76 miles and bust

[trojanm50]

Last Friday I had my most disappointing day yet with the leaf. I was only able to drive 75.7miles before I hit turtle about 200 yards from mycharger...

I was surprised to hit LBW at about 55 miles on my 16K mile Leaf a few weeks ago in 50+ degree weather after a rare 100% charge. Had a 54 mile roundtrip in 45 degree weather last night for dinner out, and decided to take the gas burner instead, to avoid a possible long walk in the cold. It's earned a limitation to 50-mile roundtrips from here out, at least in the winter. It's still showing 12 bars.

Deane
More than the warnings onboard, I tend to use the time to charge on 120 and 220v as an indicator of how much charge there really is. I did once borrow a gid meter and one evening I got LBW and the gid meter showed 18% charge left. I stayed at 60mph much to the dismay of my spouse who was on the edge. Needless to say I more than made it home comfortably.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Im just hoping that the battery loss is not linear and will flatten out at some point.

It's guaranteed to be linear at 0% capacity.

Cheers.

 

[trojanm50]

What is extremely frustrating is the fact the Nissan Specialists have at most of the dealers have no idea what gid count is

Of course they don't. Gid is not a Nissan term, and not an industry term, but one that was created here on this board. We named it in honor of Gary Giddings, who created an instrument to display Gids, among other things.

Ray

Rofl! Apologies. I had no idea about this. Nevertheless, they should know what the voltage of the pack should be and should know what to do next if it doesnt measure up. I still do feel Nissan did not communicate/train their techs at the dealers to do much more than run the Battery report on the leaf.

 

[KJD]

More than the warnings onboard, I tend to use the time to charge on 120 and 220v as an indicator of how much charge there really is. I did once borrow a gid meter and one evening I got LBW and the gid meter showed 18% charge left. I stayed at 60mph much to the dismay of my spouse who was on the edge. Needless to say I more than made it home comfortably.

This feature alone makes the GID meter worth the purchase price. It makes those longer trips much more enjoyable.
It looks like Nissan may resolve that issue in 2013 with an actual SOC meter. At least we can hope.

 

[trojanm50]

Im just hoping that the battery loss is not linear and will flatten out at some point.

It's guaranteed to be linear at 0% capacity.

Cheers.

**Sigh**

 

[trojanm50]

The new lease price makes this car very affordable. I wish this price was around when I was buying my leaf.

 

[LEAFfan]

It looks like Nissan may resolve that issue in 2013 with an actual SOC meter. At least we can hope.

You will still need a GID meter or a BCM (battery capacity meter) because that readout in SoC% on the 2013 is only for the fuel bars, not the actual battery capacity. It will only be accurate while you have a full capacity battery. So say you lose a capacity bar, your SoC% on the 2013 will say 100% after a 100% charge or 80-82% after an 80% charge, but you will have lost at least 15% battery capacity so your GID meter or BCM will read anywhere from 80-85% after a 100% charge.

 

[cwerdna]

I bought the car only because of the 100 mile range that Nissan promised.

Nissan "promised" 100 mile range ?

If that is what you based your buying decision on, sorry, you didn't do the homework.

I did do my homework. Many folks on this very forum said they could do close to that number if not more. Nissans projected 80% battery capacity after 5 years, I am already below that number. Its easy to pass judgement and the fact is I did make a gamble by jumping on to the electric bandwagon. Im just hoping that the battery loss is not linear and will flatten out at some point.

Are you claiming you've already lost more than 20% of your battery capacity? How are you arriving at that? Have you lost any capacity bars? (See thin white bars on the right side of http://www.mynissanleaf.com/wiki/index.php?title=File:Scott_3_bars_s.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.)

What part of the Bay Area are you in? Some parts (e.g. SF) are very cold while others (e.g. Concord or Walnut Creek) get really hot in the summer. If all else if equal, I'd definitely bet the guy the very hot climate will have much more degradation than the SF guy.

 

[trojanm50]

Are you claiming you've already lost more than 20% of your battery capacity? How are you arriving at that? Have you lost any capacity bars? (See thin white bars on the right side of http://www.mynissanleaf.com/wiki/index.php?title=File:Scott_3_bars_s.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.)

What part of the Bay Area are you in? Some parts (e.g. SF) are very cold while others (e.g. Concord or Walnut Creek) get really hot in the summer. If all else if equal, I'd definitely bet the guy the very hot climate will have much more degradation than the SF guy.[/quote]

Im not claiming I have lost 20% of my battery. My car is 18 months old and I could only go 76 miles before turtle mode. This could be a function of the cold. Im just worried about where I will be in a couple of years . I do live inland- east bay ie. My car has always been in the garage or in a shaded parking structure. I have all 12 bars, for now.

 

[Caracalover]

Im not claiming I have lost 20% of my battery. My car is 18 months old and I could only go 76 miles before turtle mode. This could be a function of the cold. Im just worried about where I will be in a couple of years . I do live inland- east bay ie. My car has always been in the garage or in a shaded parking structure. I have all 12 bars, for now.

With the amount of miles you have and the age of the battery, it sounds like the instruments are computing your capacity at a level close to where I lost a capacity bar. After I lost that bar it seemed like the LBW was harder to reach, although I do think my M/KWH have improved so it is very hard for me to verify.

I would worry less than your title for this thread indicates. You could likely still eek out an hundred mile trip if you drove no faster than 45 and the day was dry and warm. You will need to watch your power use with the daily driving you are doing. I am glad you love the car, and it is great that you can utilize it for a 65 mile R/T every day. That is about a $10 saving per day just on gas. If you have to drive a little slower, it might be worth it to you. For me, saving about $20 (130 mile R/T) every Sunday is worth the extra time, but that is once a week, not every day.

It is pretty clear to me that you did use power for the heater, so do look into the other options to reduce that power use. I have found that the slightest crack of the driver window and the opposite rear window works well to keep the windshield clear when there are two people in the car. At higher speeds it might be better to use the heater sporadically as needed.

My average speed (On the driver's console) is over 30 mph and my M/kwh is 4.9 last I looked. I live on a mountan side, so I often gain a lot of energy as I set off to go anywhere. Even crossing the mountain to get to the high desert I can get 65 miles without seeing the LBW if I try. That is with 30 miles of freeway driving with speeds around 55+.

 

[cwerdna]

Actually, as tires wear and age, their rolling resistance goes down. They are actually most efficient just before they are completely worn out.

The tires may need to be replaced, rather than just "over" inflating.

Yeah, besides the rolling resistance changes, their diameter becomes smaller as they wear, affecting odometer readings as well. See http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=177" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. Range will appear to be even worse w/identical new tires.

OP might want to consider this version of a gid-meter:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=248331#p248331" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=215389#p215389" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Caracalover]

Actually, as tires wear and age, their rolling resistance goes down. They are actually most efficient just before they are completely worn out.

The tires may need to be replaced, rather than just "over" inflating.

Yeah, besides the rolling resistance changes, their diameter becomes smaller as they wear, affecting odometer readings as well. See http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=177" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. Range will appear to be even worse w/identical new tires.

OP might want to consider this version of a gid-meter:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=248331#p248331" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=215389#p215389" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is true, but safety has to be first. My tires are getting to the point that they need to be replaced. Perhaps he does more highway driving, but I thought he should check on the wear. Inflating the tires higher is a good idea, not a resort to situation. That is one thing I wish I had done sooner.

 

[trojanm50]

Im not claiming I have lost 20% of my battery. My car is 18 months old and I could only go 76 miles before turtle mode. This could be a function of the cold. Im just worried about where I will be in a couple of years . I do live inland- east bay ie. My car has always been in the garage or in a shaded parking structure. I have all 12 bars, for now.

With the amount of miles you have and the age of the battery, it sounds like the instruments are computing your capacity at a level close to where I lost a capacity bar. After I lost that bar it seemed like the LBW was harder to reach, although I do think my M/KWH have improved so it is very hard for me to verify.

I would worry less than your title for this thread indicates. You could likely still eek out an hundred mile trip if you drove no faster than 45 and the day was dry and warm. You will need to watch your power use with the daily driving you are doing. I am glad you love the car, and it is great that you can utilize it for a 65 mile R/T every day. That is about a $10 saving per day just on gas. If you have to drive a little slower, it might be worth it to you. For me, saving about $20 (130 mile R/T) every Sunday is worth the extra time, but that is once a week, not every day.

It is pretty clear to me that you did use power for the heater, so do look into the other options to reduce that power use. I have found that the slightest crack of the driver window and the opposite rear window works well to keep the windshield clear when there are two people in the car. At higher speeds it might be better to use the heater sporadically as needed.

My average speed (On the driver's console) is over 30 mph and my M/kwh is 4.9 last I looked. I live on a mountan side, so I often gain a lot of energy as I set off to go anywhere. Even crossing the mountain to get to the high desert I can get 65 miles without seeing the LBW if I try. That is with 30 miles of freeway driving with speeds around 55+.

I have been monitoring my usage and I dont think the heater/defrost usage played that much of a part in the range. For instance, yesterday I drove 67 miles without ever switching on the heater. I went back home with 4 miles- I assume I can squeeze out another 6 before turtle mode. I drive on an express lane hence 45 is not an option for me. I will reset the avg miles/KWh and see if Im getting the same numbers as before.

What does the new leaf extended warrranty mean, if anything at all?

 

[Caracalover]

What does the new leaf extended warrranty mean, if anything at all?

My understanding is that if the battery capacity degrades below 9 bars in 5 years or 60,000 miles, they will fix it to at least the 9 bar level. I doubt many batteries will degrade that fast.

The express lane is an option, not required, so perhaps consider slowing down and mingling with the slower traffic as your battery ages. Take the express when traffic is stopped, but the heavy traffic will aid you in getting more range. This is a vehicle that can be enjoyed, so a few more minutes in it (at least for me) are a source of joy. Of course I don't have a 65 mile RT everyday...

 

[Reddy]

I hit LBW at 62-63 miles, VLBW at 70.5 and Turtle at 75.7. After I hit LBW I was doing mostly city driving with a max speed of 40 mph. I did have multiple short stops of 10 minutes or so for the next 10 miles.

This is very similar to my experience: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=7634&p=243033&hilit=cold#p243033
However, I probably drove a bit slower because of the colder temps, especially after VLBW. I don't think this is abnormal. I only tried it as a test and don't normally travel more than 20 miles in town. Maybe when it warms up next summer I may try another long-range trip.
Reddy