Leaving The Air Conditioner Running

[RegGuheert]

I have a 2013 and always wondered about this. Yes you can cave eco mode on in all 4 driving positions (Drive, Brake, Reverse, and Park).

Thanks! That's different from the 2011/2012s.

What difference does it make if it's in eco mode while in Park? It can be activated or deactivated while in park.

It limits the amount of power that the A/C and heater can draw.

 

[RegGuheert]

It is hard to leave it in Eco when you are in Park...

Apparently not in a 2013.

 

[TomT]

Kind of weird... I wonder if it actually has any effect on the Climate Control energy draw in Park... Has anyone actually tested this? Also, does it have any effect on timer or Carwings controlled Climate Control?

It is hard to leave it in Eco when you are in Park...

Apparently not in a 2013.

 

[IraqiInvaderGnr]

I have a 2013 and always wondered about this. Yes you can cave eco mode on in all 4 driving positions (Drive, Brake, Reverse, and Park).

Thanks! That's different from the 2011/2012s.

What difference does it make if it's in eco mode while in Park? It can be activated or deactivated while in park.

It limits the amount of power that the A/C and heater can draw.

Thanks! On very cold days the heater uses 3kwh even on eco mode so I just didn't use it as I drive 50 hilly miles round trip to work so I just wear extra layers and use the heated seat. Will do some testing on this.

 

[TimLee]

Anyone know if this is a problem with the Leaf? ... Anything to worry about here?

Nothing to worry about, one of the great advantages of electric vehicles.
Depending on how hot it is, the vehicle will use ~ one fuel bar per 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Vehicle definitely should be in Park with the parking brake engaged.
Advantage of having parking brake on is safety, vehicle will require you to release the parking brake before it will move.

We used to leave the car in READY mode with the A/C running on very hot days when we went into stores. Then I discovered that you could get into the car without the key and drive away! So if we forgot to lock the doors or someone broke in, they could easily take the car. As a result, we stopped doing that! Now we just start the climate control remotely if we want it to stay cool.

I've done this a lot too. But you are correct it is a bit risky. The car will lock while in Ready mode using the fob, but it gives no verification that it is locked, other than very faint noise of the door locking if you're standing close enough and have good enough hearing to hear it. So it is important to manually verify the door is locked.
But it does leave the LEAF vulnerable to theft, as all the thief has to do is break a window and drive away. Makes it real easy for the thief to put it on their trailer to drive it to the stripping shop, and LEAF parts are pretty expensive.
Starting the climate control remotely to keep the vehicle moderately cool is a much better practice. The built-in set point for climate control is also fairly high so it doesn't use very much energy. Another one of the many reasons why I need to get a smart phone!

Use of ICE engines while the vehicle is not moving either for AC/heat or just by leaving it running while waiting in drive-through is a huge waste. Part of why most ICE vehicles will change to automated shut down and restart systems over the next five years.
My wife's relative who lives in Switzerland was dismayed when the tour bus operator left the vehicle running with the AC on for 30 minutes. He was stunned that anyone would do this, and proceeded to ask the driver why he forgot to turn the bus off!
Of course, gasoline is 2 to 3 times more per litre in Switzerland than it is in the US!
Should be noted that use of AC while waiting in a LEAF does waste energy too. But fortunately it is <10% of the energy being wasted by an ICE vehicle doing the same thing.

 

[Nubo]

Starting the climate control remotely to keep the vehicle moderately cool is a much better practice.

Desire to keep the car cool while making a short stop is a common use case. And while the phone app does help with this, it can be cumbersome and requires CarWings. I'd love to have a 15-minute timer button in the car. You could press it as you leave the car, and the CC would run for up to 15 minutes in the same manner as activating it with CarWings.

 

[gbarry42]

I know that doing this with a regular gas powered vehicle is not good as it puts a lot of strain on the motor since you must leave the engine running to operate the AC. [...] The temp gauge did not spike, but I think it did drain the LI battery a bit.

The difference here is that the A.C. has its own motor. So it makes no difference to any other mechanical part whether you are moving or not. There's no extra "strain" on anything. As for the electrical drain, a typical average for driving down the road is like 20 kW. The A.C. uses around 1 kW when it's cooling down, and just a few hundred watts otherwise. So, while it's not nothing, it's quite small compared to actually driving the car.

 

[TimLee]

The A.C. uses around 1 kW when it's cooling down, and just a few hundred watts otherwise.

Although in general this is correct, on an extremely hot day I have seen the AC pull 3 kW for a short period of time.

 

[RegGuheert]

The car will lock while in Ready mode using the fob, but it gives no verification that it is locked, other than very faint noise of the door locking if you're standing close enough and have good enough hearing to hear it. So it is important to manually verify the door is locked.

I simply press the button on the driver's door to lock the car. It beeps twice to indicate it locked successfully.

Desire to keep the car cool while making a short stop is a common use case. And while the phone app does help with this, it can be cumbersome and requires CarWings. I'd love to have a 15-minute timer button in the car. You could press it as you leave the car, and the CC would run for up to 15 minutes in the same manner as activating it with CarWings.

Great idea! That's a perfect "in-between" solution to resolve this issue.

 

[UkrainianKozak]

The A.C. uses around 1 kW when it's cooling down, and just a few hundred watts otherwise.

Although in general this is correct, on an extremely hot day I have seen the AC pull 3 kW for a short period of time.

I think Leaf can be counter-intuitive sometimes... My leaf sometime turns on heater even on hot day when in Auto climate control... Unless the temperature is set all the way down...
So it seems like keeping colder temperature setting might be actually more energy efficient then setting it a bit higher...

 

[LeftieBiker]

The A.C. uses around 1 kW when it's cooling down, and just a few hundred watts otherwise.

Although in general this is correct, on an extremely hot day I have seen the AC pull 3 kW for a short period of time.

I think Leaf can be counter-intuitive sometimes... My leaf sometime turns on heater even on hot day when in Auto climate control... Unless the temperature is set all the way down...
So it seems like keeping colder temperature setting might be actually more energy efficient then setting it a bit higher...

OR, just don't use the "Auto" setting!

 

[Nubo]

The difference here is that the A.C. has its own motor. So it makes no difference to any other mechanical part whether you are moving or not. There's no extra "strain" on anything. As for the electrical drain, a typical average for driving down the road is like 20 kW. The A.C. uses around 1 kW when it's cooling down, and just a few hundred watts otherwise. So, while it's not nothing, it's quite small compared to actually driving the car.

Yep. About the only difference one might note would be in very hot conditions, since the amount of airflow (and thus heat that can be removed from the condenser) by the electric fan under the hood is not as great as what can be removed when the car is in motion. So the AC may not be as effective while parked in extreme heat. But of course that isn't an indication to refrain from using it, just an observation. In those conditions you really HAVE to use it if you're staying in the car. A couple of weeks ago I had a need to stay in the parked LEAF in a parking lot in direct sun at 98F ambient and the cabin was comfortable though it took a long time to get down to my selected temperature. It was pulling a steady 1.5 kW. The compressor is obviously capable of doing more work (at least 3kW), so my conclusion was that the system was being limited by airflow over the condenser.

 

[ERG4ALL]

When I'm in the car with the A/C running I punch up the Energy Info display and look under the climate control section. If the outside temp is around 90 degrees and the cabin is already cooled off I see that we are consuming only about 300W. If that is accurate at all I should be able to run the A/C for three plus hours and only use 1 kWh which shortens my range by about 4 miles.

 

[ELROY]

Yup, when I am using the A/C, the draw seems to be so low (only 250-300watts), its hard to believe that it is accurate. Especially when I see my home AC unit using 6600 watts, and ICE car systems using such a huge power consuming belt driven compressor.

But yes, this is one of the biggest virtues of the electric car. When I am on break, I am relaxing with a quiet office cooled environment while sitting in the LEAF. On my BMW, I am either wasting fuel, while heating up the engine compartment to extreme temps (you can feel it coming out of the bottom of the car when you open your door), or if I have the radio on, with the engine off, the battery warning will come on quite quickly. The LEAF is awesome. This even makes it tolerable to be relaxing in the car when you are getting a top off at a L2 public charging station. The ability to run the AC while parked, or charging is a must if in choosing my next EV.

 

[RegGuheert]

The car will lock while in Ready mode using the fob, but it gives no verification that it is locked, other than very faint noise of the door locking if you're standing close enough and have good enough hearing to hear it. So it is important to manually verify the door is locked.

I simply press the button on the driver's door to lock the car. It beeps twice to indicate it locked successfully.

I need to correct myself here. I left the LEAF running in a parking lot yesterday, so I got a chance to try this. TimLee is correct: There is no sound beyond that of the doors locking to tell you that it locked, so it is best to manually verify that the doors are locked. I guess the double-beep only occurs when the LEAF is OFF.

I think Leaf can be counter-intuitive sometimes... My leaf sometime turns on heater even on hot day when in Auto climate control... Unless the temperature is set all the way down...
So it seems like keeping colder temperature setting might be actually more energy efficient then setting it a bit higher...

OR, just don't use the "Auto" setting!

In my experience, the heater can come on even when not in "AUTO", but just in normal A/C. This is easily remedied by simply pressing the down temperature arrow until the temperature displayed on the climate control is about 5F cooler than the OAT. Then give it a few seconds for the heater power to disappear, as it doesn't happen instantly.

BTW, this trick also works if you are trying to run JUST the fan with no heater.

When I'm in the car with the A/C running I punch up the Energy Info display and look under the climate control section. If the outside temp is around 90 degrees and the cabin is already cooled off I see that we are consuming only about 300W. If that is accurate at all I should be able to run the A/C for three plus hours and only use 1 kWh which shortens my range by about 4 miles.

While your numbers match what I see, I will note that it is unlikely you can run the A/C for three hours and only consume 1 kWh. This is because the other systems in the car also consume about 250W, making the total draw around 550W or so.

FWIW, before I left the car for 1.75 hours yesterday, I turned the fan down to the lowest setting. When I returned, the A/C appeared to be drawing only about 150W. This was close to solar noon (1 PM) in 85F temperatures.

 

[Nubo]

Yup, when I am using the A/C, the draw seems to be so low (only 250-300watts), its hard to believe that it is accurate. Especially when I see my home AC unit using 6600 watts

That would be for a whole-house AC system, 240V @30A. And unless it is running continuously the *average* draw is considerably less. AC for an individual room can be run off of a standard 120V 15A outlet. And will cycle on and off once the setpoint is reached. And even this is far more air space than inside a car.

But yes, this is one of the biggest virtues of the electric car. When I am on break, I am relaxing with a quiet office cooled environment while sitting in the LEAF. On my BMW, I am either wasting fuel, while heating up the engine compartment to extreme temps (you can feel it coming out of the bottom of the car when you open your door)...

And that's the other half of the story. In an ICE, the AC condenser is fighting for its life trying to dissipate the heat from the refrigerant while competing with the heat generated by the ICE. In an EV the AC system has a much more ideal environment.

 

[TomT]

That is why it is always placed ahead of the radiator, so that it gets the coolest ambient air... Pretty much the same location as in the Leaf.

And that's the other half of the story. In an ICE, the AC condenser is fighting for its life trying to dissipate the heat from the refrigerant while competing with the heat generated by the ICE. In an EV the AC system has a much more ideal environment.

 

[Nubo]

That is why it is always placed ahead of the radiator, so that it gets the coolest ambient air... Pretty much the same location as in the Leaf.

Obviously, which helps with convection but it still receives considerable radiant heat from the radiator. The effect is even more pronounced when at a standstill where you are relying solely on the fan to move the air.