New Owner...not brimming with confidence.

[DougWantsALeaf]

Welcome to the world of LEAF.

My 2 cents are that if you are going over 45-50 miles in the cold, you have to drive at 55 (or less), and no heat if you can bear it. Run the seat and steeringwheel heaters.

I have done 70 miles at 0F, but you need to be careful and very conservative.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Again I *think* I should be ok as I will probably be installing a 240 charger at work and at home...once the ground thaws enough to trench for a new box to the garage The distance to school and work is less then 20 miles so should never be an issue as long as I can charge there as well.

It sounds like you'll "go for it", so in summary:

1) BATTERIES DONT LIKE COLD - The battery will lose 10% capacity @ 30F degrees and 15% @ 10F(1% loss per 4F below 70F). If you want the longest range, use only the seat and steering wheel heaters. That may not be possible if you need defrost on the windshield. PREHEAT the the via the scheduled onboard timer or with the online app with the car plugged in.

2) WINTER WEATHER AFFECTS ALL CARS - If you drive the car without ANY heater, your range still suffer more than 10% @ 30F because the air is more dense when cold, plus pushing any "road contanimation" (snow, standing water, etc) also consumes more energy. Winter winds can also play a big factor. Cold tires don't roll as well. All these factors affect ALL cars, not just EV.

3) SLOW DOWN - My range chart was quoted several times, and as you can see... slow is better for long range. If you are coming up short on range, SLOW DOWN !!! Turn the heater off (if you come up short, there won't be a heater anyway!).

4) DONT BE AFRIAD TO CHARGE TO 100% - Its frankly not a big deal. If you need it, charge it. If you get 30 amp or greater charge stations at home and work, I think you'll be an EV expert in no time.

 

[ampitupco]

One other thing.... once the weather warms you'll be shocked how much more range you will have.... For us cold weather folks, the need for a larger battery in the LEAF is not so much so we can drive farther... it's so we can drive reasonable distances in cold weather (maybe even with the *gasp* heater on).

 

[kubel]

If you think that's bad, wait until you experience -15F conditions with snow (like we had last winter) combined with close to 20% battery degradation. The range in those conditions goes beyond disappointment- it's just plain hilarious. With a 100% charge, I was lucky to get 35 miles with pre-heating. Some may say "but that's a worst case scenario", but that's what cars have to do here. A car that can't get me to and from work in those conditions is not a car for me.

I'll be ditching the LEAF for a Volt next year. I love the LEAF, the car (batteries not included) is by far the best car I've ever owned. But I won't sugar coat it- the battery just plain sucks.

 

[MJuric]

Again thanks for all the great info in the thread.

Friday I did my daily commute, it was ~30F and clear. I ran on Eco, no heat, no anything and drove very conservatively. While driving the route it really struck me for the first time how much of the trip is in largely residential areas where my speed will only be 35-40mph. My entire commute used ~20% of battery life and I estimated I should have been able to get ~70-80 miles range.

Today I drove the same route but preheated the cabin, turned Eco off, left the heat on ~70F, turned radio on, headlights, all the heaters and drove relatively "Normally". Same route consumed a bit over 30% of battery. Same temp but we did have a bit of snow, 1/2", road was a bit slushy and so on.

Supposed to be a high of 9 on Monday and a high of -3F on Wednesday. I will probably be driving in -15 to -5 degree weather both days. We'll see how that goes.

 

[silentbutnotdeadly]

Again thanks for all the great info in the thread.

Friday I did my daily commute, it was ~30F and clear. I ran on Eco, no heat, no anything and drove very conservatively. While driving the route it really struck me for the first time how much of the trip is in largely residential areas where my speed will only be 35-40mph. My entire commute used ~20% of battery life and I estimated I should have been able to get ~70-80 miles range.

Today I drove the same route but preheated the cabin, turned Eco off, left the heat on ~70F, turned radio on, headlights, all the heaters and drove relatively "Normally". Same route consumed a bit over 30% of battery. Same temp but we did have a bit of snow, 1/2", road was a bit slushy and so on.

Supposed to be a high of 9 on Monday and a high of -3F on Wednesday. I will probably be driving in -15 to -5 degree weather both days. We'll see how that goes.

Looks like you've got it figured out- good job!

It looks like a good fit for you with a 25- 30 mile daily commute, and when you get your level 2 installed at home, you will be able to top off between runs in as little as 1 hour.

I think you made a great move and I would have no range anxiety with your current commute, even in the cold.

 

[DeckerEgo]

While driving the route it really struck me for the first time how much of the trip is in largely residential areas where my speed will only be 35-40mph.

For residential sections of driving with frequent stop signs, roundabouts and lights - keeping B Mode on will help as well. You can turn coasting into braking that way, and regen the batteries rapidly. I had to re-train my driving habits, but I'm saving my brakes in a huge way and extending range.

 

[Zurc]

I'm wondering why your new car with a 100% charged battery only made 40 miles before it parked you.
I've been driving in sub freezing temperatures, and with out a worry or care. 60 miles is only 100KM and my car normally charges up to about 120km depending on temperature. So you should have been able to make it home with charge to spare. Perhaps with the low battery warning light doing it's thing towards the end of the trip.

So what happened here I wonder? Lead foot syndrome? I love the acceleration but wouldn't dare make like a rabbit on a long trip.
Choice of route? Shorter is best naturally. Too much heat? I generally pre-heat if I can and while driving I only heat up the cabin till it's warm (20C) and then shut it off until it starts to get chilly again. I'm not sure how efficient this is against the car keeping a constant temperature but it's what I do in hopes of keeping energy consumption to a minimum. I find the seat heaters are less than adequate so I rarely use them. I do love the steering wheel warmer although I normally don't use it after pre-heating. As a new EV driver I'd guess that you probably didn't take advantage of coasting to stops or using down hill runs to charge or at least minimize how much pedal you were using. Speed of course would have been a factor. I've found that in the colder temperatures, using the highway can really eat up range in a hurry, particularily if I have 2 or 3 passengers on board.

Hopefully you don't have a car with a poor battery but it's something to keep an eye out for just in case.

As you become more proficient with the car, it would be interesting to hear about your take on what you might have been doing to cause such short range on your first trip.

Oh, and your going to love level 2 charging.

Zurc.

 

[cwerdna]

I've been driving in sub freezing temperatures, and with out a worry or care. 60 miles is only 100KM and my car normally charges up to about 120km depending on temperature.

Posting GOM values is pointless. See http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=16253" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, for example.

How far you driving on at most on a full charge in sub-freezing temps? What's your efficiency on such drives? (I believe your car would display km/kwh) Starting % SoC and ending % SoC after ___ km?

Choice of route? Shorter is best naturally.

Shorter isn't always best. Sometimes a slightly longer but slower route is better due to higher power consumption at high speeds.

 

[MJuric]

I'm wondering why your new car with a 100% charged battery only made 40 miles before it parked you.

To be honest I do not know entirely what the real range would have been. At the time I had NO IDEA what I was doing. When I left the dealer the "guess-o-Meter", said 88 miles. The total trip was a little over 50 miles and I decided to pull over adn park it myself when the Guess o meter said 27 miles and we were less then half way home. We had covered 24 miles and had 28 yet to go.

So what happened here I wonder? Lead foot syndrome? I love the acceleration but wouldn't dare make like a rabbit on a long trip.

From what I now know a whole bunch of things happened. First the temps were around 15 degrees. Second we had a pretty strong head wind the entire way back. Third I had no idea about eco mode and drove thru the first portion what I would consider to be "Aggressively" since it was hilly and did so without Eco mode on. Fourth we took the interstate. I drove a tad over the speed limit like I normally do so had the cruise set ~67-68MPH. With 15-20 MPH head that would be equal to close to 100 MPH I had the heat on the entire time.

In short I'd guess I could have made it home had I taken another non interstate route or drove 10-15MPH under the speed limit and then had all the settings set more effeciently as I have learned over the last couple days.

Seems to me that all of this should be hit upon at the dealers BEFORE you take the car home.

~Matt

 

[cwerdna]

^^^
Eco mode should've made no little or no difference in terms of propulsion power consumption. But, it'd have probably helped for the heater. Your heater use and speeds are likely what bit you.

And, I don't recall if you mentioned if there was any net elevation gain between the dealer and home.

 

[Nubo]

To be honest I do not know entirely what the real range would have been. At the time I had NO IDEA what I was doing. When I left the dealer the "guess-o-Meter", said 88 miles. The total trip was a little over 50 miles and I decided to pull over adn park it myself when the Guess o meter said 27 miles and we were less then half way home. We had covered 24 miles and had 28 yet to go.

That's a bit different than your original story which led me to believe you ran out of juice 40 miles into a 60 mile trip. Sounds now like you got towed home with a half-full battery . Sorry you had a bad experience out of the gate but it sounds like you're already getting a much better feel for how EVs work. Hope you enjoy the rest of your LEAF experience.

 

[MJuric]

Eco mode should've made no little or no difference in terms of propulsion power consumption.

Well not having it on makes it easier to consume more power for propulsion easier. There is a significant difference in acceleration with Eco on or off. I had Eco off during the first 8-10 miles which was rather hilly and "Accelerated" up the hills faster then I realize I should have now. I had no idea that I wasn't supposed to do this

And, I don't recall if you mentioned if there was any net elevation gain between the dealer and home.

I think there was less then 200 Ft net gain. But I believe 4-500 up and then 200 down. I stopped about at the peak.

 

[MJuric]

That's a bit different than your original story which led me to believe you ran out of juice 40 miles into a 60 mile trip. Sounds now like you got towed home with a half-full battery .

Could be but while on the highway the guess-O-Meter was dropping at about a mile every .25 to .3 miles. Not realizing that the meter was not ACTUAL battery life and only having 25-30 miles on the meter I figured at best I would be getting another 10 miles and we had nearly 30 to go. Rather then chancing it and simply running out on the highway we pulled into a stop where I knew I could plug in. After eating and sitting for an hour an half and getting very little charge, the car was outside and it was 15 degrees, we decided to tow it.

Sorry you had a bad experience out of the gate but it sounds like you're already getting a much better feel for how EVs work. Hope you enjoy the rest of your LEAF experience.

At this point I don't blame the car. There's little doubt in my mind that had we taken the other available route where the speed limit was 55 and I had kept it there or even lower, had been instructed on how to drive and what to look for, told about the heater and Eco mode I would have made it. I tend to blame the dealer, not the car.

That being said we bought the car as an "In town commuter, grocery getter". I think it will fit that bill perfectly and since we have another gasoline car we are pretty much covered.

Again, thanks all.

 

[Nubo]

Eco mode should've made no little or no difference in terms of propulsion power consumption.

Well not having it on makes it easier to consume more power for propulsion easier. There is a significant difference in acceleration with Eco on or off. I had Eco off during the first 8-10 miles which was rather hilly and "Accelerated" up the hills faster then I realize I should have now. I had no idea that I wasn't supposed to do this

There is a common misperception that Eco mode reduces the car's ability to accelerate. This is untrue. It merely changes the pedal-response curve. In D mode, a bulk of power is invoked during the early part of the pedal travel. In eco the power is mapped more linearly. But in both cases you can get the same degree of acceleration; the only difference lies in how far you need to move the pedal. But yes, Eco mode does make it easier to more finely control the car's speed and acceleration. That's why I use it almost exclusively. Not for energy savings but for better driving control.

 

[MJuric]

But yes, Eco mode does make it easier to more finely control the car's speed and acceleration. That's why I use it almost exclusively. Not for energy savings but for better driving control.

Yes that is what I was getting at. It's "Feels" more "Peppy" in D mode because the response when you press on the pedal is more instantaneous. I've not mashed the pedal to the floor in Eco to see what happens yet

~Matt

 

[LeftieBiker]

Eco provides the same maximum power at full throttle as the other modes, so people usually say it isn't any slower. However, it does take a fraction of a second to floor the pedal, and with less response before full throttle, I'll bet there is a loss of acceleration overall.

 

[Moof]

Eco provides the same maximum power at full throttle as the other modes, so people usually say it isn't any slower. However, it does take a fraction of a second to floor the pedal, and with less response before full throttle, I'll bet there is a loss of acceleration overall.

People making such absurd comments should be beaten to a pulp with a wet noodle.

 

[LeftieBiker]

Eco provides the same maximum power at full throttle as the other modes, so people usually say it isn't any slower. However, it does take a fraction of a second to floor the pedal, and with less response before full throttle, I'll bet there is a loss of acceleration overall.

People making such absurd comments should be beaten to a pulp with a wet noodle.

Yes, and momentary hesitation in a gasoline engine doesn't result in slower acceleration either, right? Are you volunteering to be the wet noodle...? ;-)

 

[Nubo]

Eco provides the same maximum power at full throttle as the other modes, so people usually say it isn't any slower. However, it does take a fraction of a second to floor the pedal, and with less response before full throttle, I'll bet there is a loss of acceleration overall.

Technically,perhaps but observing my foot just now it seems a very small fraction of a second. We're not talking reaction time here, but physical movement. From a practical perspective, I'd say it's not significant. And also consider that the car limits the torque from zero to maybe 5-10 mph, so the effect may be buried completely if accelerating from a stop. Otherwise I think we're talking in 100'ths of a second. Measurable with test instruments perhaps, not by butt-dynos. And so not part of the "car is more peppy" perception which is more akin to wearing ankle weights all week and taking them off on Friday night to go dancing.

Do people still do that?