ReFuel 2011 at Laguna Seca in the Leaf (w/pics & video)

[JimSouCal]

You have some work to do to catch up to the 1:50 the fastest Tesla posted!

Indeed, but the slowest, well, that seems doable.

[nader]

Nice pictures. Is that a GoPro camera I see in a few of the pictures? If so, did you take any video, and will you be posting that sometime?

Good stuff! Track days are always fun

Yup had the GoPro running. I'm uploading two sessions to Vimeo with several hours to go. Hopefully it'll be finished by morning.

[nader]

Here is a sample clip to hold you guys over until the full clips finish uploading.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcVx4BoNzEM

[Boomer23]

So cool, feels like being there. Thanks for shooting the vids. Great!

[TNleaf]

That is great! Man, I love track days, this makes me want to go back!

Thanks for uploading the videos

[gasmiser1]

Nice Looks like you guys had fun

Did the Leaf beat the Volt's time on the track?

[awallis]

Awsome job. I'm so jealous!

Are you pointing at Tesla's that are dropping off the track because they are overheating?

[ttweed]

Good on ya, mate! Thanks for the report and for going out and representing, Nader. I wish I could have gone, as $10 for a day at Laguna Seca is a deal, as you mentioned. Of course I would have spent $350 minimum in diesel fuel to haul my Leaf up there, since there is no way I would take the time to drive it up from SD. I don't think my wife would allow me to take "her" car out on a big track, though--I am going to have to do some fast talking just to get her to let me take it to a local autocross. I have been working on the "safety" aspect of knowing how the car handles at the limit for accident avoidance to convince her. She seems to be buying this line--generally, any upgrades I do on my track cars in the name of safety are acceptable and encouraged.

You mention charging your car with the upgraded L1 EVSE from an RV 240V outlet, and not really being able to fully participate because of range worries (i.e., skipping the last open session). Did the organizers not provide any portable/fixed L3 charging options? Seems like that would almost be a necessity to get the most out of the EVs in such a compressed time frame as a single day event. Were there even L2 chargers available for participant use, or was it strictly BYOC (Bring Your Own Charger)?

Did you experiment with Drive vs. Eco mode? I would have thought that D would be preferred for reducing lap times with the superior response of the go-pedal.
Thx,
TT

[aqn]

Well done!

Other than the first lap of the practice session "started at 10:29:43", your times showed that you're an extremely consistent driver: eight laps within 4% of each other! In fact, attributing the later, slower, laps to degraded tires and brakes and maybe battery temperature, would make the times pretty much identical. Some of the Tesla drivers are all over the place; they could just as easily have failed to beat your best time.

Were any of the Teslas on race/auto-x tires?

[tps]

The Leaf drivetrain and battery BMS are solid. To my surprise almost every other EV out there (production or otherwise) had heat management issues after 2-5 laps. Tesla's were hitting power cut by lap 4-5. Most of the other kit cars could do one or two laps due to heat or range issues. Conversely, the Leaf was pulling strong all day and the battery temp gauge didn't move over 6 bars.

This backs up what I've thought and what Nissan has been saying all along. The lack of an active thermal management system in the LEAF's traction pack does not make it an infereor vehicle. Instead, this shows that the LEAF is traction pack is superior because it does not need active thermal management.

I brought up traction pack thermal management when I talked with the Nissan folks at the Drive Electric event and their strong opinion was that the Nissan engineers had done their job well and made a very capable traction pack.