dsurber
Member
One of the biggest concerns about the Leaf and electric cars in general is "range anxiety", the fear of running out of power. Due to the short range of EVs many drivers will frequently push the limits of the vehicle's range. Considering the wide variation in range due to driving conditions it will be difficult for the driver to accurately predict what the range is. Most of us fill up a gas vehicle at around 1/4 tank. Assuming a 400 mile range that means we typically have a 100 mile cushion. That's more that the typical range of a Leaf.
Nissan is aiming to mitigate this by having the NS (nav system) display the estimated range and charging stations along the route. Pictures of the NS display have shown two concentric circles. I assume the inner one is the high probability range and the outer one is the best that can be expected range, or something like that. This display is useless IMHO.
I live in the SF Bay area. We have hills and traffic. Roads don't go straight from point A to point B. There is a Regional Park just a few miles from my house, yet it can easily take an hour to get there due to the round about route required. I could get in my partially charged Leaf at home, look at the NS and see the park is well within range, yet run out of power long before I get there. If the NS does nothing more than what is described above, it will do nothing to alleviate my range anxiety.
On the other hand, it is well within the bounds of current technology to do much, much more. I sincerely hope that Nissan has programmed the NS to do the following. If not then I suggest they get their programmers to work ASAP.
Range depends on a number of factors:
All of this information is potentially available to the NS. When I tell the NS I want to go to the Regional Park, it knows how many miles I will actually drive. Using available topographic info it can know about changes in elevation. Using available traffic info it can know about traffic conditions. Using available weather info it can know about local weather along the route. And it knows how I drive. Further since I frequently drive to this park, it can know how much power it takes to make the round trip in a wide range of circumstances. It is my hope that when I tell the NS I want to go to the park and back the NS can say with very high accuracy whether that trip is in range or not given the current conditions.
My house is just a few miles from the nearest freeway exit, yet it is over 250 feet higher in elevation. I drive that few miles frequently. If the NS does not take into account the elevation gain and the many historical trips up that road, it will undoubtedly over estimate my ability to get home and will leave me stranded at the bottom of a hill, one quarter mile from home. This will not make me happy.
The Leaf's range (50-130 miles) is at the border line of what is usable. As battery capacity declines with age, it becomes less and less capable. As a puny human I cannot predict the range for any given trip very accurately. If I have to guess at the range I will need to leave a large cushion or risk being stranded. Because of the wide variation in range I will tend to assume something toward worst case range and then add a cushion to that. So I may look at a 60 mile trip and decide I can't be certain of making the trip even though the Leaf is perfectly capable of it. If the NS takes all the available info into account and accurately predicts whether a trip is feasible or not, then I would make that 60 mile trip. An intelligent NS would greatly increase the real world range of the Leaf and thus its value to consumers like me.
Nissan, I hope the nav system is as intelligent as I describe. If not then you should have a very pointed discussion with the software development team.
Nissan is aiming to mitigate this by having the NS (nav system) display the estimated range and charging stations along the route. Pictures of the NS display have shown two concentric circles. I assume the inner one is the high probability range and the outer one is the best that can be expected range, or something like that. This display is useless IMHO.
I live in the SF Bay area. We have hills and traffic. Roads don't go straight from point A to point B. There is a Regional Park just a few miles from my house, yet it can easily take an hour to get there due to the round about route required. I could get in my partially charged Leaf at home, look at the NS and see the park is well within range, yet run out of power long before I get there. If the NS does nothing more than what is described above, it will do nothing to alleviate my range anxiety.
On the other hand, it is well within the bounds of current technology to do much, much more. I sincerely hope that Nissan has programmed the NS to do the following. If not then I suggest they get their programmers to work ASAP.
Range depends on a number of factors:
actual battery capacity
level of charge
maintenance level of the vehicle
actual travel distance (not as the crow flies)
terrain
traffic
weather
driving habits
All of this information is potentially available to the NS. When I tell the NS I want to go to the Regional Park, it knows how many miles I will actually drive. Using available topographic info it can know about changes in elevation. Using available traffic info it can know about traffic conditions. Using available weather info it can know about local weather along the route. And it knows how I drive. Further since I frequently drive to this park, it can know how much power it takes to make the round trip in a wide range of circumstances. It is my hope that when I tell the NS I want to go to the park and back the NS can say with very high accuracy whether that trip is in range or not given the current conditions.
My house is just a few miles from the nearest freeway exit, yet it is over 250 feet higher in elevation. I drive that few miles frequently. If the NS does not take into account the elevation gain and the many historical trips up that road, it will undoubtedly over estimate my ability to get home and will leave me stranded at the bottom of a hill, one quarter mile from home. This will not make me happy.
The Leaf's range (50-130 miles) is at the border line of what is usable. As battery capacity declines with age, it becomes less and less capable. As a puny human I cannot predict the range for any given trip very accurately. If I have to guess at the range I will need to leave a large cushion or risk being stranded. Because of the wide variation in range I will tend to assume something toward worst case range and then add a cushion to that. So I may look at a 60 mile trip and decide I can't be certain of making the trip even though the Leaf is perfectly capable of it. If the NS takes all the available info into account and accurately predicts whether a trip is feasible or not, then I would make that 60 mile trip. An intelligent NS would greatly increase the real world range of the Leaf and thus its value to consumers like me.
Nissan, I hope the nav system is as intelligent as I describe. If not then you should have a very pointed discussion with the software development team.