First trip in the rain

[EricBayArea]

Yesterday my wife and I took our Leaf out for the first time in the rain. Outside temp was about 48 (per the car) when we left around 7pm and it was a steady rain. I coated the windshield in it's first coat of Rain-X before I left.

First thing I noticed was how much energy the windshield wipers use when they cycle on. About 0.25kWh on the "Other" power meter.

It is really nice to have heated seats because those kept us warm and we didn't really need to use the heater. We had the climate control (CC) turned off and air recirculating so none of the cold air came into the cabin.

However, because of the cabin fogging up every so often, I would turn on the front window defrost. I typically left it on for about 2-4 minutes per episode, just enough time to de-fog the windows. I didn't look at the power meter when I did this, but I would expect that the AC and Heat were on, because of the outside temperature & the fact that I couldn't set the temp to lower than 60.

All in all the trip showed me that when driving in the rain and needing to use headlights, windshield wipers, and defrosters, plan accordingly. Also, the friction of the rain takes its toll on efficiency as well. A trip that I would have guessed to yield 4.3 miles / kWh ende up only yielding 3.9.

A bit frustrating but I'll adapt.

YMMV

 

[bowthom]

Hello,
Further north I find winter driving lowers our usual 4.3 m/kWh average down to ~3.8

 

[TonyWilliams]

Rain and cold, with mucho heater and windshield wipers (front and rear) had my 4.0-ish m/kWh typical day drop to 2.9 today.

 

[palmermd]

...
It is really nice to have heated seats because those kept us warm and we didn't really need to use the heater. We had the climate control (CC) turned off and air recirculating so none of the cold air came into the cabin.
...
YMMV

Glad to hear you opted to put in the seat heaters. I just got home (Monday) from my honeymoon in Costa Rica. When we left it was still warm here, and now coming home to cold and wet....not fun. My heater is still disconnected and I've not installed the seat heaters yet. Definitely on my to-do list now! Interesting that the defroster worked perfectly even without the heater. I thought it would need at least a little warm air, but with just the A/C blowing, it cleared the windows very quickly of the fogging.

 

[Coffee_Slurry]

Similar experience here.. trying to stretch range by turning off the heater and using warm-blood, left my windows all fogged up.

I ended up resorting to The Towel to keep the windows clear, but it looked like something from Apollo 13.

I'm knocking 10mi off the range expectation for cold/damp weather.

 

[EricBayArea]

I'm not certain if the heater turned on when I pressed the button for the front defroster. The temp was set to 60 but I didn't look at the energy meter so I can't be sure. AC was on for sure (light was on and thats the primary tool for defrosting).

And yes, I did end up getting the heated seats and I am very glad I did. We use them quite a bit. Now if only I could get a heated steering wheel, that would be nice - but that upgrade is a bit more involved ;-)

 

[LakeLeaf]

Saturday evening was some nasty driving in the Bay Area.

I was headed down 101S someplace around Stanford and came up on a blue Leaf out in the stuff. Seemed to be doing fine - moving along at about 60 not minding the weather at all.

It kinds of dawns on you then - hey that sucker is 100% electric and he buzzing down the highway at night, in the rain, and looking great. Amazing stuff!

 

[solartim]

Rain-X also makes an interior defogger. I'll be putting some of that on.