Hypermiling with the Leaf (+CAN hack for no regen)

[Dala]

Hi all, recently put together a video on hypermiling strategies for the Leaf, along with previewing a no-regen mode. Thoughts?

https://youtu.be/-2LhAVmEWUM

[LeftieBiker]

No regen as an option has been on our wish lists for a long time.

[DougWantsALeaf]

Nice video, and super excited about the new function.

Do you have many gen2 leaf customers using the bridge yet? I would love the feature (and the 35kw dc charging) for my plus for longer drives. I never use cruise control for any length of time on long trips because of the regen loss, and high amount of power fluctuation (more heat loss when pulling 4 bars of power vs 1-2 which is plenty even up above 70mph) for this very reason.

[nlspace]

Nice video, you are getting to be a pro at video production. Good explanation of hyper-miling without getting into all the calculatus.

i can't remember because it's been awhile since i've driven the laef, but can't you shift to Neutral and let the car coast (glide)? i do it in the Mits kiev all the time.

[LeftieBiker]

can't you shift to Neutral and let the car coast (glide)? i do it in the Mits kiev all the time.

Yes, although doing so makes a lot of people a bit nervous.

[goldbrick]

I use N (neutral) quite a bit but there are still times when I hit regen without wanting to. Sometimes it can be hard to modulate the pedal to keep a constant speed without hitting regen or accelerating. It's not a big deal for me but if there was a button to disable regen I would probably use it, at least occasionally.

[DougWantsALeaf]

In my 2013 Leaf I would do the neutral shift quite often.

In my 19s I just keep the throttle at the neutral pedal position.

[Dala]

Nice video, and super excited about the new function.

Do you have many gen2 leaf customers using the bridge yet? I would love the feature (and the 35kw dc charging) for my plus for longer drives. I never use cruise control for any length of time on long trips because of the regen loss, and high amount of power fluctuation (more heat loss when pulling 4 bars of power vs 1-2 which is plenty even up above 70mph) for this very reason.

Thanks!

With gen2, you probably mean the gen4(2018+ ZE1). I have a few customers that got the LeafEnhancer software for this model, most of the things are exactly the same as the old leaf, but the regen-off sadly doesn't work. The VCM on the newer vehicle doesn't care that the battery is requesting no regen at all! But the QC-limiter works! And the BatterySaver. And the ChargeCurrent! https://github.com/dalathegreat/LeafEnhancer-UserManual

Nice video, you are getting to be a pro at video production. Good explanation of hyper-miling without getting into all the calculatus.

i can't remember because it's been awhile since i've driven the laef, but can't you shift to Neutral and let the car coast (glide)? i do it in the Mits kiev all the time.

Thanks,

Yes it is possible to swith to N, but this is not recommended. When you are in N, you can't accelerate if needed, then you again have to switch to D. So the regen-free D mode is a much safer alternative when it comes to hypermiling. Oh, and I've even noticed that you can trigger regen sometimes when in N, so what goes on behind the scenes is a bit strange. This solution makes it way easier to glide.

[countryleaf]

I appreciate the thoughts about turning off the regeneration mode. We live in a pretty hilly area, half the time you are going up or down a hill. In the old days (I know, I'm old) cars had what is called compression braking, that worked pretty good keeping the car at the right speed with little or no braking going down hill. That was one of my complaints with our 2011 Leaf, the regeneration was not enough to keep the car from overspeeding on a down hill, so the brakes had to be used.

I understand the idea of slowing down before reaching the downhill portion of the road, but in the real world, you cannot slow down enough to make that great of a difference (at least not around here on two lane roads, traffic behind you will get annoyed!). Maybe on freeways it is possible, with the four (or more) lanes. I love the regeneration on our new-ish 2019 SL Plus. That's why we got the big battery, so we don't have to worry about squeezing every mile from a KWH.