It's your duty to drive FAST !!

[TEG]

If I am at the front of the line at a traffic light, and cars behind me can see the "electric" lettering added to the rear hatch, I make it a point to pull away "smartly" (i.e., pedal to the floor) from the intersection as soon as the light changes. The acceleration is not so outrageous as to elicit jeers of "idiot driver" (or worse), but I do think some people notice "hey that electric car is fairly quick."
Yes, I do this to help educate other drivers, not for my own personal gratification (at least that is my story, and I am sticking to it.)

 

[TEG]

By the way, I was part of a Leaf focus group and one question was "how frequently do you drive in eco-mode?" Most of the participants started talking about how many trees they grew, but I mentioned "I basically never use ECO mode" (except when I need more regen), to which I got some stares of disapproval.
Personally, I think I am still driving very efficiently compared to gas cars, or even hybrids, even if I am not resorting to the most efficient modes of Leaf driving.

 

[tps]

By the way, I was part of a Leaf focus group and one question was "how frequently do you drive in eco-mode?" Most of the participants started talking about how many trees they grew, but I mentioned "I basically never use ECO mode" (except when I need more regen), to which I got some stares of disapproval.

In my couple days of driving the Hertz rental LEAF, that's exactly what I found. ECO mode produced too much regen when what I really wanted was mostly to coast. D mode was a lot better for my driving style. I drove in ECO for maybe 10 miles, the other 265 was in D.

 

[TEG]

To be clear - I like heavier regen. I wish I could have eco mode regen with D mode accelerator pedal mapping.
Eco mode just makes the accelerator pedal feel too "numb" for me to want to use it much.
Sometimes if I see traffic stopped up ahead, and I have enough room for a "mostly regen long slowdown", I will shift to eco just as I slow (to save the friction brakes, and to recapture some energy), then I will switch right back to D as soon as I come to a stop.

I know some people prefer coasting behavior over regen, but not me.

 

[Coffee_Slurry]

I have yet to see a single "Tree".

Martini Glass Driving.

:twisted:

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Today i am driving Prius to get oil changed and its a bit of a shock to get used to the free coasting. I like the Leafs regen and if i dont meed that much i lift the pedal to get zero power registered.

Seems pretty easy that way. Without that option i must switch from one pedal to the other. I wish my Prius had the same option

 

[JohnOver]

I admit I was driving too slow first few weeks in the right lane. As I got comfortable with the car and overcame my range anxiety I started to enjoy left lane flying as I did with ICE car. Although not everyone happy about this... ]

Where did you mount the camera, and what camera are you using? Is there a place to mount it so that it can see the road and the instrument cluster?

 

[IBELEAF]

Where did you mount the camera, and what camera are you using? Is there a place to mount it so that it can see the road and the instrument cluster?

It's attached by suction cup in the dotted area of the windshield next to rear view window. There are tons of these car DVRs on the internet, they all have pretty much same functionality, looped recording and automatic on/off with the car. If you want to be able to read the panel you'll have to move it next to door light and maybe go with 1080p version.

The one I am using is ok for daylight, but night quality is not the best. This is Chinese site where I got it, you can find the same one on ebay but usually it's a bit more:
http://shop.esino.hk/car-dvr-mini-dv/610-new-hd720p-road-safty-guard-car-night-vision-dvr.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This unit might work better for reading the panel that you can attach with a velcro and it's more compact. There are plenty of sample videos on youtube:
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/5-0mp-1-3-2-cmos-wide-angle-car-dvr-camcorder-w-hdmi-mini-usb-sd-slot-black-2-4-lcd-82702" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[defiancecp]

#3 odd man here, and I never thought I would be. I mean, my other cars are a 600+hp '72 charger (very non-stock, to say the least) and a 2003 WRX. Plus I only drive about 30-40 miles a day. I *REALLY* did not expect to drive so economically. But when I first got the leaf, some of the stats were showing much less efficient than I expected, and I just wanted to see what I could cut back to.. within a month I was driving extremely differently, and now I can't stop it. There's so much efficiency feedback in the leaf, I get sad if a spec shows less than I want it to

Having said that, I stay off the interstate now, and I still keep with the flow of traffic - I just take off a little more slowly.

Plus, I think 17 people in my entire state know what a leaf is, and most of those because I showed them

 

[prberg]

Guess I will be #4. I didn't race with my other cars, and don't feel the need to do with my LEAF. I will almost always keep up with traffic, but I don't feel the need to rocket around town and waste energy (and most electricity comes from fossil fuels as well).

I often will take the LEAF on trips that are close to 100 miles. So I can't waste energy by driving faster than I need to. If there were charging stations around where I could charge up, I would be less worried about range. But usually there are no charging stations where we are going, so we need to maximize our range.

But it is a fun car to drive and I can see how people would like to fly around with the smooth quick acceleration. But I would just rather maximize my efficiency, not my speed. I will try to not lag in the traffic so as to give EV's a bad reputation.

-Peter

 

[Packet]

To a certain extent, some reinforce that stereotype by driving slowly in the right lane to get maximum range or efficiency... Me? I try to get home with as little battery left as possible! :lol:

But... think of your Carwings ranking!

 

[TomT]

Yep, I am earnestly trying to reach the absolute bottom tier! :lol:

To a certain extent, some reinforce that stereotype by driving slowly in the right lane to get maximum range or efficiency... Me? I try to get home with as little battery left as possible! :lol:

But... think of your Carwings ranking!

 

[JPWhite]

I like to pull away from a light quickly when its raining. The traction control means the LEAF really does leave everyone else well behind. :mrgreen:

 

[aqn]

+1 on the "duty to drive fast". I'd say, though, for me, that it's more like, "duty not to hold up traffic". I agree with avoiding perpetuating the myth about EVs' sluggishness and/or establishing a "norm" that EVs are "normal" vehicles. I usually try to stick behind a slower-moving vehicle so it's not me holding up traffic. But if I'm in front, I don't hesitate to accelarate hard enough to keep the car behind me off my bumper, and maybe even leaving it a good deal behind.

I usually find that often it's a same car will be behind me for some time, so I only need to "prove" the LEAF's non-slug ability once, and that's enough to prevent that car from climbing all over my ass every time we accelerate away.

In the twisties though (where I have garnered all my speeding tickets!), I turn into Mr. Hyde.

 

[TomT]

Yeah, the Leaf ain't a car for the twisties! I'll take the Bimmer when I feel a need to do that!

In the twisties though (where I have garnered all my speeding tickets!), I turn into Mr. Hyde.

 

[abasile]

Yeah, the Leaf ain't a car for the twisties! I'll take the Bimmer when I feel a need to do that!

My Bimmer experience is quite limited. But compared to other midsize cars we've had, the LEAF is relatively decent in the twisties. Good, road-hugging weight distribution and instant torque out of the hairpins make for fun driving. We like it as a mountain car.

 

[aqn]

In the twisties though (where I have garnered all my speeding tickets!), I turn into Mr. Hyde.

Yeah, the Leaf ain't a car for the twisties!

I respectfully disagree! Anything motorized (and even some non-motorized things) is for the twisties!

I'll take the Bimmer when I feel a need to do that!

Everything has a limit. One would probably never want to test the limits of a Ferrari on the streets. Depending on the road and the conditions, it can be entirely feasible to test the limits of your Bimmer, my VW GTI (soon-to-be-ex ICE car), a Miata, a Mini Cooper, etc.

The fun and challenge for me is not just in going fast, but also in exploiting a vehicle's abilities, regardless of what the vehicle in question happens to be, or what its main purpose happens to be. To quote Lance Armstrong, the original LEAF'y Austinite: "It's not about the bike." It's easy and fun to go fast in my GTI. It's harder, and some would say, more frustrating, to go fast in the LEAF, but that's where the fun is for me.

 

[TomT]

That's why I have done copious drivers schools, autocrosses and time trials over the years...

The fun and challenge for me is not just in going fast, but also in exploiting a vehicle's abilities, regardless of what the vehicle in question happens to be, or what its main purpose happens to be.

 

[JohnOver]

Where did you mount the camera, and what camera are you using? Is there a place to mount it so that it can see the road and the instrument cluster?

It's attached by suction cup in the dotted area of the windshield next to rear view window. There are tons of these car DVRs on the internet, they all have pretty much same functionality, looped recording and automatic on/off with the car. If you want to be able to read the panel you'll have to move it next to door light and maybe go with 1080p version.

The one I am using is ok for daylight, but night quality is not the best. This is Chinese site where I got it, you can find the same one on ebay but usually it's a bit more:
http://shop.esino.hk/car-dvr-mini-dv/610-new-hd720p-road-safty-guard-car-night-vision-dvr.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This unit might work better for reading the panel that you can attach with a velcro and it's more compact. There are plenty of sample videos on youtube:
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/5-0mp-1-3-2-cmos-wide-angle-car-dvr-camcorder-w-hdmi-mini-usb-sd-slot-black-2-4-lcd-82702" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks!

 

[DaveEV]

I respectfully disagree! Anything motorized (and even some non-motorized things) is for the twisties!

Heh - to go even further - anything with wheels is for the twisties!