adequate. Still wearing a jacket to boot.

Feel free to give multiple ranges under different conditions.
--- With non-freeway driving the game is WAY different. Maybe Randy can chime in here since he is 6 mi from work and does not need to use the freeway.

The car is great. Nissan did a GREAT job on this ride (missing motorized front driver seat being the only major exception).

Malcolm

[Skywagon]

Starting SOC : 100% or 80%
I typically use 80% most of the time as I have a 5 mile commute to work during the week. Most mornings my ECO mode range after an 80% charge is between 101 and 105 miles.

I have tried 100% SOC a couple of times and in town I only saw a 10-15 mile gain in range. That is mainly due to the lack of regenerative braking when you are topped off; that is where 80% SOC has its advantage for most of my driving. I have made some freeway runs at 65-70mph with mixed city driving and have seen mixed results. With climate control off I could see reaching 80 miles range doing nothing but freeway. I plan on staying off the freeways most of the time.

Range (till battery low) : I have only had the car below 33% once and that was after a 100% charge and travelling 45 miles on the freeway and 22 miles of city driving. I showed 19 miles remaining and I was given a caution warning to locate a charging station; that was right as I was pulling into my garage at home.

Range (till turtle) : I have never been that low and I never plan to be that low.

Driving : My main driving, as described above, is city driving between 45-48 mph. Phoenix is mainly a 1 mile grid of main streets with stoplights at those miles. Most of the time I am able to coast or regen to help time those lights. On my daily 5 mile commute I normally time the lights to where I stop 1-2 times.

Climate : So far I have only been pre-heating the car (15-20 minutes before I unplug and leave) and that has been perfect for my 5 mile commute (ambient temps are around 38 deg here lately - been getting the low ambient temp warning most mornings). When the summer comes I will be pre-cooling the cabin and using the A/C all the time.

Like Malcolm said there is a significant difference between freeway and city driving as far as range is concerned. And I am fortunate that Phoenix is relatively flat so I am not using extra energy to climb hills.

Overall the car is excellent! It replaced a 2009 Honda Fit perfectly for what I was using it for (12k-14k miles per year) and I rolled over 750 miles on it this morning after owning the car for 18 days... kind of shows how much I enjoy driving it. I still have a gas car that I have not driven at all since I took delivery of my LEAF... although it was a second/toy car all along.

[pksd1]

Now that some of you have had the Leaf for some days, what is your estimate of the Range ?

Malcolm's LEAF - Day 21.

Starting SOC : 100% or 80%
--- I've tried 80% but it's too marginal for me. With 34 miles daily plus unexpected 20 mi lunch trips with the climate control always on (I refuse to change my habits on this one since "fumes breathing" is not in my interest on the 85% freeway driving I do) 80% is not gonna work for me. Freeway travel for me is 67-68 mph. I've asked Nissan to provide a 90% charge capability for us marginal 80% 'ers. Hopefully it can be done at the dealer as a firmware push at some point.

Malcolm

Malcolm, Is this with ECO mode on or off....thanks.

[awolfe63]

Starting SOC : 80%
Range (till battery low) : 54 (16 left)
Range (till turtle) :
Driving : describe 95% hwy at 65
Climate : 50F - no heat on - radio and lights on.


Starting SOC : 80%
Range (till battery low) : 75 (16 left)
Range (till turtle) :
Driving : describe city streets and bumper-to bumper freeway mix
Climate : 50F - no heat on - radio and lights on.


These are all the numbers with ECO off.

BTW - I have never noticed the heat problem that others have. I have driven in 45F temps and never used the heat for more than 5 minutes. The car seems to stay warm for at least another 1/2 hour.

[kolmstead]

Starting SOC : 80%
Range (indicated): 75 mi
Range (till battery low) : 56-60 mi
Range (till turtle) : dunno
Driving : 55 mph highway (not freeway), VERY LIGHT traffic, cruise on, ECO usually on, maybe five stops, avg speed about 40 mph
Climate : preheat, but when it's near freezing outside, I need some more heat during the 17.6 mile drive.
Heater draws 1.5 kW.

Car says I've been getting 3.8-4.2 mi/kwh, with very high repeatability. I don't know where Carwings gets 4.8.

Ending SOC: 33%, about 26 estimated miles.

[leafme]

Now that some of you have had the Leaf for some days, what is your estimate of the Range ?

Malcolm's LEAF - Day 21.

Starting SOC : 100% or 80%
--- I've tried 80% but it's too marginal for me. With 34 miles daily plus unexpected 20 mi lunch trips with the climate control always on (I refuse to change my habits on this one since "fumes breathing" is not in my interest on the 85% freeway driving I do) 80% is not gonna work for me. Freeway travel for me is 67-68 mph. I've asked Nissan to provide a 90% charge capability for us marginal 80% 'ers. Hopefully it can be done at the dealer as a firmware push at some point.

Malcolm

Malcolm, Is this with ECO mode on or off....thanks.

Eco mode on. This is my normal operation. I think in 22 days I've only used non eco mode maybe 5 times and then for only a 1/2 mile burst (or less) showing someone what it can really do (though smashing the accelerator to the floor in eco mode practically gets you the same thing).

Malcolm

[leafme]

Starting SOC : 80%
Range (indicated): 75 mi
Range (till battery low) : 56-60 mi
Range (till turtle) : dunno
Driving : 55 mph highway (not freeway), VERY LIGHT traffic, cruise on, ECO usually on, maybe five stops, avg speed about 40 mph
Climate : preheat, but when it's near freezing outside, I need some more heat during the 17.6 mile drive.
Heater draws 1.5 kW.

Car says I've been getting 3.8-4.2 mi/kwh, with very high repeatability. I don't know where Carwings gets 4.8.

Ending SOC: 33%, about 26 estimated miles.

My heater draws 1.5 kW too but does not heat very well. Randy's pulls 3-4 kW and is quickly warm and is the value Nissan told me it should be pulling. I need to test some more.

Malcolm

[ruimegas]

No one ever get near at least 90 miles and if it did at what average speed and driving conditions?

Thanks

[kolmstead]

ruimegas: I drove 85 miles home from dealer; 55 mph, ECO on, cruise control on. 100% charge right before I left the dealer's. Low battery warning at about 79 miles. Estimated range was 12 miles when I stopped, for what that's worth. I could have gone 90, but it would have been very tight. Lower speed would help; I only dropped below 55 mph once during the trip.

Malcolm, I'm here for you, buddy! OAT around 25 degrees F this morning. I turned the heat up to max (89 degrees) and fan to max. Auto temp control off, because I don't like seeing the A/C light come on. Before I began, the climate control was drawing its usual 1.5 kw. Fan on low, temp set to about 64. As soon as I maxed temp and fan control, I saw 3 kw, then 4, 4.5, and maybe even 5 kw. At that point, the heater was consuming almost as much power as the traction motor, so I turned everything back down to normal. Residual heat kept things toasty for a few minutes after that. There is a minute or more of lag before you feel any change, up or down in temp.

-Karl