Coquihalla Pass

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

ataman

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 11, 2013
Messages
79
Location
Victoria, BC
Has anyone tried to make it to Merritt, BC from Hope,BC ? It seems impossiable to me, but I wonder if you were to go slow enough, maybe you can make it???
 
ataman said:
Has anyone tried to make it to Merritt, BC from Hope,BC ? It seems impossiable to me, but I wonder if you were to go slow enough, maybe you can make it???

Well, you start at 600 meters elevation, and go over the pass at 1000 meters, and then all the way down to sea level. The journey is only 120km.

Looks pretty easy in the summer with a new condition car with no heater use.
 
TonyWilliams said:
Well, you start at 600 meters elevation, and go over the pass at 1000 meters, and then all the way down to sea level. The journey is only 120km.

Looks pretty easy in the summer with a new condition car with no heater use.

You start at sea level, summit is 1210m and Merritt is 600m. You got is opposite...
 
The net elevation gain will burn about 3kWh (1.5kWh per 300 meters), so assuming you have a brand new car with a 20C or greater temperature battery, then you have 21kWh useable minus 3kWh for your journey.

120km / 18kWh = 6.66km per kWh or 150 wattHours per km.

With no reserve, perfect battery, no heater, no wind, dry roadway, blah, blah, blah, you could drive 100km/h.

You'll note that I didn't factor the extra power consumed over the pass because you will get a bunch of that power back, but of course, there is some loss. So, let's say some speed below 100km/h.

Now, if your car is not new, or the battery not warm, then we would have to readjust for the actual capacity of the battery to start.

See range chart to see how I calculated this.
 
ataman said:
You start at sea level, summit is 1210m and Merritt is 600m. You got is opposite...

The OP said he wants to go from Merritt to Hope, so starting at 600m. Is there really a valley deep enough to be at sea level in that area?

Edit: I see that Hope is indeed at sea level. Of course, this only helps the OP for the one-way Merritt-->Hope
 
Berlino said:
ataman said:
You start at sea level, summit is 1210m and Merritt is 600m. You got is opposite...
The OP said he wants to go from Merritt to Hope, so starting at 600m. Is there really a valley deep enough to be at sea level in that area?
Might as well figure the worst case. The OP is likely to want to come back after all.
 
Berlino said:
ataman said:
You start at sea level, summit is 1210m and Merritt is 600m. You got is opposite...

The OP said he wants to go from Merritt to Hope, so starting at 600m. Is there really a valley deep enough to be at sea level in that area?
Try getting an elevation profile for the trip. From gpsvisualizer.com for example.
 
davewill said:
Might as well figure the worst case. The OP is likely to want to come back after all.

He probably has rightly given up returning that way. Instead, there is a longer route which goes around the mountains.
 
I thought it would be nice if people kept records in a database somewhere of charge used for different trips, that way only one person would have to figure it out and after that people could just look it up.
 
TonyWilliams said:
See range chart to see how I calculated this.

Thanks for all the work you've done on the range chart and elsewhere.


Did I read that the Green Race range calculator uses your charts? If they do, I take it they don't use your default "ideal conditions" and instead factor in a certain amount of battery degradation or extra power consumption.

I have a new SL and your chart has been accurate, but I have been using 15% to 30% less energy than Green Race predicts.

In this case of Coquihlla pass, Green Race projects using 99.7% of battery capacity at 100km/h.
 
johnrhansen said:
I thought it would be nice if people kept records in a database somewhere of charge used for different trips, that way only one person would have to figure it out and after that people could just look it up.
Supposedly, Nissan does that thorough CarWings now, and if you plan a trip using their route planer, historical data will considered. I haven't used this new functionality myself and can't really say how accurate or useful it is. Elevation differences are not all that hard to consider, and it's surprising that most EV manufactures don't even make an effort.
 
johnrhansen said:
I don't have any of that. I bought a "s" model :(
Do you have an iOS device? Just download "LEAF Energy" if you do. It will work with dash instruments. Many of us early LEAF owners did not use CarWings much, because it delivered erroneous energy readings in the past.
 
Is that a smartphone or a tablet? I am planning on getting one of those, but still trying to figure out which one to buy. I also need the apps to find charging stations. Right now I just have a handwritten list in the glove box!
 
johnrhansen said:
Is that a smartphone or a tablet? I am planning on getting one of those, but still trying to figure out which one to buy. I also need the apps to find charging stations. Right now I just have a handwritten list in the glove box!
Hm, the easiest thing would be an iPod, even an older model, which could be used on wifi. Also, a prepaid Android phone would be good too, even though "LEAF Energy" will not work on it. At least you could run Jim's battery app, which is very useful. Elevation differences are not as much of a stumble as they might appear. It just takes some getting used to. Whatever you decide to do, getting PlugShare installed could be quite helpful for finding charging stations!
 
when I took my trip I just used physics (Work = force times distance) to figure out the energy used to climb a hill. I figured 2000 feet cost me 25 miles. If I go down 2000 feet I get 13 miles back. I mapped out my whole trip to spokane that way using google maps terrain feature, and I was pretty much dead on with my estimated charge usage.
 
johnrhansen said:
when I took my trip I just used physics (Work = force times distance) to figure out the energy used to climb a hill. I figured 2000 feet cost me 25 miles. If I go down 2000 feet I get 13 miles back. I mapped out my whole trip to spokane that way using google maps terrain feature, and I was pretty much dead on with my estimated charge usage.
Right, good to hear, that makes complete sense. How do your calculations agree with Tony's estimate of 1.5 kWh per 1,000 feet of elevation gain?
 
mine was more conservative. I figured 4.3 miles per KWH, so my 25 miles for 2000 feet would have been more like 15 with his calculations. I'll have to look into it further the next trip I take.
 
ataman said:
Has anyone tried to make it to Merritt, BC from Hope,BC ? It seems impossiable to me, but I wonder if you were to go slow enough, maybe you can make it???

I am trying to make; Hope to Merritt , I guess my first post was not clear when I said "to Merritt, BC from Hope,BC" This is starting at sea level, going up to 1,200m and ending at 600m.
 
surfingslovak said:
johnrhansen said:
I thought it would be nice if people kept records in a database somewhere of charge used for different trips, that way only one person would have to figure it out and after that people could just look it up.
Supposedly, Nissan does that thorough CarWings now, and if you plan a trip using their route planer, historical data will considered. I haven't used this new functionality myself and can't really say how accurate or useful it is. Elevation differences are not all that hard to consider, and it's surprising that most EV manufactures don't even make an effort.

Based on carwings, it is not possible... It does not have any historical data, does not look like anyone tried before.

I am going to try it once the fast chargers are installed at hope and merritt, or maybe if i have a whole weekend free...
 
Back
Top