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DaveinOlyWA said:
one reason why (actually there are several) I like LEAF Spy in that it allows you to enter your miles/kwh. Each driving condition and style along with weather and traffic creates nearly infinite possibilities.
Click to expand...

+1 - After paying attention to my own (and my wife's) pattern of use I've gotten very good at estimating the m/kwh - of course with that said this is my first winter and I'm having to constantly reduce my estimates (today I averaged about 3.2 on about a 60 mile run - temps in low teens and car was parked at about half way point for a couple hours so everthing cooled down). I have that set now as my estimate for range and it was good when my wife needed to go out again later in the day - using 3 as her estimate (she always seems to be worse than I am as she doesn't even try to minimize use) I was able to confidently tell her she would be fine and it all ended well.... This is why I'd like to see the GOM have a setting to manually set the m/kwh if desired...
 
If you want to see how mileage estimates and energy remaining graphs are done right in an EV take a look at the pics in this thread

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/40577-Firmware-6-1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

* % remaining right under the speed in the center focus of the dash
* navigation tells you how many % will be used by current trip plan, charge remaining at the end of that trip positive or negative and if you need to charge before then.
* navigation is smart enough to tell you if slowing down will allow you to make a trip near the maximum range.
* trip chart with projected power use for the trip vs actual, updated in real time as you drive. Awesome visualization that really educates, builds confidence, or shows how bad your trip plan is off.
* navigation understands elevation changes, weather, temps and the current car (tires, battery capacity, etc) and can use these to make the above trip planning more accurate.

we don't need a 17" screen in the leaf to achieve this but you can't waste space with stupid tree/vine/whatever the eco logo of the day is graphics that don't provide useful information for current driving and trip planning. You will have to have a usable MFD but I'm assuming since there is a backup camera already we have that covered.

for those not wanting to chase pictures this one says a lot to me. Even with the shorter range of the Leaf, software like this would go a long way to making the car seem more usable.

attachment.php
 
^ I'd get a kick out of a plot like that. It sure wouldn't resemble a straight line where I live! (But neither would it have much utility.)

I get along fine with a fuel gauge that uses energy units and has fine gradations. Gids work well, as would kWh displayed to one figure to the right of the decimal (tenths). I can figure out how much energy it takes to make the legs of my trips under various weather conditions. Since the miles/kWh can have gigantic variation, depending on terrain and weather, designing some sort of super GOM seems less useful. But it would be easier for newcomers to short-range EVs, I suppose. (And I guess that's why Nissan included the current wildly misleading GOM in the LEAF, which generates so much confusion, dismay, and angst among new LEAF drivers here.)
 
Slow1 said:
DaveinOlyWA said:
one reason why (actually there are several) I like LEAF Spy in that it allows you to enter your miles/kwh. Each driving condition and style along with weather and traffic creates nearly infinite possibilities.
Click to expand...

+1 - After paying attention to my own (and my wife's) pattern of use I've gotten very good at estimating the m/kwh - of course with that said this is my first winter and I'm having to constantly reduce my estimates (today I averaged about 3.2 on about a 60 mile run - temps in low teens and car was parked at about half way point for a couple hours so everthing cooled down). I have that set now as my estimate for range and it was good when my wife needed to go out again later in the day - using 3 as her estimate (she always seems to be worse than I am as she doesn't even try to minimize use) I was able to confidently tell her she would be fine and it all ended well.... This is why I'd like to see the GOM have a setting to manually set the m/kwh if desired...
Click to expand...

yep. In Summer, I set my efficiency to 4.4 MPK and Winter at 3.5 MPK. Both figures are actually a few tenths lower than what I average but always want a "bad case" scenario to judge especially if my trips (almost always is for work!) are time sensitive
 
dhanson865 said:
If you want to see how mileage estimates and energy remaining graphs are done right in an EV take a look at the pics in this thread

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/40577-Firmware-6-1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

* % remaining right under the speed in the center focus of the dash
* navigation tells you how many % will be used by current trip plan, charge remaining at the end of that trip positive or negative and if you need to charge before then.
* navigation is smart enough to tell you if slowing down will allow you to make a trip near the maximum range.
* trip chart with projected power use for the trip vs actual, updated in real time as you drive. Awesome visualization that really educates, builds confidence, or shows how bad your trip plan is off.
* navigation understands elevation changes, weather, temps and the current car (tires, battery capacity, etc) and can use these to make the above trip planning more accurate.

we don't need a 17" screen in the leaf to achieve this but you can't waste space with stupid tree/vine/whatever the eco logo of the day is graphics that don't provide useful information for current driving and trip planning. You will have to have a usable MFD but I'm assuming since there is a backup camera already we have that covered.

for those not wanting to chase pictures this one says a lot to me. Even with the shorter range of the Leaf, software like this would go a long way to making the car seem more usable.

attachment.php
Click to expand...

not to harp on the obvious; its easy to do it right when you got that much money to spend. But having tried it before; inputting NAV really sucks unless you can do it the night before (like I do online now which automatically gets sent to my Droid) instead of 4:30 AM when leaving for work.

But ya, great system and with that kind of money involved it has to be. But for us poor folks...
 
dgpcolorado said:
Yes, the only reason we care about a precise and accurate fuel gauge is that our "tank" is so tiny, perhaps the equivalent of a gallon and a half of gas. If I drove an ICE car with a tank that small I'd be mighty concerned with exactly how much gas was in it!
Click to expand...

At ~21kWh usable charge, the Leaf actually has the equivalent of ~5/8ths of a gallon of gas onboard.

*******

What the Leaf really needs is a direct heating defroster, on the windshield and maybe the front side windows, too. This would largely eliminate the cold weather hit on range - if you dress warmly, and can get by otherwise on the heated seats and steering wheel.
 
dgpcolorado said:
I'd get a kick out of a plot like that. It sure wouldn't resemble a straight line where I live! (But neither would it have much utility.)
Click to expand...

the less straight it is the more useful it would be. It takes elevation into account and will give you the slopes to expect during the trip giving you more confidence in the final estimate for remaining charge at the end of the trip. It also tells you the expected percent charge in 1% increments so you have a better idea of your reserve and time needed to charge at the other end.


DaveinOlyWA said:
not to harp on the obvious; its easy to do it right when you got that much money to spend. But having tried it before; inputting NAV really sucks unless you can do it the night before (like I do online now which automatically gets sent to my Droid) instead of 4:30 AM when leaving for work.

But ya, great system and with that kind of money involved it has to be. But for us poor folks...
Click to expand...

The system lets you input Home and Work the two most common destinations and knows the locations of all the fast chargers around you the next most likely destination/point of origin. It's not like you have to do that much work to add a new destination and let it use your current position as the origin.
 
dhanson865 said:
DaveinOlyWA said:
not to harp on the obvious; its easy to do it right when you got that much money to spend. But having tried it before; inputting NAV really sucks unless you can do it the night before (like I do online now which automatically gets sent to my Droid) instead of 4:30 AM when leaving for work.

But ya, great system and with that kind of money involved it has to be. But for us poor folks...
Click to expand...

The system lets you input Home and Work the two most common destinations and knows the locations of all the fast chargers around you the next most likely destination/point of origin. It's not like you have to do that much work to add a new destination and let it use your current position as the origin.
Click to expand...

Carwings online has similar features in their route planning, takes into consideration elevation and the like. With some work on the user interface and making it quicker and more reliable they could do something similar to Tesla.

The perfect app for me would be Waze like with the ability to interrogate the cars SOC, battery temp etc in real time and calculate (and repeatedly recalculate) a route that would get you to your destination as fast as possible without running out of charge.
 
JPWhite said:
...
I'm not aware of a car that can go 84 miles on 5/8ths gallon of gas.
Click to expand...
The Volkswagen XL1 will go 84 miles on 3/8ths of a gallon of diesel :shock:

Of course it is outrageously expensive and unavailable in the US.
And having set down in the driver's seat at its first showing in the US at the Society of Environmental Journalists meeting in Chattanooga, it is the most difficult to get in and out of vehicle I have set down in.

But it does go farther on a set amount of energy than the LEAF :shock:
 
JPWhite said:
...
The perfect app for me would be Waze like with the ability to interrogate the cars SOC, battery temp etc in real time and calculate (and repeatedly recalculate) a route that would get you to your destination as fast as possible without running out of charge.
Click to expand...
+100
App would be worth $50 or more :!:
 
cwerdna said:
- make the rear headrests even less obtrusive (good example is Gen 2 Prius, if that's permissible now)
Click to expand...

I have found a simple way to increase rear viability in my 2011 LEAF.

Remove the headrests.

I re-install them if and when I have a passenger in the rear. (Very rare).
 
Certainly not as far as anyone outside the group is concerned...

I had an interesting experience at the Alt Car Expo in Santa Monica today... I signed up to test drive the e-tron and by luck of the draw, the person assigned to ride shotgun with me was the product manager, who happened to be there for a few hours and wanted to do a couple of drives to interact with the drivers......

We had a very spirited and animated discussion during the drive and afterwards he asked me if I would mind talking with him further for a while. That turned out to be about an hour and we covered a lot of ground... He thanked me profusely, said my exchange was very helpful, and took my contact info for possible future involvement... He did say, and it appeared to not be a secret, that Audi will definitely have an all-electric A3 "soon" and that it will be "much more advanced" than the VW... We shall see.

DNAinaGoodWay said:
Any LAB updates? Is it still in existence?
Click to expand...
 
DNAinaGoodWay said:
Any LAB updates? Is it still in existence?
Click to expand...
Yes, LAB is still going strong. Another team is being assembled and I'm sure Chelsea will be making an official announcement soon.
 
JPWhite said:
cwerdna said:
- make the rear headrests even less obtrusive (good example is Gen 2 Prius, if that's permissible now)
Click to expand...

I have found a simple way to increase rear viability in my 2011 LEAF.

Remove the headrests.

I re-install them if and when I have a passenger in the rear. (Very rare).
Click to expand...
I used to remove them, but didn't like them floating around in the back (I put them in a bag). I ended up just turning them 90 degrees so they obstruct a little less.
 

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