So, owners what range are you getting ?

[dgpcolorado]

While it doesn't apply to the S model, for SV and SL models using the energy screen gives much better information about energy in/out of the battery than the "dots". And there are several aftermarket meters that display energy levels in and out of the battery. If one doesn't have or want to use either of those, using the dots as a guide is better than nothing.

I have those features, but I prefer to keep my eyes on the road, not on the dash. (This is one of the things that makes the standard Prius a PITA to drive efficiently - that hair-trigger point at which the ICE comes on, and which you have to watch a gauge to avoid.) The dots are quite adequate for determining both traction motor power and regen strength, and you need only glance at them briefly, or use your peripheral vision on them.

Oh, and someone mentioned the "A pedal" and the "B pedal". No freaking way! I had a Nintendo 64 and have an Xbox 360 now, but there's no way I'm going to name the pedals in my car after video game buttons. If it has to be simple enough for kids and the elderly to remember, I suggest the "Go" and "Slow" pedals. ;-)

A (Accelerator) and B (Brake) seem reasonable enough to me (it certainly wasn't my invention). And, no, I've never played a video game so I don't get the reference to video game buttons. The "Go" pedal seems a bit too cute to me but if it catches on, so be it.

As for the reluctance to use the energy screen as being a distraction, It isn't something one has to view all the time and certainly not in dense traffic. So, point taken. I don't live in that world, not much traffic around here, except for deer, elk, and the occasional bighorn sheep.

 

[wishboneash]

I am not sure how to say this clearly, but the bottom line is if the coasting speed costs you more in drag than that can be got from regen, then it is better to regen. At lower speeds when drag doesn't have as much an impact, it is better to coast. In stop and go traffic, it is better to use regen (which is much better than friction braking).

 

[DougWantsALeaf]

Concur with the last statement, in most city, suburb driving, traffic isn't patient enough to let you coast to every light, hence B mode will let you recoup more of your kn. energy.

 

[IraqiInvaderGnr]

I disagree. I have found that to get the most range us Regen as little as possible and to coast(neutral) as much as possible. Got 5.0 miles/kwh on a 25 mile trip to work here in a very hilly part of Iowa (Known as Loess Hills) 55mph is the speed limit and my average speed. Going down hills I coast up to 65mph (sorry state dicks). When I'm lazy and just set the cruise thus using regen I average 4.2 miles/kwh. Try it sometime and you will see the difference.

Agree with you Doug if it's city traffic with lights about every block and speed limit is 40 or 30.

 

[wsbsteven]

I haven't done much highway driving since I got my Leaf so I decided to do a little test.

2013 Leaf SL
72% battery used
12 bars start
4 bars end
60 highway miles 55-65mph
4 city miles 35mph
GoM start 96 miles
GoM stop 28 miles
GoM Accuracy - 94%
no ac/heat
low 80's temp
winds from the west/northwest 9-18mph, gusting 20-25mph
windows open in city, closed highway
elevation range 406-652ft
starting elevation 552ft
ending elevation 552ft
tire pressure 40psi
Estimated range based on this information - 88 miles to empty
Estimated miles per kw - 3.7

The results were better than I expected.

 

[planet4ever]

Estimated range based on this information - 88 miles to empty
Estimated miles per kw - 3.7

How did you come up with that estimated m/kWh? It almost looks like you divided miles by 24. In case you don't realize it, the total capacity of the battery is 24kWh, but it wouldn't last long if Nissan let you use all of it. The available capacity of a new battery is usually somewhere around 21kWh, though there seems to be some variability in that. The State of Charge % you quoted is based on available capacity, not total capacity.

Many, if not most, of us clear the m/kWh gauge in the center of the dash when we charge the car. Some (or a few, or at least one in particular) question how accurate that gauge is, but we do know that it is based on miles traveled and kWh the car believes is being drawn from the battery. That includes not only the inverter+motor but also climate control running off the traction battery as well as any power the DC/DC converter uses to replenish the 12v battery. It also adjusts for energy returned to the battery by regeneration.

Ray

 

[LEAFfan]

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but with my 2011 and using AC in the summer with an 85F setting, it would start at about 1.5kW, then quickly drop to just a sliver and it would hardly affect my m/kW h or my miles. Now, with the 2013, it starts at about 1.5kW and stays there. I've yet to see it drop to a sliver with the temp setting on 89F even after driving many miles. My m/kW h is affected more and my miles. It has to be a different AC unit. With the heated seats, it's very doubtful that I'll use the heatpump during the winter.

 

[wsbsteven]

Estimated range based on this information - 88 miles to empty
Estimated miles per kw - 3.7

How did you come up with that estimated m/kWh? It almost looks like you divided miles by 24. In case you don't realize it, the total capacity of the battery is 24kWh, but it wouldn't last long if Nissan let you use all of it.
Ray

That's why I called it an estimate

 

[planet4ever]

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but with my 2011 and using AC in the summer with an 85F setting, it would start at about 1.5kW, then quickly drop to just a sliver and it would hardly affect my m/kW h or my miles. Now, with the 2013, it starts at about 1.5kW and stays there. I've yet to see it drop to a sliver with the temp setting on 89F even after driving many miles. My m/kW h is affected more and my miles. It has to be a different AC unit.

I've been suspecting the same thing, though with my S model I don't have a console to see what the kW draw is. I do run mine considerably colder, at 77°F, but I ran my 2011 SL at 76°F and it seemed to have a significantly smaller impact on m/kWh. It's hard to compare fairly though, especially with the extreme heat (for us) that we are having right now.

Ray

 

[planet4ever]

Estimated range based on this information - 88 miles to empty
Estimated miles per kw - 3.7

How did you come up with that estimated m/kWh? It almost looks like you divided miles by 24. In case you don't realize it, the total capacity of the battery is 24kWh, but it wouldn't last long if Nissan let you use all of it.
Ray

That's why I called it an estimate

Just saying, that if you are going to estimate you shouldn't divide by 24. Maybe 21 for a new car in the summer, as little as 17 for an older car in cold winter weather.

Ray

 

[LeftieBiker]

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but with my 2011 and using AC in the summer with an 85F setting, it would start at about 1.5kW, then quickly drop to just a sliver and it would hardly affect my m/kW h or my miles. Now, with the 2013, it starts at about 1.5kW and stays there. I've yet to see it drop to a sliver with the temp setting on 89F even after driving many miles. My m/kW h is affected more and my miles. It has to be a different AC unit. With the heated seats, it's very doubtful that I'll use the heatpump during the winter.

Maybe the heatpump, being a compromise between adequate heat and adequate A/C, is a bit worse at providing A/C efficiently, while being much better at providing heat with less power. I for one will welcome being able to run the heat pretty much whenever I want, instead of as a last resort. It doesn't seem to draw more power for heat than for A/C, at least in milder weather.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Just saying, that if you are going to estimate you shouldn't divide by 24. Maybe 21 for a new car in the summer, as little as 17 for an older car in cold winter weather.

Ray

Ray, i wish i could be that optimistic. I blogged about my seemingly disappearing capacity based on dash readings.

http://daveinolywa.blogspot.com/2013/07/ttid-revisited-and-calculating-ranges.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[TomT]

For me, that would be a significant disadvantage as I rarely use heat but often use A/C...

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but with my 2011 and using AC in the summer with an 85F setting, it would start at about 1.5kW, then quickly drop to just a sliver and it would hardly affect my m/kW h or my miles. Now, with the 2013, it starts at about 1.5kW and stays there. I've yet to see it drop to a sliver with the temp setting on 89F even after driving many miles. My m/kW h is affected more and my miles. It has to be a different AC unit. With the heated seats, it's very doubtful that I'll use the heatpump during the winter.

 

[GRA]

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but with my 2011 and using AC in the summer with an 85F setting, it would start at about 1.5kW, then quickly drop to just a sliver and it would hardly affect my m/kW h or my miles. Now, with the 2013, it starts at about 1.5kW and stays there. I've yet to see it drop to a sliver with the temp setting on 89F even after driving many miles. My m/kW h is affected more and my miles. It has to be a different AC unit. With the heated seats, it's very doubtful that I'll use the heatpump during the winter.

Maybe the heatpump, being a compromise between adequate heat and adequate A/C, is a bit worse at providing A/C efficiently, while being much better at providing heat with less power. I for one will welcome being able to run the heat pretty much whenever I want, instead of as a last resort. It doesn't seem to draw more power for heat than for A/C, at least in milder weather.

I wonder if Ray (planet4ever) has noticed this, as he moved from a 2011 SL to a 2013 S, which doesn't have the heat pump.

 

[planet4ever]

Maybe the heatpump, being a compromise between adequate heat and adequate A/C, is a bit worse at providing A/C efficiently, while being much better at providing heat with less power. I for one will welcome being able to run the heat pretty much whenever I want, instead of as a last resort. It doesn't seem to draw more power for heat than for A/C, at least in milder weather.

I wonder if Ray (planet4ever) has noticed this, as he moved from a 2011 SL to a 2013 S, which doesn't have the heat pump.

Yes, I had. See my post one page back. But now I'm not so sure. I made a 30 mile round trip run this afternoon, A/C on the whole time with outside temps in the high 90s, and got 4.2 m/kWh. But I did take the 50 mph "old highway" rather than the freeway. I need some better instrumentation before I can make an informed decision about the A/C efficiency.

Ray

 

[GRA]

Maybe the heatpump, being a compromise between adequate heat and adequate A/C, is a bit worse at providing A/C efficiently, while being much better at providing heat with less power. I for one will welcome being able to run the heat pretty much whenever I want, instead of as a last resort. It doesn't seem to draw more power for heat than for A/C, at least in milder weather.

I wonder if Ray (planet4ever) has noticed this, as he moved from a 2011 SL to a 2013 S, which doesn't have the heat pump.

Yes, I had. See my post one page back. But now I'm not so sure. I made a 30 mile round trip run this afternoon, A/C on the whole time with outside temps in the high 90s, and got 4.2 m/kWh. But I did take the 50 mph "old highway" rather than the freeway. I need some better instrumentation before I can make an informed decision about the A/C efficiency.

Ray

Does anyone have manufacturer info and/or part numbers for the a/c unit?

 

[DaveEV]

Just saying, that if you are going to estimate you shouldn't divide by 24. Maybe 21 for a new car in the summer, as little as 17 for an older car in cold winter weather.

Ray, i wish i could be that optimistic. I blogged about my seemingly disappearing capacity based on dash readings.

http://daveinolywa.blogspot.com/2013/07/ttid-revisited-and-calculating-ranges.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

All you've done is confirm what we've long known - GID readings are affected by the temperature of the battery pack even when there is no actual change in capacity.

 

[freshleaf]

I have ~2600 miles mostly city driving. I am observing that when I fully charged the battery it shows 92-97mile range. In the past it used to show 104-106 miles range.
Still have 12 Bars, Is my battery loosing some mileage ???

 

[planet4ever]

I have ~2600 miles mostly city driving. I am observing that when I fully charged the battery it shows 92-97mile range. In the past it used to show 104-106 miles range. Still have 12 Bars, Is my battery loosing some mileage ???

Probably no significant loss with that low a mileage. I would suspect that you have just changed your driving style a bit, perhaps becoming more casual and less worried about running out of battery power. People claim the 2013 GOM (Distance to Empty number) is more accurate than in the 2011 and 2012 LEAFs, but it is, after all, still a GuessOMeter. It is trying to guess how efficiently you will be driving today based on how you drove yesterday. I think you would be better off ignoring it.

Ray

 

[LEAFfan]

I have ~2600 miles mostly city driving. I am observing that when I fully charged the battery it shows 92-97mile range. In the past it used to show 104-106 miles range. Still have 12 Bars, Is my battery loosing some mileage ???

Probably no significant loss with that low a mileage. I would suspect that you have just changed your driving style a bit, perhaps becoming more casual and less worried about running out of battery power. People claim the 2013 GOM (Distance to Empty number) is more accurate than in the 2011 and 2012 LEAFs, but it is, after all, still a GuessOMeter. It is trying to guess how efficiently you will be driving today based on how you drove yesterday. I think you would be better off ignoring it.
Ray

Yep, it definitely is more accurate than earlier models, no doubt about it. But it's relatively flat here so maybe that makes a difference. I just know for mine, it's extremely more accurate now. It pretty well matches the LB App also.