What I've found about the car so far

[Electric4Me]

I have a 75 mile RT with no guaranteed charging at work. Most is (usually fast) freeway, with about a mile of city streets at each end, and some hills, with occasional stiff winds. Using the A/C is often a "must", almost always "desired" in a closed car, but the "need" heating is rare.

So, with a new battery it seems doable, though not entirely sure what driving "style" will be required to get me back home on rainy days. One will have to trade off a lower speed (less safe) cs. safety on freeway.

I'm not sure why you say that driving at a slower speed is less safe. Unless you're talking about speeds less than 55, it won't be an issue. I often tow behind my car and when doing so drive at 55-60 mph. I have never felt unsafe. Of course, this assumes that you're in the right lane as appropriate.

That said, it will take 20 minutes longer to make a 75 mile drive at 55 mph than at 75 mph (avg.), but that's less than it would take to stop and get a meaningful quick charge.

 

[Bud]

Do you have speed limits at 70-75 in CA or is that normal driving? In WA I don't have to worry about that because our main speed limit is 60 with only couple of areas with 70 and I only get there when I go on long trips.

Our main speed limit is the idiot in the left lane acting as a cork on the flow of traffic.

 

[smkettner]

Do you have speed limits at 70-75 in CA or is that normal driving? In WA I don't have to worry about that because our main speed limit is 60 with only couple of areas with 70 and I only get there when I go on long trips.

Our main speed limit is the idiot in the left lane acting as a cork on the flow of traffic.

Yes and sometimes that cork is only driving 90mph

 

[Frank]

gudy - I think that all of the posts in this thread assume that you are charging the battery pack to 100 percent every time. Please let us know if some of the distance numbers you gave us are based on a charge of less than 100 percent. Thanks.

 

[jcesare]

Yesterday evening, I cam home from SFO, no traffic, I was at 74 mph for 14 miles.
then 2 miles at 25-40 mph in the city, with a few lights.
Charged to 100%, and this morning the car is telling me 83 miles (or 79 with climate control on).
You're almost using twice as much power to overcome wind drag between 55 and 75 mph ( 1.86 times more), so I can clearly see how 75 mph reduces range quite a bit.

I've always wondered if the engineers ever gave thought to adding a wind driven generator to recharge while driving?

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Even in wa we have 70mph roads but trucks are limited to 60 mph everywhere so there is always "supposed" to be slower vehicles out there. I have been doing 62 mph forever it seems and I will simply continue to do so

 

[TomT]

It's called perpetual motion and defies the laws of physics...

I've always wondered if the engineers ever gave thought to adding a wind driven generator to recharge while driving?

 

[MsLusty]

I'm not sure why you say that driving at a slower speed is less safe. Unless you're talking about speeds less than 55, it won't be an issue. I often tow behind my car and when doing so drive at 55-60 mph. I have never felt unsafe. Of course, this assumes that you're in the right lane as appropriate.

Around here, if you drive 55-65, even in the right lane, you'll have a lot of pissed off people around you and it will not be particularly safe. Why yes, the speed limit is nominally 65, but nobody is driving that speed unless, as someone else pointed out, there's a cop around.

 

[gudy]

Regarding charging, yes I'm still charging to 100%, I keep getting requests from the press and what not (colleagues want to see it), so I figured I'd be safer for a while with 100% charge.

The car remembers your past driving experience, and it's taking into account the last few minutes. The range estimation is fairly stable, and only changes as you drive (it goes down ...), or change your driving style.

Regarding power usage ... well, since I switched only 2 days ago to charging at night only (via the timer function), I'll know in a bit from my smart meter data, how much I'm putting back in the pack every night. The main problem though is tracking miles ... honestly, I'm simply using the car, and it's a little bit of a hassle to look at how much I'm driving (eg. I forgot to reset the counter before leaving this morning). I'll try and give it more attention, but I had the same problem with my bike (I would reset the cycle analyst which keeps track of Ah used, so you know how much you've got left, but I'd forget 30% of the time).

I went to work via el camino real this morning, 10 miles on a 35mph road, with light traffic, so I was going between 25 and ~40 mph. I ended with more range than I started with (in eco mode, climate control off), and average mileage at 4.5 miles / kWh. This number would IMPROVE as I drive more on the same charge, as I've noticed that regen is limited based on battery state of charge (less regen when the battery is full, which makes total sense).

 

[Boomer23]

It's called perpetual motion and defies the laws of physics...

I've always wondered if the engineers ever gave thought to adding a wind driven generator to recharge while driving?

It would add more drag than it would provide in charge gained. Not really perpetual motion because I'm sure that the OP knows that you couldn't just get the car rolling and it would power itself from then on. But you couldn't even gain battery charge using a wind generator without losing more energy to overcome the drag than you gained in charge.

 

[TomT]

I know, I was being facetious... But the underlying concept is the same: You can never get more out of it than you put in to it (and even that assumes 100 percent efficiency...)

It's called perpetual motion and defies the laws of physics...

I've always wondered if the engineers ever gave thought to adding a wind driven generator to recharge while driving?

It would add more drag than it would provide in charge gained. Not really perpetual motion because I'm sure that the OP knows that you couldn't just get the car rolling and it would power itself from then on. But you couldn't even gain battery charge using a wind generator without losing more energy to overcome the drag than you gained in charge.

 

[mitch672]

yep, adding "wind generators", "gasoline generators" or "solar panels", none of that is really practical.
What we need is "Mr Fusion", like a nuclear sub of course thats a long way of (if ever) as well, can you just see car wrecks with leaking small reactors? not gonna happen.

there is no "free lunch" (TINSTAFL)

 

[taztaz]

Tell us what's your real felling about your LEAF be able to reach the 100 miles without the need to hypermile?

The way I drive, my LEAF knows I can't make 100 miles
I started this morning with a full battery, and it told me 96 miles.
You turn on the climate control, and that drops to something like 85.

I'm having fun with the car though

Today I've mostly been using ECO mode (however I refuse to get on the highway at anything bellow full throttle ... I like to find my way from ramp to left lane as fast as possible ), so we'll see what the range says tomorrow.

Thank you so much for the quick reply gudy.

Driving that way give me some hope that I'll be able to reach the 100 miles with a lower pace and light right foot

I even think if you drive it careful like old EV drivers are used to you get more than 100 miles... Espeacially without AC .. Where gudy is right now its hard to estimate a "top" range.. Its the same when you buy a new phone.. Like the iPhone.. You play with it a lot the first days and battery goes away fast

I guess the temp in Portugal is perfect this time of season.. I guess you have around 14-18 degrees now? Here in Sweden i have -15 C (5 F) right now

 

[IBELEAF]

If gudy's example is worst case scenario during daily regular driving then I would be perfectly fine with that.

 

[taztaz]

thx gudy for all your feedback! i have spent a couple of hours today reading your threads... I will spend 1 more hour in "your" thread -> Leaf Owners ... hehe

Fun reading about your experiences..

Here in Sweden they presented a 1,5 year electric car evaluation from up north.. They expected some problems with going to EV from ICE but all test families were extreamly happy with the EV and had no problems! Just as you describe, you love the EV compared with ICE

 

[DaveEV]

I went to work via el camino real this morning, 10 miles on a 35mph road, with light traffic, so I was going between 25 and ~40 mph. I ended with more range than I started with (in eco mode, climate control off), and average mileage at 4.5 miles / kWh. This number would IMPROVE as I drive more on the same charge, as I've noticed that regen is limited based on battery state of charge (less regen when the battery is full, which makes total sense).

Nice - thanks for noting that you get less regen when the battery is full - Really seems that a lot of people would benefit from more granular "full" charge settings than 80 or 100% especially since the first few miles of most trips tend to be in the city where you'll be doing more braking.

I would guess that you get full regen power when the pack is about 80% full (since that's also when L3/quick charges taper off the charge rate), but it would be nice to try to confirm that.

Back to highway driving - I don't know why people seem to think you have to drive 75+ on the highway here in CA. Having driven many miles on highways all over the state, there is no problem with doing 60-65 as long as you follow the "Slower traffic stay right" rule. Very rarely do I find traffic doing more than 70 in the right lanes - and then it's because someone is driving slowly in the left lanes causing those people to pass on the right. Finding a truck doing a similar speed to trail behind is also helpful - make sure you maintain a safe distance as they tend to kick up debris. Anyone worried about highway driving at the speed limit (or lower) should try it in their current car. It's not as bad as people are making it out to be.

 

[planet4ever]

Around here, if you drive 55-65, even in the right lane, you'll have a lot of pissed off people around you and it will not be particularly safe. Why yes, the speed limit is nominally 65, but nobody is driving that speed unless, as someone else pointed out, there's a cop around.

Your tag says you are located in San Jose, which is where I do a lot of my driving. You are wrong about nobody driving 65 or less. Most trucks on 101, 280/680, and 880 drive at a steady 60 MPH (except when slowed by traffic jams). They've learned that they save a lot of diesel that way, and the price of diesel is a major part of their bottom line. Just get into the right lane behind a truck and stay there. You will be amazed both by how much less stressed you are and how much less fuel you use. (Make that how much juice you use when you get your LEAF.)

 

[prberg]

Do you have speed limits at 70-75 in CA or is that normal driving? In WA we don't have to worry about that because our main speed limit is 60 with one road being 70 which Leaf will never get too.

70 MPH is the max limit in CA on Interstate highways outside of major metro areas. The reality in CA is that the only time anyone does under 70 is when a cop is around or the there is a traffic jam. I typically do 75 and I'm getting passed.

I would have to disagree. Here in Los Angeles, you will have some people going fast in the left lane, but many others going slower in the center and right lanes. And even more often... we are going slow due to traffic. I would say that 80% of the time on the freeway I am in some sort of traffic slowdown and can't go full speed anyways. The carpool lane helps, but that can be slow as well.

I think driving 60-65 should be fine here. (55 is a bit too slow on the open freeway though)

 

[TEG]

Can you check with NISSAN how can you get POI or maps upgrades to your map SD or if that's possible at all?

This was probably answered elsewhere already, but they maps update themselves through Carwings.
New charge locations are supposed to get added automatically as they come online.

Not sure if Portugal will work the same as USA and other markets.

 

[TEG]

Sorry if this was answered elsewhere (I am still catching up on posts), but Gudy, what do you think of the pedestrian warning sounds? They were disabled on the test drive event cars, so I wonder what a real owner thinks of them on a production vehicle.

Also, did you get the high speed charge port on your car?