Atlanta winter traffic jam: 25 miles in 9 hours

Kept the heater off, and the headlights off whenever I was completely stopped. Five min. defrost every hour or so. Steering wheel and seat warmer on all the time.

http://www.weather.com/news/commuter-conditions/winter-storm-leon-causes-massive-gridlock-atlanta-20140128" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Started with 75% charge, got home with 20% left.

How long have you driven your Leaf on a single charge?

Didn't know it got so cold in Atlanta. A hybrid would have been nice like the volt, to stay nice and warm.

I left midtown at 1 and got to duluth by 3:30. It took 1.5 hours to get to i-85, but after that it was smooth sailing.

FYI, the lights don't pull enough to have any meaningful impact on range or battery life...

asemeco said:

Kept the heater off, and the headlights off whenever I was completely stopped. Five min. defrost every hour or so. Steering wheel and seat warmer on all the time.

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TomT said:

FYI, the lights don't pull enough to have any meaningful impact on range or battery life...

asemeco said:

Kept the heater off, and the headlights off whenever I was completely stopped. Five min. defrost every hour or so. Steering wheel and seat warmer on all the time.

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That's what I learned. Thanks for confirming.

The non led lights do seem to pull a couple hundred watts, so over a few hours, it will find range a little.

DougWantsALeaf said:

The non led lights do seem to pull a couple hundred watts, so over a few hours, it will find range a little.

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But the low-beam lights are LED, right? Even without the upgrade. I think I read that in the manual.

My Leaf got me through Atlanta's Snowpocalypse fine.....8 hours to go 36 miles......took a lot of creative driving (on sidewalks, through yards, down oncoming lanes, etc.) but the car kept pulling. Ran the heat periodically and kept seat heat on. Started with 54% on the battery and got home with 18% left. The car was the best handling car that I've driven on snow and ice. ECO mode kept the throttle response from being too abrupt and B mode regeneration help descending slippery hills. Ecopia tires (10,000 miles on mine) gave plenty of grip. Had I been driving my 370Z, I *never* would have gotten home.

I'm curious, when do you drive the 370Z ?, Just on the weekends and nice weather?

flyboyjohn said:

Had I been driving my 370Z, I *never* would have gotten home.

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I periodically run the 370 to work on nice, sunny days, and on weekends like you suspected It had been my daily driver until I got the Leaf. I run the Leaf 1,000 miles a month to keep within the lease....if I overrun in a month, then I'm back to the Z regardless of the weather.

traffic is where the leaf really shines! Imagine how much gas an ICE car would have burned under similar conditions.

There's more to it than just saving gas:
- As long as you keep the heater off, it spends very little battery while idle.
- There's something about the traction on the Leaf; accelerations and decelerations are very gentle. Where most other cars were slipping and sliding, my Leaf was slowly but surely inching along. According to this,

http://sam-koblenski.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-year-and-half-with-nissan-leaf-part-3.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

it is a combination of traction control, anti-lock brakes (ABS), and Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC). All I know is, my experience driving in snow is next to none, and I was doing better than most.

Glad to hear that Atlantian Leafers weren't stranded in the 2014 snow-pocolyps!