Want to test range till Turtle

I want to test out my total range until car enters turtle mode. What is the best and safest way to test this out.
I also intend to have LeafSpy running to log the SOC% , GIDS, at which turtle starts. I plan to be very close
to a charging station when turtle hits. When turtle hits, aprox how many miles should I expect the car to go at 20-25mph?
At VLBW, aprox how many GIDS should be remaining, and at how many GIDS should Turtle hit. I just want to get
a heads up on when Turtle will hit, so I can be as close as possible to a charging station.

Will I know when Turtle hits? Don't want to mistakenly keep driving while in Turtle and then just have the car stop.

Car has 1200 miles on it and less than 2 months old. so Range should be about max.

The range chart should answer some of your questions:

You should get all of these indications. Turtle mode is only about 25mph / 40kph on level terrain:

djjazzy said:

When turtle hits, aprox how many miles should I expect the car to go at 20-25mph?

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One half mile or less. I have done over a mile, but I was rolling down hill :mrgreen:

At VLBW, aprox how many GIDS should be remaining, and at how many GIDS should Turtle hit. I just want to get
a heads up on when Turtle will hit, so I can be as close as possible to a charging station.

Click to expand...

All this is on the range chart. VLB will be 24-25 Gids, and LBW will be 49-50 Gids. Turtle will be between about 4 and 8 Gids, depending on a lot of things.

Will I know when Turtle hits? Don't want to mistakenly keep driving while in Turtle and then just have the car stop.

Click to expand...

See post above for all the indications.

Car has 1200 miles on it and less than 2 months old. so Range should be about max.

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Yes, your car will likely show 275 to 284 Gids.

Got it! I'll monitor my GIDs, and be sure to be within 1/2 mile of charge station,
Probably will have to be circling around the charge station, when VLBW hits, so
when Turtle hits, I'm within that 1/2 mile range.

Thanks!

Why do you want to intentionally do harm/damage to your battery by taking it to such a low state? Sure it may seem "cool" to see how far it goes but wait until you really need it. :roll:

Don't drop your cells below 3.3v for fun...

Unless it's a lease and you just don't give a crap..

EDIT: I hit 5 trees once!!! coming back from Tony's house at 2am! :lol:

djjazzy, from your other posts, it looks like you have very new 2013 S, and that you already know that your car may have more miles in reserve than earlier model Leafs. AFAIK, only I and Boomer23 have actually posted data from running their 2013 Leafs down to turtle. He found 11 miles between VLBW and Turtle (at 4.0 mi/kwh). I got 16 miles from VLBW to turtle, using a little more efficient driving style (4.5 mi/kwh). You would be doing the Leaf community a big service if there is a little more data you would collect along with what you are planning.

I think you already know that 1 Gid does not represent a fixed amount of energy, especially at low battery levels, so at near Turtle levels, it appears to not be the most helpful indication of miles left to Turtle.

Especially between VLBW and Turtle, would you also log LeafSpy SOC (I think you are doing this), but also average and minimum battery voltage. It is generally thought that the Leaf uses minimum battery voltage to determine the actual triggering of Turtle mode, which is why it is not a set number of GIDS or Kwh remaining. Anyway, what that voltage is would help us understand what these newer Leafs are doing in the low battery charge ranges.

Also, for your trip planning the following info may be helpful:
Distance from VLBW (GOM shows ---) to Turtle was 11 miles for Boomer23, 16 miles for me
Distance from disappearance of the last fuel bar to Turtle was 7 miles for me.
Distance from LeafSpy SOC=4% to Turtle was 2 miles for both Boomer23 and me.
Distance from LeafSpy SOC=2.6% to Turtle was 1 mile for me (and about that for Boomer23, interpolating his data).

ALSO: since you have an "S", you will get ONLY visual notification (and maybe a very easy to miss tone) when you hit LBW and VLBW (SV and SL owners get a helpful voice notification).

It is also very beneficial to have someone other than yourself log the data.

Thanks, if you post that information after your trip you will be expanding the 2013 Leaf data by 50%.

JasonA said:

Why do you want to intentionally do harm/damage to your battery by taking it to such a low state? Sure it may seem "cool" to see how far it goes but wait until you really need it. :roll:

Don't drop your cells below 3.3v for fun...

Unless it's a lease and you just don't give a crap..

EDIT: I hit 5 trees once!!! coming back from Tony's house at 2am! :lol:

Click to expand...

Well, I hope djjazzy doesn't get overly alarmed by this post.

AFAIK there is NO data from any Leafs showing discharge to Turtle harms the battery. Nissan says in the manual, pg EV-24 (in the section on Battery Life) "Avoid leaving your vehicle for over 14 days .....at a near zero state of charge."
There is some data on other applications of Li-Ion cells indicating possible damage from deep discharge, but those are mostly with older Lithium chemistries than the Leaf uses.

Because I DO worry (partly because is is repeated so often and is "common knowledge") about the possibility of damage, I have only taken my Leaf to Turtle one time, and afterwards started charging right away (although official Leaf manual only says don't leave it discharged more than 14 days).

As far as "doing it for fun" or "to be cool," I found that taking my car to Turtle under controlled conditions helped any residual range anxiety tremendously. It is very helpful for an owner to know exactly what the capabilities of the car are.

The Leaf doesn't have a "newer" chemistry then any of those types out there. It's based on a traditional LiOn/Mn (aka LiCo02)type chem.. 4.2v max (but we goto 4.1 max).. and going below 3.3v for ANY of the traditional LiPo/LiOn type IS BAD.. is WELL documented and and only takes a simple google search to find out..

I know first hand the ONLY time I've ever taken my pack down to 2.91v was coming back from Tony's house that night.. before that I've been in the 265-268 Gid range.

Now I'm in the 258-261 area.. It does damage to ANY chemistry of battery taking it below it's 20% threshold.. and that's when packs like to start puffing and venting and swelling and gassing, etc,etc...

Resting or storage voltage for our packs is around 3.83 volts... again.. GOOGLE IT UP.. look at what a LiOn or LiPo storage voltage should be..

But encouraging an owner to abuse their pack...

well that's just stupidity..

stjohnh said:

It is also very beneficial to have someone other than yourself log the data.

Thanks, if you post that information after your trip you will be expanding the 2013 Leaf data by 50%.

Click to expand...

I recommend a video camera mounted in the car and fixed on all the required data displays.

TonyWilliams said:

You should get all of these indications. Turtle mode is only about 25mph / 40kph on level terrain:

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What if I run it down with the heat/defrost?

I did not see any of these indications or turtle. Heat basically turned off at some point with just the fan running. Red 12v battery indicator came on. Car would not go into drive, just N & P. So I gave up and the car would not turn off. Ended up disconnecting the 12v battery.

Also seems to be ignoring the charge timer and defaulting to immediate charge.

Is this normal or odd behavior? Never seen turtle since new.

smkettner said:

What if I run it down with the heat/defrost?

I did not see any of these indications or turtle. Heat basically turned off at some point with just the fan running. Red 12v battery indicator came on. Car would not go into drive, just N & P. So I gave up and the car would not turn off. Ended up disconnecting the 12v battery.

Also seems to be ignoring the charge timer and defaulting to immediate charge.

Is this normal or odd behavior? Never seen turtle since new.

Click to expand...

Neither. Definitely abnormal!

Ray

Today the car is charged but the timers will not set. Dash clock reset but might be normal for disconnecting the 12v.
Have not driven it yet so we shall see.

After driving my LEAF most seems back to normal. Timers are reset and working again
Driver's window auto-up feature seems to have stopped working. It there a reset for this function?

smkettner said:

After driving my LEAF most seems back to normal. Timers are reset and working again
Driver's window auto-up feature seems to have stopped working. It there a reset for this function?

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From the manual:

If the windows do not close automatically
If the power window automatic function (closing only) does not operate properly, perform the following procedure to initialize the power window system.
1. Place the power switch in the ON position.
2. Close the door.
3. Open the window completely by operating the power window switch.
4. Pull the power window switch and hold it to close the window, and then hold the switch more than 3 seconds after the window is closed completely.
5. Release the power window switch. Operate the window by the automatic function to confirm the initialization is complete.

Click to expand...

I believe that the reverse procedure will initialize the auto-down function.

RTFM Thanks, that worked. All is now back to normal.

I am still wondering why no Turtle. Could be a fluke or could it be that it was in Park as the battery ran down?
Might have to try again while in Drive mode.

Second test tonight. Seemed to work normal to Turtle mode using heat/defrost at 90F and max fan. Lost one power circle then all but one in a single swoop. Reduced power indication and of course the Turtle light. At that point I turned it off and did not wait for the contactors to open and risk resetting all the stuff again.

Charge time says 19hr L1, 6hr L2 if that indicates anything.

Wow! This user group can be handy!

[Manual Quote]
If the windows do not close automatically
If the power window automatic function (closing only) does not operate properly, perform the following procedure to initialize the power window system.
1. Place the power switch in the ON position.
2. Close the door.
3. Open the window completely by operating the power window switch.
4. Pull the power window switch and hold it to close the window, and then hold the switch more than 3 seconds after the window is closed completely.
5. Release the power window switch. Operate the window by the automatic function to confirm the initialization is complete.
[End Quote]

Look it up in the manual?

My automatic window up quit working about a month ago & I watched my LEAF tech do that procedure exactly! (Wish I'd searched before, I just assumed the switch was broken) The tech asked if the 12 volt battery had died as that was the usual cause. I said no & he shrugged his shoulders & said, "fixed"

Someone needs to write a book (wiki) about all of the weird setting on the LEAF. Like this, how to turn the camera on while you drive, holding the brake pedal down with the traction control off to fix sticky brakes, etc...