RANGE better than stated

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jstack6

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 21, 2010
Messages
137
Location
Chandler Arizona
The range of my LEAF has been incredible. By driving in ECO mode and on local roads instead of the interstate I have gone 90 miles and still show 41 miles left. Looking in the book it states under ideal conditions you can get up to 138 miles on a charge.

This has been one of the many items I find exceed the hype and information avaiable to the general public. The range can also be lowwer if your in a Winter area with snow, cold and wind. Where I live in Arizona it's have been perfect for the last month or more. We have very few hills and traffic flow pretty good most of the time. We'll see what summer heat does.
 
jstack6 said:
The range of my LEAF has been incredible. By driving in ECO mode and on local roads instead of the interstate I have gone 90 miles and still show 41 miles left. Looking in the book it states under ideal conditions you can get up to 138 miles on a charge.

Amazing, and good to hear.

Everyone, repeat after me:

YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY!

YMMV -- my new license plate!
 
jstack6 said:
The range of my LEAF has been incredible. By driving in ECO mode and on local roads instead of the interstate I have gone 90 miles and still show 41 miles left. Looking in the book it states under ideal conditions you can get up to 138 miles on a charge.
Just a heads up, it's going to be difficult to traumatize your kids with range like that. I suggest you push it to say 140 miles and ignore all the alarms.
 
What is the maximum range on the Leaf?, see my comment here:

http://blogs.insideline.com/roadtests/2011/04/2011-nissan-leaf-how-to-get-to-fontana.html#comments
 
One QC near the track would eliminate the hauling, right?

A good example of the GREAT benefits of a good QC infrastructure.

No, a L2 EVSE would not really help (too slow), even at 6.6 kW.
 
i have no range complaints as i pretty much knew what the Leaf would do long before i got it, but i have also noticed an improvement in range as the weather gets warmer
 
On two routes with varied terrain and driving at about the same speeds two different drivers can have vary different results, there are some out there that do not know how to drive efficiently particularly with any type of small to large incline. Pedal position is very important in these cases and holding a few extra MPH can result in 30-40% more power consumption. I believe I posted these type of comments in the very beginning of the forum and everyone thought I was crazy, they also did not believe my range estimates for the LEAF. Even if you tell people the reality of rage on an EV they won't hear you if they WANT it badly and then they bitch after the reality sinks in, I've seen that look in many an EV drivers eyes year after year. I know that some people have an issue with being candid but some people think they are driving efficiently but they are not and they lack the proper understanding or skills. The LEAF could have better feedback tools for this as well but it does not and frankly some people will not accept the efficiency sensitivity of an EV.
 
EVDRIVER said:
The LEAF could have better feedback tools for this as well but it does not and frankly some people will not accept the efficiency sensitivity of an EV.
It's not really more sensitive, the sample size is just a lot smaller... I'm driving with only one gallon of "fuel" now instead of the usual 12 in my old Subaru.

After driving the LEAF for a couple of weeks, I'm starting to wonder how much better my fuel economy would have been if I had the same feedback in the Subaru! :shock:
 
Careful now Fanboys. Saying good things about the LEAFs range is gone really piss off some people. :lol:
 
This thread hits home for me. See, I've been used to driving a Prius with an aftermarket plug-in kit. In order to maximize EV mode I've had to train myself how to stay under 34 mph and try to keep my average power consumption around 5000 watts. Which means very soft use of the pedal and learning ways to drive slowly. For example, if there is another car or a big truck or bus or something that is driving slowly, I'll get behind it on purpose. That way I can drive below the speed limit or take off slowly from stop-lights while making it appear to the average driver that I'm simply stuck behind the slow-moving vehicle. However, if there is nobody in front of me and there are people behind me I will always drive faster in order to not inconvenience anyone else on the road. I also tend to never use the climate control unless absolutely necessary. For example, if it is raining outside I can't leave the windows down. Or if it is freezing cold outside and the windshield is fogging up, I may have to use the defroster.

I've had the leaf for 2 weeks and I drive it in ECO mode most of the time, and pattern my driving behavior from my experience with the Prius. What is interesting is that if my wife takes the fully-charged leaf with 100 miles showing on the dash to the store and puts 10 miles on the car, she'll return the car with approx 85 miles remaining on the display. I can take the car to the exact same store with 100 miles at the beginning, but take a different route and drive slowly in ECO mode and I can come back with 104 miles showing as remaining.

So, I have no doubt I could hit that 138 miles range if I ever needed to.
 
adric22 said:
This thread hits home for me. See, I've been used to driving a Prius with an aftermarket plug-in kit. In order to maximize EV mode I've had to train myself how to stay under 34 mph and try to keep my average power consumption around 5000 watts. Which means very soft use of the pedal and learning ways to drive slowly. For example, if there is another car or a big truck or bus or something that is driving slowly, I'll get behind it on purpose. That way I can drive below the speed limit or take off slowly from stop-lights while making it appear to the average driver that I'm simply stuck behind the slow-moving vehicle. However, if there is nobody in front of me and there are people behind me I will always drive faster in order to not inconvenience anyone else on the road. I also tend to never use the climate control unless absolutely necessary. For example, if it is raining outside I can't leave the windows down. Or if it is freezing cold outside and the windshield is fogging up, I may have to use the defroster.

I've had the leaf for 2 weeks and I drive it in ECO mode most of the time, and pattern my driving behavior from my experience with the Prius. What is interesting is that if my wife takes the fully-charged leaf with 100 miles showing on the dash to the store and puts 10 miles on the car, she'll return the car with approx 85 miles remaining on the display. I can take the car to the exact same store with 100 miles at the beginning, but take a different route and drive slowly in ECO mode and I can come back with 104 miles showing as remaining.

So, I have no doubt I could hit that 138 miles range if I ever needed to.


This demonstrates a point I have been trying to make here from day one, EVs are far more sensitive in the efficiency dept and particularly those that have some weight. Pedal position is very critical and awareness and small changes in this area reap large gains. This is another reason RT KW consumption readings are valuable over silly bubbles and such:) If people drove their cars like some drive their EVs they may be shocked at how high their milage would be.
 
DarkStar said:
After driving the LEAF for a couple of weeks, I'm starting to wonder how much better my fuel economy would have been if I had the same feedback in the Subaru! :shock:

I've often wondered this too. It may be that the best way to increase the fuel efficiency of the US fleet - in the short term - would be to put instrumentation in all vehicles so drivers get instant MPG feedback on their driving. It seems to make 20% - 30% difference in mileage if you actually pay attention to what you are doing, and have the feedback mechanisms to help you.

I've also wondered if the plugin Prius would get better overall mileage if it saved it's two EV battery packs for accelerating the car up to 35 or 40, rather then run constantly until the power is gone. Watching the gauges, the lowest MPG's seem to come from accelerating from a stop to a cruising speed or when the power requirements exceed a threshold. Seems like battery power could be used to provide power only when the demand is over that threshold instead of all of the time. Or maybe a user selectable setting to determine how the battery juice is spent.
 
All this illustrates what Wayne Gerdes has been trying to demostrate all along and that is efficiency is more HOW. U drive and not WHAT. u drive
 
The new Heat Tolerance (Lizard) battery came out in 2015. Soon in 2016 they will release the 30 kWh battery and in 2017 they will have even more choices and range. That is pretty good progress in just a few years. The prices have also been getting a little lower. Just like cell phomes, more features, longer life and lower cost. It's a great time to plugin.
 
jstack6 said:
The range of my LEAF has been incredible. By driving in ECO mode and on local roads instead of the interstate I have gone 90 miles and still show 41 miles left. Looking in the book it states under ideal conditions you can get up to 138 miles on a charge.

This has been one of the many items I find exceed the hype and information available to the general public. The range can also be lower if your in a Winter area with snow, cold and wind. Where I live in Arizona it's have been perfect for the last month or more. We have very few hills and traffic flow pretty good most of the time. We'll see what summer heat does.

What year Leaf do you have?

Got leafspy app and OBDII adapter yet?
 
dhanson865 said:
jstack6 said:
The range of my LEAF has been incredible. By driving in ECO mode and on local roads instead of the interstate I have gone 90 miles and still show 41 miles left. Looking in the book it states under ideal conditions you can get up to 138 miles on a charge.

This has been one of the many items I find exceed the hype and information available to the general public. The range can also be lower if your in a Winter area with snow, cold and wind. Where I live in Arizona it's have been perfect for the last month or more. We have very few hills and traffic flow pretty good most of the time. We'll see what summer heat does.

What year Leaf do you have? We had a 2013 but the lease ran out and we got 2015 SOUL EV with 30 kW battery

Got leafspy app and OBDII adapter yet?
Yes it's is really handy, I also use SCAN GAUGE
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
All this illustrates what Wayne Gerdes has been trying to demostrate all along and that is efficiency is more HOW. U drive and not WHAT. u drive


Yes the loose NUT behind the wheel makes a big difference.
 
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