kikngas said:
Only had my 2015S a week, but so far, showing avg 4.6-4.7mi/kWh, and GOM seems to consistently equal %SOC. So that comes pretty close to the 21 usable kWh I believe folks were seeing on prior model years.
You might take your car down to
Low Battery Warning (LBW: yellow charge symbol lights up and GOM starts flashing), and then
Very Low Battery Warning (VLBW: GOM goes to flashing ---). It would be interesting to know the %SOC at which those transitions take place in a 2015. The rule of thumb for older LEAFs was that VLBW to turtle is about half the miles that you get from LBW to VLBW, under similar driving conditions, so you should have plenty of reserve miles below VLBW to get to a charge station.
Just taking the car to VLBW is a useful exercise for any LEAF driver since it helps to become comfortable with using the lower part of the battery, should it ever be necessary.
I've got a very low traffic, very flat, roughly 5mi loop around my home. I believe I've read that the battery performance actually improves the first few weeks of use. And with current weather, I've never seen other than 5 temp bars. When would be the ideal time to attempt a 200 mile charge?
For trying to see what the maximum range of the car is, you will likely get the best results at the hottest outside temperatures and very slow speeds (12 - 15 mph, although 25 mph should also be good for stretching range). Wind, rain, and cool air all lower range.
I've also got a rather long, steep (by MN standards) hill nearby where one could attempt some sort of regen efficiency test. Is it accurate to say that if you regen from 50 to 5 (and then brake to zero with no regen bubbles showing) that you will be going 35 or 40 again by the time you burn what you recaptured?
I tend to assume that regen is about 50% efficient, but I don't think the number has really been nailed down (and it likely depends on the conditions used).
The most efficient way to drive is to accelerate gently, anticipate future stops and coast (in neutral or at zero power on the accelerator, something hard to determine in the S model), then use regen as needed for additional slowing, then brake to a stop. Coasting, when safe to do so, is considerably more efficient than using regen braking
*.
For more on efficient driving (hypermiling) you might want to take a look at
Stoaty's Guide to Energy Efficient Driving of the Leaf.
* Under typical driving conditions. Technically, when moving near or at terminal velocity, regen would be more efficient than coasting. But this isn't a situation most drivers encounter.